After a couple of bruises on my leg and butt, a semi-sliced open middle finger, some mosquito bites, a full stomach of some of the best meat ever, some red teeth from the wine and 10 cents left of some Argentina money, I arrived safe and sound back into my house in La Serena, at 6 in the morning... only a couple hours until school starts and the teaching continues.
Best part of Argentina, the bike tour. We decided to take a wine bike tour. You pay to rent the bike and then take off with only the knowledge of a obscure map that really makes things look closer than they are. An hour and a half later we arrive at our first Bodega. We slowly make our way back stopping at as many as possible. I for one know nothing at all about wine, which made it all the more hillarious and interesting to watch all these people taste wine. Copying them only seemed like the correct thing to do so it could make me look more like a professional. I dig my nose into the glass and close my eyes acting as if I can ever smell a difference, I proceed to take a sip then say, yes that is quite good. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.
We met some really cool people along the way, two huge rugby players from England who decided to try the tandem bike, quite the sight to see if I may add. We also met a guy named Mike from Switzerland and a another guy named Stewart from Manchester. Some of the best parts about traveling is meeting so many cool people who a lot of the times have the same interests as you and have great stories.
Argentina is known for there great meat. It is tastey, there is a lot of it, and it is super cheap. The odd thing, no one eats meat during La Semana Santa. So on Friday I decided not to eat meat and I had some amazing salmon. It was so good that my friend Elizabeth, who claimed she didn't like salmon, tasted it and says "Wow, I like Salmon!"
Overall very fun trip, beautiful and very nice people, very clean place. As for now, I am super tired after 13 hours on the bus and teaching classes this morning. Lunch awaits and one more class then sleep! Chao
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
That just happened
Just a quick note:
I was sleeping today and was woken up by screaming and crying from the 2 year old. Along with it was loud banging noises. I took a peak downstairs, she was on her car slamming it into the main doors entrance, just backing it up and ramming it forward. Bam Bam Bam while screaming at the top of her lungs. I have no idea where anyone is at this point, they never leave her alone. I just go back to my room though and decide to count how long. Kid you not, honest truth, 16-18 minutes of screaming and crying and yelling. end of story.
I was sleeping today and was woken up by screaming and crying from the 2 year old. Along with it was loud banging noises. I took a peak downstairs, she was on her car slamming it into the main doors entrance, just backing it up and ramming it forward. Bam Bam Bam while screaming at the top of her lungs. I have no idea where anyone is at this point, they never leave her alone. I just go back to my room though and decide to count how long. Kid you not, honest truth, 16-18 minutes of screaming and crying and yelling. end of story.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
And the Oscar goes to...
I would just like to thank the Academy...
no but really, I would just like to take this time to thank everyone for everything. I recently found out I will be going to Hawaii for two weeks right after my program is done here in Chile. I had some time alone today, and it just kind of hit me how fortunate I am. For that reason, I would just like to say thanks to everyone, I am truly blessed with a great family, great friends at home and here in Chile. Although there are always hard times, I know I always have my family and friends. I would also like to say thanks to God. Without him none of this would be possible. I would like to say thank you for watching over me and giving me strength when I need it the most. I believe that sometimes we only turn to God when we are at our lowest points of our lives. I feel like we should give thanks when we are at our highest also. So thank you everyone, I am looking forward to my future. I am currently looking into teaching abroad in South Korea. This is a year program. This would allow me to learn more about where I am from and also make a lot of money to pay of some much needed debts. This program pays for flights and your own apartment, which allows you to save a lot of money. I truly feel like this is my next step in my life before I begin thinking about living in the US again, I might even go to Spain again and try and teach for a year after Korea. I just don't quite know yet, I might be so burnt out that I will want to just come back and hopefully live somehwere hot in the US and settle down and start working and making some cash. Anyway those are my thoughts right now. Adios for now!
