San Pedro de Atacama

*Note- this is a lot longer than most blogs, so feel free to skim through and enjoy the many pictures at the end.

On Friday, I flew to San Pedro de Atacama, which is located about 1,500 kms north of Santiago. San Pedro is a small village (2,500 people) near some of the highest volcanoes in the Andes. It is located in the middle of the world's driest desert, where some areas are believed to have never experienced rainfall. The city is almost entirely devoted to tourism, for very good reason. It is incredible!

My weekend was absolutely filled from the time I landed. I stayed in a cute little hostel with a wonderful owner with a long ponytail, and really fun guests. I enjoyed the little free time that I had each day talking with them and comparing adventures from the day. I also loved that I was the only person from the US that I met during my time, and the only native English speaker on any of the tours. Everyone else was either from Brazil, Mexico, or Chile. I was really blessed with the people that accompanied me on each trip- everyone was incredibly friendly, lively, and fun. It made for a wonderful weekend.

Saturday morning, I went on an archaeological tour. There, I learned about the Atacamenos, who settled in the area about 11,000 years ago. They were semi-nomadic and very peaceful. The guide was a lot of fun. We were a small group- four women from Brazil and one man from Santiago. We hiked, learned a lot about the history of the area, and ate at an organic farm restaurant.

I spent the evening touring through Valle de la Luna. It is just a few kilometers outside of San Pedro, and one of the most amazing places I've hiked. We walked through the dessert for a few hours, which at times really did look like we were hiking on the moon. We ended the tour watching a beautiful sunset, surrounded by spectacular views in every direction.

Sunday morning I went on a tour to the salt flat and altiplanic lagoons. Our first stop was to the great Salar de Atacama in Los Flamencos National Reserve, about 62km from San Pedro. Salt crystals are visible everywhere on the surface, It is so dry that there only a very scarce, localized vegetation can be seen, and flamingos are found in abundance. We also drove out to the highlands to visit the lagoons Miscanti and Miniques, at 4,200 meters above sea level. They are located at the base of the Andes volcanoes. We got to see lots of vicunas, which are brown animals similar to llamas. We finished the tour visiting a small village and touring its church.

My evening tour was equally wonderful. Our first stop was Laguna Cejar (18km from San Pedro), which is a beautiful green salt lake in the Salar de Adacama. It has a salt concentration between 5 and 28%, which, at the higher end of the range, produces a floating effect similar to the Dead Sea. We all jumped in and enjoyed swimming and floating in the lake. Afterward, we visited Ojos de Salar, where we saw two wells for fresh water in the middle of the desert. Only two brave souls in our group swam in the chilly water. Finally, we ended the evening eating cookies and watching the sunset at the Tebinquinche lagoon.

Monday was a bit rough. A dog was barking outside my window all night, so I wasn't able to sleep. I got up at 4:15 am in order to get ready for a tour to the Tatio Geysers. I bundled up and got everything ready, then waited outside my hostel for my 5am pickup. I waited, and waited, and finally gave up after six. The tour never came for me. Turns out that the driver arrived thirty minutes before the scheduled pick up time, waited three minutes, and left. Super frustrating! The day had a lot of silver linings, though. I had breakfast at the hostel with two girls from Santiago that had gone on the geyser tour a few days prior. They told me that it was their least favorite of their trips, because it was miserably cold, a long van ride, the hot springs were chilly, and the stop at the local village was long. Made me feel a little better :) They recommended that I rent a bike for the morning and tour through Valle de la Muerte. "Who knows?" one of them told me, "It may have been a blessing in disguise."

 I In some ways, I think there was some truth to that. The previous night, I prayed that the day would go smoothly, because there was a very short window of time between the estimated end of the tour and my ride to the airport. The tours often run very late, so I was nervous. I also hate being cold (my fingers and toes go numb and turn white whenever I am cold for too long), and I was worried about my asthma with the high elevation of the geysers and dusty roads. While it was frustrating to wake up so early and wait so long for a van that never came, I ended up having a wonderful time biking through San Pedro and over to Death Valley. It was an absolutely spectacular place to ride, wonderfully warm, and I was completely alone besides the group of horseback riders. I was on my own schedule, so I was back with plenty of time for my airport shuttle. No worries about being cold, and no breathing difficulties. Being able to spend the morning biking was a wonderful little unexpected gift from God.

Universidad de los Andes

Getting ready for the evening presentation on Chilean Educational Reform.

It is a beautiful spring day at the Universidad de los Andes campus.

