LSU Teaching in Chile 2019

Before I got to Chile, during the entire trip, and hereafter, I have been filled with opposing emotions. At the moment I am so happy to be home, excited to be around my family and getting to see my friends again. But, at the same time, I am missing my host family and all of the children I worked with in Chile. Once I got home I realized how much I missed the food. Nothing beat coming home to my Maw Maws gumbo and fried catfish.    At the same time, I missing teatime with my family every night and heating up water to put in a bag to keep my feet warm in the cold Chilean autumn. After being back home for a couple weeks and catching up with my family I had time to reconnect with myself and think about all the valuable life lessons that I have learned after being out of the country for the first time.    Two of the most important lessons I learned were: The world is definitely too big for me to have remained in my tiny bubble for so long. I never thought going to anothe

On Tuesday, we visited the Parque de Agua Termal near Chillàn. The bus ride was an opportunity to catch up on sleep and catch up with each other, especially our classmates from “little school” or Campus Huertos as it is known in Concepcion. The weather is becoming increasingly colder and after the heavy rains this weekend, I was grateful that the nice weather turned out for our trip. Kudos to Kenny for serving us snacks throughout our bus ride.  The Parque is about 2 hours from Concepcion and up against a snow-covered mountain. Roaming around in my swimsuit in the icy air was the hardest part of this experience. The water was so wonderfully warm, like getting into a hot bath. While we were supposed to move from pool to pool, getting into progressively warmer water, we chose to stay in Piscina 4. Note the steam coming off water. Getting out of the pool was not as traumatic as I originally thought because our bodies were warm. I loved getting visit a place that Chileans

Well...I’m still speechless... This past week has presented many more opportunities that have sparked joy in my life.  The food gets better and better, the hospitality never ceases and the culture continuously amazes me!  I’m surrounded by such an awesome group of individuals who are still guiding me in all aspects of the Chilean life and there’s still another entire week to go. First and foremost, let’s talk about the delicious food.  I actually conversed with a Chilean man named Ricardo Suazo on the flight from Dallas to Santiago. He gave me an entire list of foods I should try before leaving, and surprisingly I’ve already had just about everything on the list.  These foods include empanadas, sopiapilla, cazuela de vacuno, ceviche, calzones rotos and picarones.  Besides main dishes, I’ve eatin’ so much bread while being here.  Being that their bread is absolutely delicious, I can understand why they eat it with every meal. The typical dinner, that seems synonymous with every househo

This last week has been the most fun. I did so many new things and saw so many new places. I cannot thank my host family and CCSP enough for these adventures. Last weekend, I went where the river meets the Pacific Ocean and it was beautiful. The sea will always be my favorite place to be and I am so glad I was able to see two huge water ways come together in such an incredible way. My older siblings also took me out dancing Friday night. There was a band playing live Chilean music and although I could not understand much, I still had such a fun time dancing and meeting new people. My family also brought me to the water fall in Laja. I have never seen a real waterfall before and it was so inspiring. To wind the weekend down, my little sister's class had a BBQ for new students at the school Sunday afternoon. It was great getting to meet more of her friends and of course, eat some more great food. Esta última semana ha sido la más divertida. Hice muchas cosas nuevas y vi muchos luga

I can't believe it's week 3!  I'm sure most people in my position have said this. I'm already starting to get nostalgic now that I realize how much time is limited.  My family has been so kind and loving that I wish I could really give them as much as they have given me.  I know that I will treasure the memories I have made with them.  And I'm thankful for the many pictures they have taken that will hold some of these memories. Week 3 has been eventful to say the least.  I was able to go to downtown Concepcion for the first time.  I remember being surprised at how big the center city was.   The shops were endless and there were many people out and about for a Monday.  I guess I didn't realize how urban it truly was. On Tuesday, I was able to visit both the markets in Chillán and the termas de Chillan (hot springs).  Both were lovely experiences.  I had never been in natural hot springs in my life until now.  The heat surprised me at my first step in the wa

This is a little late so it is more like week two plus a few days in Chile! The past week and a half has flown by! The second week of classes at CCSP went pretty well. I dreaded teaching my first class on Thursday of last week. It was in the back of my mind the whole week. Kelly's yoga and mindfulness session definitely helped me clear my head a little bit and I woke up Thursday calm and ready to teach no matter what happened. I taught 6th graders about the United States Revolutionary war. It was definitely interesting because a lot of the class did not speak English very well. I had a few students volunteer to be my translators and the hour and a half class went a lot quicker than I thought it would! I enjoyed teaching the kids very much! It seemed to be a fun experience for all of us and I am looking forward to the two remaining classes I have with 7th graders. Life at home has been great as well! The family and I are definitely way better at communicating than the first night.