Vina del Mar

The last few days of my trip are now here and I can hardly believe it!! Since my last blog so much has happened that it will be hard to put it into words. The rest of sunday and monday I spent packing and hanging out with my host sister and parents. Then it was monday night and time to go to the bus station. Our bus left at 9:30 at night to head back to Santiago but we all met at 8:30. The hour of waiting was such a mix of emotions. On one hand I was very excited to come to Vina and then be that much closer to home but I was also sad about leaving my host family and all of the wonderful people that I met in Valdivia. In the three weeks that I stayed in Valdivia I got to know so many of the students from Windsor and even many of the parents of the different host families. So standing in the bus station with everyone together it was hard to tell how I was feeling, along with the thought that I might never see any of them every again. I felt like Valdivia was just starting to become part of me and then we left. All of these emotions were taking over when we all had to load our luggage and get on the bus. As the bus pulled out of the station all of our families were waving goodbye to us. The entire experience was one that I will never forget.
We then took the 10 hour bus ride back to Santiago and then 2 more hours to Vina, where it was cold and cloudy. Because of the unfortunate weather we ended up going shopping at the biggest mall I have ever seen, with 4 floors! We also found a very good open market with home jewelry ad clothes. Also on the beach there are sand artists that make sculptures in the sand that look amazing. Today and tomorrow we will just be relaxing at the beach, hopefully if the weather gets better, and then friday night we come HOME!!!! YAY! Have a great week getting ready for Christmas and I can't wait to see everyone!!!
The family picture we took my last night there :)

Adios Valdivia

Well it is now sunday and it is my last official day in Valdivia. Tomorrow night we will be taking the bus back to Santiago and then from there to Vina del Mar. Since my last blog I have finished my classes at Windsor School and got to explore the city a bit more. On Thursday we ended up having a litte talent show of the three boys in our group for the school. Two of them played the piano and guitar and sang a few songs and then the dance major did a dance for the whole school in the gym. Rilley, the dancer, is a dance major at Otterbein and the whole Windsor school fell in love with him and they asked him to come back the next day and teach the cheerleaders a dance. So needless to say the gringos, forgieners, made a big impact on the school at a whole. Also on thursday for lunch my family took me to a famous restaurant in Valdivia that has crudos. Which crudos are bread with raw meat on top of them, and they then put lemon and different sauces on them. The food is very german but everyone in Valdivia love them. I tried one and lets just say I am not a true chilean. Then on thursday night we went out to a different discotec that is in the casino here in town and it was very big and I had a lot of fun. Friday was then filling with end of the year celebrations and we had a magician come into our class. That night all of the Otterbein students went over to one of our host family's house and had snacks and hung out. The house we went to was amazing and they just kept bringing out food and sweets for us to eat that we all felt like we were at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. We also tried a little and spanish Karaoke at his house, which was a very hard but still fun. On saturday I got up and went to the mall with my mom and then went out to lunch and a movie with some friends. We saw Megamente, megamind, in spanish and it was such a cool experience to see a movie in a differet language. Lucky for me I had already seen the movie so I knew what was going on but I could understand the characters pretty well too. Today I don't have many plans except washing clothes and back for the journey back. One week from now I will be home!! Have a great sunday :)

