From Planets to Orchestras

Yesterday I went to Santiago again. This time, I was accompanying 40 second and fourth graders from my mamá's rural school. We went to the planetarium, where the kids screamed as much as they giggled, then to the zoo, to MIM (a science museum), and finished it all off with some good-ol' McDonald's. We had a great time, I didn't get to go to sleep until 12:30, and over-all yesterday was a success. In school, my classmates have become more accustomed to my blonde hair and green eyes... But kids just don't get tired of playing with hair, asking questions, and wanting to hold your hand. I went with Pippi, and we were the biggest hit all year.
I'm not on for long, only until one-o'clock, so I wanted to touch on a few things I've noticed and forgotten to write.

One, if you have eyes that aren't brown, you SHOW THEM OFF. And the older you get, the more makeup you use, until your face is literally a big green cake of eyeshadow. Also, no one has natural hair. They all dye it lighter, varying from dark brown to blonde, but you can always tell it's fake. Also, just like the Hispanic culture in the USA, no one cares that they don't have the body to wear the clothes they do. I've been more shocked by the... views... than ever in the States. It's funny, in a way, and in a way it's really comfortable. They don't see anything wrong with having a belly; as a matter of fact, every single Chilean has a belly. The kids have bellies, the adults have bellies, and the grandparents are waddling mountains. There are no hugely obese people and definitely no stick-thin ones, only a comfortably squishy medium.

What else? I got a packege yesterday... Poncho came into the kitchen while I was drinking tea with Mamá last night (eleven o'clock?) and told me to close my eyes. He made me wait while he labored over opening the darn thing to get a good look. PAYDAYS!!! I miss Paydays more than you know. I LOVE them. Thank you, Mom!!!

That's another thing - tea. Everyone is always drinking tea! I love it!

Okay, they're shutting of the computers.


CHAO!
Nos vemos!
Emily bemily BOO! Happy Halloween!

Sawadeeka

Sawaddeeka (or sawaddeekrub for men) means hello and goodbye in Thai. Thought you should know.

In light of the facts that a) I forgot some stuff last time, b) a lot has happened today, and c) I have a pile of time on my hands, IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER POST!!

(It's so hard to write in English!)
Today I got up at 7:30. I told Mamá that I didn't feel so hot and was thinking about not going to Santa Cruz as planned. Before deciding not to go, we realized after a moment that I couldn't bow out. I was to accompany the two Thai ladies I had met Thursday and help translate for them - since Erika wouldn't be going this time to help out (I went with Pippi, who doesn't know too much English) I was the only translator. Not to disappoint the Miss Eva, I decided to go despite my misgivings.
I couldn't be gladder I did.
Papá drove me into town at 8:15, where we picked up the Pippi and went to the bus terminal. At 9:00, the Thailandeses arrived as well as the professor who was to accompany us with her boyfriend. Let me take a minute to describe everyone.
Nong - Thai professor of English. Short and rather stout, always smiling, excellent English. She lives in the North East of Thailand.
Lin - The other Thai teacher. Tall for Chilean standards, quieter than Nong, but still friendly and also very good at English. She lives in Bankok and teaches in the National School, which is huge and the royal family attends.
Profe Titiana - Profesora from colegio. Tiny in build, sweet, speaks a tiny bit of English.
Her boyfriend - Uh, her boyfriend. Nice?
Okay. So we set off in the bus, traveled for thirty minutes, made friends with the middle-aged lady sitting next to the Pippi, who gave us her crackers with manjar, and got off the bus in Santa Cruz. There, to my surprise, we were joined by another four Thailandeses. WHAT! I could barely keep up with two! Thank God, we were promptly joined by Carlos, a boy from the local school who spoke excellent English. Together, we conquered!
So, the Thai who were with us. We were joined by two men and a woman; one man had gone to Missouri with AFS, another spoke a little English, the woman spoke a lot, and the last man spoke practically none (and had no teeth). This last one was constantly pulling my sleeve to get my attention and asking me about the most random things in the museum that I totally could not explain. It was pretty funny, but a bit tough. I believe I neglected to say that we all met up at a big private museum. This was owned by the infamous, banned-from-the-USA arms dealer I mentioned in my previous post. It occupied an entire house, and had a huge variety of objects from all over South America and many from other continents as well. There were dinosaurs, Incas, antique cars, an old train, etc etc etc. It took practically all day and even more energy, and the Thai spent the entire time taking about a trillion photos of everything. Whenever we stopped anywhere, they all grouped up and took three or four pictures of the group with each camera (that's like 25 photos...) and generally took FOR EVER. But in the end it was cool. They gave everyone bills from Thailand (I got an extra for Pedro ;D) and other little things they's brought along.
After going through the entire museum (from 10 AM to 4 PM, not counting lunch), we got in a tiny private bus (furgon, again) to go to a huge vineyard. There, the tourguide spoke a hilarious dramatic and terrible form of English, but managed to take the attention away from Carlos and me, so we could finally relax. The vineyard not only had wine to taste, but also an area demonstrating each of the four native Chilean cultures. The Thai all took pictures with the llamas (everyone else stood back cautiously and watched the llamas' mouths, just waiting for them to spit) and tasted the wine (I don't think they drink much... They all looked super awkward. Afterwards the man who spoke a little English went around posing for photos like a crazy guy, saying, "I'm dlunnk I'm dlluunk!!" It was hilarious...).
Anyhow, today went superbien and I had a great time. Mom and Dad, you may be receiving something in the mail soon... Wink.

