Protests, Protests & More Protests!

First off, I hope everyone is doing well!  I know that there are things to be worrying about in the United States such as hurricanes and random earthquakes…you are all in my prayers and I am hoping for health & safety for all.  Last weekend was fantastic here in Iquique.  Like I promised myself, I went every night during the weekend, and met a TON of new friends.  My Spanish is improving and so are my social relationships.  Finally, I can count my friends on three hands, not just one woooooooooo!

This past week has been very interesting here in Chile.  Monday, I had off from school…so that just meant Sunday night turned into another weekend night spent with friends at our favorite pub called “Papa Gallos.”  Monday was a very relaxing day, I took off to the beach with my friends Cat, Felipe, and Cristian and listened to Cat and Cristian play the guitar all afternoon.  It was a great cultural exchange of language and music and it passed with “buena onda” and was an overall a positive experience.  Tuesday was just a normal day at school; however, there was lots of tension due to the fact that Wednesday and Thursday were going to be days of national “paro” or strike.  The school that I am teaching at, Colegio Ingles, is owned by the Methodist Church and therefore does not participate in these types of protests.  However, the problem lies in the fact that half of the teachers at this school belong to the work union and feel as if they should have the opportunity to protest, and in the end of the day our director told us that we would NOT be participating in the “paro” on Wednesday and Thursday.  Deep down, I was slightly bummed because I would have liked to have two more days of fun.  However, due to the fact that I am working for the government, I knew that it would be in my best interest to attend classes as if it were another normal day, so that is what I did…

However, I was not surprised when I got to school and I only had about five students in each of my classes.  Talk about frustrating.  Not to mention the fact that the teachers that are part of the work union were protesting by sitting in the teachers lounge and refusing to teach classes.  They were told that if they did not teach their classes that they would not be paid for the two days of paro.  So that is what they did, they left the school and joined the rest of the protesters outside in the plaza.  I thought this was an extremely bold move by these professors, HOWEVER, I feel that everyone has the right to protest and I am proud that they are working towards what they believe in.  I finished out the day and showed up at the protest later where I met up with friends to show them my support as a friend.  (I still have not developed my own critical perspective on what I think about the protests here in Chile so I will state that I was there to support my friends and not as much the cause). At the end of this I will post two different links that describe the protests here in Chile.  Why they are happening?  Who is participating? Etc.

Unfortunately, after this I became very ill.  I knew that this had been coming for weeks, as I kept feeling a little bit sick but it had never fully developed into a full blown cold. I was up all of Wednesday night with a 103 fever and having troubles breathing (yes, this sickness literally slapped me across the face). When Thursday morning rolled around, even though we had classes, I decided that it would be in my best interest as well as the students that I did not go to work.  I spent all of Thursday and Friday in my bed.  I slept approximately 20 hrs within two days.  It helped a lot but it still didn’t do the trick.  It’s Sunday and I am still feeling lots of pressure built up in my lungs.  I am thinking if it doesn’t go away by Tuesday or Wednesday that I will head to the doctor just to make sure that everything is okay.  It is no fun being this ill when you are in another country, yet alone living in someone else’s house.  But, I must say, that I have been taken care of very well here.  Artemio and Sonia, my host parents, have both been very helpful with my needs and actually told me that I was not allowed to go out last night! It’s nice to know that I have people who are looking out for me here.  Because I know myself, I do not like to miss things…and I would have definitely not taken care of myself if they hadn’t been here.

Just recently I bought my tickets to go to Santiago and to Valparaiso for my birthday weekend.  It will be fun to reunite with friends and family during that long weekend.  Incase some of you didn’t know I studied abroad in Valparaiso two years ago. Besides this trip, I am planning another trip to Bolivia at the end of October.  I will have to go to the clinic here to get a yellow fever vaccination; hopefully it will not be too expensive.  My “Chilean Aunt” works in the hospital as a nurse so I will ask here where it will be best to receive one of these injections.  The reason that I have chosen to travel to Bolivia is because, why not!?  Although it may be a little dangerous, I have met many people now that have traveled throughout Bolivia and they have told me that it is definitely worth the trip.  By this time I will also have my Chilean resident card (carnet), so I will not have to pay the hefty fee that it costs for the Visa if you are an American Passport holder.  Lucky me!

Here is a great link that will help you further understand the protests about education here in Chile: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14487555

This next link is a video about a protest that happened in Santiago, the capital.  I love the idea so I thought that I would share it! Enjoy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14066467

I have been thinking about you all often.  I really would love an update from you.  My email is sschn23@gmail.com  I would love to hear from you even if you only have time to write a quick line.  It would mean a lot! Miss you all and love you tons!

My Weekend in Tacna, Peru

Tacna, Peru

All good and merry here.  Just sitting in my classroom killing time before I have to work with the debate team at 4:30. It’s freezing today and the waves are huge.  There have been search teams out all day because there is a missing surfer out in the water.  I am 100% sure that he is dead but it is very unnerving that they have not been able to find his body in over 48 hours.  I just pray for his family and all of his friends!

