viva chile!

So everything here is progressing pretty normally. I'm still teaching. I'm still hanging out with my main group of friends here, although I have added a few Chileans to the mix. I'm still loving my roomies and most importantly, I'm still really enjoying my time down here.

I just sent off an email to a volunteer organization that helps at risk kids and their families. I tried getting involved with two others (one very similar to a Habaitat for Humanity), but they never got back to me, but this one looks promising. Hopefully I'll hear back within the next few days then can maybe start next week.

I'm scoping out all the good places to eat, or the good places for dessert. Any time I mention a place we have to go to my parents, it most likely pertains to dessert - Bravissimo gelato, crepes down the street, ice cream half a block away....I may not know the city inside and out yet but I certainly know where to get good dessert.

We luckily have still been able to travel a bit. We went to La Isla Negra yesterday which is the town where one of Pablo Neruda's homes is located. Very beautiful, right on the beach, very peaceful. We've also been to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, both beautiful coast towns, one's very resorty and one is very artsy, with murals on the sides of all the buildings. It's nice to be able to get out of Santiago, at least for the day. We also went to Cajon de Maipu to hike for an afternoon and it was beautiful.

At this point with classes, my students are semi-frustrating but I still love them. They're getting lazier and more obnoxious, but also a lot funnier. They make more and more wise cracks during class and they're even putting them on tests now.
On one test, the problem was: There are not enough places for children in the city. My students had to create a solution. Maria Jose writes: There should be less people having children. Hahah. I laughed out loud reading that in the middle of class. The same student, when we were practicing I use this for .... or I use this to.... writes: I use my knife for killing people or I use my knife to kill people. This comes from a girl who is my height, adorable and who giggles after every semi inappropriate comment she makes. Ha. In another class, my student wrote his name on top of his test, then put "Daddy" in quotations next to it....Still not sure what to do with that. Then I have one student, who, when asked to make up an excuse for not being able to go to the movies wrote: I would love to, but I have to find my unicorn. Ha.

What's great is that, although they can be brats and have attitudes, we have a very positive relationsihp, where we can joke with each other and most importantly, where they feel comfortable to make mistakes. Since I am still pretty much doing half the class in English and half in Spanish, they hear all the mistakes I make and they tease me about it; in turn, when I tease them or laugh at/with them for their mistakes, it doesn't make them want to participate less; it just becomes something we can joke about. Then they also like to get me to say hard words in Spanish just because I can't say them, so I tease back and make them say: cheap/sheep/chip/ship. To them, there's absolutely no difference in how it sounds. Ha.

We're also in the middle of the World Cup down here, so although we're not allowed to 'suspend' classes, our students get a free absense. I already asked my students if any of them were coming to class on the days when Chile plays and was answered with a resounding 'no'. I'm actually really excited for when Chile plays, as I'm sure it will be crazy here! Especially if they make it out of their group. There's a chance but they'll have to play really well. I actually had a little World Cup party here the other day for the USA vs England game (which was pretty underwhelming but since we got a tie, I'm not complaining).

Other than that, we're starting to plan for winter vacation, at the end of July, and are hoping to make it up to Iguazu Falls in Argentina, then Machu Pichu in Peru and maybe Buenos Aires as well. We'll have to see how far our funds can take us.

Well I need to go lesson plan a bit more, but I love you all and miss you terribly. Hope all is well at home or wherever you are.