What are you doing this weekend?

I have yet to blog about what teaching has been like. I envisioned this great blog post delving into the lives of these out of control and undisciplined Chileans who will probably never see anything outside of this small town or the insides of a mine. But the truth is this whole writing thing is actually quite difficult for me and I'd rather keep things short and hopefully entertaining. Maybe the deep, moving, and philosophical writings that this trip can easily inspire will materialize another day.

Anyway, I teach at a technical high school. The students come after grade school and the age range is 13 – 18. After two years students must decide between Industrial Engineering or Administration. Most boys chose Industrial Engineering and the girls Administration. We have three large classrooms for shop where students can be heard sawing, welding, and building things all day. Engineering students graduate and move on to apprenticeships at local mines. This is where they start the work cycle that my host-dad follows of seven for seven, or siete por siete as they call it. Families encourage this life choice as university is expensive and the time spent at university can be used earning money at a mine. Administration students learn different computer, writing, and communication skills and will graduate on to jobs at banks, offices, and government buildings through out the country.

This is one of the main reasons that the students are very difficult to teach. Their lives are seemingly decided the minute they enroll in Liceo Politecnico José Miguel Quiroz. So what’s the point of learning English? That is the attitude and environment that I have to deal with. On top of this, most fathers are away 7, 10, or 20 days at a time; and mothers baby their children their entire life. This is the culture of all of Chile, not just the north (it is common for children to live at home until they are married). They are not given responsibility because the mother does everything for them. All this is reflected at school.

Point is, teaching these little terremotos is not easy. However, it can be pretty fun and very funny at times. I will leave you with one of my favorite stories. The day was Thursday and I thought, how about I teach these them to ask about the weekend. What are you doing this weekend? I wrote the question on my dry-erase board and began the normal theater performance to try and get my students to understand. Rather quickly this time I had one student raise his hand very enthusiastically with that sinister Chilean teenage grin on his face. But, with his hand being the only one raised, I said what the hell, let’s hear what this payaso has to say. The following teacher-student dialogue proceeded:

Me: Yes Brayan, What - are - you - doing - this - weekend?
Brayan: (loud and clear) Puro sex profe, puro sex!!!! (arm and hip thrusting in chair)

I could not restrain myself and I lost it and laughed uncontrollably. The fact that he knew what I was asking along with the combination of the Spanish word puro (close to pure) and the English word sex (close to sexo) while he was thrusting his body like the hormone driven fool that he is was hilarious.

So that is what I am working with hear. Who knows what second semester has in store for me? I’ll find out in August when classes resume once again. For now, I am off to Peru.



Shop Classroom



The students are usually in uniforms, but this was the day of the Chile v. Switzerland game.

News Travels Fast (Aproximately 1,600 km/h in Taltal)

No more nightime cruising in Taltal with my host-brother. I mentioned in a previous post that one of my favorite things to do here at night is to cruise the empty streets, listening to 80s hits with Nacho! in the tiny Suzuki Alto.

I was walking the three blocks home from school yesterday when I spotted the mighty Alto flying down Avenida Matta with Nicanor, Nacho! and Marta. Nacho! was driving, as he usually does when Marta is in the car. The only differnce about this car ride home for them was the police car following them. I watched as Nacho parked the car and the police did the same. There were no flashing lights, sirens, or microphones ordering anyone do to anything. The Caribineros casually exited their vehicle and asked Nacho! for his license. Nacho! does not have a license, he is 16...though he drives like a pro and taught me to drive stick down by the beach. Anyway, Marta was able to talk their way out of it with some sob story about being sick.

But here is the funny part...Car arrival time was approximately 1:05pm. We sat down for almuerzo at about 1:25pm. At 1:35 the phone rang, it was Papa Alejandro. Remind you, he works about 800 km away in a mine further North. He was calling to find out what happened with the police. So within 30 minutes he some how found out about the incident while working in the mine 800 km away. News travels fast in this town, people talk, and are nosy, or ¡Sapo! as they say here in Chile.

This brings me to a bit about my town and Chile. Here in Taltal you can't do much without people knowing. I often see my cuartos at the disco. Actually, I see my primeros there too. The normal Monday morning comments from my students are Teecher Teeecher, te vi con tu polola, wooooo ewwww . Something as simple as buying a bottle of wine can be front page news, GRINGO DRINKS WINE ... not really, but you get the picture.

And on Chile, private space, non existent. My host mom once made my bed with me in it! By now you should know moms DO everything in the household, regardless of age! And that it is very common for children to live in the house until the age of 30ish. Families often gather on eachother's beds to watch TV. There is probably a host-family member staring at my computer screen as I write this. It is also very common for people to sleep with their doors open. And so on and so on...

Needless to say, I enjoy my time alone surfing...

You know it's a small town when...

1. The town is out of sandals because winter is coming.
2. Trips to the dentist take 4 hours. (My host brother Nacho! recently had his braces removed in Antofagasta. After he explained he was off to Antofagasta I asked, why? He casually responsed, ¨Voy al dentista¨.)
3. You check out both clubs, or discos, and see your students at both.
4.Your mailman hangs out at your house for 10 minutes after delivering the mail. He also requests beverages and snacks, asks for family members if missing, and comments on other people's mail
5. You can photograph it in its entirity from a nearby point.
6. You can familiarize yourself with the town in about an hour.
7. When returning from a weekend trip everyone asked you how it was, even though you told nobody you were leaving.
8. Many cars are from the 1980's
9. The mailman, or Señor Cartero, calls your name while strolling on a nearby street and hand delivers your mail.
10. Simple market runs can take up to an hour because your host-dad has conversations with at least five people
11. Parades travel a distance of about half a kilometer.
12. After telling someone the last names of your host-family he or she knows exactly where you live.
13. No fast food restaraunts.
14. After asking 3 teachers until when is the registro civil open, each responds with a different answer, 1pm, 12pm and 2pm. (Turns out it is open between 12pm - 2pm depending on the day, person working, and possibly weather?)
15. You can hear the school bell ring from your front door.
16. The nearest city is 300km, or 185 miles, away.
17. This is actually one of my favorites, though it is not a problem for me. A former volunteer, now full time teacher, used to have to travel that 300km...to use the ATM because her card did not work in the one in town.

I am sure that I will think of many more in the months to come, but that is it for now.