This has been a busy week. Monday I traveled to Mike's elementary school, where I observed an intervention math class and an English class. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at my Catholic elementary school observing different language arts classes. 

One morning, a first grade teacher asked me to give a presentation to her students on the United States. Of course I said yes, and enthusiastically talked about growing up in Alaska (snow, bears, the Iditerod, skiing, midnight sun, etc) and living in Washington state. I showed them the US on a map, and they helped me calculate how many hours it took to fly from Washington to Chile. I felt like I did a pretty good job, until it came to question time. At least half of the questions were about China, which is where they all think I am from. I may need to work on my teaching skills.

Wednesday evening was a major highlight for me. I was able to attend an evening meeting in La Florida regarding the Educational Reform. I arrived at a local school at 6:30 to help set up, and really enjoyed talking with the organizers and guests as they arrived. Such an interesting group of people! The presentation started on Chile time, forty-five minutes after the 7:00 goal. There were about 30 people crammed in a tiny little room, and everyone was extremely interested in and passionate about the topic. I loved hearing about the current flaws in the system, and the goals and time frame for the reform. It was also interesting to hear the questions that the audience members had. However, once we hit 9:00, I was very ready to be done sitting. I didn't have time for dinner, so I was very tired, very cold, and very hungry. Not a great combination when the presenters kept saying things that sounded like they were wrapping up, and then someone else would call out another very long question, which was followed by a very long response. I had about 45 more minutes of false hopes, before it finally ended and I was able to hop on the metro and be home by eleven.

Today I met a friend for mochas in the morning, then headed over to La Universidad de los Andes. I was able to meet with my adviser, Annjeanette, who is helping me refine my project goals. I am struggling, because my initial proposal was to come and identify good teaching practices that we can incorporate into our dual language program. The problem is that I have not seeing much good teaching here so far. Some teachers are okay, while others are pretty painful to watch. Annjeanette said that my experience is very typical for Chilean schools, so I may not find what I am looking for.

Tonight I am attending a neuroscience class for educators at the university, which sounds like it will be really interesting. Tomorrow I head to San Pedro for a weekend in the desert!

Back to work

I finished out the week of Fiestas Patrias by joining some teachers for a huge concert Saturday evening. The first band, at 6, was great. We all sat in the grass eating ice cream (me) and drinking Terremotos (everyone else) and enjoying the Italian musicians. By about 8pm, the whole park was so full of people that it felt like the Baquedano rush hour metro experience all over again. At one point I found myself going against the flow of traffic on a pathway, and it took about 3 minutes just to get back to the correct side. By the time the 10pm concert began, every inch of standing space in the grass facing the stage was accounted for. The difficult part is that smoking is really common here (all of the teachers that I was with smoked continually throughout the evening), so my asthmatic lungs were really struggling by the end. Still, it was fun to experience a Chilean concert, and it was great to have friends for the day.

Sunday was wonderful. Highlights included returning to Iglesia Cristiana Internacional de Santiago and going for a long, sunny run on the Parque Metropolitano trails.

Now it is back to work! After a week of sleeping in, I had to be up at 6am and out the door in time to walk ten rainy blocks to the metro, travel over an hour, and walk another ten rainy minutes to arrive for the start of Emprender school. Fortunately, I was not the only one who arrived half awake this morning... it seemed like a lot of the teachers were struggling to focus after their vacations :)

Fun at the Fair!

Today's highlight was spending the afternoon at a big fair in Los Condes.

Mike and I enjoying walking around, and were happily surprised when the weather changed
and we no longer needed our  coats and scarves!

Lots of games, rides, food, dancing, bands, people watching, and shows.

The fair had a huge exhibit about the policemen and special forces in Chile. It was really interesting
to talk with the different officers. I learned a lot by hearing their perspectives and experiences.

Fun to watch people dancing away to the lively band.

I loved the horse show! Tons of cool tricks and beautiful horses.

This was the second of three different horse performance rings.

Happy Independence Day!

Well, turns out Crotax was not such a success after all. Tuesday night, my left arm wouldn't stop shaking, and I felt quite sick again. The next morning, feeling exhausted, I tried to find a doctor clinic nearby, then finally flopped into a taxi cab and asked him to take me to a doctor.

"Do you want the good hospital, or the bad hospital?" he asked me.

"The good one, please." I replied. 

