As I sit here writing this entire blog for the second time (#IObviouslyCan'tWorkTechnology), I can't help but think that this was all just a plan a few months ago; just an idea; just a dream I had. Fast forward five months and I am living with people I have never met in a city I never knew really existed. However, the fear of the unknown is what has been allowing me to have the time of my life!
MY WEEK OF TRAVELS
My friends and I decided to leave for Chile a week early to travel around Chile. I am pretty sure just about everything that could have happened on our trip happened, LOL. From cramming four girls and their luggage (and y'all know that's alot) into a small uber to a point we couldn't breathe to the hilarious conversations we had from not being able to communicate, it was one of the funniest, most adventurous weeks of my life! During our time traveling, we were seriously some basic Americans. We ate pizza, hamburgers, fries, and everything else considered to be typical American food. But hey, it was sooooo good! During the week, we flew to San Pedro de Atacama (aka- the desert!). The views there were beyond amazing. We took a moon tour and were able to see the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, etc. through the telescope. We also went sand boarding in Death Valley (#GEAUXTIGERS!). This was the absolute highlight of my trip. Being able to sandboard down the sand dunes was an experience I will never forget. Hey, I wasn't even that bad at it either. (#OfficiallyAthletic) After our stay in San Pedro, we flew back to Santiago. While in Santiago, we went on a wine tour in Casablanca. I must say the wine in Chile is way better than in the United States. I literally just want to take every single bottle I see home, but customs would kick my bootay! #UnderAgeProbs
(Death Valley)
(Casablanca)
(Casablanca)
MI FAMILIA
I won't lie, when I got off of the plane, I was very nervous to meet my family. However, they are the sweetest, funniest group of people I have ever met. They surely do keep me laughing. I drink wine for a lot of meals (btw, I am NOT COMPLAINING, haha). We celebrated mother's day, and my host mother, Magali, certainly loved her card and earrings I got her. One thing my family and I rely on a lot is Google Translate. Honestly, I don't know where I would be in life without it, HAHA! My brother and sister are able to talk to me in English, but I use my google translator to speak with my host mother and father. My family and I are getting closer and closer as the weeks go on, and I know it will be so hard to leave them in a couple of weeks.
(Meeting my family in the airport!)
MY WEEK IN THE SCHOOL
My time here in the school system has been nothing short of amazing. I am teaching first grade English and third grade Mathematics. The children here are so sweet and lovable. The first day I went in to the classroom I received so many gifts from the kids! The school system here is very different than ours. For starters, they don't have lunch and recess incorporated in their daily schedule. The eat a snack for 15 minutes (lunch happens after school), and they have 5 or 10 minute breaks throughout the day to account for their "recess". Classroom management also looks really different here than it does in the United States. Students are allowed to talk for the most part in the classrooms; they also aren't necessarily required to actively engage in the lesson when the teacher is teaching. For me, this drives me insane because I love a well-structured classroom; however, this is what works for them, and the students' scores do not seem to suffer because of it.
On Monday, I was able to spend half of my day in the classroom. It was tiresome! Communicating with the kids is the biggest struggle I have yet to encounter. On Tuesday, we had time to speak to the high school kids in English in a "speed dating" like fashion. It was very interesting to see the questions that came up during our talks. Most of the questions had to do with Trump and my personal political stance; they seem to be very concerned with that! On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to teach the kids the English terms for the members of the family. My first grade class and I drew pictures of our family and labeled each member with the correct English term. We then practiced saying the words aloud; this was extremely heart warming to see because the kids were so excited to practice speaking with someone whose first language is English! Thursday was my favorite day out of this week and that is because I was able to teach Math. The beautiful thing about math is that it never changes. Although my students and I had this language barrier in the way, it didn't stop us from being able to communicate about math. I was also really excited to show the students new ways of completing problems that they were not familiar with before.
I am so excited to continue experiencing life in Chile. I know this will have a positive impact on me as a future teacher.
(Writing the members of our family in English!)
<3
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