After my Iloca trip, we took the next few days to relax and just be around the house.
On Sunday I got ready for church and ate breakfast. At 10 (the time church starts) my host mom said that my dad couldn't give me a ride that morning. And that I would need to take a collectivo there. So I walked a block and stood on the street waiting for a collectivo. I stood there for a good 10 minutes and the right one never came, so I just decided to walk. By the time I got there it was almost 11. I stood outside the meeting waiting for it to be over, and the second one to start. I ended up waiting for 30 minutes before I realized that it was stake conference (a special meeting with all of the members in the surrounding cities that lasts for an hour and a half). So I ended up never actually going into the meeting. Instead, I had a lovely conversation with a four year old and was pleased that I could sort of make out what she was saying and respond. Being with her made me miss the kiddos so much! I would have left earlier, but I needed to wait for Rodrigo for lunch! He and I walked to the mall and got some pizza. Then we walked to the plaza (yes Michael, the one with the benches and fish). He is my best friend here. We talk ALL the time and it's great.
My week (semana!) of school this week was packed full of tests and homework! I got my first graded test back. Remember that math test that I said that I thought I did pretty decently on? Yeah, that one. I got a solid C- on it. Huh. This year will be a change from my straight A's that I'm used to. The rest of my classmates got the chemistry test back, but I didn't. I don't think my teacher (profesor(-a) or as students usually say it 'profeeeee') bothered grading it...
On Thursday in biology class, the teacher was explaining a group project that was being assigned. I raised my hand and asked in Spanish how many people could be in a group (¿cuántas personas en un grupo?) and the class erupted in cheers. Hahaha. I'm pretty awesome.
On Monday and Thursday I had basketball after school. I like having something to do after school and it exercising makes me feel like it's okay that I eat so much.. I think this thought process might be flawed. After dinner on Tuesday, my host dad and I drove downtown and to some indoor basketball courts. One of his friends is the coach of the city women's team. I was in for a long hard (difícil!) practice! But it was great; we did a lot of technique drills. The courts are different than in the U.S.. They are slippery and I am close to falling a lot. I didn't bring my fancy basketball shoes (zapatos!) and my running shoes aren't cutting it. My legs get tired really fast since they don't have as much support for all of the quick turns. The floor is also dirty and by the end of practice, my hands are black from touching the ball and wiping my shoes.
Anyways; on to Friday. On Wednesday I was told that on Friday in English class groups had to present dissertations. I joined a group of friends and read over some things I would have to say about cyber bullying. Before class started, a lot of people (gente! o personas!) were asking me how to pronounce all these big words in English. I give them all a lot of props because they had to research in a different language and then talk in front of the class while trying to pronounce words they don't know! (And now that I think about it, that's what I do every day...) Watching the different presentations was pretty entertaining. Most of the time, I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little. A lot of people would look at me to see how the pronunciation of the speaker was. Hahaha. My group (grupo!) is number 10 and on Friday we only got to group 5, so I'll present next week. Oh and I can already tell that English class is going to be hard for me. You're probably laughing but I'm not kidding! There was a girl from the U.S. in the school last year and she ended up with a D in the class. We had to respond to a few questions in class. They were all about modal verbs. Do you know what those are? Without google? Because I sure didn't! Apparently they are words like should, may, might, would, etc.. And knowing when to use may or might. 'I might go to the store.' or 'I may go to the store.'? They both sound right to me! It's going to be an embarrassing year, not knowing the rules of my own language and all.
