A Day in the Life

Friday night is electric, because everyone is excited for the weekend. While walking home on Friday night, so far I have seen people dancing next to people yelling fire and brimstone (a weird juxtaposition). I have smelled BBQ and heard singing. I’ve made it a goal to make the most of my weekends. I want to travel as much as possible, because Chile has so many places to see and most of the beautiful places are outside of the crowded, smoggy Santiago. Sundays are the opposite of Friday, and I love it because they are calm, quiet and relaxing.

This weekend I went hiking. I traveled by bus for about 1 ½ hours to a beautiful place called Rio Clarillo. It was nice getting some exercise, breathing clean air and spending some time in nature.

The Andes make a picturesque backdrop when they aren't hidden behind smog. The mountains stood so tall; we were humbled.

Last weekend I went to Vina del Mar/Valpariso so that I could escape the city and go to the beach.

Looking like tourists is fun.

Last Thursday, Kathryn and Elizabeth came over and we cooked our first real meal. While waiting we drank wine and ate bread with olive oil, salt, tomatoes and cheese. For the main course, we made bowtie pasta and pasta sauce that consisted of ground turkey, tomato sauce, olive oil, diced garlic, onions, bell peppers, salt and pepper. We had asparagus on the side so that we could pretend we were being healthy.

As for my day-to-day, I’ve heard it takes about a month to form or break a habit, and generally the reality of a serious change takes about a month to sink in. As a result, it takes a month for people to either start feeling homesick or to finally get over the feeling. I’ve been in Chile for nearly 5 weeks, and I’m starting to form habits. Luckily I haven’t felt homesick, although I miss some people everyday. Something about Latin America is less stressful than the United States and that comforts me.

I’m teaching 6 classes that meet twice a week at a school that is similar to a community college. One of my classes is filled with older administrators from my school, who want to learn English. The first day I taught the administrators, an older man walked in and asked me in Spanish “are you the teacher?” because I look just like the students. I’m honored to teach a group of people that really want to learn English, but it’s a little (okay very) intimidating.

I have 4 basic English classes and 1 intermediate class. My students’ level of English varies greatly. My schedule is not consistent: just because a class is on Monday at 1 pm doesn’t mean it will be in the same classroom at 1 on Wednesday. My schedule has lots of gaps and doesn’t really have a pattern. Some days I come home for lunch and other days I wander around the mall contemplating life.

I take my job very seriously, because I genuinely want my students to learn English, even if their culture discourages speaking English. I hope that I am able to reach individual students so that I can help the country a tiny bit. Even though the school is disorganized and I’m always confused about something, I absolutely love teaching.

To start my day, I usually make coffee in the morning, listen to music and procrastinate; then I run around like a mad woman so that I can prepare for my classes. The people at Starbucks already know my drink; I'm pathetic but don't care. Every single day, I listen to music before class and try to get pumped up. I reach into my core for energy. When I walk into my classes, I am energetic, enthusiastic and smiling. I may not always be as prepared as I would like, but I sure do know how to “fake it until I make it.” I’ve noticed that my energy and enthusiasm spreads to my students. At the end of class, I usually feel extremely happy. When I walk into the room, I not only leave all of my troubles at the door but I also project as much confidence as I can… so that they don’t realize I have no idea what’s going on . Unfortunately, they realize that I'm not as informed as a normal teacher; I know because they are constantly lying to me about various things. They say that we should leave Spanish at the door, but I’ve found that to be nearly impossible! I had a student ask me how to say “hola” in English. Additionally, I made a student cry, because I was speaking too much English. I use Spanish when I think it’s necessary. I’m learning Spanish, while they learn English.

The students usually make small talk with me before and/or after class. They have so many questions to ask about this crazy gringa! I'm pretty sure most of their opinions about gringos have come from MTV and that might be why they like to talk about drinking all the time. When I talk about things I’m going to do outside of class, they usually ask me if I’m going alone. I can’t tell if they are trying to befriend me and/ or if they are worried that I have no friends. They usually get really excited when I see them outside of class and vice versa. I really want to be friends with a handful of my students, but I have to wait until I’m no longer their teacher. I have tons of fun with my young, funny students, who I often call by the wrong names. I have A LOT of room for growth as a teacher, and I hope things become more clear and easy with time.

Next weekend is lollapalooza, and I’m stoked!