Living the Good Life in Chile

I’ve been in Santiago for just over three weeks now but it feels much longer and shorter at the same time, if that makes any sense. So much has happened in such little time! I’ll try to break some of it down for you all:

My host mom, host sister, and I in front of the Pacific!

Some of our group with my host dad's amazing paella

¡La Playa!

St. George’s organizes families into small groups to encourage fellowship. They even provide booklets with activities and family discussion questions. It’s really an awesome way to minister to both parents and students. This past weekend, my host family and two other families from the school, decided to take a trip to the beach to engage in one such fellowship activity.

We left on Saturday afternoon and arrived in under two hours. The Pacific is gorgeous! Huge boulders of rocks line the coast and the smell of salt water is pungent and refreshing. I felt like I was at the beach and in the country at the same time, because the area outlying the coast offered vistas of plush, rolling green hills and beautiful natural flowers. When my family and I arrived, we checked into their beach bungalow and headed to the condominium of one of the other families. After enjoying an “once” there, the three families and I celebrated mass together and then headed back to the apartment for a delicious Italian feast. In true Chilean style, we probably at dinner at around 10 PM, and enjoyed some wine and pisco sours along the way. The next morning, Victor, my rugby compañero who also happened to be on this trip, and I set out for a run, with some of the others accompanying us on bike. Victor kicked my ass and reminded me that I need to get in shape! We ran for an hour and a half up some crazy hills and along the coast. Even though I was dying at times, the entire run was gorgeous and I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky I was to be running along the coast of Chile with the wind of the Pacific at my back.

After earning our lunches, we feasted. Chileans LOVE barbecues. Every Sunday since I’ve been here, I’ve been lucky enough to have an asado with my host family. The barbeques always start out with “choripans” which are kind of like brats or sausage sandwiches, but more delicious. Even though you’re basically full after eating a choripan, you’re expected to feast on more meat and then eat dessert. When you’re done, you really don’t want to eat for the rest of the day, but it’s a fantastic feeling. Since my host dad is from Spain, we had a nice mix of Chilean and Spanish culture with his AMAZING, home-made paella that beat anything I ate while actually in the country of Spain. Life is good.

After lunch, we all just sat around hanging out, and I enjoyed a nice little siesta. It was such a fantastic time. It seems like here, Sundays are still Sundays. There are no soccer games, no work to be done, no meetings. Everyone really does simply enjoy time with his/her family. It seems like this true day of rest can really be lacking for us in the States, and I am trying to savor it here.

Teaching

After spending one week at St. George’s, I was “thrown to the wolves” and began teaching. Sixth graders really can feel like wolves at times. Overall, it’s going very well and it feels great to be back in the classroom. My teaching situation here is very different from the past in the sense that I teach the same lesson five times a day, whereas in the past, I always had a LOT more to plan. This is nice, in the sense that it’s less work, but does not allow me to be as creative as I would like. Additionally, I am working with a partner teacher. We are supposed to teach the same material each day, give the same assessments, and generally work completely together. Thankfully, my partner teacher has been awesome and really helpful so far. Since I am acting as a long term sub right now and jumping in at the end of the school year, it is hard to really take ownership or call the shots, but I have been doing my best to infuse my own teaching personality into what I am doing when possible. So, the long and short of it is, it’s going well and I am quickly loving these kids!

Rugby

I now play touch rugby! Yes, that is correct. I have no idea what I’m doing and the entire strategy of the game is counterintuitive to any sport I have played in the past, but I’ve been having fun. Marriane, a teacher at St. George, whom I met over the summer at Notre Dame in my ENL classes, has a husband named Victor. Marriane and Victor hosted a ChACEr in their home roughly five years ago and when they did, Victor became involved in this touch ruby league. As a result, he invites the ChACErs to play every year. Aislinn, Garrett, and I have decided to join Victor’s team, “Taz” and go to the games every Wednesday night. The league is co-ed and has a large variety of ages. The park where we play offers a spectacular view of Santiago. The game itself is alright, but the main event is the “third half” in which we have a beer. This was my main motivation to join. Every Wednesday, I am guaranteed at least an hour of solid Spanish practice and given a chance to meet some Chileans and Gringos my age, as there is a good mix in the league. Victor, like EVERY Chilean I have met so far, is extremely welcoming and hospitable towards us. He picks us all up before the game and drops us all off. I am truly learning a new level of hospitality from the people here.

Trekking

Last weekend, a group of us went to Parque Andino Juncal, which is close to the border with Argentino. Ignacio, an alum of St. George’s, was our extremely hospitable Chilean guide. Ignacio’s family lived in the States for one year and he spent a semester at Notre Dame, where he got to know Garrett. As such, when we arrived here, Garrett and Ignacio met up and Ignacio invited us on this camping trip. The trip was incredible! Our group, which had about ten people, was the only group of people in the park! We hiked through gorgeous mountains, scaled through snow to reach a cave of rock, passed along rivers, and trekked through rocks and mud. It was some of the more difficult trekking I’ve done. We even swam in an ice-cold river. At night, we made some delicious food around the fire and camped out underneath an amazing tapestry of stars. It’s funny how in the Southern Hemisphere, you get to look at a whole different sky, something I hadn’t really thought about before. The park was one of the most peaceful, beautiful places I’ve ever been to, and I have just arrived in Chile! I can’t imagine that there are more beautiful places here, but apparently there are!

Our group of trekkers at the beginning of our journey and later on, relaxing by the river

Those are the major updates for now. More to come soon! Hope all are well! Much love.