The joy of peanut butter

It's funny how after being away from your home country for awhile, you forget about little things you like about home, until suddenly, these little things start to pop into you life somehow. This happened to me with peanut butter. At home, I eat peanut butter pretty regularly, I'd say. But I hadn't eaten it at all in South America. You just don't see it much. It's not impossible to find, but it is unreasonably expensive and not at all popular. So I was just living without peanut butter and never thought anything of it. Until one day, during a conversation about what counts as typical American food I thought of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I can't claim to know if pb&j would officially be considered American, but I can say it's definitely a classic among American children. And when I mentioned the combo here, my host family asked what peanut butter tasted like. They had never tried it. This kind of shocked me, I truly thought peanut butter was universal, or rather, I never thought that it wasn't. I proceeded to talk about all the different combination of things you can put peanut butter on (peanut butter and honey, peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter on apple slices, ants on a log, peanut butter ice cream, cookies, etc.) and then I started to crave it, bad. So I asked my mom to bring a jar with her so that I could make my family ants on a log, pb&j sandwiches and so on.

So last night we broke out the jar for the first time, and I would say it was a huge success. My host sister tried a peanut butter and banana sandwich (Elvis would have been proud) and my host mom tried the peanut butter and honey sandwich combo (a personal favorite). They both thought it was very delicious and soon we are going to buy some celery and raisins so I can make ants on a log (the combo they are most curious about, I admit, it does sound quite strange, and it has been many years since I've enjoyed the snack. But I maintain that it is delicious). Today my host sister brought a peanut butter and honey sandwich to school for a snack and shared it with her friends. I happened to run in to them right after they tried it, and the sandwich received mostly rave reviews. I felt happy I was able to spread the peanut butter love. When I go back to the states, I am going to buy one of those huge peanut butter cookies the size of my face.

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I just ate a Reese's peanut butter cup (another treat I hadn't enjoyed in ages) and I'm feeling pretty good. For pure enjoyment, here are a few silly pictures that have been taken since my parents have been here.

At Lago Ranco, just as this picture was being taken, a huge truck going by honked at me and that made me laugh.

I really love this picture.

Senior pic posing.

This tree is a friend of ours.

It was actually quite comfortable.

Villarica and more

My parents got to La Unión on Wednesday, and of course, it was great to see them. They were so happy to meet my host family and the teacher I work with, and everyone got along great. To welcome them, the sky opened up and poured rain pretty much non-stop for at least 30 hours straight. Most of the town lost power. It was perfect timing for me, since my parents brought with them rain gear for me.

One Friday, we took advantage of me having the day off and headed off to Villarica. It was still rather rainy all day, but we still enjoyed the day; had delicious Italian style pizza for lunch, fit in a walk despite the drizzle to the lake, and stayed up late having great conversations in our cozy little cabaña.

Lake Villarica

The water is so clear you can see the bottom.

We saw grey skies most of the time.

The next day we slept in, and since it was still rainy we decided it was the perfect day to enjoy one of the many thermals in the area. The one we ended up at was great, it had a very relaxing atmosphere indoors, complete with new age-y music, and there was also a thermal outside where you could really appreciate the warmth of the water as you felt the cool mist against your face being sprayed from the sky. The water felt great, but I had to take breaks because it did make my head feel a little funny after a while. After our soak, we enjoyed another great lunch, this time in Pucon, (it felt kind of weird for me to be back there, since that's the place where I essentially started my traveling adventure), our muscles feeling thoroughly relaxed. We spent the evening enjoying some cervesa artesenal while watching music videos. It was a great way to spend yet another rainy day. Sunday it rained much less than the previous few days, so we took advantage of the brief spells of dryness and went to appreciate some of what nature had to offer. We went to see the Ojos del Carburgua waterfalls. The waterfalls were awesome and the scenery was gorgeous; the water was such a nice aqua color, it looked so inviting.

Ojos del Carburgua

My beautiful parents.

The one patch of blue sky we saw.

The waterfalls are bigger and more beautiful than they look in the pictures.

We went back to Pucon for lunch then started our way back to La Unión, stopping first in Panguipulli, yet another very pretty little town on a lake.

Panguipulli

The ride home was very beautiful, it was nice to lean my head against the window and daydream while looking at all the pretty trees and rivers and hills pass by. My only complaint about this weekend is that it flew by so quickly.