Now I can't remember what else I wanted to talk about...
Haha.

Well, anyhow, right now I'm in the Abuelita's house chilling with my prima Kony and the family. I've been enjoying spending the night here on weekends, as it's much more in-town than my house and makes for easy access to things worth doing on weekends.

I'm going to get a viola! Believe I mentioned this before.

Carlitos drives me nuts. That would be the little boy who can't remember the names of his vowels yet and is six years old... Have I told this story? I don't remember. We were all sitting at Onces drinking tea and Carlitos was whining his little head off because he couldn't do his homework alone. So his mom sat down to help him.
“¿Con cuál letra termina ‘vaso?’” (what's the last letter of "vaso?"
“¿La ‘e?’”
“Vasooo.”
“¡¿La ‘i?’!”
“¡Vasooooo!”
“¡¿La ‘u?!’ ¡¡¡No séééé!!!” (I don't knowwwwww!!!)
This tickled me pink, to use an expression I don't use. It was even better because in Spanish, not only do the vowels have only one sound, but that sound is their name as well. So when Tía Tína said vaso (with an "o" like "go," Carlitos was being really stupid to not realize that it was an "o.")

Nong had some questions for an English teacher here, and their conversation (which I had to translate, as the English teacher did not know English) was interesting. Nong, as an English teacher in Thailand, works 14 hours a week and makes about 1600 US dollars a month. An English teacher in a public school here, on the other hand, works upwards of 30 hours a week and makes about 800 US dollars a month. Pffffeeeewwwwey!
Of course, this changes as you transition to teachers who have gone to college for English, or work in private schools, or live in bigger cities.

I have asthma here! I am dying!

I just read a bunch from two other AFS blogs (definitely check out http://clairegoestodeutschland.blogspot.com/) and I have two things to quote from another Chile AFSer. One, that everyone drives fast and stops; there is no such thing as slowing down. This is so true! SO true!
Also, that classes don't start and end at the bell. Far from it. They start (depending on how strict the teacher is and exactly how unpunctual he is) whenever one feels like going to class (which might be on time and might be five minutes after the profe arrives - about ten minutes late in all). They end when the teacher leaves. This means that in the case of my math class (I have never met a lazier professor... He's young and fairly grumpy.) class is about twenty minutes of the possible 45. And we don't ever do anything. There's really no such thing as homework here, although the Chileans will insist that there is... All of our grades come from tests. I like Chile! Hahaha.

I just finished all of my books. War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Doctor Zhivago, and The Brothers Karamazov. My conclusion after so much Russian? I hate Dostoevsky! I hate his with such passion that I sat down last night and wrote a thousand word essay about how sucky his writing is. I don't deny he's a brilliant philosopher. I don't deny that his books are... Interesting. But I don't understand why he chose to express his ideas in such a torturous way! He really should have written soap operas instead - with his dramatics, he's well up to the task. I mean, really -- who but Dostoevsky thinks it's smart to write ten pages of hysterical, stereotypical, and wildly over-exaggerated characters followed by another twenty of philosophical ramblings? May I ask, WHAT?! Blasjsadhsldgh sorry.

I'm getting my second carnet soon! That's my ID card. The second photo is so much better... It almost makes me a little bit happy I lost the first one. No, not really.
I also have my "new" phone -- that translates to: I have Pedro's old phone with my memory chip in it to give it my phone number. It's super ghetto. But the games are better than my old ones ;D

Everyone loves Obama here, although whenever they say so they always hitch something onto the end of the sentence to the equivalent of "even though he's black" and I'm like wuuuuuttt he just won the Nobel Prize dudes
Speaking of which BARACK OBAMA WON THE NOBEL PRIZE!!!!!

I can't count anymore the number of times I've gotten compliments on my lack of gringo-accent-ness... It makes me a happy camper...

