November Went Fast

Well what's happened this week? On Monday we were in the countryside school. Ugh we had a test with the 4th graders. It's so bad having them after lunch because it's the last period of the day and they never pay attention. We'd been doing the subject with them for weeks, revised the topic before the test, left all the information on the board, explained the test about five times, and they still didn't understand. Ahh! After an hour of explaining to each child what to do I was going crazy! Really frustrating.

What was it that happened on Tuesday.. Oh yes. We came back from lunch and found the school oddly quiet. It was strange. We didn't know where anyone was. Turns out they were in the gym for some gymnastics show. So we watched that for the whole of the last period. Talked to Ingrid and said that we hadn't known it was going to happen and she said she hadn't either! There's always something going on. This was to raise money for Teleton which is a big fundraising event in Chile. It's to raise money for children with disabilities. It's kind of like our Children In Need except bigger. The official days are the 30th Nov and the 1st Dec where nothing else is on TV, radio, newspapers etc. Just Teleton. And fundraising goes on for quite a while before.
Capoeira was really good on Tuesday. We were learning how to floor people. I was paired with one of the strongest guys to practise with. AHH! But he was really friendly and made it seem like I was pushing him over but I think he was just falling down so that I didn't feel bad. I hope Capoeira is as good today :)

NEWSFLASH! I actually did a full day's work on Wednesday. Shocking I know. It feels like there's always something on which will take up one of our periods. Kinder's last period were a bit taxing because they had no attention. It was fun to get them to act out the sports though.
We went to the cinema in the evening with some friends. We saw Breaking Dawn. Laughed a lot. Don't go and see Breaking Dawn with guys. It's impossible to get them to take it seriously.

Yesterday we spent an hour an a half working with the spelling bee girls. They're really good. Hopefully the will do well next week! Although we are the judges for the event. It will be difficult if we have to tell them that they got one wrong.
After school we went out with Ingrid and a couple of children to celebrate my birthday. I know it's been going on for so long. But it's hard to get a day to go out because all the events at school. We had sandwiches and hot chocolate (!) then we had cake. Chileans know how to do cake. It's always amazing quality and it's much cheaper than it would be in Britain. It even stopped raining for us to walk home which was nice. Although it started raining again just as Amina left the house to go for a run. Heehee.

We went to the municipalidad today. We were taken to the bank to get cards for them to pay us with. After waiting for an hour and half we were seen by a guy who could actually speak English. He said that he thought the British accent was stimulating and that he'd seen us on TV. But we didn't get our cards because the system was being too slow. We have to go back on Wednesday.
Today I cancelled my uni place at Stirling. Bit scary. Decided it was worth a go at reapplying to Edinburgh. I've definitely written a much more interesting personal statement than last time.

November has passed ridiculously fast. It's crazy. We really need to get down to our holiday planning. It's coming up so quickly. This years going to be over before I know it. It's crazy!

It seems that I can't escape cameras. I had dad snapping away all the time at home and now we have have friends here that do the same. Here's a pic one of them managed to snap.

Celebrations

Chileans love to celebrate everything.

Celebration number one this week

On Sunday we had an asado at home because it was Annie's last Sunday at home. Lots of meat, naturally. Sergio's mum was there. We ate out in the garden. It was really nice. Drank mate afterwards. Apparently I made a good choice in my mate cup because it's silver on the inside (so it won't go mouldy) and leather on the outside (so I won't burn my hands). And it's super lindo which is always good. You just have to watch out because the metal straw can burn your tongue.

I'm a real Chilean chica now with my mate cup

Celebration number two this week

We had another Chile moment on Tuesday. Basically we'd been invited to Margot's house in the evening but we weren't really sure what for. So we decided to eat Once before going. Always a bad idea. It turned out it was a celebration for her granddaughter graduating from high school. All the family were there (all really lovely) and there was lots of food! Tiny little completoes, mini empanadas, chikitito hamburgers and lots of other tiny things. Even though they were small we ate so many that we were very full by the end.
I don't remember celebrating leaving high school very much. I don't think hitting Prince's Street gardens with your friends quite matches what goes on here. Apparently the graduation ceremony in the morning went on for four hours! Glad I wasn't invited to that.