This past weekend I took a trip to Tacna, Peru and I’ll just begin by saying…it was very interesting.  I left Friday morning at 7AM and took a taxi to the bus station where I had a five-hour trip up to Arica (the most northern part of Chile). I can sleep through anything, and I mean anything and I have NEVER, in. my. Life. Experienced someone snore as loud as this man did during the entire 5- hour bus ride.  I do not know what pill this man took to sleep but he was OUT cold and he was louudddddddddddddddd! I should have known this was a sign for how the rest of the weekend was going to play out but I tried to stay positive and patient.

After arriving in Arica I felt like a sheep as I was herded into another terminal where I was overwhelmed with a million taxi drivers shoving tickets and papers in my face.  Eventually finding a man that appeared semi-sane, I hoped into his taxi and I began my trip across the border to Peru.  First we had to stop at the Chilean border where we had to show all of our travel documents and have our car checked.  About fifteen minutes later we hit the border control of Peru where we all had to exit the car, once again show our travel documents, and put our bags through security clearance.  Luckily, there were no problems and we were smooth sailing into Tacna. 

I was then dropped off at ANOTHER terminal where I located a local taxi that would take me to my hotel so I could finally put all of my things down.  3 soles later (about 1 dollar) I arrived at “Hotel Premier” which is where I THOUGHT I would be spending my two nights in Peru.  However, after talking with the receptionist it was obvious that there was some type of “miscommunication” and my reservation had not been confirmed!  Well, great!  I am in small town in Peru with nowhere to stay during a holiday weekend!

As a normal person may become extremely concerned during a situation like this, I feel like these problems happen to me quite frequently during my travels. So, I put my panic aside and set off for the street.  After asking what felt like a million people, I found a woman who told me that she had a vacant room.  Following her down the street and up a very sketchy staircase I was pleased to find a very basic, suitable room for the weekend and in total paid 40 soles which is about 15 dollars for two nights. Not too shabby after all.

The rest of Friday I roamed the streets of Tacna looking at all of the different markets and shops.  It was a pleasant afternoon with a lot of sun and warmth and this definitely helped with my misfortune from earlier in the day.  That night I took a nap until about 10PM, woke up, went out, ate cena (dinner) and then hit the town!  There was a bar about ten minutes from where I was staying and there was live music all night!  My friend Cat and I were getting tired of beer, so we decided to spice our night up a little bit by ordering ourselves a mixed drink.  We kept saying “remember that time, in Tacna, when we drank “electric lemonades?”  Yes, I do remember, and I remember how absolutely terrible those drinks were!  The term “mixed drink” does not exist in South America.  Typically, you receive a drink with straight alcohol and MAYBE, just maybe you will get a small coke on the side.  If you’re not the hard liquor type of person it is probably best to stick with beer or wine.

The next morning I woke up with high spirits and was looking forward to the new day.  In my free state of mind I decided that I would go to the hair salon and get my roots fixed!  What started as a great idea, ended quite differently with orange roots and a Peruvian Mullet. Not going to go further into details but you should know…that it was bad, reallllllllly bad.  I will post pictures on facebook later, and you will notice that I am wearing a headband in about 3/4s of all of them.  This is to hide my pathetic, pitiful hair. BUT, when all goes wrong there is nothing better to do than to laugh and carry on.  So, I spent the rest of the day shopping at the market and drinking beer.  Turned out to be a great afternoon/night of practicing Spanish and meeting new people.

My last day in Tacna, I woke up with orange hair and thought “why not get the hell out of here so I can get home to Iquique and fix my hair before I have to teach on Tuesday?” So that is exactly what I did.  I woke up around 10AM, packed my bags, and started my long, confusing journey back to Iquique. Hoping to switch my bus tickets from a 5PM departure to an earlier one in Arica I rushed to find a taxi that would get me back in time.  BUT OF COURSE I arrived back to Arica 10 minutes too late and had to wait an entire 6 hours for my original 5PM bus.  Really, I have no luck.  Fortunately, my bus ride home was uneventful and I was greeted by my host family at the bus terminal. 

That night I spent drinking chelas “beers” with my host brothers and friend Cristihian.  It was a funny night with a lot of laughing and it definitely made up for the disappointing weekend in Peru.

My apologies for not writing as much (cough cough Aunt Carol)!! I have been feeling guilty and I promise to update more frequently! I hope that everyone is doing well back in the United States.  I think about you all quite often.  Like I’ve already mentioned, things here are still going wonderfully.  I am super happy with every aspect of my life.  My hair is fixed and of course all of my students have noticed the slight change.  They all laughed at the fact that I had orange hair- they just don’t understand blondes here!

Miss everyone a lot,

Love,

Sarah

The Working Life

There was no way that I could have made a blog post after last week.  I had my first week of observing in a classroom and let me tell you-it was exhausting.  By the time I got home after class and the debate team I was falling asleep around 9pm every night! 