My final week in Valdivia

This is my final week in Valdivia with my family here in Chile! I can't believe the three weeks have gone this fast. Since my last blog we have arrived back in Valdivia but I can't continue without talking about the trip back. It was much better than the trip there however when we crossed the border from Argentina into Chile we were in the middle of a snow storm. It was crazy! We all thought we left that in Ohio. But because we were so high up in the mountains there is always snow there. We were able to take a picture. With the Welcome to Chile sign though which was pretty cool, I don't think I have ever been on the border of a country before. On monday we started another week of classes and visiting schools. After school my sister had to go back to class so I went over to one of my friend's house, from Otterbein, because he lives near me with his chilean family. It was really fun to see another Chilean family because this one hadfour kids and two were young girls and it was very fun to talk to them in spanish because they are so cute. We ended up going to the mall and this ice cream shop called Entrelagos. The ice cream that I got is called Manjar Platano, or amazing! The ice cream here is so smooth and easy to eat, of course :) On tuesday we had more spanish classes at Windsor school. We actually had a grammar class that was very helpful because we were asking him questions about the expressions in Chile. I think out of everything the expressions here were things that I didn't know so it makes it hard to understand them. One thing that they all say which is kinda funny is the word Po. It is for emphasis, like you would say Si Po, yes of course! So all of us gringos, forgieners, now say Po all the time. Also on tuesday we made home made bread, which was great. In the afternoon I went to the market in town. The market has alot of had made wooden things and knitted clothing and hats. It was very bright and colorful and seemed to show the culture of Chile. Then finally today, wednesday, we visited another school in the morning but then this afternoon I got to hang out with my sister here. We walked and met one of her friends, Catalina, and went to the Jardin Botanica, a garden here in Valdivia. The "gardin" was a very pretty park that looked over a small river and there were lots of kids playing games and hanging out because of the wonderful weather today. When we got home we played card games and then watched Twilight, she is just like me :) Then I decided to give her the Jelly Beans that I brought for the family and it was one of the best experiences I have had in Chile. I brought with me a big 4 pound bottle of jelly beans because I had heard that they didn't have them here. She had never seen anything like it before and she was in amazment. She loved just even looking at all the different colors so much that she didn't want to eat them. After she started trying them she was even more in shock because of all the different flavors and she didn't understand how they made them like that. It made my night because she was so excited about them, I even took her picture with them. The jelly beans are now a decorative item in there house. We have two more days this week in the school and then the weekend here and then we leave again for Santiago on monday! Then only five more days until we are home! I will try and update again this weekend :)

P.S. I have been listening to Reggaeton music, the typic chilean music, while I have been writing this. I am becoming a true chilean :)

Bariloche

 
Hello, I know I haven't written on here in a while but we have been super busy with traveling. Tuesday and this week was about the same as the last week with having classes and visiting schools. On wednesday they had a national holiday so no one had to go to school or work. So I was able to spend time with my family a little bit and get to know Valdivia a little more. We first went to the fresh water market. As I have said Valdivia is surrounded but rivers and as a result the fish industry is very large. It was diffinitely a different experience with all of the raw fish laying out and each different fisherman trying to get you to buy from their selection. Also at the market they had fresh vegetables and some plants even. After the market we then met up with one of my sister's cousins and went out to lunch at the local brewery in Valdivia. This brewery has been around since the 1800's and it is actually of german descent because of the great german population there. The factory is called Kuntsmans. The food was great and I got to talk to someone else in there family which was fun as well. The rest of the day on wednesday was basically free to get ready for our travel to Bariloche.
The venture to Bariloche was rough and I didn't know if we were ever going to make it. We first had to drive 2 hours to a fairy and then 2 hours on that and then drive about five hours through the Andes mountains on gravel roads in the pouring rain. We really weren't sure if we were going to make it. Driving through the Andes was definitely an experience. However the view during the drive was absolutely amazing, there were mountains and lakes and waterfalls and all kinds of different landscapes. It made me really appreciate how hard God must have worked to make all of this because it was stunning. After the painful drive the rest of the night was had dinner and then went out to an Argentinian discotec. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but Bariloche is in Argentina, which is why it was so far away.
The next day in Bariloche though was definitely worth all of the traveling. We went up in this ski left up to a lookout area over the Andes mountains. The view from up was ten times better than the volcano in Pucon, which is didn't even think was possible. It was just amazing how big and how far the mountains stretched. The wind at the top was very cold and we all had on big coats but it was definitely worth it. The rest of today was spent with some shopping around the town and eating chocolate! Bariloche is the chocolate capital of South America. On every street corner there is a different chocolate shop. One of the shops in particular was al decorated for christmas and it looked like you were walking into santa's kitchen. I bought chocolate and two different stores because there was just so much good stuff.
We will be leaving tomorrow morning to head back to Valdivia and our final week of classes! I hope you are all doing well getting ready for Christmas, Miss you :)

