The Chilean School System (from the Araucanian Perspective)

(A good education is the best way to liberty)

In case you all have forgotten, I'M A TEACHER.  That means in spite of all of the adventures I've been writing about in my blog, I actually have an 8:30-4 (sometimes 5) job Monday-Thursday.  

I figured in light of the "Paro", aka strike, because of which I got the day off from school, I would use this free time to give you the low-down of exactly what's going on in the Chilean School System.  (Or at least what I've been able to gather of it from my home down in Araucanía).

---Which by the way,  I was reading a newspaper on the train a couple weeks ago which the front page reading "La Araucanía sigue siendo la región más pobre de Chile".  Translation: Araucanía continues to be the poorest region in Chile.  However in light of this, after speaking with the teachers in my school district and seeing the way things are run in my town, It seems like whatever money Perquenco DOES have, it distributes A LOT of it towards education.  However this doesn't seem to be the case in the vast majority of the country...Interesting.

(By the way, the funny picture to the write is a sign hanging up in the cultural center in Perquenco and translates to: "Less face and more book." hehehe)

Before I go any further there are two words you must learn that play a MAJOR role in the Chilean school system:

Paro= Strike (this can mean the students OR the teachers)

Toma= Litteral translation, to take (meaning that the students take over the school)

These are the two main ways that people in Chile express their discontent with the system.  However, they are so frequent and such a common occurrence that it begs the question, exactly how effective can if be??  The country is so accustom to these practices that both strikes and tomas have become incredibly easy to coordinate and carry out.  They are SO common in fact, that they have become one of the characteristics of the culture here. 

These practices are not exclusive to one part of the country, they occur nation wide.  They occur more often in cities and less often in small towns such as Perquenco. (In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the very LAST volunteer to experience one).  They are typically peaceful, in which the students or teachers simply just don't how up to school, however the events that have been occurring recently in the capital are another story.  

Teachers strike due to being underpaid, the distribution of state/governmental finances, and how the government manages the education system.  --Fun fact: All teachers in Chile get paid by the HOUR! Regardless of how many years they've been working, or whether they're in private or public schools or teach primary or university education-- The strike today for example, is in response to the new education laws created by the government.  The teachers are angry because the government failed to consult them about the changes before they were passed.  They are also protesting that in many areas, not enough municipality funds actually go towards the school system.  The teachers at my school however, were very adamant on  enforcing the fact that this is NOT what is happening in Perquenco, and that they are protesting the national system and not the local one. 

Students strike and take over the school for many different reasons.  I have heard of all sorts of stories and all different reasons for strikes and tomas.  In general, students demand a cheaper/free, better quality of education, more funding for their school, improved classroom conditions, or plain and simply, more attention from the government.  These are the valid reasons of course.  I have also heard of students taking advantage of this strike-oriented system and refusing to go to school for absurd reasons.  At another volunteer's school for example, the school was separated into two different buildings, one of which was undergoing much needed renovations.  So one day the children with classes in the construction building had off from school due to renovations, so in response, the students in the other building went on strike for the day because it wasn't fair that only half of them got off from class.  My other friend, hasn't had class after 1:30 for the past week because all of the students go on strike after lunch and leave school halfway through the day.

Despite these absurd instances, there are strikes and tomas with good intentions as well.  The picture above for example was one I took of a high school in Temuco in toma.  The banner reads: We are prisoners of the neoliberal system where education is a good consumption.  

In the capital: Strikes have been going on in Santiago for the past month or so.  Some schools have been shut down for weeks! My friend Rhodri, another fellow volunteer, has taught at his technical institute in Santiago a total of 6 hours in the past 3 weeks.  The students are demanding educational reform; they want quality public schools and lower costing private universities.  What I've gathered by speaking with various Chileans is that the only way you can get a quality university education, is if you have the money to pay for it.  And the banks put high intrest rates on all of the education loans they distribute.  So very few students can actually afford to get a quality education.  

These particular strikes have gotten rather heated and even violent and have gained the national spotllight.  To the point where an update on the Santiago strikes are the first thing you'll see on whatever chilean TV news station you turn to.  

The police, or carabineros, respond to these protesting students by force.  They battle the protesting crowds fully suited in full out SWAT gear, they use those strong, powerful fire hoses and tear gas, and even beat and arrest some of the students.  The government even went as far as to burn 3 city buses and frame the students in order to taint their reputation and make them seem more extreme and violent in the national eye.

For some crazy photographs of the Santiago strike, click here!!

