After a few months here I think it's time, but I decided to make it a WEEK in the life, because every day of my week is different, but pretty much every week is the same. Feels more accurate.
On Mondays, I usually go to Spanish class in the morning, around 10 am. I love my Spanish class. It is taught by a professor at my campus named Alejandro, and he's a wonderful teacher. In the class we learn about Chilean history and culture, but we also speak in Spanish the entire time, and it is helping so much to improve my Spanish. So far we've learned about each region (or state) of Chile, what is in each one and what are the most popular/beautiful cities in and part of Chile. That's how I learned about Pucon! (next post). He teaches us Chilean slang and other phrases we might not know. We've been on 2 field trips to museums in Chile, which were really awesome (Chilean dessert mummies anyone?) and we've had to do presentations on specific topics. I did a presentation on Patagonia (the most Southern part of Chile, and the continent, which is shared with Argentina) and the other people in my class did a presentation on other areas of Chile. Though those I have learned what places I HAVE to visit before I come here. Last class we did presentations on people. Mine was on Pablo Neruda. I realized in my research that I even though I had heard of him and read a lot of his poetry, there was so much about him and his life I didn't know. He had such an impact on Chile, and he worked for or opposed many Chilean government systems from the 1930s to the 1970s at his death. It was amazing to learn about.
My class ends around 1 pm on Mondays and I usually go get something to eat quickly and then prepare for my classes at 2:30.
At 2:30 I teach my only intermediate class. They are wonderful. They're such great kids, and their level of English is a really fun one. I don't have to speak in Spanish at all, and sometimes if they don't understand something and I have explained it 5 times in English, and I'm about to revert to Spanish, they'll stop me and say , "No, Profe, please only English. Say again, use different words." It's so sweet. This is the class with the kids who ask about me being vegan and give me walnuts and ask how I've been making friends here and try to get me to come out with them on weekends. It's a fun level of English to be at.
At 4 I teach my first basic class. So this semester is their first ever English class. They are really great kids and ask me all kinds of questions and really want to learn, but their English level is so non existent that I find myself speaking Spanish a lot. Recently I make more of a point to point to things, you hand gestures and repeat myself a lot so they can understand me, rather than switching to Spanish. It would be easier, but I think, where would I be in my Spanish, or Italian even, if my teachers had gave up and just spoke English?
After class I come home and change and cook a little, before heading over to my friends Carlos, Mike, and Allen's apartment to watch Game of Thrones! Jenni usually comes with me, and two other people from our program come too, Miller (Bama boy) and Beau. We usually cook dinner all together, either bringing separate ingredients or paying one person to get everything. We eat, drink wine, and watch Game of Thrones and hang out drinking and dancing after the show is over. It makes Mondays way way better :)
On Tuesdays I usually go for breakfast at my church friends Dan and Mary's apartment. They make me smoothies, peanut butter and gluten free bread and we eat and talk. It's really nice and I get a lot of advice and questions answered from them.
Around noon I head to school because I teach class at 1. I have 3 classes on Tuesday and Thursdays, one from 1-2:30, one from 4-5:30 and one from 7-8:30. So I am basically at Duoc for 8 hours, because the breaks in between are too awkward for me to go home. Thankfully Jenni is at school for the same time that I am so during our breaks we go on little field trips, any errands we have to run, things we have to pick up for the apartment or for dinner. When it was warmer we used to just go walking around, buying fruit from little fruit kiosks and sitting in parks. It was really nice.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are so hard for me, because they are my 3 hardest classes, the worst one being the last one. All 3 of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays are basic English, so again it's a lot of Spanish speaking and not understanding. My students also aren't very motivated. They come in late and the policy is that if they're more than 20 min late, they are marked absent.
So many students try to take advantage, talk me into letting them be
marked present (they only get a certain amount of absences per semester or they
fail the class) and it’s hard feeling manipulated and unappreciated by these
students. English is an obligatory class for all of my students, and the
classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at least show some general interest,
either because they know English will help them at any future job they have, or
because the genuinely want to learn the language. But as a whole the ones I
have on Tuesday and Thursday don’t feel that way.
So by the end of the day on Tuesday and Thursday I get home feeling really physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. I used to cry a lot after these days, but now since the semester is ending there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
On Wednesdays I have only one class at 4 pm. So I usually wake up a little later, maybe go for a hike, or just get ready for the day with the luxury of going slow, before going to my yoga class at 1:30. I go to the Nueva Escuela de Yoga, which is a 5 minute walk from where I live, and I love it! It's the best yoga class I've been to in awhile, and I love learning all the sayings and movements in Spanish. I always feel really tired and sore, but relaxed and rejuvenated after classes. It's over at 2:45 and either walk to school from there (lately not so much because of the cold) or stop and get a coffee at one of the only good coffee places around here (side note: can't remember if I've written about this, but Chile as a whole lives off of NesCafe, or instant coffee. Any place you go to, any home you go into, will give you this instant coffee and hot water. It's TERRIBLE. There are only a free places that will sell fresh, drip, or pressed coffee. I've found one! Apparently there is another near Hannah and Lizzi that I need to check out) and then I just make my way slowly to class. The class I have on Wednesday is my Monday basic class from 4 pm (each class has 2 classes per week. Monday/Wednesday for my basic class, Monday/Friday for my intermediate class, and Tuesday/Thursday for the other 3). I teach the class and then stop into English club for a second. It was started and is being run by Hannah and Jenni. There are some cool students that come so they can practice more English and have a good time. It's really cool. After, I take the bus or metro back home.
On Wednesday nights I usually go get drinks with Hannah, Lizzi, and Natalie around 8 pm at a bar called Bar Berri. It had such an amazing ambiance. The bar is decorated like the inside of what a ship might look like, and reminds me a lot of what it looks like in a lot of good pubs in Ireland. The upstairs, which is only open on weekends or holidays, looks like an old ballroom. The windows are French and the go from ceiling to floor. The ceiling is super high and their is a big mantel and fireplace. But now it is full of tables and there is a small bar, it is super cool.
Other Wednesday nights Jenni and I have gone to English/Spanish conversation groups at bars nearby. They are really fun, and I loved meeting new people and getting to practice Spanish, but it always costs a lot to buy drinks so many nights a week.
My Thursdays are almost exactly the same as my Tuesdays, minus the breakfast with Mary, so I get to sleep in a little, do laundry, clean my room or whatever.
On Fridays I wake up early and get ready for my only class, at 11:30. I go and teach for about an hour and a half, and then I'm free!!! I usually go around this time to the mall haha. I pick up soap from Lush or walk around the area looking for a warmer coat (still looking!) and some warmer socks, etc.
My weekends are different each week. Either I travel or I go out with friends, or just relax.
I'd love to include a bit about my favorite students, but I can't do that until the semester is over and they are no longer my students. Even though it would be all good things, I can't really talk about the job or the people in a public forum until it's no longer my job or they're no longer my students.
No comments:
Post a Comment