That's a Wrap!

I can't believe it's already been three weeks since I started this adventure. I remember landing in Chile and wondering what lay ahead and how I had so much time to experience everything. Not only did it go by really fast but it also felt a lot longer than just three weeks. Between the journeys with my family and fun times with the group trips, I can't believe we fit all of that into just three weeks. Going into this, all I had was excitement and curiosity. I had no idea what to expect. I wanted to like my host family and vice versa. I wanted to experience all there was to Chile. I wanted to like the schools. The whole experience was all I had wished for and more. Standing in the airport with my host family saying goodbye was the hardest part of the entire trip. On the final plane ride to Concepcion in the beginning, I kept telling my friends that I wanted to like my host family so much that it would be hard to leave them. I surely got that wish. We took one last picture and I waved goodbye to them through the glass watching them go back to their normal lives wondering if I would ever be lucky enough to see them again. Living with them made the experience ten times more enjoyable. I actually felt part of their family and for that I can never thank them enough. I got to go to some of the coolest places that I never imagined I'd ever get the chance to see. I learned all about what it's like to communicate with someone without using the same language. I fell in love with Toddy cookies. And I gained a new perspective after being in another country's school. I will never forget this experience or the times I shared with the people I met and the people I went with.

My wonderful Chilean sisters Barbara and Connie

I annoyed her enough by making her hang out with me the entire trip. Thanks for the laughs, Kali!

Sweet and spunky Mariela. I hope to have the attitude towards teaching that she had every day.

The last thing I thought I'd do on this trip is run a 5k. Guess ya never know what to expect when you go out of the country. At least Barbara and her friend, Victoria, ran it with me. Just kidding. I ran while they walked. 

Gotta say there is nothing like being a few feet away from a huge sea lion. Or sea wolf as they call them in Chile. 

Unfortunately ya can't find views like this in flat Louisiana. Can't find the hot springs either! 

Emilio!! If I could have taken him and Connie home, I would have been more than ecstatic. Kenny was right. Somehow Chilean children are cuter than U.S. children. But these children made the days even more exciting.

The times I spent here and the memories I made will stay with me forever. Before I left, my sister told me there is nothing like the feeling of being in a foreign country and she's more than right. This is one of the opportunities you should take while you can but they not only don't come around every day but they become less and less possible the older you get. 3 weeks have come and go. Well, that's a wrap!!

It's been an Uber wild ride by Morgan Manuel

I haven't jumped at the thought of telling everyone about my recent experiences like normal due to the fact that it's the last week and I don't want to accept that. At the beginning of this trip, I thought for sure I'd be ready to leave when the time came. Of course I miss my real family and being able to eat and sleep when I want (this one big meal a day thing and 6 hours of sleep is just not cutting it), but now that we've reached the last days, it's getting tough to see this experience end. 

I have met so many amazing people on this trip some of them just so happen to be from Baton Rouge and are returning to the states with me but majority are staying here in Chile with a piece of my heart. I've been "blessed with the best" as the cliche saying goes. My LSU team has bonded like I didn't think possible, and we've been told by multiple of the program heads that we are the best group they've had. Well shucks. I'm a little biased but we are the best. These people made my trip so much fun and I felt so comfortable with all of them. I got to get to know almost every individual and we are all so different but somehow we have all become friends. We should start a travel club or something.

The faculty and students at the school always greeted me with big smiles and embraces. They made me feel welcomed and special. Some of them remembered my name from the very first class and always made sure to shout it in the hallway when they saw me! I loved all the faculty I got to interact with at the school. However, I, personally, could not have asked for a better teacher to be paired with. Although I have not taken a physics or math class since high school, Leonardo was so patient with me and made sure that I understood what the students were working and that I felt welcomed in his class. I do hope and believe that one day our paths will cross again; he might even come to Baton Rouge on their next exchange trip!

