|
|
It seems like not long ago I submitted my application for the IPDS Chile program and now we are finally here! I would like to give a special thanks to my parents who woke up at the crack of dawn to take us to the Toronto airport on Saturday. I would also like to thank the scholarship donors who have afforded me the trip of a lifetime!
The journey here was a long one! We had two layovers. One in Panama City, Panama and the other in Lima, Peru. I’m very grateful to have made it here safely (with all of my luggage) and I am especially grateful for Dr. del Prado because she was on all of our flights. She has a lot of experience traveling and she can speak Spanish which was incredibly helpful when it came to finding our way in the different airports. Yesterday morning we were all dropped off at the homes of our host families. Karly and I live in an apartment complex on a busy street. It is very close to ECELA (the Spanish school) and Universidad Mayor which is especially helpful. Our host mother does not speak any English. I can usually understand certain words and get the main idea of what she is saying, but my greatest challenge is responding. I often find myself saying “si, si, si” to everything she says. This is definitely something I hope to improve on in the coming weeks! Luckily there is another student here from Wisconsin who speaks fluent Spanish. She has been helping us a lot! Today was our first day attending classes at ECELA. We took a conversation test and I ended up being placed in the elementary level for grammar and conversation. There are four levels: basic, elementary, intermediate, and advanced. My teacher, Cristian, is amazing! He is very funny and teaches us how to ask questions and answer them. He also teaches us a lot of vocabulary. One word I learned in class today is pololo/polola which is a Chilean slang word for boyfriend/girlfriend. Cristian said that it is an important word to know because people may ask if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend when you go out. Each class at ECELA only has a few people in it. My conversation class has five people and my grammar class has three people. This allows for many opportunities to participate and get to know the other people in the class. It's been very cool to meet people from many different countries and places in the United States! After ECELA we went to Universidad Mayor where we met up with some of our Chilean friends who came to Buffalo in February. It was like picking up right where we left off! I am so excited to see all of them again! It feels amazing to come to Chile and already have such wonderful friends. They took us to San Cristóbal Hill which is a popular tourist destination because you can see the whole city. Unfortunately it was closed for maintenance, but we all went out for drinks instead! I had a pisco sour which is a classic Chilean drink. I am looking forward to trying new things and making new memories in Chile. Our schedule is jam packed with things to do every single day. Some highlights include our Spanish language immersion classes at ECELA, field placements through Universidad Mayor, salsa dancing classes, cooking classes, BBQs, horseback riding, hiking in the Andes Mountains, and visiting Viña del Mar and Valaparaíso. Today was such a great day that I can’t wait for tomorrow! ¡Adiós por ahora! P.S. Kudos to whoever knows what song the title of this blog post is from! :-)
11 Comments
Brianna
6/4/2019 07:28:42 am
Chile sounds amazing!
Reply
Alex
6/4/2019 07:50:37 am
¡Si, Si, Si! I love reading about your adventures! Please eat an empanada on my behalf :)
Reply
Dr. Patti
6/4/2019 04:41:09 pm
It sounds like you are having a wonderful time so far, Kelly! I know you were a bit nervous ahead of time, but you are already getting comfortable there and you still have 2 1/2 weeks to go. :) I loved reading about your classes at ECELA. I am sure you are already picking up teaching tips for working with language learners. And, I am sure you will see huge leaps of growth in your Spanish while you are there. I look forward to continuing to follow your blog! :)
Reply
Mary
6/4/2019 04:44:49 pm
I'm so excited for you! It sounds like a blast with all that you're doing everyday, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back and I look forward to keeping up with your blogs😊 have fun!!
Reply
Dan
6/4/2019 07:58:21 pm
Sounds like you're off to a great start. There's no better way to learn something than to get tossed into the deep end, so I'm sure you will pick up a lot of things besides just the language. This was a great post, and I can't wait to hear more!
Reply
Kathy Doody
6/5/2019 06:02:28 pm
Hi Kelly -glad to hear you are having so much fun! Your photos are a gorgeous accompaniment to your blog post, so thanks for adding them. The photo of the stairs looks like a professional took it! I can't wait to read about all of the wonderful experiences you will have and the yummy food!! Glad to see you didn't waste an opportunity to try a new cocktail :)
Reply
Mr. Maloney
6/6/2019 12:58:17 am
I am so glad that you are participating in this wonderful experience. It will provide you with so many opportunities to learn and grow as a pre-service teacher. Enjoy and learn a lot!
Reply
Dr. Colon
6/6/2019 09:04:35 am
Hi Kelly! It looks like you're having a great time so far and eating yummy food! I can't wait to read more!
Reply
Claire Borczuch
6/6/2019 10:56:12 pm
Hi Kelly! I remember Christian from when I was there! So happy for you! 👍👍
Reply
Kelly Glowny
6/9/2019 02:06:23 am
Thanks so much for all of your comments! It means a lot to me that people are reading and taking an interest in my blog posts!
Reply
Solicitar un préstamo ahora
1/23/2024 03:17:45 pm
Buenos días señor / señora,
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Author¡Hola! My name is Kelly and I am an undergraduate student studying elementary education at Buffalo State. This is the first time I will be traveling outside the United States and Canada. I am very excited about the opportunity to learn more about Chilean culture, work with English language learners, improve my Spanish skills, and conduct research! I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my Chilean adventures! ArchivesCategories |