A little bit about Tocopilla

Well, life has started to slow down here, since vacation is over and I haven't gone away for any weekends. In the past three weeks since I last posted (oops), I did celebrate the 6th Anniversary of Collegio Gabriela Mistral (my school) and I feel like I have finally gotten used enough to this town that I have started observing more. I am past the point of taking every single thing in as a new experience, I have been able to really take a step back and observe the culture.

The Anniversary.
Well, what an experience. I can't remember celebrating any anniversaries of any of my schools growing up. I think Salem had like a 10 year or something when I was young, and that may have had some sort of party, but nothing compares to the yearly three week long celebration that takes place at any school with a birthday here.

It all started on a Thursday night when I was told I needed to be at school at 10pm for a dinner, and bring a bottle of wine. I really didn't expect much from this dinner. Most of the teachers at my school are older and not very crazy, so I thought. There was probably a 2:1 ratio of people to bottles of wine. Since I ate tesito (tea) at home with my host mom (don't really know why we ate), I wasn't very hungry, but I still indulged in some of the great home cooked entrees some of the teachers brought to share. We drank wine, ate and were generally merry for two hours until our Director (principal) stood up to make the anniversary toast at midnight. At this point, he told us all to go outside where we found a 25 person marching band playing "Happy Birthday" to Collegio Gabriel Mistral. The band then played about 5 more traditional Chilean songs and we danced the night away. The Director took me in the middle of the circle to test out my Chilean dance moves, and I'd like to think I kept up. After the band left, we went back inside and popped countless bottles of champagne! One of the second grade teachers, who like to make fun of me a lot, decided my cup should never be empty and took care of me for the rest of the evening. This is when I enjoyed my first of many cakes to be eaten over the course of the anniversary celebration and I finally made it home at around 2am, only to be up to teach the next morning at 8. Not only was this a lot of fun, but it helped me get to know a lot of the teachers at the school in a different setting. I think they like me a lot better now, and we joke around a lot more at school.

The next couple of weeks were broken into a variety of different activities. Every school day ended at least an hour early because of some sort of event going on. The Friday after the dinnertime celebration was a sort of "field day" for the kids. I never thought all my time spent at greek week would come in handy, but low and behold I was wrong. I was, of course, a great supporter in the crowd, and was able to give a few pointers on events like Tug-of-War (let's just say my class won it all). There was even the egg on the spoon run and jump rope. Really, the only thing I was missing was the super-hero underpants on my head. That day was a lot of fun, but no cake.

The next week we had soccer and volleyball tournaments everyday after school (I mean, but of course school ended early). All the classes played against each other, boys playing soccer and girls playing volleyball. Once again my class dominated, and on Friday of that week, we had more cake to celebrate "Day of the Kids" (like mother's day or father's day in Chile, but instead, just for kids). Now, I mention cake so much because cake in Chile is much better than cake in the states. If you know me at all, you know that my favorite cake is Tres Leches. I love that cake because of how moist it is. Store bought cakes in the states are usually dry and the frosting coats your mouth. It's just really not a good experience. Well, that is not the case here. Every cake has the sort of moist-ness that you get with Tres Leches. Whether is Dulce de Leche flavored (which it almost always is), or just a white cake. Sometimes there is fruit in it, sometimes just manjar (their version of dulce de leche). It is always good, and the frosting is just right. Basically, I love Chilean cake. That's all there is to it.

Throughout the school days of the entire three-week party there were different events such as poetry readings by the students and we even had a mass. Mind you, I teach at a public school, so I was very surprised to have a mass in the middle of the school day. And boy, were the kids disrespectful. Now, I used to throw my fair share of ju-ju-bees during chapel at good old Orange Lutheran, but that was just the beginning of what these kids were doing. The poor priest...

The last week of the anniversary was very interesting. The first two weeks was all about the kids, but the third week was actually all about the parents. After school everyday there was a volleyball tournament between the moms! Big surprise, my class won. Yay Octavo A (8th grade, A)! And one night, there was a parent talent show. This was ridiculous. Because women have kids much younger here than in the states, a lot of the mothers of 1st and 2nd grade weren't much older than me if not my age. So, some of the dances were not dances you would see mothers do in the states, for example wearing the kids' school uniforms (think, Brittany Spears "Hit Me Baby..."). It was all very entertaining though.

The final event of the anniversary celebration is the presentation of the kings and queens. Every class elects a king and queen and pays money to get them gifts. Then on this final night, they get dressed up in formal wear, the queens all wearing white dresses, and they are crowned. This was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Like a quinsinera for 18 different girls all thrown into one. The parents, of course, love it. It is this big production and leaves all the girls that weren't chosen as queen jealous of the girl that was. But low and behold, they can always be queen next year when they do this whole crazy celebration all over again.

I'm really glad that I got to be part of this big party, because it seems to be a big part of Chilean culture. I was just informed this afternoon that Jackie's school's celebration starts this Monday night with the midnight toast, so I am excited to hear the differences between her school and mine and maybe even go with her to celebrate a little (and maybe eat some cake).

Since the anniversary is over, school has gone back to normal, and I actually just had my very first week with all of my classes. I don't know if that will really ever happen again because September brings Chilean Independence day as well as the anniversary of Tocopilla, all very good reasons to miss school. I am now at the point where I have come into a routine with my students, and I know what more to expect, although they all have their own ways of surprising me. The latest trick for my 5th graders is to lock themselves in the cabinets in my room. I also have a 7th grader that brought a steak knife to school last week, so she could cut her lemon in class. During the same class, it started raining glitter half way through, and another one of my classes what put on hold last week because there was a stray dog in my class who was not willing to leave. These are all very normal things to happen at school here, and I enjoy taking them all in and having a good laugh. My students are still very caring and buy me my very favorite hand-made bread at recess sometimes. If not, then this new mint chocolate candy I am quickly becoming a fan of.

Other than school, I am noticing Tocopilla rebuilding itself more. A lot of the houses in my area are finally being renovated since the earthquake last November. It is a big thing to watch a house being demolished that typically draws quite the crowd. The futbol stadium is supposed to re-open in September and there will be another large party for that, and I am crossing my fingers to meet the famous soccer player that is from here in Tocopilla.

I have been a little sick for the past couple of weeks, and experienced my first trip to the hospital in South America. Now, no need to worry, I am fine, but it's just another interesting experience I can take home with me. The hospital is run out of portable buildings here since it was demolished in the earthquake, so it was not quite the same as a trip to the doctor in the states, and of course the fact that he didn't speak a word of English. The good news is that he gave me meds, and I should be on the road to recovery.

Well, that's about all I have for now, and I hope this fulfilled your Chile update cravings for the time-being. Sweater dog still is not wearing a sweater, and we are still having earthquakes on a frequent basis. I will try to blog more often so as not to keep you on the edge of your seat all the time, since that's where I know you are. As your Summer comes to an end, my Spring is just beginning with the possibility of not one but two asados this afternoon to start! I hope all is well in the US of A! Chao!