It all began when I saw Monia and Maria Jose's smiling faces peeking through a crowd at the airport in Santiago. They immediatly took me away from the crowd and handed me her phone. Google translate was open and she had typed: "do you want to shower?" That was exactly what I needed after a long, hot flight. I assumed after that small coversation she did not speak much english. I was worried. One of my biggest fears was communication with the family. I wanted to be able to talk to them and tell them a lot about my life and I wanted to be able to learn a lot about all of them. We met up with John and Florencia and they took me to an airport restaurant to get some food. This breakfast was quite, but I tried to bond with the girls as much as possible and communicate with the parents as best I could. I realized that Florencia, the older child, spoke the most english although she did not understand everything I was saying. After, we went to thier apartment in Santiago. We used google translate throughout the day to communicate. That night we went to a place in Santiago to Kidzania. This place was amazing! It was a little world for kids. They had banks, hair salon, restaurants, gas station, rent-a-car, dentist, doctors etc. all for kids. At every place the children were taught about the profession and then got to perform the job. It was so great to see how the girls interacted with each other, other friends, and thier parents. It was very overwhelming for me though. I had just gotten off the plane that morning so I was very tired. Also, walking around and not hearing any langauge that was familiar was a different feeling. I guess I had not realized how much I listen to the people around me until I could not understand anything around me.
The rest of our stay in Santiago was great! We rode the subway, we went to downtown Santiago and saw the cathedral, and other old buildings. It reminded me a lot of home, New Orleans. Outside the cathedral there were artist selling paintings and doing caricatures. It was nice to fill the familiarity of it all.
The ride to Concepcion was long (about 5 hours). It was great to look out the window at the mountains while it was still light outside. Throughout the ride, John gave me updates about the geography of Chile. The smells throughout the ride were interesting. One smell that I smell all the time here is burning wood. It is one of my favorite smells so it is very comforting. Also, Monica said one of the other smells were coming from paper factories. Arriving at the house and getting some sleep that night was nice. Thier house is very cozy and I feel very welcome
Once in Concepcion, we took a small trip to Talcaohuano Bay. When we got there Monica said "SURPRISE!" and Desiree, Luckas and her family were all there too! We spent the day taking a boat ride and walking around the area. It was beautiful. Lots of colorful boats: bright red, green, blue, teal, yellow etc. It was a gorgeous day outside and one of the best days I have had so far, and it is only the beginning.
After the holiday we began school! I was not nervous at all to start school. I was mostly excited. I wanted to see what the school looked and sounded like. I was not sure what to expect. Would it be like schools are at home? When we got to the school, Kenny told me that a teacher was sick and I would need to sub for 2nd and 3rd grade science. Surprisingly I was not nervous at all. I was ready to take on the challenge. The teacher left plans in Spanish which I google tranlsated into english and the next thing I knew, the kids were in the classroom and I was teaching them! It is going pretty smoothly. The students are using the same science book that I used during my student teaching placement so the book is familiar to me. It is scary being in a classroom alone with a bunch of students who do not speak much english with me who does not speak much spanish, but we are getting through it. The students are great! LOUD AND EXCITED! I love to see this in the classroom. I think today is my last day teaching in 2nd and 3rd grade and I am already sad to leave those students :( , but I am very happy to work with the prekinder teacher. I have not had too much practice working with very young students and I am excited to see what it is like.
This weekend I am going to the mountains with Kennys family and Desirees family. I cannot wait to see more of the sights and experience more of Chile!
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