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| Reunited with my luggage at last! |
We arrived in Santiago on Saturday 24th of August feeling pretty exhausted after enduring the thirteen hour flight from Madrid. However once stepping outside the cold winter air soon woke us all up. Even though we all knew it was going to be winter when we arrived I don't think any of us quite realised just how cold it would be. Oh and the fact that nowhere in Chile -not even the school- has central heating doesn't help matters... Having spent just over a week here I have adapted to the cold by imitating the locals-wearing jumpers and keeping my coat on all day- Since the Chilean culture is completely different to what I am used to there are a few other things that I have experienced in the past week that might take a bit longer to get adjust to...
No.1 The Language
It wasn't until I arrived in Chile that I realised just how little Spanish I knew. It often feels like I'm trapped in a game of The Sims and everyone around me is speaking 'Similish'... However I have been told that in a few weeks I will begin to understand more will hopefully be able to start putting sentences together! Also the fact that my host family can speak very little English means that I really have no option but to learn Spanish. I've already learnt a few Chilean phrases such as 'cachai' and 'weon' although both have pretty much no meaning so probably won't be that useful - but at least it's a start!
No.2 The Food
Similar to Spain Lunch is the main meal of the day in Chile and usually consists of some sort of meat with bread. For breakfast we have some fruit and bread. Since school starts at 8am we usually have breakfast there. For tea we have bread. Incase you hadn't noticed they eat a lot of bread here in Chile. Apart from the excessive bread the food has actually been pretty good so far and I've tried a few Chilean dishes such as bistec a lo pobre which is steak with fried onions, chips and a fried egg. Not exactly the most healthy meal but still pretty good! The most unusual thing that I have eaten so far is artichoke. I mean it's slightly awkward when you are presented with a big green flower on a plate and you have no idea what your supposed to do with it...
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| Artichoke |
No. 3 School
It is a Chilean custom to kiss people once on the cheek when greeting them. This includes everyone: friends, family, colleagues etc. At my school some of the teachers even kiss the students on the cheek. I found this a bit strange at fist. However I have now discovered that a lot of the students that attend San Luis Beltran live in very poor conditions and a number of their parents abuse drugs. This causes them to seek the love and attention from their teachers that is missing from their home lives. I have also noticed a few behavioural problems-especially with the older kids- within the school which causes issues when it comes to classroom management.
On the whole, the majority of the students are extremely enthusiastic to learn English and are especially excited to get to know us- the 'new' volunteers. I have honestly never been this popular in my life. The students want to know EVERYTHING about us. The most popular questions we are asked are: 'Do you have a boyfriend' and 'Is it true that Scottish men wear skirts?' I've even been given things, from drawings of Zayn Malik to a origami swans.
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| Drawing from one of the students |
I think its fair to say that my first week in Chile has been pretty crazy- and it's only the beginning! I have a lot to look forward to within the next few weeks as Chilean independence day is coming up on the 18th of September and is apparently bigger than Christmas! I'll let you all know how it goes next time...
Chao!
