DO IT

Starting off by saying if you are thinking about moving to another country, DO IT. Move to one that doesn't have all of the facilities you are used to, like central heating, washer-dryer, or even running water. At the very least, travel to other countries to eat at tiny, questionable restaurants; stay at hostels where the hot water comes and goes; and let the locals and fellow travelers teach you things you won't find online. 

Enough with the preaching. About my life teaching English in Chile to 5th-12th graders: 

Moo. My friends at the campo.

1. I'm currently living in southern Chile, in northern Patagonia. I live in el campo (aka the country) right outside the little city of Osorno. Today, for my birthday, we're going to a discoteca to dance the night, as well as the dawn, away. People in Chile do not hit the clubs until 1 am and stay out until 6 in the morning. Not sure how much of this aspect of the Chilean culture I can embrace since homegirl here is used to going to bed by 11 pm because...

2. Teaching kids is EXHAUSTING. Oh ma lawd. I'm ready to sleep at 8 pm. I don't know if it's trying to teach English to kids who don't even know what "why?" or "repeat" is or trying to teach kids who think it's okay to act like the classroom is their house and their friends are over for a little get together. The students listen to music (with their headphones so it's polite I guess), randomly change seats, laugh when the inspector (the disciplinarian of the school) attempts to discipline them, and talk back to the teacher. They don't take notes, even when they're told to. They're not disrespectful kids, they just didn't grow up with the same or similar level of discipline as I've seen in the U.S. and Nepal. I teach at a small semi-private school, so I can't even imagine what the teachers in larger or socially vulnerable schools deal with.

3. Chilean food staple: mayo, pastry, bread. And

A pot of cream of chard soup for me.

probably in that order. If you care an ounce about your health, you'd be in shock for a while. One of the fave foods among Chileans? Hot dog with 4 spoons of mayo called completos. Because the food isn't heavy on seasoning, it is a bit bland (where ma garlic at?!). I haven't tasted the meat, so I can't tell you how that is. My host mom is incredibly sweet about me not eating meat, figured out I eat healthy food and don't eat too much pastry (which is incredibly far from the truth in Chile since my first and last bites the other day were of some delightful chocolate pastry. I also had a 6-layer cake and apple pie for my third lunch.). She therefore has been making me awesome vegetarian food. I've been enjoying a lot of cream of chard soup. Sounds (and looks) kind of gross, right? But it tastes like saag paneer—minus the spice. And yesterday I used the thick soup as the sauce for my pasta with parmesan cheese—tasted kind of like pesto sauce. Clearly I am not at all vegan here.

4. Spanish.Wow, I had forgotten most of what I knew. I have no idea what my co-teachers are saying most of the time since they speak really quickly and spit out so many Chilenismos (Chilean slangs that everyone uses). For example, novio is NOT boy friend. Living with a host family has helped me the most in improving my Spanish because I actually have the time to be like, " Wait, what? What is that?" and have things explained to me. Being able to google words at home while talking with the family is also very helpful. And my host sister teaches me Spanish words and tests me like while I do the same with her for English words. Yay language exchange!

El campo.

5. Life is so different from the one I had in NYC and I love Chile for that. I'm freezing most days since there is no central heating. I've had to wear socks (sometimes two on each foot) to sleep every night, and I am so sick and tired of wearing a down jacket in August! My standard of cleanliness has substantially decreased because it's way too cold to take showers often even if I am blessed with hot water. There are many things I can talk about that are inconvenient, making it sound like I am complaining, but I so am grateful to be able to experience all of these challenges. There's something to be said about leaving your comfort zone and seeing the world beyond where you live and what you know. I'm always awed by how people think, act, and function so differently. It's not just a different point of view on a controversial topic, but random little things like the fact that door knobs turn a different direction here. You'd think that humans around the world may innately have all come to the same conclusion about the direction that the door knob should turn, but nope, there are countless nuances in how we think. Love it.

Lesson planning (showing clips from the movie Twister for a lesson on tornadoes to my 6th graders since they're awesome) is in order. Ciao.