Service Learning

Jefas de Hogar

Escuela Alemania, Valparaiso

The school that I taught at. It is an elementary school and cute little Chilean kids were always running around. The Municipalidad de Valparaiso received permission to use their classrooms for our English classes.

My student, Carolina. Throughout the semester I had a couple other students that came semi-regularly, including Erika, but Carolina was the only constant one. She has a fire in her to learn, as she studied and read on her own in workbooks she bought. Carolina always came in with new questions and was the best student I could ask for!

On my last day, we learned body parts. She asked me about the song "Baby Got Back", so we listened to it and she was able to translate it very well: I like big butts and I cannot lie.

She gave me a necklace as a thank-you for being her teacher, with a few tears as well! I won't miss planning lessons twice a week, but I will miss her! She was patient with my Spanish, as I was with her English.

-Fondo Esperanza-

Valparaiso Office

This is a classroom in the Valpo office, where classes about business tactics are held.

Emy (my service learning partner for the semester) with Veronica and Loreto, our two favorite women in the office. They were both so welcoming and enjoyed having us in the office!

Me outside the office.

Overall with the FE experience, I learned more about how microlending works. In the last month, I was able to attend a few meetings of the Banco Comunales, or groups of about 20 that receive the micro loans. Before that, we did a lot of administrative work (filing papers, running errands) which gave us a good foundation, but that got old very fast. Luckily we spoke up and they accomodated our requests willingly. FE is a great organization, they have in total 30,000 recipients in Chile who are small business owners, 87% women. I hope that CSB-SJU continues to send students to this organization, with a bit more guidance on where they are needed.

-I leave for Patagonia in 2 days!-

Concha y Toro

We had a group excursion today to the Santiago bodega (winery) of Concha y Toro. Here they grow about 30% of the grapes they use for their wines, the rest are brought from producers around Chile and Argentina. The grounds were very impressive, beautiful buildings and gardens! In Argentina, I went to two much smaller bodegas, so this one was a definite contrast.

The entrance- Concha y Toro.

One sight of the vineyard itself.





This is down below in a cellar, called the Devil's Dungeon.

We were able to sample a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

And take the wine glasses home with us!

A Chilean Thanksgiving

The stuffing we successfully made! We had 4 more pans of this deliciousness.

And of course, hand turkeys were made. I had to explain to Erika what a hand turkey is!

At the dinner- the people that live in Chorrillos! I've spent a lot of time with these people, since we tend to walk everywhere together and what not.

My delicious meal.

Erika, myself and Daniela came to try our Thanksgiving FEAST! It was so good. Though the pumpkin pie and gravy did need some work.

A day in the life...

Yesterday I took some photos of some of the things I see daily here. I am less than 2 weeks away from being done with my official study abroad program here in Chile. Uy!

This is at the bottom of the hill of my university. This hill is SO steep and I always arrive in class sweating because of it. But hey, we can all use a work out, right?

A view of my school, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, in Recreo, a part of Vina. The school is actually in the process of building a new campus, to replace this one. The campus is very small and the rooms are a bit outdated (especially since this school has the reputation of being in the 'ivy league of Chile') so I think it will be a good decision. However, I don't think they can beat the view of the ocean from this area! It's gorgeous.

This is the beach closest to campus, about a 15 minute walk. A lot of us have been going to the beach for a bit after class. Life isn't too bad when you wear a swim suit to class!

Walking back from the beach, this is street eventually turns into the main road which I live on. These are the buses we take here, called micros. The micros are CRAZY! The system is semi-unorganized (I used to think very unorganized, but I've learned more where I'm going in the city) and they drive like mad men. People have had some good stories from the micros these past few months- falling asleep and ending up way far from home, taking a wrong bus and ending up in the upper hills of Valpo, etc.

This is the Reloj de Flores in Vina. It is basically the symbol of the city, for some reason. It's hard to come by a post card of Vina that doesn't have this on it. Notice the huge tourist group having their photo taken in front of it.

Then I took the metro home! To the right is a metro station and the left is the inside of the metro. I know you all probably don't care what this looks like, but remember, it's for my memory too! :)

After getting off the metro in Chorrillos (my neighborhood in Vina) I walk about 3 blocks and then have to ascend the dreaded hill up to my apartment building. The hill has become easier to climb up, but it is very steep and a pain when you are tired. I'm too cheap to pay for a colectivo to take me up, too!

This is part 1 of the hill.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4- up and through the parking garage and my building is the one straight ahead.

This is my tower!

