Lana de Llama

Sunday

Well I'm here!! I've been here for about a week now. In Chile anyway. The flight was looooong and boring. Planes are noisy! And it was so warm that when we got outside the airport in Santiago we were glad that it was cold so that we could cool down. We met our country rep Claire and took some taxis to a youth hostel. It was a bit strange driving down the road with the Andies right in front of us.
The first thing we found out about Chile is that there are stray dogs (callejeros) EVERYWHERE! It's hard not to feel bad for them when it's raining and cold but they're used to it. And everyone is used to them. They don't even look at them and the dogs don't really go near people.
Anyway, when we got to the hostel the volunteers that are living in Santiago were picked up by their host families the rest of us went to Andrew's house (the deputy rep). Unfortunately our taxi driver didn't know where he was going and neither did we. Four of us ended up being dropped off in the middle of the street with no idea what to do next. Eventually we asked a lady if we could borrow her phone. It turned out that she could speak really good English and she invited us into her house. We used her phone and eventually got in touch with Claire who sounded quite worried. Anyway, we made it to Andrews eventually and had a really nice lunch.

Monday

On Monday there were 6 of us left and we spent the day in Santiago before taking our night buses to our projects. We took the tube to Santa Lucia and climbed up a big hill/castle and ended up with a great view of the Andies over Santiago.

the Andies over Santiago

It was really hot as well which was unexpected. We went down to an indoor market and all bought alpaca or llama gloves, socks, jumpers or hats. They're really cheap as well. And warm. And we experienced our first tongue twister in trying to pronounce lana de llama (llama wool). We had a really nice day prowling Santiago. The graffiti there is much more like art than back home. 

Tuesday

Getting the bus on Monday night was a bit of a stress because the taxi driver was late. We had to run into the bus terminal and try not to panic to find our bus. We arrived in Lautaro at 6 in the morning after a very nice journey. The seats were very comfortable and the conductor put pillows behind our heads and blankets on our laps. Amina nearly died from comfort. 

Lautaro is cold! We had to put on all the jumpers we could find while we were waiting to be picked up by Margot. She took us to her restaurant to have breakfast then she took us to our new family. Ruth, our new mum, is very nice. Even though me and Amina don't speak great Spanish we manage to have conversations. Our house is very warm because of the fire that is on all day. You have to remember to keep all the doors open so that heat gets into all the rooms, except the bathroom. If that door is left open the whole house freezes. Here comes the flaw in the otherwise perfect relationship between me and Amina, she always forgets to close that door! 

We slept for most of the afternoon and tried to learn some Spanish when we were up. Ruth cooks us very big meals. Almuersa is lunch and is the biggest meal of the day. Although don't come here expecting a small dinner, or once, because it is pretty big too. I put all my pictures on my wall and this is the one that makes me laugh the most:

... love you mum :D

Wednesday

We prepare our own breakfast in the morning which is basically bread. You have bread with everything here. I've probably eaten more bread in 5 days that I usually do in a month. You have it with manja which is kind of like caramel. It's very sweet and very nice. 

Margot took us to the municipalidad on Wednesday and introduced us to the staff in the education department. The sport teacher said she would teach us cueca, the traditional dance of Chile. Then she took us to school number 6 in Lautaro. There are a lot of schools. School 6 is 12 blocks up from our house but it's down the same avenue so it's not very difficult to get to. She introduced us to the teachers and one of the classes. The kids are all so cute and friendly. 

I like that during the day you can hear people chopping their firewood and dogs barking. Lautaro smells like wood smoke, no matter where you go. Our beds have literally about 5 layers so they are very warm. I never want to get out in the morning, although actually that's not true because I'm always so excited!

Thursday

Thursday was our first full day of school. Granted we did volunteer to work but isn't that what we're here for? We were with Ingrid the English teacher all day. Our first class was with some kids that were 8 years old. They asked us lots of questions in English and had a lot of fun trying to say our names. Then we helped them learn how to say 'I like...' It was fun.

The second class were 14 years old. One boy wanted to date Amina. There was a group of girls who REALLY LOVE ONE DIRECTION. They told us that about 10 times. Amina joked that we knew them and one girl nearly fainted. Seriously they'll be asking if we know the queen next! We ended up just chatting to them for the whole lesson but they were so eager it wasn't hard. At breaks if we walked through the corridors we would get swamped by kids. The little ones run up to you and give you hugs and shout 'Hola Tia!' Everywhere you go is 'Tia! Tia! Tia!' They're so cute though. Our 3rd class was 6 year olds and we had to test them on buildings in English. Most were really good.

After lunch we helped test three children in Grade 6, who were going to be in a spelling bee on Friday. They had to learn 300 words! My accent threw off Hernan a bit but we worked it out. 

I love walking through Lautaro was seeing everything. You get a few beeps and whistles but it's not really that bad. Half the time I'm not even paying attention. Today was also the first day we saw blue sky and it didn't rain horribly! :)

Friday

Today was the spelling bee competition in Temuco. Me and Amina were picked up by the school bus and driven in. It was nice to see outside of Lautaro. The counrtyside is really pretty and it was so clear that we could see the volcanoes for the first time. They're alright. Just look like big hills really.

There were a lot of schools competing in the competition. Each student had to say 5 words each. Our 3 kids did alright. One of them did really well and got all 5 correct. It was so exciting. I was really hoping they'd do well. See teaching is exciting! Our school even made it through to the second round of the competition in September!

After the competition everyone walked to a hotel in Temuco for lunch. Danielle and Hernan (two of the kids) kept pointing to things and telling us what they were in Spanish. You have to be careful though because there are a lot of spanish words that aren't used in Chile. Ended up getting on really well with the children. They're so friendly. Everyone is. Whenever you meet someone or say goodbye you have to kiss them on the cheek. Because I'm so tall I have to bend right over to reach some people. And the kids and the teachers are really close they hugs them and everything. Not very English.... It's nice though. It just feels very warm. 

This evening me and Amina went to an airboxing session with Lili (Ruth's daughter). It's good fun and only 500 pesos so we'll probably keep going. Good to do some exercise and work off some of the bread. Although I swear the portion sizes are growing. I think Ruth's being sneaky and is working them up to be the size of an ox or something. 

It's independence day in Chile in September and we get a week off school. Flags are going up and apparently this is the time to experience Chilean culture :) We're learning more and more Spanish/Chileanismos everyday and just slowly settling into a routine. Me and Amina find the news quite amusing because they dramatise it so much with music and reconstructions. 

I have also discovered the reason as to why I am so tall. (and it's not because I sleep in a grow bag). Hipo is hiccup. And Ruth says that every time you hiccup you grow. Seeing as I hiccup all the time I am very tall. It's quite simple really. 

Well I seem to have managed to stay up past 10. It took a while for us to stay up past 8 because we've just been so tired.

Day off tomorrow so we're going to walk around Lautaro and draw a map, while also trying to find somewhere to buy a phone...

Chao xxx