Pucon

The weekend is over and we are now back in classes but it was amazing! First on Friday my host dad and my sister took me to the coast where the Pacific Ocean comes into Valdivia and starts dividing into the three rivers. It was absolutely beautiful. There were many spots around the beach with fishing boats and mountains on both sides of the water. I thought it would be the most amazing thing I would see on this trip but I was definitely wrong. After going to the beach we then had a get together for all of the Otterbein Students and our host siblings. It was really fun getting to know some of the other people and enjoying the times together with everyone. After such a great night on friday I didn't think the weekend could get any better. On saturday morning we all got up and met at the school and then left for Pucon.
Pucon is a small tourist town about 2 hours north of Valdivia. The town is known for its amazing views of the mountains and it's Volcano. As we drove into the city this giant volcano just came out of nowhere from under the clouds and it was the most amazing this I have every seen. It felt much like the first time I saw the grand canyon. (But thankfully we couldn't fall into the volcano so it was less scary). Upon arriving to the hotel we get something to eat and then decided to take a closer look at this natural wonder. We drove up the most rocky and dusty road ever and then finally made it us pretty far that we decided to get out and take some pictures. From our first location we could see the volcano and then the other direction looked like we had entered Jurassic Park. There were large hills covered in trees and a great lake off into the distance. Then we were all feeling pretty good so we decided to hike up the mountain. No one anticipated going very far however the higher you get the more beautiful the view and it became somewhat addicting to go higher and higher. After hiking about twenty minutes up I decided I had gone far enough and I turned around and I gasped because not only could I see what I was looking at before but also the andes mountains which crosses into Argentina. It was amazing. I stayed in that spot for a while but the guys on our trip climbed all the way up to where the snow was and made a snow man. The rest of the night was filled with eating and resting from the excursion that day.
On sunday however we got up and ate breakfast and then embarked on another adventure. Rafting down the volcano river. Now you must remember that it is spring time here so it is just beginning to get warm. In other words the water was absolutely freezing! But the company that we went with gave us wet suites, shoes, jackets, coats and helmet to wearing on the raft. I had never been rafting until then so I didn't really know what to expect but it was so much fun! I loved it. We had to stear through rapids and we got splashed with waves all the time. I think another thing that made it so great we the view of the mountains and volcano the whole way down. We even could drink the water because it was so incredibly clean and clear. After rafting we came back to town and shopped around at an open market and then went to the beach. The entire town was just amazing, most of the buildings were made of wood and it was very pretty. As the day came to an end we drove back to Valdivia.
Monday we had another visit to the school and I taught my class the song, head shoulders, knees and toes, in english and they seemed to really like it. The rest of the day is free but we have another long day tomorrow. Then this weekend is Bariloche, Argentina.

Baile la Polka

Hello everyone :) I know my blogs have gotten progressively longer since I got here so I am going to try and keep this one short. We have now had our first full week in the school and our first week with our families. Overall I think everyone has had a great time living in Valdivia. Yesterday in school we had a dance class were we learned two of the traditional dances of Chile. It was very interesting because 5th graders taught us the dances. One of the dances was called the polka and the other was the cueka. They are very upbeat dances with lots of skipping and stomping. The rest of the day was filled with classes and visiting with our families. Most of that for me consists of trying new food and watching the news. Once again I must emphasize how great of a cook my maid Rosaria is, she makes the most amazing food, and it is all mostly healthy.
As I have continued to spend time in the schools I have noticed that it doesn't matter where you are put that all children act the same way and want attention, especially from people who are different like us. At the german school that we visited I got to play some games with a few of the 3rd grade girls there and all the wanted to do was the clapping chants, like miss mary mack. Of course there chants were different than the ones from home but it was very fun to see that those costums are everywhere. Also all of the students here love the Justin Beiber and the Jonas Brothers. Actually most of the entertainment here is american. They don't have a large industry for movies or shows so they watch most of the same stuff that we do. My first week here was definitely trying but it has also been great. Tonight we are all having a get together with all of the Otterbein students and all of our host siblings and then we are going out to the discoteca. Then in the morning we are leaving for Pucon :) I hope all is well!