And on to my family, although English is not their forte and Spanish is not mine, I still managed to bond with them in just three short weeks. Living under the same roof will do that to people. Having three kids of your own and throwing a fourth stranger into the mix is not an easy to adapt to situation but the whole family has. With the help of Uber (it never failed that Nico, my brother, would pick me up in one if I stayed late at school), and google translate, we have all adapted our routines. And hey, I have always wanted younger siblings and now I have them!

Besides the people, I have loved our experiences. This week was crazy busy with activities everyday but they were all so different and so good. On Monday, we went to a juvenile correction facility. Yes, we were all a bit nervous walking in because we had no idea what to expect. We ended up splitting up into groups to talk to a couple of residents at a time. My group went to one of the boys' houses and honestly it was really fun. We needed translator, obviously, but we got to know each other and each other's cultures. At the end of the meeting, one of the boys mentioned how he loves to get to meet new people and learn about new cultures and was grateful that we came. The next day, we drove about an hour to plant trees with some students from the school. We were in an area that was recently devastated by the forest fires that affected that region of Chile. The property that we planted on was actually near a one room school that had only 11 students. The planting was fun but here I met two little six year old girls and helped them make mud pies and swing... of course I did! 

A smaller group of us also chose to go to an after school institution on Tuesday to talk to some kids taking English classes there, lemme just say, it's always an adventure. On Wednesday we were able to be in class all day but at night we had a fancy dinner to celebrate our amazing teachers. Then Thursday, we went to a BBQ thrown in our honor that was really just so carefree and silly. We sang karaoke at the top of our lungs, learned some traditional Chilean dances, and ate some delicious food. Thursday was also when the goodbyes began so you know Friday was tough. 

However, it's not goodbye, it's see you later. I will miss this community dearly and am so grateful for this experience of a lifetime. If you ever get the chance to travel, really immerse yourself with the locals even live with them and teach in their schools if you can. That's how I've found I truly got to experience the culture.

One final Chao by Emily Rhatigan

I can't believe it's time to say goodbye! These passed four weeks have been nothing but absolutely amazing.  I have met the nicest people, new friends, and lifelong lessons and experiences that I will keep with me forever. I can't think the people on this trip, my host family, and my teachers enough for all the incredible adventures and activities that occurred. This last week has been so crazy, so busy, and so emotional.

Kassie, Fabiola, me and Mariela

Katty and Me

This week on Tuesday, we went to a tiny school in the mountains to help plant some trees.  This school only have one building with less than 15 children that went here and were from first through sixth grade. There was a fire in the mountains not too long ago that burned down a good bit of the forest near the school, but thankfully just missed the school.  So, we helped them plant a bunch of trees to help rebuild the forest they had lost. 

The holes before we planted the trees!

On Wednesday, we taught in the classroom all day and at night had our formal teacher dinner at a delicious BBQ place right next to Huertos. This was the most bittersweet moment.  All emotions came upon me at once, when my body had finally realized that my time here was running out. I a shed a lot of tears and cherished all my people around me for one of our last times together. 

Thursday is when all the real good byes started happening. It was a busy fun filled day. We taught in the classrooms in the morning and then left school early to go to a BBQ lunch.  At lunch, we sang our hearts out to karaoke and made ourselves look like fools, but it's okay because we were all having the time of our lives. We learned Chile's national dance, the cueca, along with a dance from Easter Island, which was super odd, but super cool! After the delicious BBQ, we went back to school for their annual English song festival. The kids from the school and from other schools around come and sing English songs to all the gringos and school community. Lastly, we ended the night with a cocktail party put on by the PTG of the school.  

Me, Haley, Kassie and Morgan at the BBQ

And lastly Friday, the final days of goodbyes.  I spent my day getting in last minute teaching experience and saying goodbye to all my students in the classroom.  Having to say bye to everyone here was so sad.  Saying goodbye to my teachers and students (1D) was very hard and a little bit heartbreaking. I hope one day I can come back and visit here!  To say I'm going to miss it here is an understatement. 