He dropped me off at the good hospital fifteen minutes later. Unfortunately, the hospital he was referring to only accepts certain patients, and I was definitely not one of them. The front receptionists kindly explained that I was not able to come in, upon which I immediately burst into tears, imagining myself being treated at "the bad hospital." Somehow, they decided that I was pathetic enough to warrant special admittance, and ushered me to the check in desk. 

"All we need is your original passport, and we'll have you right in to see a doctor," I was told.

I handed the assistant a wrinkled copy of my passport. 

"I'm sorry," she said. "Hospital policy requires an original passport to let you see a doctor."

Again, the "bad" hospital flashed before my eyes, I burst into tears, and somehow, my wrinkled passport copy was accepted, and I was taken immediately to a wonderful, waiting doctor, despite the fact that there were at least 30 patients waiting outside who had horrible looking illnesses and injuries that couldn't be resolved with muscle relaxants and antibiotics and Spanish Netflix. 

In the end, I was diagnosed with faringitis aguda, (basically just means you have a super swollen, red throat) given some muscle relaxants and antibiotics, and sent on my way after promising to never, ever take medicine based on a Chilean pharmacist's recommendation (seems that the Crotax actually made me a lot worse in the end). I was able to finally sleep soundly last night, and woke up this morning with much more energy, ready to go out into the world again! Fortunately, I recovered in time, because today was a good day to be feeling healthy.

September 18th is Chile's Independence Day. All of the businesses (except for faithful Starbucks) are closed, and the streets feel strangely empty. However, when I went out for my morning run, I heard a great commotion coming from a few streets away. I was happily surprised to see a huge military parade, complete with horses, musicians, and tons of men and women in uniform. 

I met Mike in the afternoon, and we walked over to O'Higgans Park. Half of Santiago seemed to have had the same afternoon plans. The line to get in was over an hour, so we entered on the free side, and had just as much fun seeing millions of kites flying in the air, comedian acts, vendors, and happy families everywhere. 

Not a bad destination for a morning run :)

Hard to see just how many "cometas" or kites, there were in the sky from this picture.

Lots of people watching! It was fun to walk through and see all of the different things for sale
at O'Higgens Park.

Good work, Crotax!

If Sunday was one of my favorite days, Monday was definitely the worst. As I was skyping with Grant Sunday evening, I noticed my throat hurt a bit and worried I was getting sick. Sure enough, I woke up the next morning at 4 am feeling absolutely miserable, and I only got worse throughout the day. Fortunately, this is party week in Chile, so I didn't have anywhere I needed to be. I managed to make it outside for a 20 minute snail walk, but the sun, smokers, and city air made me feel worse. I spent the entire day in bed watching seven episodes of Revenge (at least I watched it in Spanish, so it wasn't a total waste) and wishing I could be home with Grant and Enzo, where it is much more comfortable to be sick.

At around seven, I decided that I definitely should have gone to a doctor, so I headed out to amble around the streets and see if any clinic was still open. I found a pharmacist who offered me many medications that definitely require a prescription in the US, which made me feel a little nervous. I tried the grocery store, but they didn't have any over the counter medications. Somehow I walked out with a package of peas, some paper towels, some weird kind of juice, and not particularly appetizing cookies, though. Not sure I should go shopping when I am feeling sick again. I finally ended up buying a bright green package of Crotax (how can you go wrong with a name like that?), which the pharmacist assured would do the trick. Amazingly enough, I woke up the next morning (if 10:30 counts as morning) feeling much better! Good work, Crotax!

Still tired this morning, but on the mend, I decided to try another walk. I ended up heading over to Santiago Metropolitan Park, and hiking (slowly) up San Cristóbal hill. Everything went well, until I took a wrong turn coming back down. I got incredibly lost (it is a huge park!) and started running along the trail I was on, hoping to quickly reconnect with a main trail. I wasn't exactly dressed for running, and was carrying some books in my bag, so it wasn't ideal. No luck finding a connecting trail, however, I did eventually cross paths with another runner, who told me I could just follow him. Only problem is that he was an ultra marathoner, and I was an exhausted tourist. Still, he was my orange shirted guide out of the woods, so my tired little legs did everything in their power to keep up. I learned that to an ultra marathoner, "it isn't very far" means anything under 5 miles, and "just around the corner" means "you have at least another mile to go!"

We did fortunately make it out of the woods, where Daniel directed me how to get back to my starting point (facil, he assured me) and then ran off to his work building. Of course, the way back was not facil for me, and I managed to get lost again. People gave me different directions (in retrospect, I think some people just made up things because they didn't actually know how to get there) and it took quite a while to find my way back.