Typical day of a Chilean Student

We have now been in Valdivia for three days and have had two full days of school! On tuesday I arrived at school with my host sister and I went to the room that would become the classroom for all of us students from Otterbein. We have a teacher that is teaching us some spanish. She is the teacher that teaches the first graders how to read and write and we have just been doing some simple activities with her. Also on tuesday we had history class with a different teacher. The information was very interesting and he talked about some of the problems that they have in Chile, such as the separation between the upper class and lower class. The next part of the day is the most different for me, we get picked up at 1:00 to go home and eat lunch. Basically everything in Valdivia stops from 1 to 3 o'clock for everyone to go home and eat lunch with thier familes. My family always has a wonderful lunch that the maid makes. I actaully tried some fish, which I know is very shocking, but it is native to this area and I liked it! After lunch on tuesday we went back to school and I had a cooking class. In the class we made cookies, they were like no-bakes. The cookies was made with crushed up graham crackers and some sweet cream and then rolled in coconut. These cookies are a typical dish that the small children really like here. After the cooking class we had an art activity where we made christmas cards for our families. Then after school my sister and I went downt town and got ice cream. The ice cream here is very similar to the ice cream that we have but it is a bit more smooth. The flavors that we have as hard dip are served with the same density as our soft serve. But overall it was still very good and we were able to eat our ice cream and walk around the bank of the river. There is where we saw the sea wolfs!!! These animals are like sea lions but bigger and they are all over by the river, it felt like I was at Sea World but it is normal for them to have them around all the time.
The reason for the sea wolfs is because of the demografic area of  Valdivia. The city is called the city of three rivers. Largest river is called La Calle, Calle. My host family lives on an island across this river. The island is called La isla Teja and we have to take a big bridge to get from the town to the island. However this river makes the area very pretty and useful for having great fish markets every saturday morning.
On Wednessday morning I went to school just like the day before and had classes in the morning. But then we got to go on a field trip the La Universidad San Sebastian. The university is very all different kinds of majors and we were able to talk with some of the students there about the differences in educational systems from the United States and Chile. This was very interesting because we have many of the same problems with inner city schools and lack of education. The morning was basically the same as the day before however after we came back from lunch we didn't have to go back to school for the afternoon. This is the time when most of the sports teams have there practices. One of the main sports here is field hockey and they have teams for both boys and girls. My host sister doesn't play any sport but she is a very good student and she studies a lot. Because we didn't have to go back to school I was able to go to the mall. The mall was very similar to the malls in ohio. If anything it was probably nicer because it was very big and it was kept very nice. When we got back my sister had to study because she has a Biology test on friday and I was able to look at some of her notes. It was very interesting because she is learning about the kidneys and I know a lot about those in english and it was very cool to see how it was put in spanish. The rest of the night was filled with watching the news and I was able to show her some pictures of my family. She thought, to no big suprise, that bobby and my dad look exactly alike and that they were very tall. I also showed her picutres of the dogs and she commented on how old murphy looks (I left out the fact that he is my least favorite).

Overall I am having a great time in Valdivia but is has been a little hard to adjust. The eating schedule is very different because they have such big lunches half way through the day, but then they don't eat very much at all for dinner. However I think this works for them because I have yet to see an overweight person since we have been here. They are much mor conscious about what they eat. Another very interesting this is that at the school they have 2 fifteen minute breaks in the morning and one in the evening when the entire school stops and the kids can do whatever they want. Some of them eat a snack and they go outside to play. I thought it was very interesting that they don't really have a recess teacher that watches them the whole time. These kids are able to play without fighting and they all come inside when they hear the bell. I was trying to understand this concept and I think the kids behave better because they do have this free time when they can get all of their energy out. I don't know exactly but it is very pleasant. We now have two more days of school and then this weekend we are going on a trip to larger city in Chile! Chao :)