Classes on Friday get over at 1:15. I had basketball at 1:45 and so didn't have time to go to my grandma's house for lunch. Instead, I went with Carolina, Nico, Natalia, and Rodrigo to the mall for lunch. There, we bought juice, bread, ham, and cheese to have a little picnic. I love these people so much! :)
We needed to be back at the school at 1:45 for basketball practice, but ended up talking and eating for too long. Instead we just skipped practice for the day. When we walked back to the school, we saw some classmates playing tennis in the courtyard and I almost died. I MISS TENNIS SO MUCH! I played for a while and it was amazing. After that it was time for me to go home. When I got home, I went to a meeting (for some reason...) with my mom for planning some kind of party for her business. I sat there at the table playing my Ipod and literally fell asleep. I didn't know that was possible while playing Temple Run. We rushed home and I changed as fast as I could and took a taxi to basketball practice (the city practice). Surprise, surprise, I was late. Time is so different here in Chile, it's a whole different world. It doesn't matter if you are 5 minutes late or 50. I was 45 minutes late to practice and there were only three other people there. I have a game on Thursday that I'm pretty scared for. I think it'll be a pretty rough game since it seems like the rules are more like street basketball. After practice, I went outside because I thought my dad was there waiting. It turns out he wasn't but the doors had locked behind me. At 9 at night in downtown Curicó I was a little worried. So I hid in the doorway until he came. Haha. Then we went out for some really good pizza together as a family.
Saturday was a nice relaxed day. I meant to get up and run, but was too tired and sore from basketball. Nothing too exciting happened... Oh, wait! I felt my first earthquake tremor (temblor!)! (Notice the 'felt' ; the first one I was in Chile for, I slept through) It was a 4 or 5 on the Richter scale and my room shook for a few seconds.
On Sunday I didn't go to church because I had to go to a fundraiser that my Rotary club was having. The adults sold drinks and sandwiches while the two Germans, one South African, and I did a fundraiser for poor school kids. We sorted through pencils, separated them into different colors, and put them into groups in rubber bands to be given away in a school nearby. So we sat there talking (ENGLISH!) and sorting pencils for 5 hours in the hot, hot sun.
Such a beautiful day:
So. many. pencils.
We eventually ran out of rubber bands and HAD to stop. So we laid there and talked some more.
Enjoying the sun
Vivien, me, Charlotte, and Nicholas:
Okay. Well now it is way too late for me to be up. I need to rest up for another awesome week in Chile!
Oh and one last thing. For the Rotary conference back in the States, I needed to write one piece of advice for the incoming outbounds in my district. Here's mine:
"Remember that smiling and laughing are international! Laugh at your mistakes and smile to show your happiness. Always be enthusiastic and say yes to every opportunity."
I've been basically living by this quote in my time in Chile.
Chao!
On Sunday I got ready for church and ate breakfast. At 10 (the time church starts) my host mom said that my dad couldn't give me a ride that morning. And that I would need to take a collectivo there. So I walked a block and stood on the street waiting for a collectivo. I stood there for a good 10 minutes and the right one never came, so I just decided to walk. By the time I got there it was almost 11. I stood outside the meeting waiting for it to be over, and the second one to start. I ended up waiting for 30 minutes before I realized that it was stake conference (a special meeting with all of the members in the surrounding cities that lasts for an hour and a half). So I ended up never actually going into the meeting. Instead, I had a lovely conversation with a four year old and was pleased that I could sort of make out what she was saying and respond. Being with her made me miss the kiddos so much! I would have left earlier, but I needed to wait for Rodrigo for lunch! He and I walked to the mall and got some pizza. Then we walked to the plaza (yes Michael, the one with the benches and fish). He is my best friend here. We talk ALL the time and it's great.
My week (semana!) of school this week was packed full of tests and homework! I got my first graded test back. Remember that math test that I said that I thought I did pretty decently on? Yeah, that one. I got a solid C- on it. Huh. This year will be a change from my straight A's that I'm used to. The rest of my classmates got the chemistry test back, but I didn't. I don't think my teacher (profesor(-a) or as students usually say it 'profeeeee') bothered grading it...
On Thursday in biology class, the teacher was explaining a group project that was being assigned. I raised my hand and asked in Spanish how many people could be in a group (¿cuántas personas en un grupo?) and the class erupted in cheers. Hahaha. I'm pretty awesome.