Kony is sleeping on my shoulder... her head is warm

The Abuelita is getting an in-house pedicure... And now Carlitos is getting an in-house haircut...

They peel tomatoes here and never ever eat the skin...

Upon trying Ramen, Kony stated how spicy it was (Ramen?!! Since when?? Olvidale...)

I'm confused by le, lo, la, and se, and I need Pedro to explain it to me because I have asked pretty much everyone else...

Our school is founded by a Freemason and is uncommon in its unreligiousness...

I know a kid who's going to be a Freemason (I think... It's kind of secret and I can't ever be sure what he's talking about)

I know another kid who MADE PEANUT BUTTER. YES MADE PEANUT BUTTER. YES I SAID THAT. He tried a PB&J I brought to school, went home, researched, threw some peanuts, salt, and butter in the blender, and I never got to try it...

Blah blah bsdalfihsgt



Alkjsdflkj what else??
I don't know!


Chao chao, no tengo mas que decir, disculpame
Love, as always,
Emily

Postulación

I don't have the energy to form a cohesive post, so bear with me this time.

I have to start off by saying that the greatest part of my time recently has been dedicated to applying to college. That's called postulación in Spanish, and I am constantly explaining why I need the computer for another five hours --- "tengo que postular a universidades." I then have to explain why I have to do so much for what (for Chileans) is an incredibly easy task. Number one, here they don't apply to twelve colleges. Number two, they don't write 750 word essays for sholarships. And number three, they don't have to fill out incredibly long questionnaires with short essays. In Chile, students are classified based on family income. The poorest go to college for free, thanks to the government. The next levels get help, and once you get to my family (middle class, American standards), there's no help at all. Pedro goes free, mis hermanos don't.

In Etica (ethics) class yesterday we had a discussion about homosexuality. I was completely unique in my views. That is, homosexuality is a trait from birth, it doesn't ruin a child to have homosexual parents, it's existed since the beginning of time but only recently are we allowed to show it, etc.

Today I went at 8:30 to a public school nearby. I was accompanying two Thai professors as a translator. How, you may ask, did I happen to learn Thai? Well...
They're English teachers. I didn't learn Thai, although now I wish I could. They are here with AFS, as they're volunteers in Thailand. They, in a group of six, are visiting various cities in Chile in order to broaden their cultural views... Their English is excellent. At five thirty I've been invited to Onces with them and several other teachers.
In Thailand, things are... different. The school uniform consists of a well-below-the-knee skirt. Skirts like ours (not to mention shorts or even, God forbid, tank tops) are worn only by prostitutes. I might mention that they are both very nicely dressed, obviously conservatively, but fashionably so. Picture Ni if you know who that is. As for bathing suits... Long shorts, long sleeves, etc. (If only they could watch a couple of TV programs here. They might pass out.) They take off their shoes in homes as well as in school, where classes consist of up to 60 students and are taught with a microphone (how they control the students? Respect!)
Their trip to Chile was the first time they had ever kissed the cheek of a man who wasn't their husband. They were very funny, going around kissing all the little kids and giggling. When they greet new people, leave a room, or accept something (a pencil, a gift, anything handed to them), they make a small bow (just the head) with their hands together as if in prayer. Apparently, boyfriends do this too with girlfriends. Hand holding, kissing, and anything in between are strictly forbidden.
The Thai language consists not only of different sounds, but a different pronunciation. It's hard to explain, but some words end as though they are asked as questions and some words end ...down. I can't explain it too well, but it adds up to the language sounding like a song. Which reminds me. Bankok is the capital, but that's only the name given to it by foreigners. In Thai, it's the longest word in the world. Literally. It's so long that they've had to make it into a song to teach it to the kids. Look it up on YouTube... It's a beautiful really-long-word.
Anyhow, I spent all day translating for students and teachers alike. I'm exhausted. What I've learned: I can't speak in English. I don't understand why I'm able to write fluently, because when I speak it is literally like listening to a Chilean but with a really good accent. I get my grammer mixed up, can't stop saying Spanish words, and have to think think think before I can say anything. It's painful...

I'm going to have a Halloween party. With peanut butter brownies, chocolate chip cookies (if I can get chocolate chips...), and candy candy candy. I'm excited. I can't say excited with a straight face... here it means something else. Hahaha.

I've gone for the past two Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 to a government funded house which hosts free activities like yoga, painting, orchestra, etc. I've been going with a schoolmate to the orchestra rehearsals... It's a unique experience. If people here have a skill, they've pretty much figured it out themselves. Lessons are just too expensive. There are, in the "orchestra," about fifteen people from 12 to 25 and who play everything from violin to flute. The boy who's been taking me plays the viola, and has won numerous national competitions and quite a piece of money in the process. He's going to give me his old viola to practice... I'm scared.

