Day 5 – Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Funny…I’ve traveled thousands of miles to find a country completely new to me, learn a new language, experience a different style of life…and befriend yet another prep boy!
Pat lives about seven minutes from my house in Broomall. He graduated in 2004, so he knows no one I know…except for…you guessed it…McCloskey! “The McCloskeys are a big family at the Prep…” This should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog! O, Sean – the connector of all connectors! (Pat actually knows Brian McCloskey – Sean’s brother? Feel free to comment here Sean – I will find out Pat’s last name). I’ve also met a guy from Upper Darby – Bob’s old stomping ground. I wish I would have known this pre-departure!
Today, we practiced teaching through group demonstrations. My group, Team Awesome (clearly channeling Laura Dolan) presented family vocabulary by using the Simpsons as an example. The cartoon is supposedly crazy popular here. The lesson went well, not great, but well. I think it will be more natural in front of an actual classroom with high school students. More of a challenge, but it will be easier to develop a style. It’s difficult to read a room of 25-30 year old native English speakers when reviewing words like: brother, sister, etc.
I’m curious to see how I will rate as a teacher. It’s an entirely different train of thought when you teach English as a second language. How do you give directions about simple concepts when your class might not understand the words of the instructions? The program hopes we will only speak English – so explaining further in Spanish will not be an option. I’m excited for the challenge. I think I have enough repressed creativity to get me through the next four months! I look forward to knowing if I could pursue it as a profession.
The heat does not exist in classrooms here. People must adjust though because the instructors in my classes wear normal clothes, while we (the students) bundle in fleece, down, and wool. It’s not an extreme cold here, but its enough to numb your fingers. The walk to our class building is only one block from the hostel. It’s lined with gorgeous old buildings that remind me of the brownstones in Philadelphia. The most ornate ones look abandoned with broken windows and graffiti. I imagine the upkeep of these buildings make them unaffordable. Across from the class building, there are two markets. One of which is run by an older woman with fabulous pastries including empanadas con queso that taste like cheese croissants and the most delicious cupcakes that taste more like a cross between pound cake and animal crackers. Tomorrow, I hope to ask her how to make them. The vanilla tastes slightly different. No worries – I will surely learn how to recreate them! Mark from Virginia suggested having the cake with strawberries and whipped cream…it would be a most fabulous Chilean strawberry shortcake!
We still are not sure what day we will depart for Calama (pronounced: Ca-llama). My guess is Saturday…but it could be Friday. Speaking of pronunciation…so many people at home (some of this audience included) corrected my pronunciation of Chile in the past few weeks. It turns out that most people here say: Chile (Chili – not Chil-lay). In the defense of some of you, I’ve heard both pronunciations – but all of our instructors you have been living here for years say Chile (Chili).
Last night, a group of us traveled to the other side of town to search for teaching supplies. We saw many exciting things: a Porsche, a Pizza Hut (yes, a stand alone Pizza Hut), and a Blockbuster. It’s not exactly as third world as I was anticipating…I’m positive there are super poor areas, but nothing like what I’ve heard about Peru and Bolivia. I knew that Santiago would be a developed city, but I did not expect it to be as advanced. The schools sound like they lack resources such as functioning printers and computer labs. I’m curious to see how they compare to the underprivileged schools in Philadelphia. As a travel tip, I’ve also heard that the Argentinean side of Patagonia is much cheaper and equally as beautiful.
I’m hoping to upload more photos tonight. The internet is extremely slow…so it’s tough to populate this page with the images I describe. I can’t wait to escape the city and start my real journey through Chile!
Funny…I’ve traveled thousands of miles to find a country completely new to me, learn a new language, experience a different style of life…and befriend yet another prep boy!
Pat lives about seven minutes from my house in Broomall. He graduated in 2004, so he knows no one I know…except for…you guessed it…McCloskey! “The McCloskeys are a big family at the Prep…” This should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog! O, Sean – the connector of all connectors! (Pat actually knows Brian McCloskey – Sean’s brother? Feel free to comment here Sean – I will find out Pat’s last name). I’ve also met a guy from Upper Darby – Bob’s old stomping ground. I wish I would have known this pre-departure!