This strike has filtered its way into other Chilean cities as well.  This past weekend for example, I was walking through Temuco and passing by one of the Universities with two other volunteers, when all of a sudden we were hit by a funny smelling cloud of air.  All of a sudden, our eyes started to water and burn.  The weird tingling smell worked its way into our noses and up far into our nostrils.  The burning sensation then eventually worked its way to the back of our throats and down into our lungs. We were having difficulty seeing and breathing and we had absolutely no idea what or what it was from.  Later that evening, we found out that we had walked through tear gas released by the carabineros to suppress the protesting crowd a the university.  It was awful, and we were just on the tail end of it.  I can't imagine being directly in the crowd that was sprayed.  

Personally, I think it's great that the students are trying to take control of their education and seek reform.  God knows the system needs it.  However, I feel as if their means of protest have become too typical and common to actually make an impact and invoke change.  Then again, I have no idea how else they can speak up and be heard by their government.

In Perquenco: I've found the system here to be a lot different, even encouraging.  Although there are still many obvious things that bother me as an outsider looking in, the system as a whole I think is great.  Principally due to the educators' and administrators' honest intentions and aspirations for improvement.  

There is not much more to Perquenco beyond a few markets, the cultural center and the schools (this includes day care, the elementary school in the town and those of the outlying campo communities and the high school).  Perhaps for this reason, education is a very integral part of Perquenco and receives much attention from the mayor and town as a whole.  My second week here, the mayor held a meeting with all of the educators from the various schools of the commune regarding the future of education in Perquenco.  He wanted to hear the teacher's opinions on the current education system, the good and the bad, what improvements they believed needed to be made and exactly how the changes should go about being done.  He had the teachers work together in collaborative groups and present in front of everyone their reactions and responses to these questions.  

I'm SO glad I got to sit in on the meeting!! I learned SO much about the social issues that Perquenco faces.  For example, the fact that only 25% of their students continue onto a university or technical school after completing high school.  I also began to understand what an integral role the family plays in a student's educational success.  Everything really does start in the home, and if the parents don't stress the importance of education or encourage their kids to be well-rounded children (which I am told very seldom happens in Perquenco) the kids are from there on jaded.  

--Another issue I am beginning to see is that the few that DO receive a higher education, choose not to stay in Perquenco and live elsewhere where there are more jobs.

It's interesting-- and ENCOURAGING-- to see such a small town with such high aspirations and such innovative outlooks.  Unlike the ministry of education, where one of the biggest criticisms is the lack of change and willingness to try anything new or innovative, the educators (for the most part) are open to new ideas and up to try anything new that might bring about a positive result.  

Then again, last week, all of the schools let out early for another teacher meeting-- a movie the town wanted all of the educators to watch.  At first I was thinking "you've gotta be kidding, they let school out early for a MOVIE?!", but then I actually watched it, wow. It's called "La educación prohibida" and is an argentinean documentary about the problems in the Latin American school systems.  It was great to see that many of the issues I had been observing being addressed--and not by North Americans but by Latinos!! What was even better was seeing the positive responses by all of the teachers of Perquenco!! 

It's true that a lot of the issues that frustrate me have a lot more to do with the fundamentals of "the system" and a lot less to do with the individual schools.  It's frustrating because even though the teachers are aware of these issues, there's only so much they can do.  Especially from Perquenco.

But enough about that... I'll leave you on a lighter note of some of the highlights in the classroom.  :)

My first week was observation week, it was pretty much me getting a feel for my classes, my students and the material I'll be teaching as well as giving the students time to warm up to me.  My first hour with each of my classes was just spent with me telling them about myself and them asking me a million different questions.  They were really interested to learn about the United States too!! 

Fun tid bit: They think its absolutely amazing that our seasons are reversed and that it's cold during our Christmas.  So in the first class with my 4th graders, I did the whole introduction and then my head teacher and I taught a lesson. At the end of class the head teacher asked what they learned that day and the first student to raise his hand said "We learned that it SNOWS in Christmas!!!) hahahahaha

(The picture above is me teaching my 6th graders)

I co-teach alongside my head teacher, Lily.  She's awesome and we work really well together! We have a great relationship and I love to talk to her.  Unfortunately her English isn't that great, and because she never has a native speaker to practice with, her pronunciation is always wayyyy off, but she LOVES to learn and is always asking me questions and writing down notes of things I say in english so that she can improve.  It's really admirable. The two of us are always walking around with a notebook and pen in hand jotting down notes of what the other has said so that we can both improve :)

Here's the rundown of my classes: (Most of my classes are in the elementary school)

1 pre-K class

2 first grade classes

1 third grade class

2 fourth grade classes 

2 fifth grade classes

2 sixth grade classes 

3 seventh grade classes (these classes I teach at the high school, or Liceo)

(The ministry said that volunteers are only allowed to teach grades 5-12, --so I'm a very rare case--but I'm quickly learning that all of the ministry's "rules and restrictions" are just a very VERY LOOSE guide haha)

I feel as if I lucked out, none of the other volunteers get to work with the kiddies!! And I love it because I believe that they're younger years are the most important.  A. That's when they soak up the most information B. If you can get them interested and motivated young, then they're sure to learn more in the future.  (And I mean, common! The picture to the right is my pre-K kids... they're ADORABLE!!) 