no but really, I would just like to take this time to thank everyone for everything. I recently found out I will be going to Hawaii for two weeks right after my program is done here in Chile. I had some time alone today, and it just kind of hit me how fortunate I am. For that reason, I would just like to say thanks to everyone, I am truly blessed with a great family, great friends at home and here in Chile. Although there are always hard times, I know I always have my family and friends. I would also like to say thanks to God. Without him none of this would be possible. I would like to say thank you for watching over me and giving me strength when I need it the most. I believe that sometimes we only turn to God when we are at our lowest points of our lives. I feel like we should give thanks when we are at our highest also. So thank you everyone, I am looking forward to my future. I am currently looking into teaching abroad in South Korea. This is a year program. This would allow me to learn more about where I am from and also make a lot of money to pay of some much needed debts. This program pays for flights and your own apartment, which allows you to save a lot of money. I truly feel like this is my next step in my life before I begin thinking about living in the US again, I might even go to Spain again and try and teach for a year after Korea. I just don't quite know yet, I might be so burnt out that I will want to just come back and hopefully live somehwere hot in the US and settle down and start working and making some cash. Anyway those are my thoughts right now. Adios for now!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
One month update
It has been just a little over a month since I arrived in Chile. Before I came I did little research of Chile and had no knowledge of anything. This is what I have learned since day 1:
1) Chileans speak very fast and make up their own words # Bad place to learn spanish
2) Collectivos are taxis that go from one place to another while picking up people on the way # Cheap and cool way to get around
3) Bread for breakfast, Bread for dinner # Losing weight as we speak
4) Health care is really expensive # Kids running a muck in school
5) It doesn't matter if your Korean or Japanese, you are Chinese here # oblivious racism
6) If you didn't know your overweight or skinny, well now you do # "de"constructive criticism
7) The blonder you are the more money you have, apparently. # stereotyping
8) Don't leave your bag on the ground # bad luck
9) There are more stray dogs here than people # Veterenarian's dream
10) Don't show up on time if your meeting someone, they will be late # bad practice for job interviews
11) Justin Bieber is just as popular here as he is in the United States # Bieber Fever
1) Chileans speak very fast and make up their own words # Bad place to learn spanish
2) Collectivos are taxis that go from one place to another while picking up people on the way # Cheap and cool way to get around
3) Bread for breakfast, Bread for dinner # Losing weight as we speak
4) Health care is really expensive # Kids running a muck in school
5) It doesn't matter if your Korean or Japanese, you are Chinese here # oblivious racism
6) If you didn't know your overweight or skinny, well now you do # "de"constructive criticism
7) The blonder you are the more money you have, apparently. # stereotyping
8) Don't leave your bag on the ground # bad luck
9) There are more stray dogs here than people # Veterenarian's dream
10) Don't show up on time if your meeting someone, they will be late # bad practice for job interviews
11) Justin Bieber is just as popular here as he is in the United States # Bieber Fever
Sunday, April 10, 2011
It's a small world!
It truly is a small world. I can prove it! This past Saturday night two of my friends and I went to a restaurant. I overheard two people talking in English, a rare occurance in Chile. I decided to start some small talk and we got to talking. They were both Medical students studying at Harvard. They were in Chile for two months at a clinic and are about to graduate. I come to find out that one of them is from Washington state, so I'm thinking Seattle or like Bellvue or something. Turns out she is from Bellingham and went to Sehome. I was like wow I went to Squalicum. She responds by asking me who I had for math, I say Mrs. Torpey and she says oh yea that's my mom! What a small world!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Entry to CIEE Contest
CIEE the program which I started this whole thing is hosting a contest for teachers to write about a typical day in the school where you are teaching. You must include three pictures. The winner receives 250$ from Amazon and your school receives 250$ from Amazon. So I decided to enter and this is my take on being "schooled."(the theme).
OMG! Justin Bieber!
My name is Joel Morse. I teach 5th grade through 8th grade in La Serena, Chile and this is my story of "schooled."
Tio! Tio! Tio! The students form a tunnel as I arrive to school. I feel like Justin Bieber walking down the red carpet to the Grammys. My name is replaced in the form of "tio" or "profe" and the chants, well I can't help but smile. The students use the name tio as a form of respect and to be honest I'm not even sure they know my real name and I'm just fine with that. Some of the students give me gifts and not like a gift certificate to the closest Starbucks or a gas card to the nearest Chevron, I'm talking about an orange, one cookie from an already opened package, a pencil, a marker, a juice box and some portraits of myself on a spiderman body, don't ask. All these gifts I have stored in a box in my room, except the cookie, orange and juice box for which I consumed on site. Would I trade these in for a Starbucks gift card? No. Not a chance. A chevron gas card? Well...gas prices are pretty high lately...and I....just kidding, there isn't a chance I would. Somethings are just worth more.
Hey do you know Justin Bieber? Hey do you know Justin Bieber? Hey do you know Justin Bieber? This is the most popular question amongst my students. And the answer is no. I do not know Justin Bieber, I did not talk to Justin Bieber, I did not go to any of his concerts, but I did see him on tv once... When I told them that the girls went wild. They did that "oh my gosh Justin Bieber is so hot scream." The boys usually don't say much about their celebrity crushes but they love to give me soft taps on the stomach and ask me if I have abs. "Abs?" "Have abs?" You would think that the hundreth time they would know whether I have abs or not. Looks like I better start working out!
