WEek 2 (yes i am actually 2 months behind).

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THese are all SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO out of date, wll be leaving here in 2 weeks !ª!!! so will condense most adventures to a nice brief message soon. muy feliz (HAPPY) now.

keep me posted on yoru lives. love to all. xx xx


So after watching some good old fashion hammer horror, with hillbillies going through a blender and satanic lorry drivers after the circus (see other blog) feeling much happier with life in general. Maybe everything is going to be OK ( I echo the desperate bellows of my driving instructor after nearly colliding with the central reservation on the dual carriageway while overtaking a bus). People all over the world really are the same. Sleep in on Saturday, and wake to my alarm falling off the bedside table. Must dash - cooking Mexican for mormon missionarie´s at Miss Claudia´s house ! ! ! Very enjoyable, conversation at the table is a little awkward at first but then elder heilles gets going with stories of life on the road preaching and we´re good to go. Mañana they´re comig to casa Maria (where the jardin is) for lunch after church so will see them then too. Spend rest of the day trying to study Spanish.

On Sunday enjoy the company of the missionaries again (for more details see other blog) and then in the afternoon Miss Sole is taking me on another outing!! Going to Vin de Mar which is actually in the guidebook!!! Very excited, the weather is hot and I am thinking beach time!!! Massively confused by money on the bus, wack out a note which I think might actually equate to nearly my daily wage (15 pounds) so Sole helps. The Micra ticket man leers delightfully and gives us the tickets half price, and informs us of the hour he is working till (more dalliances in the public transport sector coming soon), Sole explains that in chile ´the men are green´I think this translates as horny.
Chilean timekeeping isn´t so great and by the time we arrive in vin on the bus the day is cooling off so we hit the shops. Endless Zapatieres (shoe shops) literally, massive domination of the mall. Not sure why. Perhaps because people’s feet are smaller so they have more space in their closets. My only purchase is a diary (as failed to grab one in England). Another excellent lesson in shop etiquette, when you buy something here first point it out, get a receipt for it, take your receipt to another till and pay, then walk to another area to collect your item Bit like Argos I suppose except without the waiting area filled with dribbling chavs.. Security here is tight, deodorants behind the counter and in the toilets the bog roll is padlocked in.
Grab a subway (possibly the hardest fast food to order in the world if you don´t speak Spanish and head back home. 1 week in Chile. Done.

Week 2 TRANQUILLO

Teaching the kids continues to be difficult in week 2, not really sure if meant to be doing whole lessons with all the children. Thought I was just going to be helping out - not devisig a whole cirriculm. The thing is there are no excuses for a poor lesson. There´s more toys and resources here than for many british nurseries. ARHHHHH it’s the little things don´t know, like what age can use scissors without removing a tongue and when a child is old enough to know ingesting a crayon is not great.

Mamma uno y mamma dos continue to be amazing (along with the entire duran family who sit and listen to my rubbish attempts at Spanish. Day 9 (BLACK TUESDAY) is awful. Claudia has devised this agenda where we have to work between two classrooms and do this activity that is meant to help with counting and involves the children collating 3 chairs and 7 soaps. Disaster. Childrens terrified. Why is this crazy scarecrow pointing and waving at their shoes and taking off her socks. Am near tears. This is worse than day 4 when all the three years olds burst into tears at the sound of the piano. Every teacher can hear/witness failure. I have a distint memory of saying ´no puedo solo´and one of the assistants asking me to repeat that to Miss Brenda who is in charge (I wonder what they had been saying that first week). They were very nice and gave me a hug but it doesn´t really change anything. In the evening sit staring blankly at some technicolour soap with a very long title (later learn that the subject matter is about a woman who has cancer and is trying to choose a new wife for her husband - who is pretty much banging all the possible options) Miss Maria (Mamma Uno) listens to my outpouring. Which involves me using page 5 of my Spanish picture book and saying. Sad, scared. Children a lot. And offers the best advice - Tranquillo. Depart for bed at about 830 and hope a lot.

So Mañana is another day. Clare Duran has telephoned from England the structured schedule is to be changed again, with the English teachers assisting in the classrooms and adding English in as and when. Just taken a ganders at the brochure and guessing the problem arrises because it advertises as ingles intensivo. THESE KIDS ARE 3 - 5!!!!

The Wedding
Can´t belive it!!! On Friday I am going to a wedding!!! Maria is kindly taking me along. So excited! All the other teachers keep on saying ´baille´which means plenty of dancing to be had (o bum will cover, sure can wack out big fish, little fish to the music here REGATRON absolutely classic, speeded up Hispanic classics with rapping, liquid drums and dirty base beats). ON Thursday night we go to set up the hall for the reception. Years of slavery at Cricklade Country Club have paid off. Am an expert at maneuvering tables. The reception is to be in the church, in a hall partitioned off from the main religious bit. So no alcohol (think its going to be a while before I have a bevy). Mali (maria´s daughter). Has got some pretty nifty technology for blowing up balloons (shes´ in the business) and sets to work inflating and decorating.
On the subject of golobos, the night before found myself with Mamma uno y mamma dos (both about 50) engrossed in the super-interlectually stimulating Chilean channel, Calle 7. for 30 minutes we watched the bikini clad young, Put balloons under their tshirts and then after the count of uno, dos, tres inflate the balloon to its full capacity before it burst. This was done with numerous ´hotties´ with no commentary beyond the counting. Cheers.
Its probably very strange being at a wedding when you don´t know the people anyway but did feel a bit of a pleb when maria sent me off to be photographer as the bride stepped out the car, stand out a bit. You may have noticed from the photos.
The service is extremely short. But when its finished the bride stands up and does a really long speech, keeps it together. What can I say, it was very much like a british wedding. Met two of the most delightful people ever, Sabrina duran and her boyfriend andreas, they spoke speak English (self taught so impressive and learnt by translating song lyrics - this is definitely something we are missing in our country and would probably benefit the local radio stations tohave a bit of the Spanish spice girls blasting out every now and again. The hall looks stupendous, very impressed with what you can do with balloons. The meal is rice, with beef and what appears to be aunt Bessie roast potatoes. Afterwards theres the throwing of the bouquet, and men have to explode these balloons which have fortunes in. My heart plummtets when Andres says, ´but you have no man, who will you dance with?´. The music kicks in on Manuel´s immense speaker system and the floor is filled with salsa mover and shakers of all ages. Andres is a mean machine onteh dance floor, able to do the robot and all manner of body popping. Sabrina generously offers up her boyfriend to give me a lesson. He exits the dance floor crippled.

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Comments

[Thelma and Nick]

keeping up
we have only just been given info. re. your blog so we are catching up with your remarkable exploits wi th great interest.As Marigold has not yet come into the 21st century with a pc we are printing them for her she will have several nights reading matter when she receives all your blogs up to now!! Enjoy yourself and be careful of the don juans. lots of lovexx