(Below is a picture of some of my 3rd graders, hard at work)

The kids took to me immediately!! I LOVE going into school every day cause all of them run up to me to give me hugs and kisses and say good morning.

The best part is, that because this is a kissing culture, every time a new class walks into my english room I get about 30 kisses and hellos and every time they leave, another 30 kisses and "chaus".  I'm averaging 200+ kisses a day, I LOVE IT!  :)

Because they're still young, they call me "Tía Rebecca" (Aunt Rebecca) instead of "Profe" or "Teacher" (which is what the other volunteers with older students are called).

To the right is my 1st graders during a SERIOUSLY intense game of Pictionary hahahaha!

And below is my other 1st grade class completely out of control! Mental note: saying "smile for the camera" results in complete and utter chaos.

I these brand-spankin new English text books came in last week for our 1st-4th grade classes, and when we told the kids, they actually cheered and clapped.  They were EXCITED for text books!!  That's certainly one reaction you would NEVER get in the states!!

Tomorrow is the first day of my after school English club!! I decided that kids in both 5th and 6th grade could sign up, but then I had SO many kids that wanted to participate (some of which I didn't even have for class) that I had to break it up into two separate days, one day for each grade.

Last week all of my afternoons were taken up by my 6th graders.  Lily and I picked 3 of the most motivated kids from the class to participate in a regional English Spelling Bee.  So every afternoon I spent with them practicing and preparing them for the Bee.  (They really did study SOO hard, it was great!!)-- I was SO proud!

Then the day of the Bee, we went into Temuco for the competition.  We lost by only a couple of seconds (it was a tie for the amount of words spelled correctly but we lost in the time it took to spell each word).  But either way it was great to see them get so into it, and we finished the day with a nice lunch all together in Temuco.  

(To the right are me and my kids at the Bee with their certificates of participation).

THEN, yesterday, a few of the girls in 5th and 6th grade came knocking on my classroom door looking for me with the cultural director at school.  They were bouncing with excitement and giggles when the professor explained to me that they wanted to teach me the traditional Mapuche dance (about 50% of my students are Mapuche, if not, more!) and then PREFORM it with them durring their school's annual independence day celebration in September (traditional dress and all).  I'm so excited that the students want to share so much with me and that they're so willing to let me, a foreigner only here for 5 months, into their world.   

Below is a picture I took from my classroom window after a HUGE rainstorm.  It might rain a ton here,  and it might be freezing cold and in the middle of no where, but like this rainbow, my experience in Perquenco thus far has been absolutely beautiful.

PS. if you haven't already figured it out, I LOVE TEACHING!!!!

Lost in Translation...Some mistakes can turn out GREAT!

Last Thursday my 6th grade student, Leo, came up to me and explained that he told his family about his new English teacher from the United States and that they now wanted to meet me and take me on a tour of the campo.  Flattered that one of my students actually liked me enough to go home and tell his family about me, I said yes and asked when they would like to give me the tour.  His face immediately lit up when I said yes and he told me we would go tomorrow.
Tomorrow (Friday) rolls around and I get to school around 12 to meet with all of the teachers to watch a movie about the need for education reform in Latin America (La educación prohibida--- if you speak spanish, you should DEFINITELY watch it).  It was then that my teacher informed me that she had spoken to Leo's mom earlier that day and they were all very excited for me to come spend the weekend at their house in the campo, they had a bed prepared for me and everything!! HUH?! When did I sign up for THIS?

Guess I miss understood him a tad bit...story of my life.

If nothing else, living in Latin America teaches you to just go with the flow.  In fact, the number one qualification for this English Opens Doors program is FLEXIBILITY.  We didn't go one day throughout orientation week without them drilling it into our heads at least 3 times.
SO in light of this "Just go with it" mentality, I said, why not? Let's do it.

So I called up my friends, cancelled my weekend plans and quickly ran back to my house and packed my bag for the weekend.  I didn't give myself much time to think about exactly what I was doing, which is probably for the better.  This was honestly the most spontaneous, scary, leap of faith decision I had made thus far in Chile and looking back on it now, I'm glad I didn't give myself the time to over think it and back out.