A park next to my building. There is even a little pet cemetary that I think is adorable! People come here to let their dogs out and what not.

Up the stairs and I live in 46, the one on the right.

A random view in Chile. When I said that there are a lot of stray dogs here, I wasn't kidding! I hate seeing these dogs- they gross me out and I'm sure are sick and hungry. In addition, about half of our group here has gotten a form of fleas, probably thanks to the micros and the dogs. Ew!

Surfs up!

Hello hello! Just a quick entry, as I have a whole test to study for today!

I went surfing yesterday in Mainencillo, about an hour north (along the coast) of Vina. I am TERRIBLE at surfing, but it was a lot of fun! It can be very frustrating, because you have to get up on the board at just the right time, let alone stand up straight and balanced. I think for now I'll stick to snowboarding, but I would definitely try surfing again!

A view of the beach we surfed at! Some of the waves were huge and frightening...

Our group after surfing! (I couldn't get any photos of me or my group in the ocean, but the surf school said that they did. If I can get a hold of those, I'll post them later) They wanted us to pose with those chips, because they are a sponsor of the surf school.

Another view of the ocean, in the afternoon.

This was the only photo I could find of me from the surfing website. Apparently we made great chip models!

Tid bits

A few random photos from the past couple weeks in Chile. I've been swamped with homework, but am still enjoying my time here!

Last Saturday, we went to La Isla Negra, Pablo Neruda's most beloved home. These photos are from some of the balconies outside his home. He liked to spend his winters here, with the crashing of the waves. Neruda had a fear of being in or around the water, so this explains why he didn't like being near the water in summertime.

We learned that he referred to himself as a 'cosisto', cosa meaning thing, instead of a collectioniso, a collecter. In this home, he had random displays of everything, from African elephant tusks, to insects to pottery to anything you can think of. He liked the surround himself with these random things.

Beth, one of my good friends here, also has a Chilean sister in the same grade, at the same high school, so she attended the graduation mass (see below). After the mass, her family treated me to pizza in the CUTEST place ever in Valparaiso called Alegret

to! The photo with

the mural is the 'game room' upstairs, I thought it was pretty impressive. Beth lives close to be in Vina, and her family is always so nice to me! Her mom is always ready with a delicious snack for us. Next weekend, her dad is taking a group of about 7 to his home town, about 1 hour north of Vina. He is in a sailing club and has access to kayaks, we we're going kayaking. I'm very excited for this!

At Martina's graduation mass in the cathedral in Valparaiso. Each student received their own bible and there was a blessing for the graduates. In the couple masses I've gone to in Chile, I find the priests very easy to understand- which is great! I think it is because these church members are often well-educated and well-traveled and have learned how to train their accents.

In Chile, there have been many strikes in these past few weeks. Government offices are closed, state parks and museums have been closed as well. Public schools have been closed as well- my friends what volunteer at the public schools haven't been able to go for about a month now. This is some writing I saw outside a school "Solidarity with the teachers".

In other Chilean news, it is election season! A new president, senators and representatives will be elected in the second week in December. My dad will be in town for the elections (I believe they are the 13th) so that will be an interesting time. Last week, billboards and large signs went up. They line the streets. My mom likes Pinera, who is running for the Alianza, the "center-right" party. We learned that this is the first time since the 50's in Chile that a member from a traditionally coservative party is a strong candidate for President. The Concertacion party (a combination of Christian Democrat party, Socialist party, Radical Party, etc) has won the past 5 elections or so. It wouldn't surprise me if Pinera wins based on just this- the need for a change in leadership.

3 weeks from today, my program ENDS. I am both excited and sad for this. I mostly wonder where all the time went! Every day I look at the date, November ___ and I can't believe I'm writing November! I have been looking forward to my semester abroad for years, with so much anxiety and excitement over this past summer, and now it's almost done. Man.

What comes with the end of the semester? Homework, final papers and final exams. Even in Chile! This week I had for Tuesday a short essay, Thursday 4 papers for my Management course and for today, Friday, a 7-10 final paper for my Literature course. That is a LOT of time writing, and I'm glad to be done for a bit. However, I have a History of Chile test on Monday. Yuck yuck yuck. We have a long reading for it and it's not going to be a fun one. Luckily, some of it is on the Pinochet era, which I have a good grasp of, so that's good!

Guess what we're doing next week? THANKSGIVING!! On Thursday, we each are bringing a 'side dish' to share- I am on the stuffing committee. Turkeys are being provided by our university. We get to each invite 2 people. I'm hoping that I can invite 3, so that everyone in my family can come. We'll have to see about that, though. It will be fun to share this bit of our unique holiday with our Chilean family and professors! And eat some good food. Mmmm, I can't wait!