Quite tired again after what ended up being a 5 hour walk/hike/run, I think I just might need to watch episode 8 of Revenge and wait for a better day tomorrow.

Iglesia Cristiana Internacional de Santiago

"Quiero alabarte, Senor, con todo el corazon, y contar todas tus maravillas. Quiero alegrarme y regocijarme en ti, y cantar salmos a tu nombre, oh Altisimo" (Salmo 9:1-2).

Sunday was one of the best days, yet. I started the morning with a wonderful walk. It was crisp and cool and muddy after all of the rain we had on Saturday, and since the normal masses of people hadn't yet made their way out to the park, it was unusually quiet and beautiful. I was able to sit and read my bible on a bench, surrounded only by stray dogs and the occasional jogger,  and reflect on all of the wonderful people I've met and opportunities I've had so far in Chile.

At eleven, Mike and I walked over to join Iglesia Cristiana Internacional de Santiago. Normally, the church is at least a few metro stops away, but this weekend they were celebrating their seventh anniversary in a building on my same street, just a few blocks away.

From the moment we walked in until the time we left, we were welcomed beyond anything I could have hoped for. During the service, I sat next to a wonderful young pediatrician who filled me in on the different women's groups and bible studies that the church has each month. The pastor was extremely lively and fun. He is Puerto Rican and his wife is Mexican, but they met in LA and only moved to Chile two years ago. I instantly loved them, and see why the church is thriving under their leadership.

The church has about 150 members, and everyone really, genuinely acts like a big family together. It was just how a church should be! An older woman came and grabbed me, and introduced me to every young woman that could possibly be a friend. The pastor's wife spent a long time getting to know me, invited me to different church functions, and checked in throughout the party to make sure I was enjoying myself and meeting people. There are a few people from the US that I talked with, but the fun part about the church is that it has a huge variety of different cultures present (the Colombians definitely had the loudest cheering section!).

After the service, a professional group of Chilean dancers came and performed. It was really fun to watch, and even more fun when one of the dancers invited me out to the dance floor for a song! During the service and dancing, we were in a huge room with pigeons flying around. It definitely added to the "anything goes" feel.

Afterward, we moved into another section where all along the perimeter of a huge room, groups of people of a similar culture had set up country stations to serve authentic food. It was a really fun way to get to meet everyone, and I ate way too much! All in all, I had a wonderful time at the celebration, and really look forward to returning. I am grateful to have found such a warm, welcoming church so early on in my trip. Traveling always makes me aware of the wonderful blessing that it is to be a part of a global community of Christ's followers, so that even when I am very far from my own family, friends, and church, I am still able to connect with people who share what is most important to me.

Another church member took these pictures yesterday. 

Holiday Celebrations

Yesterday, Mike and I were invited to attend three different school holiday productions. Our first started at 8:30am, and the last one ended after 9pm, so it was a busy day! 

Our first stop was at my Catholic elementary school. We got to be the "special guests from the United States," recognized in the opening speech and given seats next to the principal. The presentation was about two hours long. It was fun to see the pre-kinders dancing, and I especially loved the segment on Chilean folktales, which highlighted legends from the different regions of Chile. I decided that I would have chosen the part of the big brown monster, because he looked the warmest. The poor mermaids and hunters were out of luck on this chilly morning! The school was filled with parents, and the costumes, music, and dance routines were extremely creative. After the event, we stayed and had tea with the principal and another member of the administration for another hour. We heard lots of stories about the police activity in the area, and the crazy things that parents have done during the principal's five years at the school.

At four, we headed off to Mike's elementary school, which was definitely where the party was at! It looked and sounded like every family member and neighbor was present. Tons of food, games, laughter, and dance presentations to fill the evening. I loved being a part of it all! I discovered that a cheese empanada, when you are hungry and chilly, is even better than a cup of hot chocolate. We spent an hour or so visiting the nearby high school celebration (really talented dances, and also filled with family members and students enjoying the Friday before their week long break!) then headed back for the final dances at the elementary school. When it was all finished and the playground swept, the school's principal (who remains one of my favorite people that I've met here) drove us home, where I collapsed into bed.

Dance presentation at the Catholic Elementary School. The whole second and third floors
and stairs were filled with parents watching.

This was a map of the different myths that were represented, and where they came from in Chile.

Every grade level at Mike's school had colorful, matching clothing like this one, and dances from
all parts of Chile were presented. 

This is a picture taken at the high school we visited.

