My home in the desert

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The wheels on the bus go round and round

Before leaving we were told that the bus ride from Santiago up to Antofagasta was 15 hours. If you look in travel books it says 20 hours. A former volunteer said the ride was only about 12 hours. And now even after I have completed the trek I can´t even remember how long it took us.

What I´ve been told and read in guidebooks, compared to the rest of South America, Chile has the best and most reliable buses. I knew not to expect a squeaky old Greyhound and was pleasantly surprised to find the overnight "accommodation" on wheels very comfortable. Instead of 4 seats in one row of the bus there were only 3, making the seats very wide. They even reclined to an almost horizontal position and complete with a footrest. We got pillows and blankets, snacks and even movies in English. It was the royal treatment. No wonder I lost track of the 10 plus hours on the road.

Since we traveled overnight there wasn´t much to see. But one thing I do remember is waking up to see the sun coming up over a dry, rocky terrain like nothing I´d seen before. The sunrise was magnificent but the unearth-like landscape was a bit frightening.

Orientating in Antofa

The first day in Antofagasta was a Sunday and most of us just stayed around the Casa Codelco (a sort of dorm for teachers) because most shops were closed and none of us really knew where anything was. The highlight of the day was walking the two blocks to the ocean. There are only a few nice beaches around Antofagasta but hearing the waves and seeing the vast ocean always makes me happy.

Monday began another week of orientation. No training this time, just information about the area, meeting host families for the 15 of us in Antofagasta and meeting our English co-teachers. First thing on Monday we were told that those of us teaching in Antofagasta would meet and move in with our families tonight. Bam!! That was news to us. In true Ministry style we had been told a couple of different stories about when we would meet our host families, but Monday we were told it was going to happen that day. Many of us were a bit stressed and anxious because we knew nothing about our families. We had been told upon arrival in Chile that we would at least know SOMETHING about our families before we become A PART of one. But that is not Chilean style. If they aren´t late they change plans, in business and in daily life.

The welcoming that day consisted of various performances by students. A group of little kids dressed as barn animals sang us Old McDonald, and a couple of high school groups sang some Beatles songs. We were welcomed by the mayor and each given photography books of picturesque Chile (many of those pictures taken of us that day were found in the local newspaper the next couple of days).

Curiously enough, during the presentations there was a woman who was asking many of the volunteers who was teaching at the Escuela de la Republica de los Estados Unidos (in English the United States Republic School) and when I was questioned I told them it was me. This woman before me was my English co-teacher and with her was my host mom. I was the only volunteer whose teacher and host came to the welcoming, probably to scope me out and decide if they wanted to back out or not(neither of them changed their mind).

I was formally introduced to Marianella Uribe and Nancy Aróstica in both Spanish and English. Nancy (my host mom) was very soft spoken and didn´t speak English and Marianella (obviously, my English co-teacher) was just the opposite. She had brought 5 students from her (our) school for me to meet and have pictures taken with. But not with her camera, she insisted we take pictures with my camera. She also told me that I would be coming to the school tomorrow to meet the principal. Now this frightened me. We were not going to be at our schools until the FOLLOWING week and here my English co-teacher is telling me differently. Millions of feelings were rushing through me and the feeling of overwhelmed was just beginning.

Meet your new family!

Thankfully Marianella had to return the children to school, so I had the opportunity to speak with my host mom. She was thankful that I knew some Spanish and could not stop smiling. We carried on a conversation that consisted of me listening intently, getting the GENERAL idea and then me taking about 2 minutes to construct one sentence to say back to her. The conversation got interesting when I asked about her family. I had requested a family without young children because, frankly, I didn´t want to deal with them because I would be dealing with kids all day at school. The first bit I thought I heard was that she lived with her elderly parents. Ok, I thought, perhaps she never married and is taking care of her parents. Then she said that she had a 16-year-old daughter who had a 2-year-old. Ok, trying to put this all together, do they live with her too or does she live elsewhere? I thought perhaps I heard wrong about the elderly parents. I was confused, but hopeful. I mean I couldn´t really count on my Spanish. I could be completely wrong.

Since the host families weren´t supposed to be there during the morning orientation, Nancy left and we had lunch and then more orientation. Around 5pm all the families in Antofagasta came and we played a cheesy ice breaker game to find our families. I quickly found Nancy and we were free to go "home" now.

Nancy and I were picked up by a skinny, elderly old man with crazy curls of gray and black and the thinest moustache you have ever seen. He was very friendly and insisted on carrying my bags. I told him thank you and gave him my lightest bag while I carried my big backpack which IS bigger than him. With my bags stowed in the trunk and me in front we headed towards the center of town and Nancy told me we had to pick up her son. Her son?!

To be continued...



Side note: Yes, I know that I have been very, very bad at keeping up with this journal. I have no excuse except for the fact that every chance I get I am AWAY from the house. AND the fact that I lost ALL of my pictures 3 weeks ago and that has put me in a sour mood. I don´t have any pictures to post, so why write. AND things are finally starting to settle with school and I am getting the "swing of it." So please don´t cancel your subscriptions and forget about me. I promise things are looking up and I will be posting more.

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Photos

Our bus from Santiago to Antofagasta
Probably the best bus ride!

I can´t believe I´m sharing this photo
Yes, this is probably the worst picture of me, but I wanted to show they nice comfy seats in the overnight bus