If you go on Google Earth, you can see my school fairly easily. If you search San Fernando Chile, it's very close to the name on the map. The name is over the Plaza, and we're a block away from there.

I'm going on my feildtrip to the South in two weeks! And Saturday I'm going to a famous wine orchard, run by an infamous, filthy rich, and banned-from-the-USA arms dealer. I go for free since I'm with AFS. I get to go because I'm going to help out the Thai teachers...

I am dying of the athsmatic cough given so generously to me by the Primavera (Springtime).

This morning I was waiting for my brother and sister to get into the furgon with me (bus to school). Mamá asked me why I was waiting, and I told her I was delaying since the furgon has to be the least comfortable place in the world to sit. The seats are child sized and my back literally weeps for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. She suggested that I go to school by micro (big bus). I've been thinking about it all day. One one hand, she pays for the furgon and I don't want to seem ungrateful. On the other hand, I REALLY want to ride in the micro. Hrmm.

I took out my cartilage earring, Daddy. It was for an x-ray of my back (when I learned that I'm dying of scoliosis!!) and I forgot to put it back in and now the hole is closed. Smile!

I'm writing an English textbook. I do not understand for the life of me what the writers of Chilean English textbooks have in place of brains. The textbooks are not organized in a way that will ever get anyone anywhere.
I have learned Spanish by having on hand a list of conjugated verbs with their explanations and a dictionary. I don't understand why these kids are learning to put sentences in passive form when they don't even understand how verbs are conjugated.

I went to a movie theatre last weekend in Rancagua. That's about 45 minutes away in train (we went by train, came back by bus). We left in the morning, spent about five hours doing very little (street fair, mall, fast food, arcade, supermarket, card games). We saw Final Destination IV and it sucked.... What a dumb movie. But it was entertaining in that sometimes English jokes (it had Spanish subs) don't translate at all. So I understood all of the stupid things and was pretty much alone when I laughed at a reference to MILFs. It was gorey, action-ey, and horribly acted. But hey, I enjoyed getting out.

I am going to Onces now...
Much love to all
Take care,
Emily

San Fernando: A Blog Post for English Electivo

San Fernando is a city located in the VI region of Chile. It has, in addition to its colorful urban center, a calm skirt of outlying countryside. The climate is moderate, perfect for cultivating grapes to create the area's famous wine. San Fernando is situated in the heart of Chile's wine region.

San Fernando has two notable plazas, as well as several historic churches and a great deal of related history. San Fernando is notable for the extraordinary views of the Andes from all areas as well as the lovely adjoining rivers.


San Fernando es una ciudad situado en el IV región de Chile. Tiene, además de su animado centro urbano, una frontera calma del campo de la periferia. La clima es moderada, y perfecta por el cultivo de la uva para crear el famoso vino del región.

San Fernando tiene dos plazas notables, además de varios iglesias historicas y mucha historia relaciónada. San Fernando es distinguido por las vistas extraordinarias de los Andes de todos lugares además de los preciosos ríos colindantes.



This is a photo of the historic city plaza. (Una foto de la plaza historica de la ciudad)

To form this blog, I followed the proceeding steps.
1. I turned on the computer.
2. I opened my web browser, Internet Explorer.
3. I directed the browser to the address www.blogspot.com
4. I clicked "Sign In" on the top right, where I entered my username and password.
5. I clicked "Publish New Post" and wrote my post.
6. I clicked "Publish Post"
Done!

Today in Viña

I was asked to sing some American songs and...

I can't remember the words to:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The Pledge of Allegiance

The Star Spangled Banner

(Songs which I KNOW I know)

I can remember the words to:

I Know How Ugly I Are (a song in which grammar and the English language are thrown out the window)

There's some irony here...

Dios Mío, I Have Internet!

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Between illness and feildtrips, it's amazing the amount of time I've been out of contact with the USA. About two weeks ago was the last time I could really sit down at the computer to write. I then got a stomach bug, went to the doctor, got better, immediately got a bad cold, went to Chillán with AFS, came home, again went to the doctor, went to Santiago for two days, went to the doctor again (noticing a theme here?) and spent the weekend pining for an internet connection in my sadly disconnected house. If you noticed the theme (if not, it's that I am ALWAYS at the doctor!), you may be able to figure out for yourself that Chileans are about the biggest hypochondriacs the world over. Wow, I spelled that right. The word in Spanish for "get sick" literally means "catch cold" and they believe just that; you can actually catch cold by not wearing high socks or not blowdrying your hair after a shower (what do they think people did before blowdryers? I sure don't know). My brother is sick today (as is his girlfriend - that means it's a virus) and mamá says without another thought that it's because he didn't take his jacket to school yesterday. I HAVE LUSTFUL DREAMS ABOUT WEARING SANDALS!!!!!
Pant pant pant

