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Published: April 9th 2009
Semana Santa
This week is
Semana Santa or "Holy Week". This was also my first week teaching classes alone. For anybody who thinks that teachers are getting paid enough I challenge you to teach any subject to a classroom full of 10-17 year-olds. If you've done that, try doing it to a classroom of students who don't understand a single word you're saying. Then tell me if you think teachers are paid enough!!! Actually, this has been one of the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding weeks of my life. I've answered the question "do you have a girlfriend?" about 20 times. I've seen students bored out of their minds. I've seen students light up when we start playing a game and they see that they actually do know some English. I'm exhausted to be honest.
Today was my longest day. I started class at 8am. I taught 4 classes. One class last 1 1/2 hours. During the first 45 minutes I coteach with the English teacher, Mrs. Janet Ortega. She is amazing! She's so funny and even though Chilean students are a little more rowdy then students in the USA (generally speaking) she is able to command their respect even while joking around with them. Then, I take a group of motivated students to work on their speaking and listening. It's definitely a lot of work and I'm exhausted by the end of the day. I think that's a good sign. Anyway, I have class from 8am to 1pm then
descanso or "break" from 1pm-3pm for lunch. Classes resume at 3pm and go until 6:30pm, although I typically only have 1 class in the afternoons. On Wednesday, however, I am offering an English class for teachers/staff in my spare time. As part of the program we are supposed to offer opportunities to learn/practice English outside of the classroom. This class is part of that. I will also offer some extracurricular activities for the students. They are definitely going to keep me busy down here!
Normally, I have classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Thursday and Friday I only have one class each in the morning. This week is different because of Semana Santa. Tomorrow their aren't classes but rather a Catholic ceremony of some sort in the morning (complete with washing of the feet!). The school is closed on Friday. I'm going to attend the ceremony tomorrow. Then my host family and I are off to La Serena for the weekend. La Serena is south of Caldera by about 5 hours or so. It's supposed to be gorgeous so expect pictures!!!
Family, Friends, and Community
I love Caldera. It's the perfect size--you can walk from one side of the town to the other in about 30 mins. The people are nice. The views are amazing. I couldn't really ask for more. Add to that an amazing
Familia Anfitriona or "host family" and great coworkers and you have the perfect volunteer experience. I've been learning customs, language, and geography.
Some of my coworkers invited me to a party on Friday night. It started at 9:30pm. There was another party at 8:00pm that I was going to stop by at first. I learned a lesson about Chile that night. If some says their party is going to start at 8:00pm them really mean 9:30pm. So, I was waiting at the other volunteers house (the party was with his coworkers) and when our ride arrived at 9:15 I had to ask them to bring me home so that I could go to the other party. Basically, when in Chile, only plan one thing per night and plan on being at least an hour late. That's just the culture.
Stars over Shacks
The night sky hear is incredible. The sky is clearer in this region of the world than anywhere else. For this reason there are tons of observatories within a few hours. I really hope I make it to one! It's possible to see thousands of stars every night here, unless of course there are clouds. I went for a walk to one of the beaches at sunset the other night and stayed out to look at the stars. I was blown away. It was spectacular.
The next morning I went for a walk through the town. Chile is a developing nation and in many ways it is the most developed nation in South American. But I am amazed at how so many people live here in Caldera. I've seen houses that are nothing more than a few pieces of plywood nailed together with a sheet-metal roof. I've seen dead dogs lying on the side of the road. The world is very different here than it is in the other places I've lived.
I am living between the most majestic night sky in the world and at the same time I am neighbor to some of the worlds poorest people. It humbles me. I have been given so much in my life and yet I seem to always want more. I'm never really content. Now I don't mean that I always want more things. The opposite is true actually. The past few years I have slowly, and at times rapidly, gotten rid of most of my things. But I always seem to be wanting something--to travel, to study, to meet new people, to experience new things. Rarely do I sit back and appreciate what I do have. I hope this experience helps to improve that.
What next?
While I am reflecting on my constant discontent I am also trying to plan out my future. I'm falling in love with teaching and also realizing how much I miss school. Who knows where this will lead but I am definitely looking into graduate school, further training in TEFL, and also extended volunteering abroad projects. I have even found a few in which I could combine all three. I'm pretty sure my thoughts would be best expressed by a Jackson Pollock painting right now.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading and to all who write me comments and messages. I read them all and although I haven't had a chance to respond individually please know that I really do appreciate them. I will definitely try to be in more direct contact in the future.
Also, I would love CDs of your favorite music. I only have 8 CDs and all of them were burned poorly so they are missing the last few songs (I dislike iTunes). Any music you feel like sending I would appreciate but I would definitely like songs that I could use in classes (meaning simple or repetitive lyrics...I'm going to use Tracy Chapman's "Baby Can I Hold You Tonight" for example.)
Thanks!
Besos y Abrazos!
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DREW PELEHOS
non-member comment
I 2 am greatful
Hey Zach: Great blog entry. It made me realize how good I've got it here in the states. I travel all the time, but am so quick to forget how lucky I am to live the life I live... here in the U.S.A. I hope you continue to have a blast. Peace, DREW