The minors capsule! we were lucky enough to see it when passing through Temuco as it is touring Chile.

The lonquimay

Weekend at the Nguillatun!

What an amazing weekends we had! Went to the countryside again where we have spent a few weekends now with the family of one of the teachers. They invited us to a Nguillatun which at the time I had no idea what it was! The maphuches have these every two years to "balance out the spirits of the earth". It happens over two days and they camp out for the night.We had to get up at half 6 and then we were driven to the Nguillatun. At first when we arrived in the field (in the middle of nowhere) it reminded me just a little of the many guide camps I have been to. Although there wasn´t canvas tents but small hut like things made out of wood. Inside all the different families had meat hanging from strings like washing on a washing line. They do this so the meat gets smoked from the fire. Many families had killed the animals the day before: we had watched our family cutting up the cow meat the night before. We had a quick breakfast of tea and sopaipillas which are like donuts but savary (they eat them all the time here.)I was interrupted eating my breakfats as I was hit by a stick. I turned round to see a man with a vey ugly mask and ripped clothes. I was told I had to go dance as when you are hit you have no choice. First we went down to the river where we wove branches while people sang and threw things such as grain and leaves into the water. I was told it was to please the spirits. After we circled round animals chanting and then started walking up and down the camp backwards in lines. The men with the sticks kept hitting people and making them change places, or slow down or speed up! As we were walking backward you would hear the odd person say watch out to the person infront as they were warning them about a hole in the ground! people came inbetween the lines offering food and this horrible drink that tasted of some sort of homebrew with milk! I was also a bit concerned that every one ( all 200 people) shared the same jug but i didn´t want to be rude and not drink it! After was the Maci who is like the head woman. The Maci went into some sort of trance and started singing in mapudungun what was going to happening in the next couple of years. The family had told me at another Nguillatun they had predicted the earthquake!But as it was all in mapudungun i didn´t understand any of it. I was totally exhusted after all of this but luckily it was lunch. All the families had cooked so much meat. It is a tradition to offer your families meat to other families so many people where going round giving and receiving meat. Im not sure how much we stood out as there was obviously no other foreigners there although everyone was very friendly and greated us in mapudungun. I loved the clothes that all the woman wore with colourful ribbons in their hair and amazing headdress and pendants made from silver. I would have loved to take pictures although taking any photos was not allow at such a spiritual celebration. In a way it was also nice because i didn´t need to worry about getting my camera out, I could just relax(maybe not the right word) and enjoy the mapuche culture and traditions!

   R xxx

Lonquimay

Last weekend we went to Lonquimay which is right next to the Argentinian border and 3 hours on the bus from here. The other english teacher (karina) comes from there. To get to Lonquimay we had to go through the longest tunnel in South America. It took about 5 minutes to get through and it was very tight, only room for one bus at a time! Lonquimay itself is quite small although it is alot bigger than CholChol. It is surrounded by mountains which in the winter are covered in snow although right now they have none. We spent Saturday with Karina´s godmother who is a mapuche woman. Karina mentioned how I like knitting and the woman went and got out all the things she had made. They were all amazing skirts, socks, jumpers. All had been made from scratch. she had spun the wool, then dyed it in natural dye. In her garden she had two bowls full of wool in natural dye. One with lemons and leaves, dying the wool a lime green and another with onion skins dying the wool a golden colour. I was fascinated. The next day we went horse riding in the countryside. The horses belonged to one of Karina´s friends who has a huge summer house in the countryside close to Loquimay. None of us knew how to ride a horse. I remember having two lessons at the sables and hoped it would come back to me. Although my horse just didn´t want to behave,maybe it was the fact i was speaking to it in english but it wouldn´t do a thing i wanted. I started to get visions of it jumping up and me falling off so i got a bit scared. I was very relieved when i managed to make it stop even if that was under a bee infested tree!After we ate goat which i´ve never had before. Everyone kept saying have much more healthy it is as it has less fat. Although i think they made up for it in the amount of salt that they put on it instead. But it was nice just needed less salt.
The other night Leona came through to tell me there was a spider in our bathroom and she was concerned it was a corner spider. Corner spider here are deadly you have about 2 hours after a bite to get to hospital. Silvia the woman who looks after the girls came through and confirmed that it was a corner spider! So that has freaked us a little!
R xxx

Skiing on Chile´s most active volcano!!!