So off I went into the campo and off to the home of Leo Peñailillo.  I was greeted by him waiting at the front gate to his country home waving with a big smile spread across his face. His mother, Natia, was in the doorway and gave me a huge hug upon meeting me.  Natia showed me inside and to the bedroom of one of her older children that had moved out.  It's mine for the weekend she told me. I have my own bedroom?!

I spent some time settling in and talking to Natia and Leo as Natia prepared Once.  Once Daniel, her husband and Leo's father (also whom greeted me with a big smile and hug), got home from work we sat down at the table to have a HUGE Once/dinner.  There was homemade bread with her homemade raspberry marmelade, honey, cheese, these sweet bananas she sauteed in a pan with butter and sugar (INCREDIBLE), pancakes, longanisa (chilean chorizo-sausage), and pork.
They were so nice and welcoming to me, the true epitome of "Southern Hospitality".  They told me all about their 4 older children all of which had moved out of the house, showed me a million family photos, asked me a bunch of questions about myself and my family and did everything in their power to make sure I felt comfortable and at home.  We talked for the majority of the night drinking jota (red wine and coke) and beer (no Mom, I did NOT get drunk).
This was all followed by some maté in the evening while Leo tried to teach me how to play Poker.....Then chess.  As if these games weren't hard ENOUGH to learn in English... try learning it in Spanish.... by an 11 year old.  But Kutos to me!! Eventually I got the hang of it!! After Leo crushed me in chess three times in a row, of course.  I never won, but at least I was able to save face by the last game.
Laying down in my cozy bed that night, in my own room with TWO uateros (hot water bottles and/or pouches that you fill with hot water and snuggle with to keep warm at night--amazing by the way) I felt SOOO much at home.  It was a great feeling.

That next morning I was woken up at 7:53 am by one of their roosters cocka-doodle-doing outside right below my window.  Natia served me an amazing breakfast of eggs, longanisa and bread with all of the fixings of the night before.  Then we all piled into Daniel's truck (he's a truck driver and delivers wood to all different parts of the country) and wen't to the next town over so that they could buy a bunch of seafood and shellfish to prepare a special Chilean lunch for me.... yeppp you guessed it, more Mariscal--WINNING!!
On the drive back I sat up front and talked to Daniel about his past.  He was in the Chilean army during the Pinochet dictatorship and actually told me I could ask him WHATEVER I wanted--- needless to say, I was like a kid in a candy store.  (For those of your that don't know, a. I'm a MAJOR history dork b. It's veryyyy difficult to get Chileans to talk about the dictatorship and c. I've never met someone who was actually IN the army at the time!!)
As Natia prepared lunch, Leo gave me the grand tour and lowdown of his house:

• They have 7 dogs, 5 of which are newly born PUPPIES!!! (pictures above)
• 4 Cats
• 3 Goose (geese but I don't like to say that cause I think it sounds funny)
• Roosters
• Really friggin happy chickens (which they get all of their eggs from!!!)
• 3 BEE COLONIES where Natia harvests all of her own honey!! ---By the way, I tried this honey and it is absolutely INCREDIBLE.  I've never been able to eat honey by the spoonful... until now.  And she went on to tell me how each year it tastes slightly different based on the type of plants that grow in the area and where the bees collect the nectar.  Apparently last years honey had a slightly minty taste from the Eucalyptus trees in the backyard
• They use 4 different types of eggs in their house: goose eggs (from their own geese), their chicken's eggs (brown), a different type of chicken egg which I never quite got (white), and then Mapuche chicken eggs from the neighbor's house (BLUE!)

Lunch consisted of amazing mariscal filled with muscles, clams, Cochayuyo (a seeweed that grows only in Chile and Southern New Zealand), Piure (some sort of red shellfish thing), erizo (sea urchin!!) and potato.  SOOO yummy!

Joining us for lunch was Natia's brother who came to visit for the weekend as well and their neighbor, an older woman who lives alone... and oh yeah, she's Mapuche!

I barely had time to digest my lunch when Natia started cooking sopaipillas.  And if there is anything the last 3 weeks in Chile have taught me, is that I can NEVER say no to sopaipillas!!  So we all snacked on fried dough dipped in her home harvested honey--heaven-- while Natia and Daniel cooked up a nice big asado and boiled some potatoes.  

To the right, you see the dinner being cooked, there was longanisa, beef, vacuno (baby cow), pork, chicken onions and white wine all roasting on this HUGE, well, I don't know exactly what it was, but Daniel was explaining to me that he welded it himself.  I don't really care what you call it, all thats important is that the meat came out SOOOOOOOO good!!