My 1D class not wanting me to leave 

Martin is crying because he has to say goodbye 

Gracias a la vida (Violeta Parra) by Lindsay Stewart

My three weeks in San Pedro de la Paz (Concepcion) absolutely flew by! I cherish the memories of all of the faces and experiences I had with my host family, my LSU community, and the CCSP community. I am already looking forward to my next visit to my new family members in San Pedro de la Paz :) 

Best host family award goes to.... 

CCSP hosted a wonderful farewell barbecue for our LSU crew! We had a great time learning more Chilean traditions...aside from the display of love and affection through food (no complaints here). These dancers shared the dance traditional of Chile, Cueca. Our #bestgroup grew even closer as we karaoked and sipped pisco sours. So much delicious meat was served with fresh veggies while the red wine was poured. CCSP certainly knows how to celebrate! 

Aside from the experiences and knowledge I gained from CCSP, many new friendships flourished in our short time. Most notable... the wonderful Macarena! :) Her relationship with her students is genuine and caring... so much wisdom to share! I felt so comfortable and welcomed in her classroom. Oh and Viva Chile... 

This post would be incomplete with a huge shout out to Kenny, program co-director and my LSU adviser. I would not have encountered any of these individuals or shared any of these experiences without his unending support and encouragement! He deserved so much thanks and admiration for how he shares his wisdom.  Oh and, of course, special thanks for my new found appreciate for filters! 

It is not about the destination;it is about the journey.

8 Things You'll Learn When Studying Abroad in Chile by Kassie St. Pierre

     The beginning of the end... how sad that is to actually type!

     To begin our week, we went to a juvenile prison. You can call me crazy, but I think this was my by far my favorite field trip we have taken during the trip. However, this may be because I was in an all girl group home, so we could talk about the girly things. HAHA. At first, they were being typical girls... kind of witchy and not wanting to talk, but after we showed interest in them, they couldn't stop talking. We talked about what contouring your make-up meant, boyfriends, and every other "girly" thing you could think of. Maybe I'm just an overly nice person who feels bad for everyone, but I felt really bad for the girls. I'm sure being in a prison house isn't the most ideal thing, but they were still very polite and willing to talk to us. (Shout out to my girl who has the same birthday as me! I'll be sure to think about you on our birthdays). I was happy to hear that they think about their futures; they all had somewhat of an idea of what they wanted to study in college. I walked out of there feeling like teaching in a juvenile prison is my calling, but only God knows... I have some crazy ideas sometimes.  

    The rest of the week was full of goodbyes, which I hated so very much. I don't think my emotions have caught up to what is actually happening, though, because I have yet to cry, which is very unlike me. We had a goodbye BBQ (Chileans are known for their Chilean BBQs). At our BBQ, we had a lot of pisco and meat, but more importantly, we had lots of fun with our fellow LSU students and our teachers. We learned some of the Chilean national dances and got really immersed into the Chilean culture! We really felt so appreciated by the school we worked with.

Here's some of the most important things I've learned during my time in Chile.

