http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Chile , O Higgins en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:11:31 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:11:31 +0000 tout d'abord la Cueca ..la vido parce que pour ceux qui ne l'ont pas vu..ben c'est a voir ..ok c'est pas de bonne qualit..mais on fait ceux qu'on peutEnsuite Pichilemu ce fameux w end ou l'on est sorti de Santiago pour aller l'ocan..grace Jos et a sa famille le samedi Man et sa copine sont all se balader et je suis all avec cdric voir les vagues et l'accompagner jusqu'ou il a gout http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Pichilemu/blog-463642.html Heading http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/blog-462667.html I got up early on Wednesday because I wanted to run before we left but I didnt have time Christinas host dad picked me up and took us to the bus station. We left for San Fernando at 1040am from Concepcion. We knew we could take a bus from San Fernando or Rancagua to Pichilemu but thats about all we knew. It took about 5 hours to get to San Fernando by bus. We hoped the bus would drop us off http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Pichilemu/blog-460170.html Santiago to Valperaiso. Then to Vina del Mar for the day and then a bus to Mendoza where we stopped off and found a nice hostel for when we meet up with Phil Trease then a 12 hour coach journey to Cordoba which served something that looked like meat. Other than that the bus journey was spectacular seeing the landscape change as we drove further inland. Crossing the ChileanArgentinian border a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/blog-446683.html I know that I just wrote yesterday but I had some thoughts that I needed to share. I don't think I have ever really explained the phenomenon that is the Chilean colectivo. Literally translated it means collective. Physically it is a seemingly innocuous black sedan of any make with yellow license plates and a sign on the top telling you where it goes. Colectivos have set routes their drivers lo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-446538.html So when we first arrived in Chile way back in May we arrived amidst a massive countrywide teacher strike. The day that we were shipped off to our host familys June 6th was the day that the teachers reached a compromise with the Chilean government thus ending the strike just in time for us to start teaching on Monday. After three weeks of no school my students were reluctant to say the lea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-446104.html Coming at you once again from the wonderful Sixth Region of Chile from the city of Rancagua I welcome you back to my blog. It's been about a month since I last wrote but in my defense the internet here is very hard to both predict and control. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Time continues to speed by another month gone the realization leaving a bittersweet aftertaste in my http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-439465.html My wife and I are planning our annual trip to Chile. We will be leaving Jan 5 and staying to Feb sometime we will be staying in Curico for the most part of the trip. We have planned to visit the beach for about a week we dont know if we are going to stay in Pichilemu like many times before or go to Illoca where my wife has a cousin who owns a beach house. Either way I cant wait I love chile http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/blog-433594.html Holy crap. Three months down. Three to go. Time has literally flown by leaving me to wonder how I have spent the past three months. It's safe to say that I have been busy although I am hard pressed to tell you exactly how. Since I last wrote we have traveled some more learning more and more about this incredible country I have come to call home. Two weeks ago I went to Valparaiso with Kate Ca http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-430938.html After watching my fellow volunteers succumb to various illnesses over the past two and a half months I thought I was out of the woods and could relax. Not so. I finally fell yesterday. Luckily it seems to be just a 24hour thing as I was feeling much better today but I stayed home out of fear for the kids health. At least that's what I'm telling them. Nothing much has happened in the past http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-427443.html I spent the past two weeks traveling up and down Chile. It was an incredible two weeks full of adventures misadventures new people new friends and incredible sights. I started out from Rancagua on Thursday July 9 traveling to Iquique which is a beach city in the second region of Chile so it's very far north. I was traveling with Kate and Kelly two of the other volunteers also living i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-423638.html Hello from San Pedro de Atacama the driest desert in the world and Chile's pride and joy. We spent the last week in Iquique which is a beach town in the Second Region. I flew up Thursday night with Kelly and Kate two of the other volunteers and we arrived to our hostel at 1.30 AM. The receptionist was so confused as to why we were so late in arriving but when we explained that we were comin http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-418946.html Another week down. Another month started. I can't believe that June has come and gone and yet it is still freezing cold here in the southern hemisphere. It's difficult to explain the weather down here. It's often colder inside than out forcing me to wear layers upon layers of wool and fleece. I even sleep in wool socks. I usually teach in a teeshirt sweater vest and fleece jacket. I would wea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-415467.html Hello to everyone who reads this I know its been awhile since I last wrote but my internet hasn't been working at home so I haven't really had access to the blog. But by popular demand I am back so here is a brief recap of what has been going on since I last wrote. School is still going well. The kids are absolutely crazy and this week there have been a lot of students sick so my classes are http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-412583.html First week of school is done and over with. What an experience. It's nice to finally get back into a routine again even if it is still a little uncertain. I'm teaching eight different classes at the Liceo Comercial Diego Portales. It's a public high school just outside downtown Rancagua. I say downtown because Rancagua is a very small city and the downtown area reminds me of an older Me http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-408146.html Today was my first day at school I'm teaching high school at the Liseo Comercial in downtown Rancagua. I woke up super early today and went with my host mom to the school. She's a history teacher there so we went in together. My teacher has a late start on Monday's he doesn't need to be there until 12.30 so I was kind of passed around and different people took me to classes and showed me http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-406648.html First day at the host family's house They have been absolutely wonderful so far. I am living in the city of Rancagua which is in the Sixth Region of Chile just about one and a half hours south of Santiago. I'm going to start my week of observation in my school on Monday and I will be teaching high schoolers but I'm not yet sure what age. We just spent the last week in a hostel in Santiago wit http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Rancagua/blog-405962.html We went back to Rengo and went to the Santa Cruz museum there aren't many pictures of us inside as we were not allowed to take pictures in enclosed spaces we took a sneaky picture and a security guard came running out of nowhere to tell us off Santa Cruz is a small town that's about 1 hrs south of Rengo and it has the largest privately owned museum in Chile the owner used to be an arms dealer http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Santa-Cruz/blog-381622.html When I look back to my time in Pichilemu I will remember it for two reasons. Not only was it here where I surfed for the first time but it was also my first time in the Pacific Ocean. Pichilemu is a beach town about three hours south of Santiago. The town here is packed with surfers as well as vacationers looking to get away from the city. An eight minute drive takes you to Punta de Lobos an int http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Pichilemu/blog-374017.html Travelled to Aunt Rosani's house in Rengo a couple days before Andy's arrival. She lives 2 hrs from the airport as apposed to 7 hrs from La Serena so we made the most of the good weather and the day before Andy's arrival I was punishing myself in this day picnic site it definitely made the wait easier .Viaj a la casa de mi ta Rosani en Rengo un par de das ant http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/blog-364482.html