The seats fill up and I ask the class to stand up. I say in my most properest English, oops I meant proper English, "good morning class!" They respond, "good morning teacher!" I usually see about one or two hands a day raised before I start class. "Yes Daniella, what is it?" She looks back and forth at her two girlfriends beside her and smiles. "Do you know Justin Bieber?" She follows it up with a giggle and a slight blush and the class continues. I begin with the question of the day which could be anything from how are you to what are you doing this weekend? They answer but you can see it in their eyes that they are wondering whether or not we are going to play a game or not. The first game I ever played with the students was Simon Says. I really had no idea what level their English was at so I started out with some vocab that they knew. They got bored and I asked why? They said they knew all the vocabulary already. So, I decided to switch it up and add a whole bunch of new vocab. Simon had them doing all sorts of things from cartwheels to pushups from dancing to giving high fives. I had them practically breakdancing. They not only had fun doing the moves but I'm sure a few of them went home and asked their parents if they knew what an air guitar was and performed it afterwards, rightfully so.
Days usually end around 3 or 4 and maybe if I'm not too tired I'll stick around and get my butt kicked in some Ping Pong. Who knew Chile breeded professional middle school ping pong players? I sure didn't! First two shots were winning backhands followed by an applause and the Tio chant. The next 21 shots not so much. I feel I may have a shot in the next four months. It's like what I tell my kids in English class, the more you practice the better you will get!
My school is called Colegio Cordillera and it is four years new. The walls of my own classroom are blank waiting eagerly for student's work to be posted. Just some odd days ago, the library was just a single wall of books and two tables. They just finished building a bigger room for it and are in the process of moving things as we speak. The school is small in size but big in heart. The small number of students and staff make it more like a family than a school. There are around 200 students from grades K-8 and it seems even smaller than that. One of the best times of the day is during the 15 minute break where I have a front row seat in the teachers lounge to watch all the students run a muck in the playground. The smiles on the faces are priceless and the carefree attitudes are unquestionable. If I'm having a bad day I just wait til the clock strikes 12:00 and turn my eyes onto the playground. If I'm not having a good day, at least I know someone is having a good one, and for that, I am thankful.
Whether or not I know Justin Bieber or have chissled abs, the most important thing is their education. This is an awesome school in that there is one class per grade. I'm excited to leave after the four months knowing all the names of my students, even though I probably won't be able to pronounce any of them correctly. I pass through the hall to my class everyday. The students interact with eachother as if there is no discrimination between grade levels. It's just one big family. I feel that these kids would all have eachothers backs, even mine. That is what makes this school special. The school may be only four years old but it feels like these kids and staff have been together forever. It is a school where students want to stay afterwards and play volleyball together. It is a school where the staff makes you feel at home even if you stick out like a sore thumb, aka "un gringo." It is a school where students take your school bag and your cd player and walk it down to your classroom for you. Even when you look at the school you can't help but smile. The yellow paint on the outside provides a sunny disposition. The neighborhood of close friends and family provides safety and warmth. This is a good school with good people. For that, I am thankful and for that Colegio Cordillera is deserving. Help fill their new library with books. Ciao.
OMG! Justin Bieber!
My name is Joel Morse. I teach 5th grade through 8th grade in La Serena, Chile and this is my story of "schooled."
Tio! Tio! Tio! The students form a tunnel as I arrive to school. I feel like Justin Bieber walking down the red carpet to the Grammys. My name is replaced in the form of "tio" or "profe" and the chants, well I can't help but smile. The students use the name tio as a form of respect and to be honest I'm not even sure they know my real name and I'm just fine with that. Some of the students give me gifts and not like a gift certificate to the closest Starbucks or a gas card to the nearest Chevron, I'm talking about an orange, one cookie from an already opened package, a pencil, a marker, a juice box and some portraits of myself on a spiderman body, don't ask. All these gifts I have stored in a box in my room, except the cookie, orange and juice box for which I consumed on site. Would I trade these in for a Starbucks gift card? No. Not a chance. A chevron gas card? Well...gas prices are pretty high lately...and I....just kidding, there isn't a chance I would. Somethings are just worth more.
