Day to Day

Yes, it's true, we've been here over three weeks!  In some ways time flies, however short periods also seem to stretch out and feel like months.  We've done a lot here so far but in real time it's only been a short while (as our language skills still show).

Our day to day life here in Concepcion is probably very similar to yours back in the US.  I thought I'd give you a quick glimps into our daily routine. 

We wake up early during the week and catch the school bus to the Thomas Jefferson School at 7am.  They pick us up in front of our building!  It takes a while to get to school  (1 hour) because we pick up lots of other students and the morning traffic is pretty bad.  Once the second bridge is repaired (damaged by the earthquake) our commute will be much quicker!

Marcia makes sure the girls are buckeled in and Sergio drives us all to school.  I´ve been volunteering in the pre-kinder classes.  The kids don´t speak English and have been really helpful teaching me the basic Spanish school vocabulary.  The other teachers have been extreamly helpful teaching me the finer points of the language.  All in good time, it´s a slow process but we´re learning a few more words each day.




This is what a typical kindergarten classroom looks like, not so different from yours.

AnnaMarie is Mabel´s teacher (the one not holding Mabel in the striped apron.  Nicole, a techer in training is holding Mabel)

 Mabel  has been making friends, though the language barrier is greatest for her.  Though the teachers speak mostly in English, in her class all of the kids speak Spanish and Mabel tries to figure out what is going on.  So far she´s been a total trooper!  Hopefully some of this language stuff will start making sense soon.

After we arrive at school around 8am each class meets in a circle and takes attendance and goes over the days of the week and weather, etc... in English. Then there is a lesson of the day.  Lately we´ve been learning about spring. It´s strange to hear them talk about the spring equinox (Sept. 21).  The kids love learning and drawsing pictures of butterflies and flowers.


Then the kids can switch rooms for a free learning time based on what they feel like doing that day, math, gym, art, language, etc..  We eat a big snack (what we would call lunch but here the proper lunch is much bigger) at around 11am and then kids can go outside on the playground.

The playground is very basic with swings, a playhouse, and some grass around the corner

The little kids head home at 12:45 everyday but on Wednesday, which is an early day, everyone goes home an hour earlier.  Ella stays at school till 3pm and eats lunch in the big lunch room.  They serve hot lunch but Ella only chooses to have it once a week. She says it´s pretty good, healthier than what she would get at Paxson.  Most of the students in Ella´s grade speak some English so Ella has been able to communicate pretty well.

The Mall is right near their school so I´ve been there a few times picking up stuff for the apartment and our lives here.  It´s a huge Mall, bigger than Southgate in Missoula but what you would expect in a big city.

Fun sculptures in the mall.

Our local grocery store is a lot like the Food Farm (except for the beer selection).  It is located right at the bottom of our hill and on the bus route, very convenient.

Yes, it´s called Santa Isabel.  Occasionally there are more local folks outside the actual store selling their stuff.  I just purchased some artichokes today from these people.

We´ve also been trying some new fruits.  Both of which we´ve liked a lot.

Tastes a lot like cantalope!

Looks cactus-like with white sweet fruit.

There is a big effort to recycle.  All we do is put our glass, plastic, and cardboard by the garbage shoot in the apartment and it is taken away.  Everyone else uses these huge bins on the side of the road.  I´m not sure what the deal is with the rest of people´s garbage because it looks like in some neighborhoods they just throw it in the street.  Garbage does seem to be an issure here.

Recycle!

Some of you have recieved email from Ella, well this is what she looks like when she composes her ever so long messages!

So, we are still looking for a used car.  Hopefully we´ll be more mobile soon.  At the end of last weekend when we still had our rental car we finally found the beach near to San Pedro de La Paz, about 20-30 minutes away (much closer when the bridge is repaired).  I think we´ll be spending quite a few summer days out there.

The beach has black sand and tons of rocks and what look like ¨moon¨ snail shells.  There are lots of fun creatures lurking in the tide pools which we had fun poking at (anemonae, sea cucumbers, starfish etc).  The rocks look like they will be great for exploring.  When at the beach we are looking right out New Zealand.  I imagine storms can be something fearce!

Chitons

Is is kelp or the head of Medusa?

Mabel´s big find!

So, life is good.  Though everyday we ride the bus we are reminded of what the people of Concepcion experienced last Fedruary.  Though they are working hard to repair all that was broken it is going to be a long time before the recovery process is complete.

On our bus route home.

The Chemistry building on campus.

The crack was formed on the banks of the Bio Bio during the earthquake!

We´ve been lucky to meet up with Anibal, Paula, and Benjamin who lived in Missoula about 5 years ago!  They had us over to their wonderful place and we shared a traditional Chliean meal (lots of great meat).  It was fun to talk with them about life in both places.  We look forward to seeing them again.

I hope all is well with you in the US.  We look forward to hearing from you all.  Have a nice Homecoming weekend!

Go GRIZ!!!

Notice the Griz colors!  The girls (and Mike) are cheering for the Griz, right now!