On Monday I got an amazing opportunity to go with two friends from Chol-Chol to ski on Chile´s most active volcano-llaima. It was about 2 hours from Chol-Chol by car. I was slightly concern with the fact i hadn´t skiied since I was about 12 and only ever on hillend...never real snow! driving up to the slope was an adventure in itself as the road was a dirt track and was very rocky! All I could see was forrests until suddenly this white topped volcano popped into the horizon. Driving up to it was pretty surreal. So when we finally got all the kit on, and don´t forget the suncream as many of the other skiiers with half there faces white and the other white had, we headed for the slope. I wanted to go on the baby slope first to try out my skiing ability but my chilean friend insisted that we went straight to the top. So we got on the chair left and after enjoying the initial breathtaking views I started to realise the top was quite far up and I also had no idea how you got off the chair lift. When we finally got to the top on the chair lift I had to throw my skis to a man, jump off the seat and run for my life or the next chair would hit me. Again the initial views at the top were totally worth the scary exit off the chair lift although I started to question if I would actually be able to get myself down. I told the others to go as they all had experience and I didnt want them all watching me. But I really couldnt bring myself to throw myself down the steep hill with no idea how it would turn out. I decided I would just take the chair lift back down and try the baby slope. But when I tried to ask the man to let me back on the chair lift down, he must of been watching me pondering,  as he assigned me a personal teacher who helped me ski down the volcano. After that I found some skiing ability came back to me and after a while I started to really enjoy it rather than be scared that I would fall. I must of been working hard as I woke the next day with stiff legs and arms, but totally worth it:)

Rio Chol-Chol

Just finished many class with year4 which is a class of about 40 ten year olds.This is my favorite class as they respond best to the tasks I set and I am actually able to control them. Today I tried the whole ask for silence and don´t speak until there is silence and just stare at the kids who are making any noise and it worked! felt so good! But my other classes are another story... a work in progress. In my pre-kinder class I had them all stand on different coloured flowers and they then had to tell me what colour of flower they were standing on and once they saw a sticker was involved they seemed to get it! In other classes I help with the english teacher. The children see this as an opportunity to ask me what their names mean in english and don´t believe me when I tell them that it doesn´t exist! Another lesson an 11year old boy sat me down and starting doing my hair! He stole all the hairclips from the girl beside me and put them in my hair and told me how beautiful my hair was. He even stole the girls mirror to show me the finished product! But most of the kids like playing with my hair, I think the fact is is blonde is a novelty.Although all the children had to get their hair checked the other day for headlice. No pink letters here, they all had to get their hair individually checked by a teacher so i better watch out!
Spring is here now and the weather is getting better although the mornings are still sooo cold! The girls in the internado have to get up every morning at half six and they always make such a noise we are disturbed too! It is very strange at the weekends when they have all gone home and the place is quite. Although to be honest we don´t reallyspend that much time in the internado at the weekends. This weekend we walked up Rio Chol-Chol. When we first got to Chol-Chol the water in the river covered all the banks but now you are able to walk it´s full length. It was amazing weather and an amazing day!
R xxx

Independance Day

So the celebrations have finally ended for independance day. Usually it only lasts 2 days but this year it was 4. One of my highlights was the children´s stalls on the Thursday. Each class had a stall selling food and drink they had made at home with their families. Lots of the children had dressed up in traditional clothes which i just loved. I played in a game of football with the boys and about half the team was dressed in huasos which i just found bizzare! Another highlight was the parade on the 18th around CholChol. Leona and I both dressed in Huasas and walked with the children from the school. There was other childrens from rural schools in the parade aswell. At the end of it we all got birthday cake to celebrate the 200th birthday of Chile. Later we went round to one of the teachers houses and i was expecting a huge meal but when we got there she told us to make ourselves at home and showed us all the empanas in the fridge. She was going out to her friends for lunch and left us in her house! Feeling slightly uncomfortable with this, we decided to phone another teacher who warmly invited us round to her house the have a hugh meal with her family. When we left I thanked her and told her the food had been delicious although Leona later told i have said she was delicious!
I helped in the wee ones class this morning although there are never very many children early in the morning as all the buses haven´t arrived from the rural parts yet. Eveyday a bus collects all the children from the countryside and brings them to school. Some live up to 2 hours away from CholChol. Some of the children stay in the boarding house but others decide to do the journey everyday. We took the bus home with the children one day to see abit of the countryside. Some of the house were just amazing: made out of straw others looked like sheds. They were all spread out and dotted about the hills. Alot of them looked like mini farms with a few chickens here and a few pigs there. When all the children had gone except one boy we started our climb up a hill. When i looked at the road ahead i couldn´t actually believe the driver was even going to attempt it. The hill was vertical and the surface rocky! The driver tried once and failed and i didn´t know if i should laugh or cry. With his second attempt and alot of gas we made it...just! but after about a 30 mins drive to the top of the hill we dropped off the one boy. I couldn´t believe how far they went just for one boy! And the driver does it twice a day every day. But the views from the top were amazing well worth the scary journey up!
R xxx