What a wonderful family they were.  They don't have much, but they certainly don't mind sharing what they DO have, so spending it in order to enjoy life.  A beautiful philosophy in my opinion.

Throughout the course of the weekend, they invited me to spend christmas with them, invited me to their beach house, tried to convince me to dump Preston and marry one of their sons instead, and oh yeah, they told me I was welcome back to their house whenever and as often as I could.  "So, you're going to stay with us every weekend, right?" Daniel repeatedly asked me.  It felt SOOO good to hear that they were enjoying my company as much as I was enjoying theirs.

The next morning was followed by another huge breakfast, but this time, Natia made crepes!! Ahhhh I ate sooooo good that weekend.  The only time I eat so much is at holidays..... but god it was soooo goood! hahaha

Who could have imagined that a weekend at my student's house would turn out so good!  I'm sad to say, that had i fully understood what Leo was inviting me to on Thursday, I probably would have let my "fria gringa" side get the best of me and thought of some dumb excuse not to come.  ---FYI Chileans have an impression that gringos are "fria" or "cold" which very odd behavior to the average chileno (but they're not far off)--- Instead, I'm ever so thankful for the confusion, it was honestly one of the best miscommunications I've ever had!! (And trust me, there's been many!)  It really is true, the best experiences in life are the unexpected, those you don't have time to plan.  They just sort of "happen".  What an incredible family and what a beautiful experience.  I can't wait to go back and see my (second) familia chileana!!!  

Oh, and did I mention they sent me home with 2 jars of honey and a REAL rabbits foot?! (They actually caught the rabbit themselves in their yard hehe)

Winging it in Bío Bío!

Let me tell you a story of what happens when a lonely gringa ventures out into the unknown, with no plan, no bus tickets, and no place to stay.  Just an adventurous spirit and a burning desire for some good 'ol english conversation with people her own age.

Final Destination: Bío Bío (The region just north of Araucanía)

We'll start our quest Friday morning (as this gringa was tactical enough to schedule all of her classes Monday-Thursday leaving Friday-Sunday for aventures). The brisk morning air quickly woke her up as she headed out of the house, backpack and all, on a short walk to the Perquenco bus station, with each step forward, hoping and praying that a. the bus she intended to take did, indeed, exist and b. that said bus would actually come.  As it turns out, it doesn't matter if there is a bus or not, if you're not waiting in the right place for it.  Apparently the idea that a bus would actually pull into the bus station is farrr too radical. But no worries! Crisis averted at the last possible minute when a local yelled over to the poor lost gringa sitting alone by herself at the station that the bus was arriving around the corner.

........3 buses and 5 bus stations later (no, the math is NOT supposed to work out)............

Stop 1:  El Salto del Laja
In Chilean Spanish (yes, they speak a very "particular" type of spanish here-- but that's for another day) Salto means waterfall.

Luckily the people working at the salto were much for receptive to the wandering gringa than those in the various bus stations.  She made friends with a parking attendant, an older, cheerful man who had worked there pretty much his entire life, spending more time chatting it up with travelers than he spent doing his actual job.  He was the type of man you'd want to be your grandfather, HUGE smile, and willing to talk about just about anything.  A great way to pass the time while waiting for a fellow volunteer to meet her at the Salto.  

Once he arrived, the exploration began.  There were trails all around the salto so you could see it at every single angle, from far away, or up close and personal.    It was there that this now team of gringos decided it would be a good plan to get as close to the bottom of the salto as possible and take shelter behind a giant boulder.  One of the gringos came fully prepared, dressed in waterproof clothing from head to toe.  One of them was not as fortunate, walking around for the rest of he day soaked and chilled to the bone.  You can imagine which one THAT was.  But the wet and cold is a small price to pay for the picture (to the right) that resulted from this rash decision.

By a stoke of luck, just as the gringos were headed out with no a clue what to do with themselves or how to do it, the friendly parking attended decided to introduce them to his friend in the tourist information booth...  Boy did they luck out meeting him! It was a match made in heaven.  They, having not a clue in the world where they were headed and him with a look on his face as if he were a 10-year-old on Easter morning.  It was as if the man had worked in that booth his entire lives, and these two gringos were the first that dared to walk in.  A stack of brochures 2 inches thick on every single region in Chile (there are 15 by the way) and three sets of hugs and kisses later, the gringos were off, and finally with a plan.    