Today, we practiced teaching through group demonstrations. My group, Team Awesome (clearly channeling Laura Dolan) presented family vocabulary by using the Simpsons as an example. The cartoon is supposedly crazy popular here. The lesson went well, not great, but well. I think it will be more natural in front of an actual classroom with high school students. More of a challenge, but it will be easier to develop a style. It’s difficult to read a room of 25-30 year old native English speakers when reviewing words like: brother, sister, etc.
I’m curious to see how I will rate as a teacher. It’s an entirely different train of thought when you teach English as a second language. How do you give directions about simple concepts when your class might not understand the words of the instructions? The program hopes we will only speak English – so explaining further in Spanish will not be an option. I’m excited for the challenge. I think I have enough repressed creativity to get me through the next four months! I look forward to knowing if I could pursue it as a profession.
The heat does not exist in classrooms here. People must adjust though because the instructors in my classes wear normal clothes, while we (the students) bundle in fleece, down, and wool. It’s not an extreme cold here, but its enough to numb your fingers. The walk to our class building is only one block from the hostel. It’s lined with gorgeous old buildings that remind me of the brownstones in Philadelphia. The most ornate ones look abandoned with broken windows and graffiti. I imagine the upkeep of these buildings make them unaffordable. Across from the class building, there are two markets. One of which is run by an older woman with fabulous pastries including empanadas con queso that taste like cheese croissants and the most delicious cupcakes that taste more like a cross between pound cake and animal crackers. Tomorrow, I hope to ask her how to make them. The vanilla tastes slightly different. No worries – I will surely learn how to recreate them! Mark from Virginia suggested having the cake with strawberries and whipped cream…it would be a most fabulous Chilean strawberry shortcake!
We still are not sure what day we will depart for Calama (pronounced: Ca-llama). My guess is Saturday…but it could be Friday. Speaking of pronunciation…so many people at home (some of this audience included) corrected my pronunciation of Chile in the past few weeks. It turns out that most people here say: Chile (Chili – not Chil-lay). In the defense of some of you, I’ve heard both pronunciations – but all of our instructors you have been living here for years say Chile (Chili).
Last night, a group of us traveled to the other side of town to search for teaching supplies. We saw many exciting things: a Porsche, a Pizza Hut (yes, a stand alone Pizza Hut), and a Blockbuster. It’s not exactly as third world as I was anticipating…I’m positive there are super poor areas, but nothing like what I’ve heard about Peru and Bolivia. I knew that Santiago would be a developed city, but I did not expect it to be as advanced. The schools sound like they lack resources such as functioning printers and computer labs. I’m curious to see how they compare to the underprivileged schools in Philadelphia. As a travel tip, I’ve also heard that the Argentinean side of Patagonia is much cheaper and equally as beautiful.
I’m hoping to upload more photos tonight. The internet is extremely slow…so it’s tough to populate this page with the images I describe. I can’t wait to escape the city and start my real journey through Chile!
2 comments:
Cat!!
I'm leaving this by first time.
I don't like writting in blogs...
But Chilean youth like having "Photologs" to sponsor themselves (heheh) you know
I'm so glad that you have known Santiago. It's quite intereesting.
Well, I can't say too much, 'Cause I haven't ever gone there. hhaha
My traveller knowledge of my own country ends in "La Serena"
Calama is not like Santiago.
I mean, if santiago is almost developed, Calama is not... hehehe
But there are lots of conforttable and interesting places hehehe...
I certainly know that it has its encharment... haha
I waiting for your arrival...
your blog is really nice
see yaaa soon
*David(Christian)black*
well, I´m Rodrigo
your chilean brother hahah
take care
my god!!
Sorry
I didnt make sure if my comment was
okay
please, forgive if it´s not understandable
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