1. You will drink wine & pisco a lot- Pisco is one of Chilean's alcohols that you cannot find any where else; a pisco sour is similar to a margarita, but not really. The wine here is just amazing, and I wished the states' tasted this good. However, y'all know I'm bringing some home. I'm definitely going to miss the pisco and wine a lot. HAHA.                                            .
2. You'll eat bread at every meal- I've gained weight just because of the bread here; it is amazing! Chileans literally eat bread with everything or put just about anything on bread!                                                                                                                     . 
3. You'll find out what it means to be part of the "minority"- This experience has really helped me to see some of the things minorities go through. Being stared at or pointed at wasn't necessarily exactly what I was used to or expected, but it allowed me to empathize with people who are minorities. I know I will have a different perspective when I get back to the states.  For this, I am really thankful!                   .
4. You'll become attached to kids- The kids here are just adorable and made me feel like I was literally their superhero. They tried extremely hard to say simple things like "hello" and "goodbye" in English so that they were able to communicate with me. They showered me with hugs, kisses, and presents. I mean how can you now become attached to this!? They have definitely reminded me why I want to become a teacher.                                                                                                                                                                   .
5. You'll find your "travel friends"- It was only 4 weeks ago that I met Haley, Emily, and Morgan. We traveled together for a week exploring the different areas of Chile not really knowing how to speak any bit of Spanish. Fortunately, we really got along with one another and became good friends  They've been my "go to people" this trip and some great friends. We've got people wondering and asking how long we've been friends because that's just how we treat one another, haha. I know you'll find us in Bogies or Fred's when we get back to the United States.                                                                                             
6. You'll become part of a family that makes it hard to say goodbye- Over the past three weeks I have really been able to bond with my family. We may not have been able to speak English to one another all the time, but the hand gestures made it something to laugh about. They want to come to Louisiana one day, and they want me to come back and stay with them one day here, too. I know I'll miss Andrea and I's girl talk, Edu and I's brotherly/sisterly love, and my host parents and I's talks over wine and pisco.                                                                                                                .
7. You'll grow as a person and spend time investing in yourself- I really was able to spend the last three weeks not only enjoying myself in Chile but focusing on myself as well. It's honestly one of the best feelings! This trip has definitely effected my life in more than way.                                                                                                    .
8. You'll bond with other fellow LSU students you never even knew- Three weeks ago, the only people I knew were Haley, Morgan, and Emily, and that is only because we met each other the week before traveling together. However, now that these three weeks have passed, the entire LSU group and I are already planning a get together for when we get home. These people have allowed me to laugh until I almost peed my pants; if y'all would only know the inside jokes we have. (#GWGB) We bonded over the long bus rides to our field trips singing Bohemian Rhapsody, Ignition, and Callin' Baton Rouge at the top of our lungs. I was able to have some of the realest conversations with some of these people in this group. I know Kenny says we are the #BestGroupEver, but we really are.

      

     This has truly been an experience I will remember for the rest of my life,and I am so happy that I have great memories to accompany this experience. I can't wait to tell everyone about it.

     See you in Louisiana! ;)

<3

My Last Days in Paradise By: Madison Liggio

My weekend was wonderful. The details about my Friday adventures are on my last blog(I also have pictures from this day on my second blog). On Saturday, the family and I went into Talachano to have lunch. I also saw the Pacific Ocean; it was beautiful!!! The restaurant was seafood and the crab dish I got and shrimp empanadas were amazing. After lunch, the family and I looked around at the souvenir shops. The host family got me my favorite souvenir, which is a puff ball keychain because I like to pretend I am a cat by swatting it (I know this is really weird). That night the family cooked me BBQ and Valee invited over some of her friends. I also tried a drink called the earthquake, which had pineapple ice cream in it; it was surprisingly really good. I gave my host family their last gift(a book about New Orleans and I translated each page), which they really enjoyed!!! On Sunday, my host dad had to work :(. The rest of the family and I went to the Huascar ship, but first, we went to get lunch because the road was closed. We decided on Johny Rockets, an old-time diner/ hamburger joint. The food was amazing and I had a Vanilla diet coke. For dessert, I got a mint chip popsicle covered in chocolate at Palettas. The Huascar was very cool. I loved looking at the inside of the ship, but more importantly, the many funny and serious pictures that the family took on the boat. Overall, this weekend was one for the books.

My delicious dinner- shrimp risotto

A picture of myself and the Pacific

My host family and I

Johny Rockets, a hamburger joint

My host family, minus the dad, on the Huascar

I insisted on taking a dramtic photo-here it is

City of Talcahuano

On Monday, the majority of the group, including myself, went to a juvenile prison. I had never been inside of any type of jail or correction center, so the opportunity to go inside one was amazing. The talk that my group and I had with a group of seven boys was also fun and interesting. They were mainly interested with hurricanes. At one point, one of the boys asked, "Do you feel the ground shaking?" For one thing, the words ground and shaking should never be in the same sentence. Immediately after the boy said this, I did feel the ground shaking and knew that I was experiencing my first tremor(in Chile, anything that is below a 5 is called a tremor). My first reaction was to stay calm and stay in one position, but everyone was shouting "get out of the house," so I obeyed. It ended really quickly though, and we were soon back to continuing our conversation. We weren't allowed to bring our phones, so I have no photos of the place or experience. For dinner, we had sushi again, as well as champagne.

