A busy first week!

Hola hola! I hope everyone is doing well, I am thinking of you often. At the moment, I am sitting in an internet café in Los Andes, Chile and to my right is a huge window with a view to die for...snow capped Andes Mountains and a beautiful sunset. I am ending my third day in Pocuro, the other HCA house - more about that later.

Since it has been some time since I have been able to give an update about my first week in Chile, I think it is best to describe it day by day. Sorry I do not have my camera with me, but I will be sure to put up pictures later.
I already talked about my first day in South America in my previous post, but let me just say that the second school, Andacollo, was such a blast - we played ¨Duck Duck Goose¨ with about 8 five or six-year old boys. Managing their behavior in espanol was a challenge, but it was a learning experience at the same time. Despite this, my favorite class was in the school Cervantes, with the 16 and 17 year-olds. Later that night, we had community night with a little Chilean wine and we met Isabel, the co-facilitator/director for the Santigago house.

On Thursday, Natalie and I went with Roy again, this time to St. Geroge's school. Again, I already referenced this in my last post, but it was another learning experience as these kids were more wealthy than the others and thus, more educated. In fact, they were correcting my spanish more often than I would have liked and I had to patiently teach them how to correct someone's english politely...this was a challenge. Later that night, after we returned home exhausted and ate some food, I taught Natalie how to knit. The event turned the night into knitting night with wine, as all the other girls in the house wanted to learn how to knit or help them with their kitting projects. I had no idea that Chileans love to knit, but apparently it is a HUGE hobby for the Chilean women...looks like I will fit in just fine! At the moment, I am working on black scarf...I don't need a scarf, but it is something different just to pass the time (when I have any, haha).

On Friday, Natalie and I once again hung out with Roy (good thing for us he worked at all the places we wanted to visit!). Around lunch time, we went to the comedor, or soup kitchen. After serving food to about 15 or so Chileans who ate at the soup kitchen that day, we ate lunch with a few priests who belong to the congregation in Chile. The comedor is located at the seminary, where the priests live. After good conversation and a little rest, the three of us went to a hogar, or orphanage. It was so much fun - sure, I did not know as much spanish as I needed, but the girls that lived there were amazing and hung out with me instantly. As soon as I walked in the door, they grabbed my hand and were shouting ¨tia, tia!¨, which is the name that they give to the volunters (just an informal name for teacher or older adult...although it translates into aunt). The girls that were in the hogar were ages 8, 10, 12, and 16. Many other girls live at the hogar but were not there for various reasons. Anyway, we talked about anything and everything, hanging out and playing a little bit of soccer. One of the girls even taught me a new game that she and her amigas like to play...I plan on using this later when I visit other hogars to become instant friends with the girls, hehe.

On Saturday morning, the Santiago house was again joined by Isabel as well as Pedro, the director of the progrm here in Chile, and the kids from Pocuro. After a great brunch, my four housemates and I packed up a few things and came here to Pocuro, the other HCA house. The house is in a very rual area, surrouded by a large agricultural community and MUCH different than the Santiago house that is in the middle of a city with 4 million people. Last night we walked around the nearby city, Los Andes (where I am writing from now), and stopped at a bar for a drink or two. While at the bar, we played Cacho, a Chilean dice game that is apparently very popular and a somewhat different version of Yatzee in the United States.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a very chill day as we attended mass in Pocuro (my first in spanish, quite different). We spent our entire day at a birthday party for a girl in the town named Antenella. She turned two years old and the party was quite extravagant, complete with pink decorations, a princess cake, a barbie piñata, and lots and lots and lots of candy. It seemed if everyone in the small town of Pocuro was at this party - it was a lot of fun to speak completely in spanish and hang out with kids who were hyped up on sugar. We ended the night by building a bon fire and relaxing under the stars, drinking pisco sour, the national drink of Chile which Ryan makes so well. It pretty much tastes like a margarita with a little more sugar and you can taste the alcohol a bit more.

Anyway, I gotta jet - my time at the internet cafe is almost up. I have had a great day as I was able to tour the surrounding village, help teach an english class at a nearby agricultural school (the kids this time were by far my favorite), and work at two more hogars (this time with more kids and a lot more attention and spanish being used!). I am quite exhausted but cannot wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

I am sorry that I have not been able to call you or write more on the blog, but please know that everyone is in my thoughts and prayers. Ciao for now - M

PS - My sister found out that she is having a girl! We are going to have another girl in the family, I am going to have a niece!! :-)