Celebration number three this week

On Thursday it was the inauguration of the school's new computer lab. We'd spent most of Wednesday preparing for this by sticking English signs up around the school eg 'Staff Room'. The day was also to celebrate the schools 51st anniversary so all the 'important people' of Lautaro where there. The celebrations began with a speech from the director. Much of which was quite hard to understand as he was speaking into a microphone. Then the mayor gave a speech and gave a new microwave to the teachers for the staff room. There were kids singing and dancing and the king's and queens's of the school were crowned. The Prekinder queen was so cute. I'd had to entertain her for all of Wednesday break by chasing her round the room pretending to be a monster. She loved it. 

After all the festivities outside, we moved into the computer room. There was an English teaching programme on the computers that was being demonstrated by some children. Me and Amina had to help the kids when they were stuck. So the mayor cut the ribbon to the room and lots of people came in to look at the computers. They seemed very interested in us as well. It's strange; no matter how used we get to being here we still stand out to everyone else. I felt a bit like we were providing some novelty value - "ohh look at our volunteers from England". It just felt a bit weird.

Afterwards there was a cocktail (which we would call reception) with drinks and tiny food. This was really nice. The Prekinder queen found me and had me chasing her round the room again. Ate loads of food then went home for lunch!

Celebration number four this week

Yesterday was Annie's last day here. We bought lots of food and headed to the park for a picnic. Some of Annie's Chilean friends were invited, and much to their displeasure there was no asado. It was an English picnic. Fruit, biscuits, tea, milk, wine, tart and yoghurt - no meat in sight! It was a lovely sunny day. Now I should mention that when Chileans have a picnic/asado they go all out. Table cloths, cutlery, napkins, cups, plates everything. Ruth kitted us out before we left so we were able to dine in style.

Afterwards, we checked out the rodeo. There were loads of horseriders in the ring. Two would chase a cow around the ring and seemed to be trying to ram it into the sides. I'm not sure exactly. We didn't stay very long. We were told that they didn't kill the cows there but that after they had been chased they were put in a van and taken to the slaughterhouse... It did give the Chileans an excuse to use wear their sombreros and ponchos though.

We took Annie to the bus station at half 10. Lots of her friends had turned out to say goodbye. Chileans really like to make memories out of everything. And they're really sweet. It was really sad to see Annie go but at least we'll be able to meet up with her in the future seeing as she lives in England. Since travel planning I've come to realise and appreciate just how small the UK is. 

So yeh I feel all partied out now.

Our Week

Well this week has been pretty good.

Long day of work in the campo school on Monday. It was sunny again. We were attacked my a child again. She's really cute. We taught classroom phrases to most of the older kids so now if they want to go to the bathroom they have to ask in English.

Tuesday we only had two classes. Escuela 6 is celebrating it's birthday for the next two weeks, so there are lots of games and activities going on. On Tuesday it was the Festival de la Voz - a singing competition. Every class had someone sing. First act was a tiny Prekinder, so cute! Also on Tuesday. I walked into my first class in the morning and all the kids jumped out from under their desks and shouted FELIZ CUMPLEANOS TIA!!! I was very surprised. They started singing happy birthday. Ingrid gave me chocolate. She wrote 'Feliz Cumpleaños Beth' on the board so anyone who walked into the room asked who's birthday it was, which led to the whole process starting again. I received so many cards from students. It was really sweet. Ingrid really enjoyed telling everyone that it was my birthday. She told teachers which led to more singing.

