08-31-08

Apuntes

• I finally have had a chance to do a bit more teaching this week--just five classes, so I am still going to try to get some more hours. The alumnos are really cute, but it's often difficult to get them to concentrate, yet alone speak English. However, there are some students who I can tell really, really want to learn. There is one student named Claudia, who has red glasses, and as soon as I started speaking, I heard her say "A mi me encanta Ingles," or I love English--so I have to do a good job! Next week, by special request, we will be translating "We Will Rock You." I welcome other ideas for songs as well!
• Saturday, I went on excursion to Cerro Benitez with about 30 of my students, as well as three of the other volunteers, students from their schools, various military personnel, and guides from Conaf. It was a celebration of National Mountain Day in Chile, and things were kicked off at the base of the hill by the old and vociferous Italian mayor, Mario Margoni, and a Conaf representative in a giant squirrel costume (pictures TK, tomorrow, I hope...the costume was carried all the way up to the top so the squirrel could pose for a picture with he Chilean flag). The mayor owns a lot of land outside Natales, where we were hiking, just north of the road to Cueva del Milodon. Apparently he has more than 1000 cows roaming around--nothing, of course, can grow down here with the wind and cold. "This is my land," he told me proudly, and then after a moment, he added, "Well, actually, this is all God's land. I'm just the administrator." Even though Natales is only a town of about 20,000, the mayor's rhetorical skills are worthy of a nation. He was standing on top of a rock with a megaphone, shouting "Eat fruits! Eat vegetables! Get exercise!" It was amazing! The hike itself was fun, though a bit slow with such an enormous group. By the time we got high enough, we were hiking in cloud, so it was difficult to see anything, although we did see a bunch of condors very close up, since they have a nest right below the cumbre. It was pretty surreal to see these enormous birds just appear from below out of the whiteness! At the top, we posed with the squirrel mascot and also the flags of Chile and Magallanes. The regional flag is blue and yellow, with a zigzagged white line representing the snow-covered moutains and the southern cross in the sky. One of the alumnos from G4, Germán, also carried our own little flags to the top. Everyone was quite proud, and it was beautiful to hear all the alumnos sing the Chilean anthem!
• After many visits with Andres and his mother, who is less than 5 feet tall, I finally got a refurbished, secondhand bicycle from "El Rey de la Bicicleta." It's minimal, but light and fully functional. I had a chance to go on a ride on the newly paved road that going North from Natales, quite a bit further than where I normally run. It was beautiful, and especially Zen-like, since I was riding on this straight road right toward the mountains, and it all felt effortless....that is, until I turned around and experienced the Patagonian headwind. There were hardly any cars on the road, and for a moment, I experienced what I thought there would be plenty of in Patagonia, but has proven to be rare--total silence! Coming back, I also noticed the same, beautiful owl sitting on a post near the water.
• There was a karaoke competition last night, which was very entertaining. I saw a big, burly guy with long curly hair, and the sleeves of his t-shirt rolled up belt out the most romantic and heartbreaking cancion you could imagine. A woman dressed in jeans and high heels, sang a song called Eres with such passion and confidence, that I almost didn't notice that she was lacking both of her front teeth! I made a horrible faux pas later in the evening, however. After a few piscos, my Spanish seemed to be improving, and I saw a woman I knew in line for the bathroom. We were joking around a bit, and there was another person beside us, who I thought was a man, since it was very dark in this little hallway where we were. When the other person went into the women's restroom, I said something like, "Hey, he can't do that!" And we were all laughing, and then I realized that the other people in line were trying to tell me that it was in fact, a woman. I still feel awful.
• My little brother Benja, who will be three in December, can almost count to ten in English! It will never cease to amaze me how quickly little kids can pick up language--and have a much easier time pronouncing things. (And it sure helps when the TV isn't on!)