Hey do you know Justin Bieber? Hey do you know Justin Bieber? Hey do you know Justin Bieber? This is the most popular question amongst my students. And the answer is no. I do not know Justin Bieber, I did not talk to Justin Bieber, I did not go to any of his concerts, but I did see him on tv once... When I told them that the girls went wild. They did that "oh my gosh Justin Bieber is so hot scream." The boys usually don't say much about their celebrity crushes but they love to give me soft taps on the stomach and ask me if I have abs. "Abs?" "Have abs?" You would think that the hundreth time they would know whether I have abs or not. Looks like I better start working out!
The seats fill up and I ask the class to stand up. I say in my most properest English, oops I meant proper English, "good morning class!" They respond, "good morning teacher!" I usually see about one or two hands a day raised before I start class. "Yes Daniella, what is it?" She looks back and forth at her two girlfriends beside her and smiles. "Do you know Justin Bieber?" She follows it up with a giggle and a slight blush and the class continues. I begin with the question of the day which could be anything from how are you to what are you doing this weekend? They answer but you can see it in their eyes that they are wondering whether or not we are going to play a game or not. The first game I ever played with the students was Simon Says. I really had no idea what level their English was at so I started out with some vocab that they knew. They got bored and I asked why? They said they knew all the vocabulary already. So, I decided to switch it up and add a whole bunch of new vocab. Simon had them doing all sorts of things from cartwheels to pushups from dancing to giving high fives. I had them practically breakdancing. They not only had fun doing the moves but I'm sure a few of them went home and asked their parents if they knew what an air guitar was and performed it afterwards, rightfully so.
Days usually end around 3 or 4 and maybe if I'm not too tired I'll stick around and get my butt kicked in some Ping Pong. Who knew Chile breeded professional middle school ping pong players? I sure didn't! First two shots were winning backhands followed by an applause and the Tio chant. The next 21 shots not so much. I feel I may have a shot in the next four months. It's like what I tell my kids in English class, the more you practice the better you will get!
My school is called Colegio Cordillera and it is four years new. The walls of my own classroom are blank waiting eagerly for student's work to be posted. Just some odd days ago, the library was just a single wall of books and two tables. They just finished building a bigger room for it and are in the process of moving things as we speak. The school is small in size but big in heart. The small number of students and staff make it more like a family than a school. There are around 200 students from grades K-8 and it seems even smaller than that. One of the best times of the day is during the 15 minute break where I have a front row seat in the teachers lounge to watch all the students run a muck in the playground. The smiles on the faces are priceless and the carefree attitudes are unquestionable. If I'm having a bad day I just wait til the clock strikes 12:00 and turn my eyes onto the playground. If I'm not having a good day, at least I know someone is having a good one, and for that, I am thankful.
Whether or not I know Justin Bieber or have chissled abs, the most important thing is their education. This is an awesome school in that there is one class per grade. I'm excited to leave after the four months knowing all the names of my students, even though I probably won't be able to pronounce any of them correctly. I pass through the hall to my class everyday. The students interact with eachother as if there is no discrimination between grade levels. It's just one big family. I feel that these kids would all have eachothers backs, even mine. That is what makes this school special. The school may be only four years old but it feels like these kids and staff have been together forever. It is a school where students want to stay afterwards and play volleyball together. It is a school where the staff makes you feel at home even if you stick out like a sore thumb, aka "un gringo." It is a school where students take your school bag and your cd player and walk it down to your classroom for you. Even when you look at the school you can't help but smile. The yellow paint on the outside provides a sunny disposition. The neighborhood of close friends and family provides safety and warmth. This is a good school with good people. For that, I am thankful and for that Colegio Cordillera is deserving. Help fill their new library with books. Ciao.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friday Friday Gotta get down on Friday
It is often times hard to keep up with the pop culture from the United States, not because I don't internet in my house, but because I just don't have that much time. Most every television show is in Spanish, the news is only about whats happening in Chile, and if it is in English, it is dubbed over with really over the top voice overs. I recently checked Youtube to see was new. When I left the states a three weeks ago, Charlie Sheen was the talk of the town. I recently found out about this song called Friday. It is sang by Rebecca Black. It is horrible. The lyrics, the video and everything about it. Anyway I had no other creative way to title this blog but with some lyrics from the song. If you haven't heard the song, please go on Youtube and watch it. It is horrible yet somehow it gets stuck in your head.
Moving on..