Also, tomorrow I am going surfing! Unfortunately the weather lately has been cloudy and cold (relatively cold, considering it's almost summer here, in the low 60s) so I hope that the weather clears up for tomorrow. The Pacific is freezing as it is, so some nice sunshine would be fantastic. The trip is offered through our school- it's $44 US for transportation (it's 1 hr away), lunch at a restaurant, a lesson and full surf gear (including a wetsuit). I figure this is about the cheapest I will get to surf. Plus, my dad made a good point the other day that in my short months in Chile, I will have snowboarded and surfed! It's about the same concept, right? ;)

Well, it's time for almuerzo here! Take care everyone.

Santiago round two

As I mentioned in my last post, a few girls and I had plans to go to Santiago for the weekend. I am very glad that I chose to do this because my view of the city is much brighter. We ate some good food and walked (what we calculated later) about 10 miles in one weekend! Santiago has a great metro system, but it is very pedestrian friendly and we got to see a lot of the city on foot!

Friday

We arrived in the afternoon, got situated in our hostel (Hostel Aji, I recommend it!) and then headed out to explore a bit.

These photos are from Cerro San Cristobal- in the barrio Bellavista in Santiago. We paid to take a ridiculously-tall funicular elevator up to the top and enjoyed the view from up there. I never realized how massive the city is! Because Santiago is nestled between the Andes and foothills of the Andes, smog and pollution has become a problem. But the view is still pretty incredible!

Us girls at the top!

That evening, we ate at a restaurant in Bellavista and then met up with a Chilean friend of Beth's, named Daniella. Daniella is 21 so it was fun to talk to a Chilena of our age. She took us to the Mexican restaurant where her boyfriend works and we had some appetizers and what not. She speaks some English, but we spoke mostly in Spanish, which was kind of fun! This was one of the first times I had spoken Spanish (for a long period of time) with my friends from the US, because we normally speak in English around each other. After our long day, we headed back to the hostel.

Saturday

Saturday was our big walking day! We started around noon and just walked and walked! We made it to the central area of town, where La Moneda and all of that is, and decided to check out el Mercado Central [Central Market]. We saw an array of fresh seafood and meat and it was a pretty cool place actually. It's in a pretty, old building with lots of noise and excitement. We decided to eat in the market as well, as there are some casual restaurants in it. 4 of us opted for the 'house special', which was a bowl of mariscos (shellfish) and a side of salad. The array (pictured below) was colorful and interesting. I normally like shellfish but I'm not sure I would order something like this again, because a lot of the textures were inedible to me and tasted like goo or tongues or silly putty. However it was an adventure and you only live once, right?

Then we walked off our meal and ended up at this huge park in the Yungay barrio. The park is beautiful and has a large museum in it as well. We found some much-needed shade and enjoyed a popsicle. While doing this we saw the cutest puppies ever! The stray dogs here are called perros vagos. These puppies were strays, so it was sad to know the tough lives they will lead. I wanted to bring one home as a souvenir, but somehow I don't think a dog would get through customs very well. After our puppy encounter, we checked out the museum. It was pretty cool, but the highlight of the park were the little puppies! By this time it was the late afternoon and we took the metro back home, because we were sick of walking!

Upon our return to the hostel, we ran into a girl named Adrian who was staying in my room. She is from Denver (went to Cherry Creek HS) and had just arrived the night before on a year-long backpacking trip, solo! We wanted a little pick-me-up and invited her to go to a cafe with us. We found a cute little place and began to tell her all the things she needs to know for living in Chile! We taught her about food, chilenismos and other little things. After coffee, we all came back to the hostel to wash up and relax for a bit. Then, Adrian and my group went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I had black beans and green chile and it was AMAZING! We talked more about Chile and what-not and by the time the meal was over, it was past midnight! Our original plan was to go dancing, but we decided to go back to the hostel instead.

This is a fountain near our hostel. We saw two separate bride and groom couples having their photo taken here!

Sunday

We woke up relatively early, because Angela, one of the girls in our group's family flew in that morning to visit her in Chile! She went to pick them up at the airport in Santiago and the rest of us went to find a Starbucks. We enjoyed the b-e-a-utiful morning and later we met Angela and her travel-weary family at the bus station to go back to Vina.

That evening, a few of us decided to go watch the sunset in Vina. These are some of the photos, with the sun setting over Valparaiso.