teaching

I just got my timetable on tuesday and taught my first class. I taught colours to a class of about 40 five year olds although the previous voluteers had already taught the colours to them already, so that meant what was suppose to take 45 mins took about 5! so not very successful although i am sure there are going to be many more lessons like that to come.This morning I helped the same class with their reading which for me was quite challenging because it was in spanish. But I am pretty sure i got the pronounciations right! but it was very hard to keep their concentration as there was other much more interesting things going on around the room. one boy i was helping kept blowing his nose on his sleeve which was just lovely. But they just have the most cutest faces you can´t get annoyed at them. They always greet you with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which is the usual greeting here in Chile. In another class i helped with colouring in. They were colouring in all things related to chile in prep for Independance day on the 18th of September. It is the 200th anniversity so it is going to be bigger than ever with girls and boys dressed in the national dress and dancing the chaca through the streets and lots of foooooood! the girls in the boarding house went over the chaca dance again last night so i´m hoping to have it down for the 18th! The school is now covered in decorations. we helped the girls in the boarding house 2 nights ago put up their decorations. one girl bravely stood on and chair balanced on a table to put up the really high ones and then while she was up there told us she hated heights! Got to go now as i have a class of 10 years to awaiting me!
Rxxx

some pictures of chol chol. i have many more!

lost in translation

went for another walk round cholchol today. took pictures of all the cute coloured houses and all the animals.they have soooo many chickens here and huge cows. we helped in class today for the first time. they are being so nice and letting us start teaching next week to get used to the school so right now we are just helping in classes. one class were learning about sports and helping required alot of spanish which i lack so they had me acting out the sports, cringe! they started asking about all the names of different animal in english. i thought they were just interested but the teacher later told me they all call each other names in class such as cow and they wanted to know it is english! i should have known they were up to something!! but i really love the kids they are very patient with we as i take ages to think of the words i want to say and they have already guessed them before i say them! i also love the girls in the boarding house they have so much energy! i wolk this morning to the sound of them laughing! one girl yesterday taught us the quaka dance( i think that is how you write it) it is for a festival they are having in about 3 weeks which is celebrated all over chile and this year it is going to me huge because it is the 200th anniversity. yesterday i decorated my room. put up the scottish flag and all the pictures from home. it was funny unpacking because it actually started to sink in the fact it was my bedroom for the year.
this morning we had breakfast with juan and margaritta(the cooks). they are both loving. we normally eat with the children but we got took to lie in which was nice! juan let me watch him make the bread. when my spanish is better i might ask if i can help him! we had bread and jam for breakfast which was nice but then again we had soup and bread for lunch and you can bet your bottom dollar we will have bread for dinner. it is lovely homemade bread but if i eat anymore i am going to burst!!! margaritta asked if we liked cooking and i thought i said i like making cakes but leona told me later i said i like cooking cats!! because i said the french word for cakes which sounds the same as gatos which is cats in spanish. what will that woman think of me now! it is a really bad habit of mine to start saying stuff in french when i have no idea how to say it in spanish, as if they are going to understand it! just had a group of wee kids round me a minute ago looking at what i was writing as if they could read it! the kids are so funny yesterday they said i had barbie hair but then again today one asked if me and leona were pregnant! guess i really do need to stay off the bread!!!
R xxx

chol chol

i just arrived in chol chol this morning. we took the bus from santiago late last night and after a 10 hour bus journey we arrived here at about 7.00. the head master was suppose to collect us from the bus stop but after 30 mins of waiting around we decided to make our own way to the school. after asking about 3 locals who all gave us different directions we found the school and were given a warm welcome.we were later told they thought we were coming tomorrow! haha have to get used to the manana manana culture!  but we have been shown round the school and introduced to the children. we will be teaching the really young children which i am happy about because they are just so cute! we also got shown our accommodation in the boarding house which is basic but it is fine. we also met some of the other children who will be living in the boarding house to and they seemed lovely. the only proplem i am having is the fact my spanish is not up to the standard it needs to be to understand what people are saying. i am just learning to nod and smile and add in the odd si here and there!! hopefully it will soon start to click!
 I am still very tired after two 10 hour flights on which i didn´t manage to sleep. we spent two days in santiago in a youth hostel when we arrived. I really liked Santiago it had a really nice atmosphere. The people were very friendly and the location amazing. we walked up a castle type building in the centre and there we could see the andes that circle Santiago. we also saw the andes when flying into santiago it was such an amazing thing to have seen! it looked as though we were literally about to touch the peaks. the weather was lovely in santiago but it is pretty nippy here in cholchol but nothing i´m not used to in scotland!
well í´m off for my first luch here with the children. sorry if there are alot of errors in the post i am just too tired to correct it all!
speak soon
Rxxx

The whole training group on Coll

first blog!

Got back from my second trip to Coll about a week and a half ago and since then I haven't stop thinking about the fact I am leaving soooooo soon. I leave from Heathrow on the 27th of August then onto Atlanta then to Santiago. I then, apparently, have an 8 hour bus journey to Chol Chol the small village I will be living in for the year! The nearest town, Temuco, is 45mins away and is in the lake district part of Chile. I will be living and teaching in a boarding school in Chol Chol and hopefully getting stuck into the community life. 
So this is my blog and I will hopefully be able to update it regularly throughout the year so you all know what I am getting up to. Never had a blog before so just getting to grips with it but hopefully I will have it all figured out soon!
Rxxx