Most of my students are really great. They ask a lot of questions and seem excited to have a teacher from a foreign country, especially one that is pretty far away. Some students are uninterested in English, however, because their "carrera" (major, which is really more than a major, because it prepares them directly for a specific job once they are done with school) doesn't really involve using English, so they just have to take it as a required class. But most are interested, and many people get paid more at their jobs if they can speak English.
There is a janitor at my school named Magali. She is the sweetest woman. During the first week of class, she came into my classroom after my class was over, to just sweep and she saw me crying. (The first week and a half of classes I was basically on the verge of tears at all times, and I looked it, so if someone asked or I was alone, it just came out). She doesn't speak any English, but she immediately asked me why I was crying, in Spanish, and told me everything was going to be okay. She asked me if I believed in God and I said yes, and she told me I had to have hope that he was going to make it better. It was such an encouraging moment. She then took my water bottle and told me she knew where to get cold water (all water, for the most part, is room temperature here and ice isn't always a thing) and refilled it for me. Every day after that she asked me if I was okay. Some days I'd be crying, and I'd tell her what I was upset about. She told me to write about it, tear it up or save it if I wanted, talk things about with the people in my life. It was such a comfort. Now that I'm doing better, she still asks how I am but I get to say good, or okay and she smiles and just chats away about how life can be hard, but worth it. She has a husband and 3 kids and she's shown me their pictures. She's talked to me so much and during a time when I wasn't really good at Chilean Spanish or could even concentrate on it, so I'm sure there's so much more she's told me that I just don't know. But she is definitely a person I'd want to give a gift too, or write a little card for. Why did I leave my stationary at home?! (note to self, thing to buy)
Dan and Mary Allison are the leaders from Florida who are here to help the church in Santiago. They have had me over to eat so many times, and offered many more and it has been such a blessing. It's hard for me to find food/eat here. I've had talks with both of them about how I'm struggling, spiritually and otherwise, and they have been more than here for me. I'm so grateful for them. I also feel like they are adopted parents in Santiago. Like I mentioned, they are in their 60s and both parents and grandparents, so they feel like a mother and father to me. They make sure I have everything I need and feed me any chance they get. They give me advice and listen to me and help answer my questions. Definitely 2 people I want to thank constantly for what they do and who they are.
Hannah is one of the people who is also in TeachingChile (my program), and teaches at the same campus as me in Santiago. She is from Bath, England and taught English through English Opens Doors in Quillota, Chile last year. She learned all of her Spanish there in just 4 months or so and that amazes me. She's extremely intelligent and very witty. We've shared a lot with each other these past 3 weeks or so, and I've confided in her about a lot of things. She gives great advice and I'm so grateful to have her as a friend and to have her at the same campus as me as well! We've been talking about going to a bunch of places in Chile and hopefully we can go to some places together!
Speaking of that, places I want to go in Chile:
- Viña/Valpo (again, and many times more. Dana and Kylie, I'm coming for you guys!)
- Concepcion (Brock and Erica!)
- Chillan (my Chilean family (for future reference their surname is Figueroa) is there!)
- Los Lagos (Adolfo Jr., oldest son of the Figueroa family, showed me a picture of the stars you can see in this place (they went there this summer/go there every summer?) and it looked amazing!!! So many stars and lots of lakes)
- A Pisco distellery
- Iquique (the desert! You can also find paragliding there!)
- Chiloé (an island in the very south of Chile, also the location of Isabel Allende's novel Maya's Notebook, that has beautiful old churches and many other amazing things. It looks beautiful!)
- all of Pablo Neruda's houses (one in Santiago, one in Valpo, and something on Isla Negra)
- Isla Magdalena- penguins!!!!!
- Chinchorro mummies- near Anca, prehistoric, 7,000 year old mummies, remarkably intact!
- Easter Island (veryyyy expensive, but a girl can dream, right?)
- The Andes!!! They are right here! I want to go skiing/hiking/stay in a cabin up there. Being from the Great Plains, mountains are amazing things to me. I want to explore them!
- PATAGONIA! The first time I ever saw a picture of Patagonia was in July, when I met two lovely gentlemen from California, who had been traveling the world all year. One of them showed me a picture of this place and all I remember feeling is the strongest desire to go there for real, more than any other place I think, because it felt like it was really possible. This is my number one place to go while in South America, so it's a major priority. The trouble is when to go, because I'd love to go during my break in July, but that is winter time here, and the further I go from the equator (south, which is where Patagonia is), the colder it will be. My best bet is to go during summer (December ish).
Also a side note: this list of places was mostly gathered from a book I found in our hostel in Viña. There was a book shelf and there were books in Spanish and German, no other language, except one book, a guide to Chile, which was in English. I would've read it any way if it was in any other language, but it helped that it was in English. That is something I regret not buying/bringing here before I left. When I traveled in Spain, I had a guidebook given to me by my cousin Laura. It was written in 2009 and I used it in both 2011 and 2013. It helped SO much. A lot of the prices and places were different, but all mostly the same. This guide to Chile, also written in 2009, left at the hostel in 2011 by an English gentleman, RL Brown, had a list of top places to see in Chile, and a guide to the whole country, split up into regions. I can't wait to devour the book more. I'm excited to discover this country, and I'm grateful to know that there's more to it than just a few cities.
My feet are also really tan now, or possibly permanently dirty. Hard to tell.
Besos,
Ally
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