On Tuesday, the group went to a school near Concepcion to plant trees as part of the coastal roots project. The city had recently been devastated by forest fires that occurred in January. The school itself was very small, with only one classroom that housed grades kindergarten to sixth for eleven students. The planting itself was wonderful, and I am so grateful that we were able to give back to a city that had recently sustained damage. The kids were fun to interact with, and I could tell that everyone who participated was having fun. After school, Valee and I went downtown to look for souvenirs for my family. Here in Chile, they have galleries, which has shop after shop. I had fun with Valee exploring more of downtown and shopping until we dropped. At dinner, I tried sopapilla, which is a type of sweet bread. The family gave me a keychain. This was so sweet of them and, once again, I am reminded of how grateful I am for them and their willingness to host me.

Tree planning 

Erika and I with our ninas for tree planting 

Just some girls and their plant

Impromptu stop to see a river

Myself at the square in downtown Concepción 

On Wednesday, I was back at the Huertos school all day. I was happy to be back with my teacher and to interact with the students again. It was also bittersweet because I was happy to be back at the school, but I also knew that it was my last full day there. At the end of the school day, the teacher played the see you later alligator song. At this moment, I realized how close Friday was and how much I wanted the days to slow down so I could have more time with them. For dinner, all of the teachers and student participants, as well as the directors and principle of the school, got together to honor each other. It was so much fun to spend the night laughing and making great memories with the many amazing people I have meet on this trip. My teacher gave me a gift, which was chilean coasters. In return, I gave her a thank you letter and a certificate(the certificate was made by Kenny). I am so thankful that I got paired up with Carolina Mella, and I know I will be a better teacher and person due to this program

Two students presenting the chicos and chicas they colored

The teacher I paired with, Carolina Mella, and I

Thursday was a very busy day. I first started in the classroom like normal. Next, the group and I attended a barbecue. This event was so much fun and included karaoke and dancing till my feet hurt. The group also got the pleasure of witnessing two traditional Chilean dances; one was a dance from Easter Island and the other one was the Quaker (really hope I spelled this right). The principle then surprised the group with a gift for each of us, which I thought was very sweet of him. The next event was the school's fifth annual English song festival. This event included students from the school and neighboring schools singing songs in English; most were quite good. The last event of the night was a cocktail party for the families and the student participants put on by the PTA. At the cocktail party, I gave my host family another gift, which was a photo and a letter. The school also gave us a gift, which was a picture frame. The family waited to read my letter at dinner and followed with a bunch of hugs and kisses. The family then gave me their final two gifts, A mug with a picture of us on it and a framed picture of us. The waterworks flowed when I saw the mug, and I knew that finally saying goodbye tomorrow would be so hard. 

Karaoke fun-singing song Boogie Shoes

Easter Island dance

The Quaker

5th Annual English Songfest

My host family and I  at the cocktail party

It is truly crazy to think that my time in Concepción has come to a close. The trip went by way to fast, and I find myself wanting to stay for a few more weeks(sorry Mom, Dad, and Kelsey). The people I meet on this trip and the experiences that I have made with them and my family will forever be remembered and cherished. It is also crazy to think that most of the people on the trip started off as strangers but quickly become my friends and are people that I hope to keep in contact with. The same goes for my host family. They have been so gracious toward me and have become a part of my family. I know the tears will come when I have to say my final goodbyes, but I also know that I will make a conscious effort to come back.  I want to also thank Kenny, Ken, Carla, Lindsey, the principle of the school, and all of the LSU's Teaching in Chile 2017 participants for making my trip amazing and one that I will remember forever.