English Opens Doors

                  

The Men of Santiago

         (From Last Post) As one doorway closes… English Opens (the next) Door(s) for the students of Chile and me. Where CIEE taught me about the finer things in life, the English Open Doors Program (EODP) made me appreciate them.  One beautiful Sunday morning I left my penthouse to travel across town to meet my 5 new roommates-not housemates-roommates.  Though I never had the to experience living on a sleeping porch during my life, I won backstage passes this week to that difficult challenge. Where I paid for the perks of CIEE, I also paid for the perks of working for the government Government. Enough of making fun of the Government, this trip is not all about me… its about the children. 

            For those of you just joining, or the many still wondering what I am doing with my life down in Chile right now, the answer is that “it seemed like a good idea at the time,” and I still have no idea.  In reality though, the EODP is a government-sponsored program that brings native English speakers to Chile to teach middle and high school students.  In case you were wondering if I studied English or education in school, the short answer is no.  The long answer is… ugh… no.  Teaching rock climbing is about the extent of my experience.  This means that if you are interested in doing this, need a break from life, job, whatever, you can and should do it too. 

            The goal of EOD orientation was to prepare us (in one week) to teach English as a second language.  So my lovely group of 20 became an equally lovely (said in a British accent, by the way) faction of 60.  New English teachers started a movement called occupy the 4^th floor, as we completely took over the top floor of the hostel.  As you may realize from the subtle hint above, English is not only spoken in Merica, but also in other countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and of course Great Britain.  The British invasion, as the 4 British and 2 Scottish people should have been known as, had I thought quicker, brought great comic relief to all involved.  Simple words like past, mate, flat, Harry Potter, or basic conversations have never brought so much joy.  In fact a week later I read a status update that said, “Nothing is better than Chilean Students speaking English with a Scottish Accent.  Imagine that sight/sound for a second. 

            The eye opening part of the week occurred as we practiced teaching small lessons to the rest of the group.  My first lesson left quite a bit to the imagination—as I had no idea what I was doing and thus didn’t say very much.  Luckily a group mate (dang British) saved our presentation. She made our lesson memorable by not only getting the kids up and moving, but also showing them how to enjoy learning.  She gave me insight into what is possible when teaching English or teaching in general. 

            The week at EOD flew by as the days were busy and long, and the time with our new friends too short.  I however now know people working in all parts of Chile and who live all over the world.  This week also taught me to always be prepared for the unexpected and just go with the flow.   We still have little idea where or what we were supposed to do and have no idea what to expect when we start teaching, but like I hope to put up in my classroom- “JUST DO IT.”

          

CIEE

CIEE

            Teaching English in a foreign country is not the easiest of jobs, and sometimes a little guidance is necessary.  The organization CIEE provided this help. For a fee, this program gives pre, during, and post trip assistance for both study and teach abroad experiences.  Though it seems a bit counterintuitive to pay money to volunteer, sometimes a familiar face is worth every penny/peso.  CIEE provided some benefits that made the first few days in Chile quite memorable.

            Guys, if you are reading this, I have some great advice: study or teach abroad.  If not for the life changing, best month(s) of your life, do it for the girls.  My CIEE program had 20 young new English Teachers ready to share their knowledge with the youth of Chile, 18 were girls.  Now don’t get me wrong, I was in heaven, but if it wasn’t for the other guy, I don’t know if I would have made it.  Spiders, bees, jumping out of airplanes---- cake--- girls… pure terror.  Many of you have been subjected to my jokes related to this subject, if not please ask, and I’m sorry in advance, but jokes aside (pun intended), that many girls in one place is an experience in itself.  However, these girls are all wonderful and through my 24/7 captivity with them, became great friends.

            CIEE provided an orientation of not only useful Chilean phrases, and wonderful introduction to high class dining (more on that in a future post), but also a tour of some of the spots in downtown Santiago.  We visited the house of a famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.  He, like many writers, found inspiration from the sea. Since there is no ocean in Santiago he did the next best thing; he built his house like a big boat surrounded by a moat.  A low, everything made of wood, secret rooms, narrow staircases and authentic boat regalia truly “rocked the boat.”