Stop 2: Yumbel
Upon the far too anxious tour guide's recommendation they took a local bus to a small cozy town called Yumbel.
Population: 20,000 people.
Main attraction: The Church of San Sebastian.
The church is apparently a main hub of religious tourism, which the gringos are not.  So after a quick walk through the church they passed the rest of their time wandering the beautiful, peaceful streets and taking photographs along their way.  And of course a pit stop to unload their backpacks and snack on some cake and coffee while looking over the mountain of tourist pamphlets they had just recently accumulated.  Not a bad way to pass a Friday afternoon.

Stop 3: Concepción

The two gringos eventually left the calm little town, and arrived in the big bustling city of Concepción, the capital of Bío Bío.  They were soon met by two more friends, both of whom were also desperate for gringo contact.

--There's strength in numbers.

After trekking up and down the city in a very failed attempt to find a halfway decent hostel to stay in, they decided to suck it up and split a hotel room.. SOOO WORTH IT. 

After dropping their stuff off they set out for a night on the town.  For these gringos, it had been their first time eating out at a restaurant, their first time conversing with people their own age, and their first night out past 9 since they've arrived at their placements.  Dinner, above, consisted of a typical Chilean plate called "Bife a lo Pobre" (translation: beef to the poor) aka french fries topped with beef, fried egg, and onion dipped in a delicious aji sauce, and of course accompanied by the Chilean drink of choice, Pisco and coke. Needless to say, the 4 of them made up a rather slaphappy crowd, making a scene and living up to each and every obnoxious gringo stereotype there is.  Oh well, they would do it all again if they had the chance. 

Stop 4: Talcahuano
They set out early the next morning for the tour guide's 2nd recommendation; a peninsula to the west of the city called Talcahuano.
Talcahuano is named after an Araucanían chief of the indigenous Mapuche and translates to "Cielo Tronador" or "Thundering Sky".  It marks the mouth of the BioBío River.
It's a HUGE fishing port, so you can find seafood just about anywhere.  To the right is one of the local fish markets along the water that the gringos were bold enough to venture into.  Needless to say, the locals were not accustomed to seeing gringo tourists. (Chilean tourists, yes, but gringos not in the slightest).  However they were delightfully receptive, posing for their pictures and offering them free samples of today's catch.

The group stopped in one of the markets to refuel, anxious to get their hands on some fresh mariscos (shellfish), as many of them live in the campo where the protein of choice is always meat.
To the right, is a typical chilean dish as well called "Mariscal".  It can be served hot or cold, however this gringa was wayyy too scared to try the cold uncooked version.  It includes an assortment of all types of shellfish, octopus, eel and other unidentified sea food topped with cilantro.  The dish comes out sizzling in a hot cazuela where at the very last minute, an egg is cracked across the top and cooks as the dish is being served to the table.


After a more than filling lunch, the gringos continued on where they ran into some men offering to take them around the peninsula on a boat tour.  After some tactical bargaining by yours truly, we boarded the boat and began our tour.  Besides the beautiful view of the harbor and shore, we passed a Chilean Naval base with a ship docked in the harbor left over from the War of the Pacific, along with many shipwrecks that have accumulated from the various earthquakes and tsunamis that strike the region.

Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the entire port is swarming with lobos (sea lions)??  One lonely lion, looking for love in all the wrong places, managed to shimmy himself all the way up to the fish market!! It was a rather startling site as the gringos leaving the market were blocked by an unexpected buddy just hanging out right in the doorway.

Aside from the coast, the entire town is built along rolling hills **Tsunami rule of thumb: head for the hills** (but really, it's written on signs along the entire city)

To conclude their wonderful day, the english speaking pack decided to make their way up the highest hill to get a view from the top.  They were pleasantly greeted by a fully equipped playground at the peak of the cerro, which of course being gringos, they had no choice but to help themselves to.

Another fun night on the town in Concepción followed this lovely day, but this time, the gringos found themselves some Chileans to befriend who took them under their wing and took them out to a huge club smack dab in the middle of suburbia.  

Stop 5: Lota

Needless to say, the next morning started out slow, but it started none the less.  The gringos had to gather their stuff, check out of the hotel, and lug all of their belongings with them to their 5th and final destination, Lota, an old mining town with so many hidden wonders.

Lota is another costal town, located an hour an a half south of Concepcion by bus.  Another town with rolling hills and lined with different colored houses.  It sounds like all of the rest, but Lota is absolutely breathtaking.  Another place where gringos clearly don't belong, but the people of Lota were happy to have us none the less.
First stop, lunch at another market, but this was an even bigger hit!! To start out, Sopapillas with aji (fried dough, my guilty chilean pleasure) with "ponche de mariscos" (a fisherman's drink containing alcohol, shellfish juice and an egg-I still shutter thinking about it, but it's a cultural experience I suppose).  Followed by another serving of Mariscal, and topped off with the most amazing empanada this gringa has ever had in her entire life.  Empanada de jaiva y queso, translation: crabmeat and cheese fried empanada. Amazing.