Cuenca Dance Competition

Today Mike and I spent the day visiting his school's dance competition. The whole school, and most of the students' parents, came ready for fun! Every kid had a cultural outfit on and all were excited to participate. Starting with first grade, all of the kids came running out to the "dance floor" to perform La Cuenca, the national dance of Chile. The dance mimics the courtship of a chicken and rooster, and is quite cute when performed by six year olds. After one or two songs, the group was narrowed down to about twenty, and after the twenty danced another song, three pairs were chosen for first, second, and third place. These pairs then concluded their grade level segment by dancing for the cheering crowd. It was so fun to eat empanadas and watch the kids celebrate their country with dance.

After a few hours, Mike and I walked over the nearby high school. They, too, had a very relaxed feel to the day, as everyone is getting ready for next week's vacation. We were able to enjoy history presentations in three different senior classes, and all of them were amazing. The kids, in groups of 2-5, represented different momentous events with plays, mini-cities, amazing artwork, and songs. The projects themselves were fun, but what I loved the most was seeing how secure the kids felt in the classroom with one another. They worked incredibly well as a team, had a lot of fun during the process, and seemed genuinely interested in each topic.

We headed back to the first school just as the competition was winding down, and stayed for lunch. All of the teachers at the school were served quite a delicious meal, then sat together at a long outdoor table relaxing and laughing over the day's events. After a while, someone turned on some dancing music, and pairs of teachers took turns dancing the cuenca for the rest of the crowd. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it all.

After a fun day, I am now stuck in my apartment for the evening. Today is the 41st anniversary of the military coup in Chile, so many people take to the streets for demonstrations, protests, and the like. Sounds like it can be a bit dangerous to be out, and most Chileans leave work early and stay inside to avoid any problems.

The school principal posing with a winning couple

This was one of the presentation set ups on the feminist movement.

Learning Walk

Today I had a wonderful experience with my school. When I arrived, the director asked if I wanted to accompany her on a visit to another school with the purpose of learning more about their inclusion and treatment of students with special learning needs. Of course I said yes, and a few minutes later the school psychologist, the 7th and 8th grade math specialist, the specialists coordinator, the principal and myself were off. It is funny how quickly one's mindset can change. Having the chance to drive to the school in a car, even if it meant sitting in the middle seat of a not particularly nice one, felt like I was living such an indulgent life! No waiting at cold bus stops for us.

I learned a lot on my way to Colegio Oviedo. During the 45 minute drive, we discussed the different things that each specialist hoped to see, and wrote lists of target questions to make sure to investigate. It was an interesting dialogue, because the school principal and the other specialists were very passionate about what they believed and valued, and weren't afraid to defend a position or challenge a different idea. The day's focus questions included looking into how teachers implemented interventions within the common classroom, how the classroom aide helped with this implementation, what concrete manipulatives are used to work with students with special learning considerations, and how do the teacher and aides coordinate/plan for the day's lesson.

When we arrived, we met with the school principal and a few specialists at the school. We spent about 45 minutes talking together about the different objectives of our day, as well as comparing school environments and challenges. I'm pretty sure I only really captured about 60-70% of what they said, since everyone spoke very quickly and interrupted one another often, but it was nonetheless a really interesting conversation.

The observation time was really interesting. We toured through a kindergarten classroom, seventh grade language arts, the Aula de Integracion (learning support room), and observed the terapeuta ocupacional (occupational therapist). The school had a very different feel to it than where I am based. For one thing, it is much larger, and was incredibly festive with colorful decorations for their upcoming holiday. Targets were clearly marked on the board and addressed during lessons, the educadora diferencial (sort of like an aide for the classroom who concentrates on low performing students) worked collaboratively with the teacher, and students were productive and respectful of the teacher when she was addressing the class. I really enjoyed my time in the occupational therapist's room. When we entered, he was working with a first or second grade boy. The student was lying on his belly in a soft circular swing that was hanging from the ceiling. When the OT said a number, the boy had to move himself over to a box, pull out that number of rubber pegs, find a block with the number, and place the pegs inside corresponding holes. It was a huge struggle for the student, but he and the therapist were having a wonderful time working together, and the boy was clearly enjoying the work he was doing. The room had tons of bosu balls, a big ball pit, darts, mats, and all kinds of other tactile, colorful things. It was an inviting, wonderful space, and so interesting to see inside a school building.

Afterward, we again moved to the principal's office to discuss what we observed, then chatted the whole way back to school as well. I learned a lot, and really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of this experience.

Student artwork at my school