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Hola! Wow our time here in Chile is flying by. It's very hard to believe that today is the half way point of the trip. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the trip. This past Sunday, we went to several locations along the coast including; Vina del mar, Isla Negra, and Valparaiso. Isla Negra is where one of Paublo Neruda's house is located on the coast and it was absolutely stunning. We also visited Valparaiso which is a beautiful seaside port and town.
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Hey! So the past couple of days have been an extreme adjustment for me (well for everybody). Today, I woke up feeling pretty homesick and luckily I was able to speak with my sister. She always gives the most useful advice and was able to remind me that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and not to let it slip away. Spanish class was mucho mejor today. I studied for a good 2 hours last night and my teachers said that they could tell. So slowly I am getting better at this whole living in Chile thing. Today, I was able to work in a classroom today with 6th graders. The students had a project due which was a video of themselves cooking a recipe speaking in English and in Spanish. The videos were absolutely adorable and I was amazed that each student had to turn it in on a USB drive. I also noticed that just like in classrooms back home all of the students have iPhones and fidget spinners, some things never change. The 1 hour bus ride to the school displayed quite a juxtaposition between the beauty of the Andes mountains and the extreme poverty of the area. I can't even put into words the beauty of the Andes, they are simply breathtaking. However, sitting at the base of them is a society whose people live with very little money and don't know any differently. I never expected to be in such a state of culture shock.
Greetings from Santiago! Today is the first time that I have actually have been able to post while in South America. I was having some trouble logging into my blog. But, it was finally resolved, so here I am friends :) The flight was extremely long, I've never sat in one place for so long. It took about 2 hours to get to Atlanta and another 10 hours to get to Santiago, but it was so worth it! I had a lot of trouble sleeping on the plane (as in I got zero sleep). Not sleeping actually turned out to be beneficial, as I was able to watch the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. As the night sky faded and the sun began to rise, the sky looked like the most gorgeous painting I have ever seen, except it wasn't a painting, it was real. The most beautiful shades of blue and pink softly mixed together above the Andes mountains. I was absolutely awe-struck by the beauty that was appearing in front of me. The first day here was very interesting. After Claire and I met our host family and got settled, we decided to explore a little bit. While we were out walking around, we spotted a stray dog. This absolutely crushed me because anybody that knows me knows how much I love dogs. The dog, who I named Buddy, was the sweetest little pup. I bought him Pringles and an apple hoping that he would eat something. When I went into the store he waited at the door for me. I tried feeding him the apple first and he didn't like it. Then I tried giving him the Pringle and he spit it out and laid his little head down on my shoe. I wish I was able to give Buddy a home, but unfortunately that was not possible :( Tuesday May 23, 2017
This morning, we had our Spanish classes at Ecela. We each have a conversation class and a grammar class. Both are pretty difficult since I have never studied Spanish. However, I am enjoying the process of learning a new language. After class, we all headed over to Universidad Mayor where we all sat in on an English pedagogy class. In my class, we all sat around in a circle and had a bit of a question and answer segment. The students had many questions regarding the education system in the United States. I tried to answer their questions the best that I could. In doing so, I realized that their educational system is very different from what I am used to. For instance, they have very little knowledge and training with students with disabilities. This was a bit shocking to me. I can't even believe that I am leaving for this amazing adventure in only 2 more days!! As I sit at home packing, my dogs seem a little nervous, almost as though they know I am leaving. (They have been getting lots of extra kisses to make up for the next month.)
I am still so nervous, yet excited!! I can't even believe that I have been blessed with such an amazing opportunity. |
AuthorHello! My name is Liz and I am a graduate student here at Buffalo State college majoring in special education. I am a certified New York State special education and elementary teacher. ArchivesCategories |