Technology

It really feels like technology in general has conspired to work against me, at least when I try to use it teaching. I know that I shouldn't complain about this because I am lucky to even have technology available, and I know my generation is definitely spoiled as far as that's concerned. But I can't help it, I am getting frustrated with the constant failure of technology. I also am fully aware I shouldn't put all my faith in it and have "old fashioned" activities planned (what would that even be?) but quite frankly, I desperately want to use things like music and youtube. The fact is, the majority of my students have no interest what so ever in English class, and to be honest, I don't really blame them, it can be boring. We follow the book pretty closely which works for some, but most of the kids give up because they are lost. The book is pretty advanced so for those who don't understand, they are just left behind. And they get bored. I mean, I understand what's going on, and I get bored. So I really don't blame them, I understand. And since all I want to do is try to get a few more kids interested in learning English, I am trying so hard to think of interesting ways to do this. And I really think the best way would be to use pop culture, because that's what they know, that's what interests them (I am talking about the 7th and 8th graders. With the 5th and 6th graders games and visuals like flash cards work fine, but not with the older ones).

Now here's why I am frustrated. Nothing freaking works in my school. Many times now I have planned great lessons (well maybe not great, but good in my opinion, at least interesting) using the internet, or even just a CD player, and every single time technology has failed me. It's frustrating because we do have the internet. And it always works for me in the teacher's lounge and any other time I don't need it. But as soon as I go to use it in class, it fails me. Today I was about ready to scream at the wireless connection. I worked really hard on this presentation about the history of dance in popular American culture (complete with many youTube videos to watch) and I tested it in my classroom and it worked. Until it was time to do the class, when of course, the signal disappeared. So I went into another room where the other signal is used and it worked right up into the kids came. So frustrating!! Even the CD player has failed me (which I know I have already written about). I can't even use a slideshow because none of the five projectors we have in the school work. Seriously, what do teachers do to make their lessons interesting?

It frustrates me more when I talk to other volunteers, because pretty much all of those I've talked to have access to at least speakers and a CD player or a projector that works. So really, I am running out of ideas. I just don't know how to get these kids interested after everything I try fails due to circumstances out of my control. There's only so much you can do with handouts and games. Plus, none of the printers in my life are working at the moment anyways. The program was supposed to send us a box of supplies full of things like cardboard and markers which would be nice to have, but I have yet to see that box, and I am well into my second month here. I'm just not sure how they expect me to do anything interesting when I have absolutely nothing to work with. My charm can only take me so far, the novelty of me has pretty much already worn off. I guess I just need to get brainstorming.

I really am sorry people reading this have had to read so much negativity. I don't know what's going on. For the most part I am quite happy with all going on in my life. I suppose I am just using this blog as a forum to rant right now, since I figure my life isn't as interesting now that I'm not traveling anymore. Here's my promise: the next post will be happy, witty, or something funny at least. My parents are coming to La Unión tomorrow so that's something happy. And we are going on a little trip this weekend so I should have something nice to say about that.

Rant session

Because that is what I need right now. I had a terrible class this morning; so what I need to do is write about it, get rid of my negative feelings, then let it go.

I totally lost it with one of my sixth grade classes this morning. Well, to be fair, I should start from the beginning. This class is the more difficult of the two sixth grade classes, and I had some difficulties with this particular group before, but I was still able to get done what I had planned. Today, in the first half of the class, Anna and I realized that this class is quite behind in the material they are learning, and they have a test coming up in two weeks, so she asked me to do something a little different than what I had planned so that they could practice more what we were working on. I said that was fine and I didn't mind at all that she went a bit over my time with them. So when I went with the group to my classroom, we found that the door to get into the section of the school where the room is located was locked. Today it is very cold outside, so I felt bad making the kids wait outside. But I couldn't see any janitors around, so I had to make them wait outside while I ran in to find someone with a key, there's no way I wanted to wander around looking for the janitor with 23 eleven year olds following me. I was gone just a minute, found the janitor, and he went to go find the keys because they were not on his person. The kids were running around in circles to keep warm, I felt bad. But I was also annoyed that the door was locked, they have a copy of my schedule so that they know when to open the door. It is very difficult for me to calm down a group of kids after we've lost nearly ten minutes waiting for the door to be opened. So when the door was finally opened, I knew I was up for a bit of a challenge trying to get them to focus, especially since we only had about 25 minutes left at this point of a class that supposed to last 45 minutes.