Wednesday we only had two classes again. Then there was the second half of the singing festival. We went to Danay's house for lunch. I'd mentioned once how a meal I really missed from home was spaghetti bolognese so she had made that for me. Then she brought out a giant lemon pie and said it was my birthday present! It was verrrry tasty! We also saw some of her mum's kittens. We could have had one for free but I don't really think one would have been allowed at home. They were so fluffy and cute! Back at school there were relay games. One child would run to another then another and they all had to do a different thing like dip their faces in flour and water to find something, or burst a balloon etc. The Kinders tried with all their might but they just couldn't get those balloons to pop. It was so cute to watch!

Amina celebrating

Singing festival

Kitten pile!

We actually did a full days work on Thursday.

Third time really is a charm as we went to the cinema yesterday and it worked out fine! The film was on. We saw Skyfall. It was great! We were practically the only three people in the cinema. We went shopping as well and I bought a mate cup and straw. Capoeira in the evening. There's a 3-day event on in December and it took us a long time to figure out that it was free for us. Amina was really surprised. Apparently they're usually really expensive.

We may or may not be going to 'roast' tonight. It depends on whether we'll be able to get a lift back from Temuco. The last buses are at half 10. Bad for night planning.

The bugs have returned! They went a way and we didn't fully appreciate not being bitten until they came back! We're going to explore buying citronella and combining that with the lavender oil that Amina's gran sent her. Lets hope it works!

A Chilean Birthday

Well it was my birthday yesterday! But more about that in a minute.

On Wednesday it was English day and to celebrate it all the volunteer English teachers in Lautaro were asked to do a performance. So we decided to embrace this full on and did a mix-up dance of Harry Potter, the Cha Cha Slide and One Direction. It was so much fun. Couldn't really see the audience with my sunglasses on and then the lights on the stage so it wasn't that bad. We were performing to some teachers and students from the different school of Lautaro.

Annie, me, Amina and Veera in our dance outfits

I'll try and put the video of our dance at the end of this blog. It was so much fun. I was a little disappointed when it was over.

So yeh, yesterday I turned 18! Quite strange. Definitely felt different from any other birthday because I knew I was an adult now. Goodness how our plans changed. The volunteers from Chol Chol arrived around 12. We were going to go to Margot's restaurant to have lunch but Ruth told us that we were staying at home for lunch so we did. We went to the park in the evening with Annie and had ice creams. It was a really sunny day. About 25 degrees! Really strange to have sun on my birthday! We were going to have Once at Margot's but then ended up staying at home and having sopaipillas. Yummy! Went out in the evening to sit in the plaza eating sweets and biscuits. I suppose I haven't changed that much then eh? ;) Hung out at home in the evening together. I suppose there was no wild partying but I enjoyed myself just fine.

Today we had lunch with Margot (finally!) and it was really nice! Had the amount of food that would make two meals, in one.

Me looking all eighteen-y

So yeh that was my Chilean birthday. We didn't have cake yesterday because Ruth thought it was my birthday on Wednesday so we had cake then. I don't really think people are going to see as any older though. They still think it's crazy for me to be far from home this young. Most people when asked say I'm 24. Their expressions are really funny when they learn I'm only... well 18 now!

Hmm I hope this video works!

Lots of Love!

Pucon

Just a side note before we get on with this blog. Just received my package from home - finally - and my mum sent me chocolate! And a great letter. So I'm feeling very happy. So an already very happy event, being this weekend, will probably be painted as even happier :D

