Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le- Viva Chile!

A bit lost getting back from Valparaiso, we found a park with this amazing view!






On our History of Chile's class tour of Valparaiso.




The view from my university! This was taken from a classroom.

To begin, we did not end up going to Pomaire last weekend, due to the high possibility of rain. Rain is like snow here-- school is cancelled, people don't go to work, etc. Instead we are going this Saturday, so again, I will let you know how that goes!

Today I have been in Chile for one month! What a month it has been! I feel as though things are going to start picking up- I have a group excursion this weekend, next weekend is Fiestas Patrias (I've been invited to numerous asados, we don't have school that Friday so it's a 4 day weekend for me!) and the following weekend is a group excursion to Santiago, including a night in a hotel.

Also today is September 11- a very significant day in the US and Chile. This was the day in 1973 that the military coup of Augusto Pinochet took place, bombing La Moneda (Chile's White House) and killing socialist president Salvador Allende. The military dictatorship took over and the human rights violations that took place in Pinochet's first years were gross and unforgiveable. They claimed to be fighting Communism but thousands were killed and tortured in concentration camps by the Chilean army. Pinochet was the ruler until 1989, when the first democratic elections were held in a long while. I recommend watching the movie Missing, a movie with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spaceck from the 80s. My Senior Seminar class has focused on this subject thus far, as the title of the course is 'Justice and Impunity in Latin America' and the same with my History of Chile class. It is crazy to think that such a stable country such as Chile at one point was in such a state. When my class goes to Santiago, we will get to see some of the historic sites.

This week has been a good one! Last Saturday, we all got dressed up in some crazy clothes for the 21st birthday celebration of one of my friends on the trip! Also that night was the Chilean national soccer team's game against Venezuela. We tied 2-2. Since I don't get to watch the Johnnies, Buffaloes or Broncos this season, I will settle for the 'real' football, futbol. I've never been a huge fan of watching soccer, but it is definitely exciting to watch with other Chileans. They get so into it! The title of this blog entry is the cheer you do when Chile scores a goal. We are going to a national team's game (here they call the nat'l team La Roja [the red] because of the color of their jerseys) in October!!! I am so incredibly excited for this game- tickets are hard to come by, especially when they are playing for the World Cup, not just an exhibition game. La Roja also played Wednesday night vs Brazil, who is #1 in the 'division'. We lost 4-2, which is a particularly high number of goals scoared in a game.

This week I also started my service learning! I have officially taught two classes of English for beginners and they went really well! I was nervous for the first day and spent a lot of time looking up how to teach ESL, planning my lesson, etc. I am hoping to be compensated for the time spent lesson planning, because it will be at least 1 or 2 per week! My class had 8 women, with ages ranging from 20-upper 50s. What I am finding difficult is balancing the learning levels of my class. Some have studied English a few years, others not at all. They are all enthusiastic however and make class fun! I do that Monday and Thursday afternoons from 4-6pm in Valparaiso.

Today was the first day at Fondo Esperanza, a microloan bank. I actually didn't do anything today, but we had a meet and greet with the staff! They welcomed us with a big cup of coffee, which tasted delicious. The staff members are so nice and I am really looking forward to this opportunity! From what I can tell, I will be working with the 'administrativas' or the administrators at the office in Valparaiso. I don't know really know what this means, but I will get to see the inner-workings of this bank! I will be there for 4 hours on Thursdays also in Valpo-- so it will be a looong day in Valpo! Oh well, beats sitting in class!

And one last side note [I think this wins for longest blog entry], today Starbucks opened in Vina! I know I am a terrible American and should stay away from all the things from the USA (I've yet to go to McDonald's, which many from my group have gone to) but I had to check it out! And let me just say, it puts the little Starbucks across from my high school to shame! This one has two floors and tons of indoor and outdoor seating! You can see the beach from it- not too shabby! It was a madhouse today, I waited approximately 2o minutes in line. And it was expensive- 2.300 Chilean pesos, which translates to about $4.25 for my tall caramel macciatto that I always order in the US! It usually is about $1 less in the US... Oh well! I won't be going there too much, but I'm glad to have a spot to study where someone doesn't serve you.

Phew! Well I'm off to complete a bit of homework before a 'movie night' with some friends. We don't want to be pooped for the trip to Pomaire, so it is a low-key night tonight! Until next time, chao!