So I did my best and tried to plow through what I was supposed to teach them. It started off okay, some kids weren't listening, but enough were that I kept going, decided that is they didn't care, then that was their loss. But as the class went on, more and more kids starting talking, until it became to difficult for me to talk over them. This is a pretty common occurrence, but usually I am able to get them to quiet down and listen. But I tried everything, and I just couldn't get their attention. What's worse, they were starting to be really disrespectful, some laughing at me, some continuously getting out of their seats to bother another student, hitting each wither their books, or just flat out ignoring me when I tried to get them to participate. Normally I am a pretty patient person, but for some reason, I just LOST it. I am not much of a yeller, but this time the shouts just flew out of my mouth. I mean, I was almost screaming. Well, that got them to quiet down, so I proceeded to give them a speech about how disrespectful they were being to me, because I was trying to help them learn something knew that they had to know for their test. I had to do this all in spanish to get their attention, and anyone who speaks a second (or third, or fourth) language could attest to how difficult it is to lecture in a language that's not your first, especially when your emotions are already pretty high. So I was kind of struggling for words and making some mistakes that I wouldn't normally make. Some kids began to laugh at the way I was speaking, which only made me more upset. I totally understand kids thinking it sounds funny when someone makes a mistake in their language, but at the same time, in this context, of the teacher lecturing the student, it was totally out of line. I took it as a complete lack of respect for me. So I went on for a good couple of minutes, telling them how disrespectful they were being, and how sad it made me because I don't like to be mean and yell, but I don't know how else to get their attention. One of my students told me that what we were doing was boring (again, a bit disrespectful, but I do understand, because I agree). I told him, well yeah, what we are doing is a bit boring, but we can't do the fun stuff until they learn what it is I was teaching first. I told them learning a language is fun, if they just try. I don't even know what else I said, I was kind of at the point where words were just falling out of my mouth and I could feel myself getting more and more upset. I could hear my voice shaking. It was awful. Now I am sure that any teacher would say that they have at some point experienced a similar sort of breakdown in their career. But it's an awful feeling, because obviously I know it isn't the best way to get control of the class. And I felt so vulnerable having them see me lose it like that. I tried my best to take a deep breath and make it through the rest of the class without crying. They were a little bit better, and we got through the material, but even after my classroom was empty, I could still feel myself shaking and my heart was still beating faster than normal.

I decided I had to go talk to Ana (my co-teacher) but as I was making my way to the teacher's lounge to find her, I got caught in a major traffic jam of kids carrying chairs into the gymnasium. No problem, I thought, I'll just wait. Then the kids started pushing each other in all directions, some were carrying chairs on their head, it was just total chaos and I was sure someone was going to get hurt. I waited for the other teacher standing nearby to try and put some order to the situation, but she just stood there like she really didn't care. So, I did the same, already feeling defeated. Sometimes, I just can't believe the lack of order and discipline in the school. And I can't help but compare to the way things are done back at home. Sometimes it just feels like rules to not exist here, like the kids are totally in charge. This is by far the biggest challenge for me here.

I know I have a lot to learn as a teacher, but for me, I think it is completely unacceptable to tolerate a lack of respect. At the end of the day, I am the teacher, and I must demand at least a basic level respect. Not caring or a lack of interest is one thing, but respecting the teacher as the authority figure is something else, and to me that is a serious problem. I talked to Ana and she was very understanding and supportive as always and said she will talk to the class as well as the individuals who were the biggest problems. Last time she had to do that it did help, so hopefully it will help this time. But, I do understand that this is a common problem with students, not just here in Chile. I don't know, it's something I'm just going to have to work through the best I can I guess.

So that's that, I just needed to mindlessly rant for a bit. To end on a positive note, I've been making an effort to be social and make some Chilean friends. Last night I went out with some of the younger teachers, and got along especially well with two who are the same age as me. We went to a bar that had salsa dancing. While I did not participate, I watched, and for the first time felt motivated to learn. I've never been interested in salsa before because generally I don't like partner dancing, but it looks fun. So I am thinking about going to the weekly salsa class offered here with my two new friends.

Temuco

This past weekend I went with my family to Temuco where we stayed with my host dad's brother and his family. It was a great weekend for family bonding, and of course my host uncle and his family are all incredibly nice as well.

Temuco is one of the bigger cities in Chile, and it also has possibly the highest level of air pollution in the country. It is a newer city compared to many others in Chile, and it is also one of the fastest growing cities (hence all the pollution). As a result of all this, Temuco has a very interesting dynamic. It is very much a modernized city heavily influenced by Western ideals, but it also still holds onto tradition. It is not uncommon to see carts pulled by horses making their way through the city traffic (I even saw a cart pulled by bulls. Bulls!) There are many butcher shops that specialize in horse meat. And I saw a few great street markets. Temuco has a strong Mapuche presence, and their culture is still very much alive in this city, despite the existing repression and discrimination that threatens virtually all indigenous cultures on our planet. I enjoyed the city, I think it's a very interesting place. It's also quite pretty, with the hills and all the colorful buildings that are characteristic of many of Chile's cities.