After lunch the pack set out to explore the city, backpacks and all.  One lesson that was learned rather quickly about Lota: Sunday Funday.  Every local they ran into that day was borracho (drunk), anxious to talk to them and play the 20 questions game, and then personally escort them to where ever they were looking to go. In the particular situation you see to your right, while the gringos were taking cover from the pouring rain they managed to get stuck in, they were invaded by a pack of crazy dogs in heat.  3 males, 1 female quickly turned into more of a gang rape.  Just moments after this photo was taken, they were accompanied by yet another guest; a drunk old man with missing teeth that waltzed up to them pointing and laughing saying "¡Estan mojandose!" Translation: You're all getting yourselves soaked! As if they hadn't already noticed.

On that note, they decided rain, or no rain, it was time for a change of scenery.  Out they went, in search of the beach and a view of the ocean.

This is just a small peak at just how out of place our gringos looked at the moment...

The gringos finally arrived at their destination, atop a gigantic rock formation jetting out into the ocean.  It was here that they posted up to admire the view and reflect on their trip for the remainder of their time in Lota. (That's your'se truly down below!)

And truly what an incredible view it was!

Because all gringos love cliques, it is appropriate to end here stating that they clearly saved the best for last....

Good 'ol Southern Hospitality- Getting to know Perquenco

Hello again everyone!!

So unfortunately my first week of classes (observation week) was pushed back an entire week, so I don't actually start in the classroom until Monday.  In the meantime, the director of the Perquenco Education System, Hans, took it upon himself to show me around and give me the grand tour of the commune.

Some background info:
Perquenco is a commune in Araucanía (for those of you who STILL haven't taken the time to look it up on the map, I've done all of the work for you: to the right is Araucanía in relation to the rest of the country and below is Perquenco in relation to Araucanía).
The whole commune spans across 330.7 km² and has 6,500 people.  3,500 of those people live in el campo (the countryside) and the rest, 3,000--one of those being me--live in the main town.
In the center of town, there are two pre-schools, one escuela primera (grades k-6) and one escuela secundaria (grades 7-12).  Then there's the campo, which consists mainly of Mapuche inhabitants.  There are three main surrounding Mapuche communities which make up the majority of the campo.  Each of these communities have their own pre-k school and escuela primera.

Mapuche:
The history of the Mapuche is pretty cool.  They are a group of indigenous people whose culture and population have endured and successfully resisted many attempts by the Incan Empire to subjugate them AND the Spanish Conquest.  So ultimately they have survived for centuries and still exist today in the south of Chile (almost all of them residing in Araucanía).  They now make up 4% of the Chilean population and there are 3 communities in Perquenco!!

For years and still to this day, there exists a lot of discrimination against the indigenous people in Chile, and specifically in this region, against the Mapuche.  --Take a minute to think of the racial slurs we have in the US.... in Chile, the racial slur is "Indio", translating to Indian in English--
The Mapuche are in a constant struggle to gain back the land that was taken from them by the Spanish and their people are torn between the Chilean and Mapuche culture.  I've asked a couple of the residents in Perquenco about this and all of them have told me the same thing, that the Mapuche are always asking for more land, because they have very little, but what they do have, they're too lazy to do anything with it.  Because of the generations of bad blood between them and the Chileans, many of them are ashamed of their heritage and refuse to speak their language or practice their traditions. 

Back to my day....

Hans decided that as apart of my Perquenco tour, he would bring me out to the Mapuche communities and visit the schools!! So off we went into the campo to drive through the Mapuche communities and visit all of the schools in action so that I could get a well rounded view of all of the people of Perquenco and the realities of my students. 
Everyone has told me that Perquenco is an impovershed town, but I have to say, it is nothing like the campo.  That's where the real poverty is.  There's lots of farms, pigs, horses, cows and chickens everywhere!! All of the roads are dirt and it takes quite some driving off the beaten path to get to some of these communities.  But like I said before, the view and the landscapes along the way are breathtaking!

So we visited the school and spoke with the teachers and I learned that in each of the schools there is a very steady balance between Chilean and Mapuche culture that the teachers and administrators strive to enforce.  The children learn songs in their native Mapuche tong and practice traditions such as traditional dance, dress and celebrate holidays so that they can grow up and be proud of their culture rather than be ashamed of it.  To the right for example you see two members of the community building a "ruca".  This is the traditional Mapuche housing structure that the community is trying to re-create for the children on the school grounds. 