Thursday

So on Thursday we went to Pucon with the girls from Chol Chol. Arrived to a cloud-less, blue sky, a great view of the Volcan Villarrica and a beautiful little town of Pucon. It looked slightly Swiss with polished wooden buildings, signs, benches, flowerbeds... everything. Our hostel was literally one block up from the bus stop. As we noticed it Hannah said, "oh there it is" and we were really surprised when a guys standing nearby said, "well found girls." There were so many people around who were able to speak English because Pucon is quite touristy. When we went to a tour agency to book some tours the lady there was English. Really friendly. It was strange not standing out by being gringas. We didn't get a single sleazy wave or car horn beeped at us the whole weekend. It was great!
Our hostel was quite nice. We shared a room but we had a kitchen to cook in and a nice living room to relax in. And it was cheap which is a plus! We ditched our bags and went to stroll around town. Really pretty. The bus terminal looked like a Swiss-chalet! And the street dogs there were much better fed, much bigger and looked quite a lot like bears. So cute.
We sat on the beach to have a picnic dinner and it was really pretty. Lago Villarrica is huge and pretty. People were kayaking and out on paddle boats and swimming. Really nice.

Evacuation route sign

Amina, me and Danielle on la playa

Lago Villarrica

Volcan Villarrica

sunset

us on the bus on the way to Pucon

Friday

We went horse riding on Friday!!! :D I love horse riding! It was quite funny because only Hannah had any real experience with horse riding, and the rest of us were just shown how to hold the reins and that was it. And we weren't given helmets. We probably would have been met with a confused expression if we had asked. I loved it. Having had a little experience I knew a bit more what to do and didn't get thrown around as much as Danielle and Amina when we were trotting. We were with a Mapuche guide who chatted to me quite a lot about the Mapuche and showed me a leaf that they use to cure stomach and chest infections. My horse was called Chincol which is a Mapuche word for a bird in the mountains. When we started heading up a mountain I got a little freaked out. But you just had to trust your horse and you were fine. We stopped about half-way up this huge mountain and took photos before heading back down. Did some major trotting afterwards which was great fun.

There was a woman on the tour who was 70 years old but seemed around 60. She said she had 21 grandchildren and most of them had gone backpacking so why couldn't she! It was great! So she's backpacking around South America for three months. She's from Edinburgh but sounded really English and really reminded me of Granny. She was great.

In the afternoon we chilled on the beach and in the evening we hit the hot springs! About 40 minutes away from Pucon we relaxed for two hours in a 42°C natural, volcano heated hot spring. Really nice. We found the hottest part of the hot spring and took turns sitting in front of it. There were about 6 springs but we stayed in the hottest one.

Pucon from the hill

Chincol y yo

Us on the mountain

Saturday

Slept in for most of the morning because we didn't get back from the hot springs until half 12. We chilled on the beach and then me, Amina and Hannah went kayaking on the lake. So nice. Hard on your arm muscles but the water was nice and cool and the views of the lake and the volcano were really pretty. Yeh really not much to say about such a lazy day. We walked around a market and saw lots of lovely wooden things. We bought Ruth a serviette holder because the other one broke. She wants us to write our names on it. 

Volcan Villarrica from the lake

kayaking on the lake

Sunday

On Sunday morning me, Hannah and Danielle went on a different horse riding tour because we'd had such a good time the first time. Amina likes to be alone sometimes so she wandered around Pucon and I'm pretty sure she walked to the cemetery. My horse this time was called Morena and was really good. Really eager to go faster. Me and Hannah spent most of the time in front of everyone trotting and cantering! We stopped halfway up a hill and went on a little walk to find a 84 meter high hidden waterfall. Stunning. We got really wet from the spray. On the horse ride back me and Hannah were in front again and just had so much fun. I loved it! Horse for my birthday please!!

We took the bus back to Temuco on Sunday afternoon. Ruth and Sergio were so happy to see us when we got home, it was really cute! They were very happy that we'd had a good time and that we weren't sunburnt. It was a very sunny weekend so we had had to slap on the suncream. Ruth told us we were "tanto blancito" and said that we could buy bronzer if we wanted to be darker which we found hilarious! Had to explain that our skin colour wasn't really of any great importance to us.

the 84 meter waterfall - very hard to get it all on the screen

I'm glad this stayed at green for our visit

Much love to all. Hope you're all well! Especially you guys in the States! xxx