Flowers native to the region.

Hanging out at the top of a cerro which the city has converted into a park.

At the top of the hill.

The main plaza in the city's center.

Inside Temuco's main market, it's like a food market combined with a crafts market plus restaurants.

Gotta love the kids

I feel like the past seventh months I've constantly been learning to be more flexible. Or maybe it's that I've already learned the lessons, I just feel that I am having to put it into practice all the time. Especially as a teacher, as I'm sure anyone who teaches anything would agree. You never know how a lesson might go, and it's always different depending on the specific group of children. It's good to always have a back-up plan. Usually I have some sort of back-up plan, but today, when I really needed one, I found myself floundering.

The lesson I'm doing with eighth graders this week involves playing music and having them identify in English what kind of music and what different instruments they hear. Then I have a worksheet with activities accompanying John Lennon's song "Imagine" (an ESL classic). Well yesterday when I did the lesson, the songs would play up until "Imagine", which was a bit of a problem, but I ended up singing the song, which the kids loved. Never have they been so quiet and attentive. So today when the electricity went out not long before I had to teach that lesson again, I didn't really panic, I came up with a sketch of a back-up plan. Then the electricity came back on just in time and I rejoiced. Until I got into my classroom and the CD wouldn't play at all. Alright, back-up plan straight into action. Except that this group was one of my toughest, and the back-up plan just flopped. I think they would have enjoyed the music too so it's really a shame it didn't work just because the only CD player I have access to is really old and kind of crappy. Not really sure what to do when even games wouldn't capture their attention, I just sort of gave up for the last fifteen mintues and just chatted with them. I tried my best to respond to them in English, so at least time wouldn't totally be wasted. A bunch of the girls asked me about my brother and if he has Facebook. I think they have already decided they have a crush on him because he shares a name with Justin Beiber. I had to dissapoint them letting them know that not only does he not have Facebook, he is unavailable, ten years older than them, and lives in the United States. And even into my third week I still get questions about whether I know any famous people.

Even when I am facing a failing lesson (which does get me a bit down), at the end of the day, I can pick myself back up because I really love these kids. They always manage to make me laugh, and they really are quite sweet. Yesterday a girl I didn't even recognize (I do have about 250 students so sometimes I forget faces and I always forget names) handed me some earrings in a little plastic bag, and then walked away with no explanation. I also often get drawings or little oragami creations which I wasn't expecting from kids this age. It feels like each day I am constantly reminded that kids are the reason why I find myself attracted to teaching. They are also the most challenging part of this profession.

Valdivia

I spent this weekend in Valdivia, the capital of the region I live in, and a place which my host dad calls "The prettiest city in Chile." Now that could be debateable, but without a doubt, Valdivia is a very nice city. Not more than 15 or so miles from the coast, the River Cau Cau runs through Valdivia. Since this river runs into the ocean, it is not uncommon to see sea lions hanging out in the river. Valdivia is somewhat of a college town, as it is home to one of Chile's larger Universities as well as some smaller ones. The city definitely has a college vibe in that it feels comfortable and creative and young.

A whole group of us volunteers met up there, and it was great hanging out with people my own age. We went out on Friday and ended up dancing, so of course I enjoyed myself. Yesterday we did a lot of walking and appreciating the surrounding beauty. In the morning we walked around the campus of Universidad de Austral and enjoyed the Botanical Garden, although it was really more like a big park with lots of trees. Then we went to Niebla, a nearby coastal town. From there we took a boat out to a little island that is pretty much a museum of some ruins of forts built by the Spanish. We climbed down to the beach and sat on some rocks and enjoyed the beauty. It was really nice as right where we were you could see the break where the river ends and the ocean begins. We also saw lots of sea lions poking their heads out of the water. We were very lucky because weather wise it was such a beautiful day. After haning out seaside, we went to Kuntsman, a brewery. Valdivia is home to a number of breweries, beer production is one of it's main sources of income. Kuntsman is probably the biggest and most well known. I had the sampler, where you get to try a little of each beer they make.

I had a great time in Valdivia and I'm sure I will go back again since it is so close, plus the English network of the region has monthly meetings there (the real reason why I went in the first place). Stupidly, I forgot my camera, which was really upsetting since it was a gorgeous day and we saw so many nice places. So I really need to go back with my camera.