I will start by describing everything there is to know about the school that I am working at.  First off, the name of the school is Colegio Ingles and I learned that in the past it was exclusively for bilingual individuals. Being semi-private and owned by the Methodist Church the school is one of the best in Iquique.  This is extremely beneficial for me because they are helping pay for my transportation to and from school everyday and I am given breakfast and lunch.  I have my own classroom, room 314, and it overlooks the beach and city (photos will come shortly!).  Like I mentioned in my previous post I am teaching juniors and seniors in high school. Although at times very frustrating, I think that it is best that I am working with the older students.  I have already had some really funny moments and I think that they kids are going to learn a lot from having a gringa teach their classes.

As far as my schedule goes, I teach six, forty-five minute classes Monday through Thursday.  With breaks throughout the day, my earliest class is at 7:45AM and my last is finished at 3:45PM.  Directly after my last class I have to head to another classroom to help with the debate team.  Each year, the Chilean Ministry of Education holds debate competitions in all of the regions of Chile so that the students can work on their English and learn how to speak in a professional way.  Students have to apply and interview to be on the team and only the best are asked to represent their schools.  I am currently working with six students and we have to find information on whether or not the Internet is the opium of the masses.  Being an extremely competitive and confrontational person I thoroughly enjoy being their coach and look forward to the competition at the end of August.

I have to say that I have a new respect for anyone that has taught before.  Teaching is an extremely difficult job and it takes a lot of hard work and patience.  My students thus far have proved to be very intelligent and they hold a decent level of English.  I have to say the most challenging thing about my position as a teacher is the fact that I am teaching classes related to business, electronics, and mining: Three topics that I know absolutely nothing about! AND I FORGOT TO MENTION, the best part about this whole situation is that THE KIDS HAVE NO IDEA THAT I CAN SPEAK/UNDERSTAND SPANISH!!!!!  So the first few days were hysterical hearing what the horny little 17 and 18 year olds had to say about my “exotic” self.  Not to toot my own horn…but the classes also received a lecture because the other teachers found multiple desks that had carvings that read, “I love miss Sarah” on them.  Oh the sweet angels.

This past weekend was just okay.  Friday night, after a long week of observing all I needed was a stiff drink.  I went out with another American, Cat, from New Hampshire and we shared a few beers in the center of the city.  Saturday morning I slept late and then was paraded around by one of my host brothers to 2 different friend’s houses.  I also found out that he was using me to get out of work telling his boss that he had an American staying with him that “doesn’t speak Spanish” and informed her that he needed to accompany me at all points during the day.  What a little shit! Saturday night was spent at my co-teachers house celebrating her eleven-year-old son’s birthday.  It was the most impressive birthday party I have ever been to.  There was a rented trampoline, tons of food, and music videos were being projected onto different walls throughout the house.  I stayed until almost one in the morning celebrating, drinking tea and eating LOTS of cake! Sunday is family day.  I woke up early and took a long walk on the beach.  Following this, I spent the day with my host brothers and their friends just hanging out at a local beach.  It was fun to spend time with them since I don’t have lots of time during the week.  That night my entire Chilean family went to the mall to eat a family dinner- 5 star dining.

My host family is wonderful.  I really have nothing negative to say about my experience with them so far.  Sonia, my host mother works in a bakery and I rarely get to see her.  She typically works in the evenings not coming home until one or two in the morning and I am already sleeping by this point since I have to wake up so early in the morning.  When I do spend time with her, it is really great.  I can tell she really enjoys having me around because there are no other girls in the house.  My host father is the cutest little old man I have ever seen.  He takes the role of the “stay at home mom” doing the laundry and cooking all of the meals.  My host father is one of the most simple and patient men I have ever met. Then we have Marcelo, my oldest brother of 30 years who is currently going through a divorce and has decided to live with us along with his two sons Rodgrigo and Sebastian.  They are here about 4 days out of the week. Next we have Santiago.  My dearest Santiago.  I have gotten along best with him so far since he is closest to me in age and maturity.  I also enjoy spending time with him because, unlike my other brother (I will explain in a second), he likes to speak with me in Spanish.  Artemio, my 20-year-old brother has given me the most difficult time so far. He is probably one of the nicest people that I have ever met but he is also the most jealous/protective.  He has serious issues with me hanging out with Santiago and is often times trying to figure out my business.  In addition to this, he is constantly speaking English.  His English is fantastic and when I get home after teaching all day I would really like to practice my Spanish.  He just doesn’t get it.  THEN, I have my precious Javier (my cousin) who spends a large amount of his time at my house.  He is four and I am in absolute love with him.  I am teaching him English and in return he makes me laugh hysterically.

Overall, like I said before I am adjusting well.  This weekend I am planning to go out with Santiago and his friends so I can start working on my social life here! Maybe find a pololo (boyfriend) so I can practice my Spanish? WHO KNOWS?

Missing everyone tons!  Please feel free to email me at any point to update me on your lives-I would really like that =)

Love,

Sarita