All the while the children continue to learn Spanish and learn of Chilean culture and history as well.  I think this is absolutely wonderful!! It was so inspiring to see the children getting the same lesson that other Chileans receive but in a classroom draped with Mapuche flags, art, instruments and costumes along the walls.

It was hilarious to see their wide eyes and listen to their "ohh's" and "awww's" when Hans told them that I was a "special visitor all the way from the United States", Hahahaha!!  They were so cute!!!!

And each class sang me one of their Mapuche songs in order to thank me for coming out to visit them.  It was SOOOOO great!!!!!!
It got be all the more excited to be here and anxious to learn more about the Mapuche people and their culture!

HACE FRIO...

For those of you that don't know spanish, "Hace Frio" means It's cold...

SO, life is definitely different alright...  If you've spoke to me via facebook or skype already I'm sure I've already told you all about it.. but for those of you who are complaining of the heat up there in summer.....

Climate:
Araucanía is in the south of Chile (reminder, south=cold aka closer to Antarctica)
Currently, of the 5 days I've been here it's rained 4 of them.  And judging by the rain pounding down on the roof right now as if the end of the world is near... it doesn't sound like it'll let up any time soon.  One of the days the wind was so strong that you couldn't even have a conversation--indoors--because it was so loud.  (I'm exaggerating of course, but you get the picture) It started to get borderline violent outside, but when I expressed my concern, my host mom replied--THIS?! Ohhh nooooooo! THIS is nothing.. just wait until next month when the wind REALLY starts---great. Can't wait.

Temperature:
As far as temperature, it's not actually as cold as I initially thought it would be, or every day before I step out of the house for the first time.. it usually varies from 40-50 degrees each day (20-30 at night).  However, its the lack of central heating that really gets ya!!  Every morning I wake up and somehow manage to drag myself out of bed and get dressed. By the time I brush my teeth, use the bathroom and make my way to the kitchen I have already lost feeling in my fingers and toes.  Then finally when I go to leave the house I take a big deep breath, open the door and take a step outside, just to be relieved when I realize its the EXACT SAME TEMPERATURE OUTSIDE.  I never knew something to be so relieving and heartbreaking at the same time. Then again... mornings are the worst... it warms up SOOO much more durring the day, thank god!!

Heating:
Heating is only used at lunch and in the evening when everyone is in the house.  My family has two wooden stoves to warm the house.  (This meaning that first, my host dad must go outside to chop firewood, make a fire in the stove, and then let it burn long enough to begin to finally radiate heat--makes your really appreciate what's keeping you warm) The first, above, is in the doorway of the house and close to three of the bedrooms.  We use this to heat the bedrooms and dry our clothing after it comes out of the washing machine--no dryers, eco-friendly :). The second one, to the right, is the main one located in the kitchen.  This is the one that works the best and radiates the most heat so naturally everyone hangs out in the kitchen at night to get a part of the action.  The big white thing above is what heats the water in the house.  So that in addition to a water heater in the bathroom, must both be lit before taking a shower.
As far as sleeping goes, my room is on the far corner of the house and two of its walls are huge bay windows... so naturally its the coldest room.  BUT I have a system... (created by my host mom of course) One of the windows have a huge wooden board against it meant to keep out the cold air.  In the daytime, I open the long drapes and shades to let the sunlight enter and warm the room.  Then when the sun starts to go down I draw the shades and close the drapes.  *Very important: keep the door closed at all times* Then at night, I shower RIGHT before going to bed so I can regain a bit of my body heat... then I get under about 10 pounds of blankets (literally, I'm so weighed down under these covers, I can't even move, just the way I like it).  The last and possibly most crucial detail of all.... That sexy guy you see me posing with to the left, his name is Wilson.  He has become my best friend here in Perquenco and I curl up nice and close to him every night.  We snuggle, big time-- sorry Preston.
The first word I learned when I got here was "ladrillo".  That's Spanish for "brick".  Apparently the popular way to keep warm at night under your covers is to take a brick that has been heating in the stove all day, wrap it up in linen and curl up around it in bed... so this brings us to Wilson, MY ladrillo. He's the best friend a girl could ever have. 
So that's that. Trust me, there are plenty of other new and interesting tid bits about Chilean life, but I'll save that for another day.  For now, all you get is me crying over the cold.  I'm a baby, I know.  Till next time folks!

Oh yeah, and this is Wilson heating up in the oven... isn't he cute?!