Andrew´s Year in Chile with Project Trust: 2
months into my Chilean adventure
30/10/2015
Greetings
all,
It´s hard
to believe that two months have already passed since I packed my bags and
travelled half the way round the world to Chile, to spend a year living and working
in Valparaiso. Things are going really well out here and I am really enjoying
being busier and more involved in the school. The extra classes and
co-curricular activities are all finally up and running and we had our first
proper travel experience up north to La Sarena and the surrounding area.
The
Scottish Culture and English language class is into its fifth week and on
Tuesday we had a record 16 pupils attending for a test on all the content
covered to date including traditional dances, festivals and national days. I am
now able to deliver the 45 minute culture section almost entirely in Spanish
which is great and the challenge for the coming weeks is to make this section
more interactive and engaging (any ideas most welcome). The plan is for the pupils to present all
that they have learnt about Scotland on the 30th November when we
hold the school´s first St Andrews Day ceilidh.
We are also
making good progress in the teacher´s class, working through the tenses, which
although tedious and slightly confusing to teach at times, will provide the
basis upon which considerable progress can be made over the course of the year.
We have now done the Gay Gordons and Canadian Barn Dance, and despite a severe
lack of timing the kids seem to really enjoy the ceilidh classes and getting
involved in the dancing is good fun!
I haven´t
got round to giving the guitar a proper shot yet, but the music teacher has
agreed to give us guitar lessons in return for teaching him English, which is
great. I am still running and now cycling a bit too, and as the days get longer
and hotter I am going to try to run every day. We are still exploring the city by foot too
and one of my favorite spots is Paseo Atkinson, from which the port, city,
Pacific Ocean, nearby hills and the snow capped Andes combine to make one very
special view.
I really
enjoyed my Chilean birthday; we visited the nearby coastal village of Quintay, an
ex whaling centre which stopped operating in 1947 and in the evening had a ´asado´
(bbq) with the family and some other volunteers. After having a cake thrown in
my face (family tradition), we headed out and enjoyed traditional South
American music and dancing, mainly Cumbia, although Regaetton and Salsa, among
others, are very popular out here too! We also went to the niece´s graduation
party, an enjoyable night of music, dancing and meeting new people and caught
up with some of the other volunteers in Santiago.
Football is
massive out here, and we have enjoyed the excitement of watching Chile play on
TV. However, I will never agree with the family’s view that Alexis Sanchez is
better than Messi!! I am hoping to find a group to play some 5 a side football
with, as meeting and chatting to Chileans is arguably the best way to improve
my Spanish.
The Chilean
calendar has many ´dias feriados´ (public holidays) and so far we have had two
to celebrate ´el dia del profesor´ and the founding of South America by
Christopher Columbus in 1498. We used this opportunity of a long weekend to
explore a different part of Chile and were kindly invited to go north to La
Serena by one of our fellow English teachers. First stop was the Elqui Valley, and
the beautiful Ruta de Las Estrellas, which wound through the surrounding hills
towards the Andes. They certainly provided a picturesque backdrop to the reservoir
near Vicuna, and I particularly enjoyed having lunch at a solar restaurant which
used only the sun to cook delicious food! We also tried the famous local pisco
(traditional Chilean spirit) and fresh fruit juice of the locally produced
copado fruit.
The stunning Elqui Valley
The next
day we visted Coquimbo and Tongoy, some of the places affected most by last
month´s earthquake. Also had a lovely walk along the beach at Guanaquero, and
it was interesting to see the effects of last month’s events upon the landscape
as much of the beach at La Serena and Coquimbo had been destroyed by the
tsunami. In Tongoy we witnessed some of the rebuilding process taking place,
which was a strong reminder of the need for national and community unity in
times of hardship.
As a future
law student; I was particularly interested in the new law introduced in Chile
last week which principally recognizes the unions of same sex couples. Given
that the Catholic Church prohibits gay marriage, I am happy that this new law
will go some way to improving the lives and statuses of gay couples within
Chile.
Time is
flying by and it´s now just over 5 weeks until the summer holidays! These weeks
will no doubt be very busy but I´m looking forward to them and to the summers
travelling. The plan is to head south with my family when they come out before
New Year and then in the new year to do Northern Chile, Peru and Bolivia with
the other volunteers.
Eso es todo amigos. Muchas
gracias por leer mi blog!
Best wishes,
Andrew
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