And I Finally Have a Life.

Well, sorry folks that I have been gone for so long. I know that you are probably shamelessly checking my blog every single day to catch a glimpse of my life down South, but alas, I have actually been busy! This past week, I kind of got my routine going for my life here in Chile, and I love it.

I teach here five days a week ranging from 8am-5:30pm. If I don't go in at 8am, I go in at 11, which is nice because then I get to sleep in and get some work done in the morning at the house by myself. Of course, I have a 2 hour lunch break every single day, as does the rest of Chile, and on some days mine are longer. I am teaching 4th-8th grades. There are two sections of every class and I see each once a week for about an hour. The 7th and 8th graders I see for three hours (but we split each class in half, so I see them for about an hour and a half). My English co-teacher was just made "boss" teacher (homeroom teacher) of one of the 8th grade classes, so I get to spend extra time with them. They want to throw me an asado this weekend for 4th of July.

In the afternoons I have different things that I do. Because I am American, my school figured that I play sports (haha). When one of the teachers left, they sort of unofficially appointed me the assistant volleyball coach. We practice twice a week officially, but I have found that they actually play every day. This has been a great way for me to get to know the students since I see them so little in the classroom, and they love learning phrases like "Go Team." Some of these kids are freaking amazing at volleyball. Seriously, there is a 12 year old girl that jump serves. Although I don't know how much help I am actually being while I'm at practice, but I love getting to play with them, and I can't wait until the season starts in July. One of the other volunteers comes and practices with us, so my students are super excited that they get another gringa at their school. Everyday they ask me if I'm coming to volleyball, but to tell you the truth, I'm not sure who is more excited for me to go, me or them.

I have really found that the children here are very loving. They are so eager to find out about my culture, and in turn, have taught me a lot about the Chilean culture, and of course, some Spanish. I am learning about the different styles in Chile and even catching on to a lot of their slang, poh! I receive gifts every day in class whether it be a piece of candy or a bracelet. I really have no choice on whether I want to take it or not, because they give it to me no matter what.

A short story:
My favorite gift has been from a girl in one of the 7th grade classes. I have that class on Thursdays before and after lunch, so a lot of the kids go home and eat during that time (and so do I). Before lunch she was asking me about food in the states and if I miss it and such. I really didn't think anything of it at the time, but when we got back from lunch, she told me that she had a gift for me. After the earthquake a lot of families were given emergency supplies because a lot of people didn't really have anything at all. I think her family got this after the earthquake, but she wanted to give me some. It was emergency self-heating Chicken Noodle Soup. She told me to eat it if I miss home, and that she has more if I want some. I seriously didn't know what to say when she gave it to me, and it will probably be coming home with me (unless I get desperate for food). The kids here are just that great.

Well, after the volleyball and English club (we meet on Mondays) I go to the gym every night. Now if you know me at all, you know that I have never gone to the gym in my life, but I have found that it is quite fun here in Tocopilla. This is not like a gym with machines and things. It is a step class run by this woman in an empty room at her church. About 30 women go every night, and it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have honestly never sweat so much in my life. We step for about an hour non-stop, and then she kills us with stretching and ab work. I may not lose any weight while I'm here (because I eat about a cup of oil every day), but I'm sure gonna be in shape.

This past weekend, I went down to Antofagasta with the two other volunteers that I hang out with a lot and our friend Rodrigo, he is a Teacher at Melissa's (one of the other volunteers from NY...might as well get to know them because I'm going to talk a lot about them) school. Jackie's (the other volunteer from Tempe, AZ) host brother and sister live down in Antofagasta because they go to the University there. We met them when their school was on strike for an entire month, so we got the chance to become friends. We stayed the weekend at Marco and Pamela's house, and explored the big city. We met up with some of the volunteers that work down there, and it was nice to be taken back to the family we made in Santiago during training.

Being in the big city was nice because they have commercial things that simply don't exist in Tocopilla. For example, McDonalds. It has never tasted so good in my life. Nothing like a burger when the hot dogs here are served with tomatoes, mayonnaise, avocado and more. There is a movie theatre there (which we didn't actually go to) and even a mall. Some of the volunteers there live up to an hour outside the main city, and transportation there is more expensive and pretty hard to figure out. The entire time we were there, my friends and I who are working in Tocopilla were so thankful for our placements. For me, I would never be able to adapt into the Chilean culture when nobody recognizes me on the city streets and invites me to their house for tea. The size of my city has proven to be perfect, and knowing that I can get to a bigger place in just 2 and a half hours is just perfect for me.

So now I am here in a new week. I start teaching on my own tomorrow, and this week and next will pretty much be flying solo. My co-teacher has gotten the chance to go to Spain through some sort of ministry of science, and is leaving this Thursday and will be gone until I leave for Peru. They are bringing in a substitute teacher for her, but I will have all the kids while I am in class. I am excited, because they all are quite eager to have me on my own, and I am excited as well to really get them to interact with me in the classroom. They want to learn some sort of "American dance" (? I don't know...) this week in celebration of the 4th of July, so we have agreed upon the Electric Slide. Can't freaking wait.

I may have landed upon a new extra-curricular activity as well. Today while at the office of the International Police (I have to go there to register as a person living in the city), my friend Melissa and I were approached about teaching English to some of the officers. It would be pretty sweet. We would work with them probably once or twice a week for a few hours over at Melissa's school, and they want to pay us! I figure we'd probably get some good asados out of it too (and I LOVE asados), and hang out with these hilarious police officers. They said they were going to call me this week to set it up, so I'm looking forward to it.

Well, that's my life in a nutshell pretty much. I will try to post pictures of my friends and host family this week. I am not really taking very many pictures myself, but instead stealing them from other people, so I have to wait for them to post them. You may even get a video of the karaoke experience I had in Antofagasta. So far, we have sang "Hotel California" and "New York, New York" at karaoke bars. These seem to be the only songs they have in English, but luckily they have landed upon a Californian and a New Yorker. Aren't they lucky.

I know this was kind of a random post, but I hope you enjoyed it, and I want you all to know that I am thoroughly enjoying my experience here. In Tocopilla, the colectivo drivers (kind of like taxis) know me at "Katti," my other friend as "Yaki" (that's Jackie), and Melissa is "la nina rubio" (the only blonde in Tocopilla). I am becoming a part of this community and finding fun new things every day. I miss you all, and hope you are enjoying your warm weather. I am in Winter...but it's not that cold.