La Virgin  Guadalupe 

            A couple of the other highlights from these first few days was a hike up to visit The Virgin de Guadlupe on top of a hill overlooking the city and a few of those earthquakes.  High above the rest of the city the view presented a great look at the entire city, and made me want to visit the Andes towering the horizon. A few people experienced their first earthquake their first night in town, and we were all in for a big surprise a few days later when a 7.2 quake hit Chile.  Though these small compared to the one the next night.  Being quite intelligent, Riley and I left are door open wide open and were awoken at 4 am from the bed shaking yet again, this time however from our so called friends jumping on our beds after we’ve been asleep for hours. 

            If we thought getting sleep in our suite hotel was tough during these first few days we were in for a big surprise come next week.  CIEE orientation was a great experience, but like most things, had to come to an end.  Where one doorway closes, another (slightly less lush) doorway opens.   

Santiago

View of Cerro Santa Lucía

      I hope to continue posting at more regular intervals... Hope you enjoy.

After a few more days of observation I have concluded that Santiago resembles a much more run down European city like Madrid.  People wander the streets at all hours of the night drinking, eating, and being merry.  It also might be that everyone speaks Spanish--- No Chilean.  People didn’t lie to me when they said that the Chilean people are difficult to understand.  Apparently the letter (s) doesn’t really exist, which makes not only the informal form of speaking difficult, but puts a damper on understanding the simple concept of plurals, I mean plural.  Como estas? (How are you?) becomes como estaí, veinte tres (23) becomes bainte tray, and como te llamas? (what is your name?) becomes dklaerifnaodklfnoiajelknmf.  The last one may also be a result of a Chilean person’s need to talk 2000 kilometers/ hour; for my American followers that is 1,243.0081 miles/ hour.

Speaking of numbers, someone wasn’t thinking when they invented their money system.  Who in their right mind pays 500 pesos for an empanada, or 4,000 for a drink…apparently this guy.  The conversion is as follows, 1 peso = .2 of an American penny or 500 pesos= 1 dollar.  I thought we were trying to get rid of a fairly worthless coin, yet they have need 5 of these peso coins to make one copper Abe.  Lets just say if someone asks me how much I earn per week, I respond like a high roller and say, “I make 15 grand.”

Exaggerations aside, there must be 1 million stray dogs in Chile.  At every street corner there is a friendly fella just sleeping, eating some leftovers, chasing taxis- which if you remember from the last post- is not such a bright idea.  They are everywhere, but unlike many stray dogs in US, are relatively harmless, and seem to be just living the dream. 

Speaking of dreams, who wants to stay at home until you get married and make out with your significant other in the park everyday until that fateful day?  That seems to be the norm in Chile. I guess PDA is still only known as an electronic device down here. 

Everything else aside, including the beautiful graffiti overlooking the (euphemistic) untidy city, the people here are very friendly.  Men shake hands, and women, and a man and a woman, kiss on the right cheek when meeting up or being introduced.  An American friend told me, “If this trend is the case, he’ll get more action than he’s had in years. 

Reporting live from Santiago, this is Cody--- Over and Out.

Graffiti in Santiago

First Impressions

In Santiago 

            Sorry for the delay of posts, but I am back and will post regularly- possibly once a year, likely once a week, as I catch everyone up to speed.  First things first, I decided to come to Chile for several reasons, the most important being a physical and psychological realization that I am in a new stage of my life.  I left the comforts of home and school to see a new culture and share my stories with the youth of the world.  Low and behold, I travel 5000 miles to Chile to find what I could have found 30 miles away… California.   

Before you start wondering what kind of hallucinogens are in the water let me explain my general observations of the first few days. 

1. In a nutshell I arrive in Santiago and have to stand in line for several hours in order to get through customs and pay a reciprocity fee, most likely because the country has no money and other countries are a good source of income.  2. I got into what is known as a collectivo, similar to a group taxi, to get to my hostel, and was in for a surprise. The drivers here are awful.  Turn signals don’t exist, wearing seatbelts seems to be frowned upon and a red means you have another 3 seconds to make it through the light if you step on it.  3.  There are so many people in Santiago, and none of them speak the same language as me.  (This is not to say that there is anything wrong with speaking a different language, and I expect everyone in the world to speak MERICAN, simply it is an observation).  4.  Even though it was the beginning of fall I definitely got a little sunburn from the 90-degree weather, that 5, somehow made it through the numerous layers of smog, that was 6, held in by the very large mountains to the East.  Finally, 7, within the first week I experienced three earthquakes, one that received international attention, and numerous inquiries from family and friends (which is appreciated).

        Though I expected to go through some culture shock early on during the trip, this has not happened yet.  For being several thousand miles from any person that I know, home never seemed so close.

Santiago