I recently spent my frist weekend in La Serena and it was very fun. On friday, Katie, a girl from my program who also lives in La Serena but works at a different school, invited me and the other two people, Danny and Elizabeth, for a BBQ ( or asado, i think is the word). Usually we have what they call "once," which I described in my other blog as some bread and some tea. So we got to Katie's house and the madre made us an once. So we are all thinking we are just going to get some bread and tea so we all try and eat as much bread as possible. Low and behold, the padre is having all of his friends over. They in turn, bring massive amounts of onions, chicken, meat, etc. So basically we all fill up on bed thinking its going to be the only thing we are eating, but actually it was just a starter. We all sit outside and talk to each other finding more and more about their culture as well as telling them about ours. They love Danny. Danny speaks the best out of us four gringos, he can converse like a pro. They love it and they joke around a lot with him. A couple hours pass and we are about to eat. On the table is rice, chicken, potatoe salad. Its a feast. I want to eat so bad but we are all so full (minus Danny, he is the big eater of the group). We eat as much as we can and then one of the padres friends drives us all home. It was a fun night of learning and talking spanish and having a very good meal.
On Saturday, I find out that another girl from our program who lives in Ovalle, which is about an hour bus ride away, is in La Serena. Katie, Elizabeth, Shauna (Ovalle girl), and myself all go out for ice cream. We then decide to walk to the beach where we met two people from Colombia, one girl from Ecuador and one guy from Chile. They were all around our age and are living here. We all talked for a while and hopefully we can start an intercombio, where we teach them some english and they can help us with some spanish, free of charge. I scratch your back, you scratch mine ( Insert Superbad quote here). We then proceed to have dinner at this restaurant that was recommended by Lonely Planet. Shauna decided to stay the night, so my family graciously allowed her to stay here. We woke up and went to the mall and sunday market with the family. The sunday market has tons of fruits and vegtables and the mall is very nice too. All in all, we had a very fun time and got to speak a lot of spanish this weekend.
My classes started today, I am on lunch break right now. My classes are goign very well, and for the most part they are actaully pretty well behaved. The only thing missing is, I don't have any materials and I don't have a whiteboard. The ministry of Education is supposed to give me supplies but have failed to do so and my room where I teach is brand new so there is no whiteboard yet. So these first couple of weeks could be interesting.
So to conclude, it was a very fun weekend. Friday Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
Moving on..
I recently spent my frist weekend in La Serena and it was very fun. On friday, Katie, a girl from my program who also lives in La Serena but works at a different school, invited me and the other two people, Danny and Elizabeth, for a BBQ ( or asado, i think is the word). Usually we have what they call "once," which I described in my other blog as some bread and some tea. So we got to Katie's house and the madre made us an once. So we are all thinking we are just going to get some bread and tea so we all try and eat as much bread as possible. Low and behold, the padre is having all of his friends over. They in turn, bring massive amounts of onions, chicken, meat, etc. So basically we all fill up on bed thinking its going to be the only thing we are eating, but actually it was just a starter. We all sit outside and talk to each other finding more and more about their culture as well as telling them about ours. They love Danny. Danny speaks the best out of us four gringos, he can converse like a pro. They love it and they joke around a lot with him. A couple hours pass and we are about to eat. On the table is rice, chicken, potatoe salad. Its a feast. I want to eat so bad but we are all so full (minus Danny, he is the big eater of the group). We eat as much as we can and then one of the padres friends drives us all home. It was a fun night of learning and talking spanish and having a very good meal.
On Saturday, I find out that another girl from our program who lives in Ovalle, which is about an hour bus ride away, is in La Serena. Katie, Elizabeth, Shauna (Ovalle girl), and myself all go out for ice cream. We then decide to walk to the beach where we met two people from Colombia, one girl from Ecuador and one guy from Chile. They were all around our age and are living here. We all talked for a while and hopefully we can start an intercombio, where we teach them some english and they can help us with some spanish, free of charge. I scratch your back, you scratch mine ( Insert Superbad quote here). We then proceed to have dinner at this restaurant that was recommended by Lonely Planet. Shauna decided to stay the night, so my family graciously allowed her to stay here. We woke up and went to the mall and sunday market with the family. The sunday market has tons of fruits and vegtables and the mall is very nice too. All in all, we had a very fun time and got to speak a lot of spanish this weekend.
My classes started today, I am on lunch break right now. My classes are goign very well, and for the most part they are actaully pretty well behaved. The only thing missing is, I don't have any materials and I don't have a whiteboard. The ministry of Education is supposed to give me supplies but have failed to do so and my room where I teach is brand new so there is no whiteboard yet. So these first couple of weeks could be interesting.
So to conclude, it was a very fun weekend. Friday Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
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