Sorry, this is driving me nuts. I can't wait for summer!
Speaking of summer... I've spent two months here now and the whole time the people around me have been very eager to tell me how hot and miserable their summers are. I'm quick to and counter this with small talk about old ladies dying of heatstroke in Tampa, but they are steadfast in their belief that they live in the hottest city in the world. Well, the other day it was about 30°C (that's about 80°F I think...) and suuuuper pleasant. Mamá was just about dying of the heat and told me that this was just like summer time! I think I kissed the ground with joy. Only 80° in summer???!!! Dios mío!!

So, I got the coolest package the other day. I must say I had no idea how much I missed peanut butter until I slowly peeled off the protective cover... And fell to. I have been eating Skippy All Natural Peanut Butter with every meal. Exaggerate I do not. Also included were PEZ candies (When I zipped one out for my Mamá she was scared to take it and asked if it was a joke... Not sure what the joke would be but she looked pretty nervous) and Goldfish and erasers and a sketchbook and a ton of other little things which just about made me fall out of my seat with explaining to my family what on earth it all meant (sí, ese tía de la Emily verdad debe ser una loca). Can't forget the chapstick THANK YOU
If you didn't figure out who sent me this little piece of heaven (the loca part didn't clue you in?) that would be Aunt Dierdre. I send a kiss and a postcard and a sincere hope to call you soon.

Hmm
I was talking on the phone with Mom and Dad yesterday (they called the house phone! Cool beans! PS if you can call the house phone, you can probably call my cell too... 81501657) and I kind of realized but more like remembered how funny it was to me when I found out the relationship Chileans have with other South Americans. First off, they're thought of in Spain as thieves and liars for God only knows what reason. I've been asked several times what the American stereotype of a Chilean is and I always answer that I have no earthly idea as there are just about zero Chileans in my city. Secondly, if you ever dare compare a Chilean to a Bolivian, Peruvian, or Argentinian, you will be delivering something akin to a deathly insult. They also hate practically every other country that speaks Spanish. I'm not sure how this works, as Chile isn't exactly on its own in the continent...

Another thing I remembered is that Chileans cannot seem to grasp several concepts about the US. One, that it is climatically diverse and quite large. I have been asked on more than one occasion if the whole country has the power knocked out when a hurricane hits (yeesss definitely). Also, no one will accept that there is no national dance in the States. The other weekend I practically fought with my Tío... No, it's not the robot! No, it's not country! Square dancing? Moonwalking?? We don't dance! And no, adults don't dance at parties!!!!

Want to hear about Santiago?
The English Debate team won its way to Santiago to the national competition. The team stayed in a hostel for five days last week and competed, went to museums, and toured the city. I didn't get to stay with them although I would have loved to (it's complicated...) but I went for two afternoons on Wednesday and Thursday. Wed I went with Pippi (my AFS cousin from Italia, if you forget) and Thu I went with some compañeros. I visited la Universidad de Chile and la Universidad Catolica. Both are beautiful, just like the rest of the city... We also walked through a street fair, stopped in shops all over the city, and visited a gorgeous park in the middle of the city which words cannot describe.
This is a fountain in the front with a huge statue of Neptune and lots of cool things which leads up a hill to the rest of the park. Woooo...

We didn't do a whole lot else, but on the first day when we rode back in the bus at 6:00 we rode in a DOUBLE DECKER and we were in the FIRST SEATS IN FRONT AND IT WAS AWESOME

Ho hum
Someone stole my shoes in school a while ago when I changed into my Cueca get up. I don't understand why they would take my shoes out of my packback and leave my camera, but I guess they weren't thinking very hard. I hold onto my stuff better now. Anyhow, I have another pair of shoes but they make my feet look really big when I wear a skirt. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but here I get weird looks... My feet are huge for Chile. They don't sell my shoe size in many stores. Wahhhh

Well, I've been writing for a solid hour. I think I've written mostly everything I can think of... I'm sending out some postcards as soon as I find the post office and I have a piece of advice which is DO NOT EVER USE FEDEX to send me things. PLEASE. I am going through hell trying to get my packages from them. UPS is way way waywayway better.
That is, if you feel like sending me a package. ;D

Emily, Emily, please don't go!
We'll eat you up we love you so!

Chao chao, talk to y'all later!!
Maria Emilia Café Arenas
:D