On Monday and Thursday I had basketball after school. I like having something to do after school and it exercising makes me feel like it's okay that I eat so much.. I think this thought process might be flawed. After dinner on Tuesday, my host dad and I drove downtown and to some indoor basketball courts. One of his friends is the coach of the city women's team. I was in for a long hard (difícil!) practice! But it was great; we did a lot of technique drills. The courts are different than in the U.S.. They are slippery and I am close to falling a lot. I didn't bring my fancy basketball shoes (zapatos!) and my running shoes aren't cutting it. My legs get tired really fast since they don't have as much support for all of the quick turns. The floor is also dirty and by the end of practice, my hands are black from touching the ball and wiping my shoes.
Anyways; on to Friday. On Wednesday I was told that on Friday in English class groups had to present dissertations. I joined a group of friends and read over some things I would have to say about cyber bullying. Before class started, a lot of people (gente! o personas!) were asking me how to pronounce all these big words in English. I give them all a lot of props because they had to research in a different language and then talk in front of the class while trying to pronounce words they don't know! (And now that I think about it, that's what I do every day...) Watching the different presentations was pretty entertaining. Most of the time, I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little. A lot of people would look at me to see how the pronunciation of the speaker was. Hahaha. My group (grupo!) is number 10 and on Friday we only got to group 5, so I'll present next week. Oh and I can already tell that English class is going to be hard for me. You're probably laughing but I'm not kidding! There was a girl from the U.S. in the school last year and she ended up with a D in the class. We had to respond to a few questions in class. They were all about modal verbs. Do you know what those are? Without google? Because I sure didn't! Apparently they are words like should, may, might, would, etc.. And knowing when to use may or might. 'I might go to the store.' or 'I may go to the store.'? They both sound right to me! It's going to be an embarrassing year, not knowing the rules of my own language and all.
Classes on Friday get over at 1:15. I had basketball at 1:45 and so didn't have time to go to my grandma's house for lunch. Instead, I went with Carolina, Nico, Natalia, and Rodrigo to the mall for lunch. There, we bought juice, bread, ham, and cheese to have a little picnic. I love these people so much! :)
 |
| Trying to take a good group picture... |
Saturday was a nice relaxed day. I meant to get up and run, but was too tired and sore from basketball. Nothing too exciting happened... Oh, wait! I felt my first earthquake tremor (temblor!)! (Notice the 'felt' ; the first one I was in Chile for, I slept through) It was a 4 or 5 on the Richter scale and my room shook for a few seconds.
On Sunday I didn't go to church because I had to go to a fundraiser that my Rotary club was having. The adults sold drinks and sandwiches while the two Germans, one South African, and I did a fundraiser for poor school kids. We sorted through pencils, separated them into different colors, and put them into groups in rubber bands to be given away in a school nearby. So we sat there talking (ENGLISH!) and sorting pencils for 5 hours in the hot, hot sun.
Such a beautiful day:
So. many. pencils.
We eventually ran out of rubber bands and HAD to stop. So we laid there and talked some more.
Enjoying the sun
Vivien, me, Charlotte, and Nicholas:
Okay. Well now it is way too late for me to be up. I need to rest up for another awesome week in Chile!
Oh and one last thing. For the Rotary conference back in the States, I needed to write one piece of advice for the incoming outbounds in my district. Here's mine:
"Remember that smiling and laughing are international! Laugh at your mistakes and smile to show your happiness. Always be enthusiastic and say yes to every opportunity."
I've been basically living by this quote in my time in Chile.
Chao!
YAY FOR CHRISTY!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteLove this post, Christy Misty! We miss you! You are doing so great! It's so exciting to read all about your adventures. And I love that your class all cheered for you when you asked your question in Spanish! Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteThey cheer for me every time I say something in class! It's great! Hahahaha.
DeleteI love that quote from you. And you're great. I'm so happy you're having so much fun. Funny, about learning a lot about English. I only know about a lot of English grammar because of learning Spanish and Japanese...English-speakers don't learn about it because it's natural...or it doesn't matter if you say it correctly! Have fun!
ReplyDelete:) All of my classmates laugh at me because when they ask me for help with homework in that class, it takes me a while to answer!
Delete:) All of my classmates laugh at me because when they ask me for help with homework in that class, it takes me a while to answer!
Delete