It's finally starting to warm up. . .I even went around in short sleeves yesterday!
The Spanish is getting better little by little. It helps that Caryn and I have been trying to spend more time with Carola, a woman who lives just down the block who speaks English and has time in the morning to hang out and do little Spanish and cooking lessons. Her son is marrying a former volunteer in December, so she's pretty used to having gringas around and understands what's hard for us to learn and what words are difficult for us to pronounce.
Today at Mass the choir was singing as usual. However, Caryn pointed out that something was a little weird. They were singing their hymn to the tune of "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. We stifled our laughter and figured it was just a coincidence. Later in the afternoon there was a large church procession that we attended. Everyone met at their respective parishes and chapels and then joined a procession that ended in the park of the nearby neighborhood for an open-air Mass with the bishop, which we hadn't originally intended to attend. Anyways, about halfway through the Mass the choir begins singing, and I look at Caryn, and this time there was no hope for stifling laughter. The song "Holy, Holy" was being sung to the tune of "Yesterday" by The Beatles. Even all of the Chileans standing nearby were laughing, as most of them could recognize the song. It was absolutely hilarious. . .and Caryn and I now know that indeed, we will continue to hear church songs to the tune of pop music from the States.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A week of celebrations
It’s a cold, rainy, blustery day today in Chillan. Since we’re enjoying the week off in honor of the 18th, the independence day, it’s a nice day to stay in pajamas and never leave the warmth of your bed. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s about 55 degrees outside (yeah. . .I just had to look it up online in order to find out how to convert the celsius to fahrenheit) and it’s usually a little cooler inside. I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t need to wear two (sometimes three) pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, and who knows how many shirts. Last night I came home and put on a winter hat for awhile because I just couldn’t warm up. . .too bad it gets way colder than this in the winter time (June, July, and August).
Sooo where should I start? Perhaps with the Bio-dance class I experienced last Wednesday. Some of you would love Bio-dance (Ashley Boone, I especially think of you). I, for one, find it a little strange. Bio-dance is a class that’s offered here at the center, and apparently it’s somewhat popular here. I don’t really know much about it, so all I can do is explain the class that I participated in. Basically, everyone in the group comes in, takes off their shoes, and sits on a giant rug on the floor. When everyone’s in the room, the teacher shuts the doors so as to create a safe space (sort of like being in a CLC or something), and people who aren’t in the class aren’t allowed to wander in and out. The women then take turns sharing what they experienced in the previous class, and then the class activities begin. Basically, it’s about expressing yourself through dance. There are different activities, some individually-oriented and others more group- or community-oriented. The women seem to really enjoy it and they’ve created a great feeling of community within the group, but it was a little weird for an outsider to join in. The other thing that made the class strange for me was that the teacher used some music from the States, which, being in English, I could clearly understand. I have to admit that I was a little confused when a song all about loneliness came on when the women were doing a community-oriented activity. I’m doubtful that I’ll be returning to that class anytime soon, especially since the music kept making me laugh at inappropriate times, but it seems like the women really enjoy it and will be going at it for awhile.
On that same Wednesday I started to get a cold, which really sucked. Thursday the cold only got worse, and I think I slept more of that day than I was awake. When I went to an art class on Thursday at the house, one of the women who had been in bio-dance with me asked me if I was feeling worse than the previous day. I admitted that yes, I felt pretty sick and was struggling just to be out of my bed. In typical Chilean fashion, her response was that she noticed that in class the day before I had stepped off the rug onto the tile floor while wearing only my socks, and she KNEW I was going to get even sicker after that. I’ve already been warned enough that Chileans (or at least the women who come to the house) believe that walking around barefoot or in your socks on a cold tile floor means that you most definitely WILL get sick, no question about it. Wet hair is another really bad idea. It’s best to not let anyone know if you choose to not blow dry your hair after you shower, or you’ll get a good long lecture afterwards about how sick you’re going to be. The temperature has everything to do with getting cold. When I was sick, nobody cared. . .they all still kissed me on the cheek everytime they entered the room, it wasn’t a big deal to drink out of the same glass as me or pick up food off my plate. . .definitely not like when someone is sick in the States.
On Friday Caryn and I went with Mimi to Mass at the local chapel because there was a little social gathering afterwards to begin celebrating for the 18th. The priest is new to the area. He’s really young (36) and super animated. He does random things, like in the middle of his homily he asked Mimi who Caryn and I were, so then she had to introduce us to everyone as he asked questions about whether or not we could even understand him since he said we looked like we didn’t know what was going on. He randomly throws in a word in English, which can be a little strange and sort of overwhelming when everyone in the church turns and stares at you. After Mass everyone went to eat empanadas (meat filled pastries) and drink ponche (a mixture of white wine and peaches), which was only the beginning of many many many many empanadas in the past few days. That same night there were a bunch of women at the house making pino, the onion-meat mixture that would go in the empanadas to be made the next day. They made enough for about 400 empanadas, and let me tell you, the house still sometimes smells like onions to me.
Beginning in the morning on Saturday women were here working all day to make empanadas for the evening party. We were actually able to help with this process, rolling out the maza (dough stuff) and filling it with the pino (meat mixture). Even Caryn, the vegetarian helped fill them.
Sooo where should I start? Perhaps with the Bio-dance class I experienced last Wednesday. Some of you would love Bio-dance (Ashley Boone, I especially think of you). I, for one, find it a little strange. Bio-dance is a class that’s offered here at the center, and apparently it’s somewhat popular here. I don’t really know much about it, so all I can do is explain the class that I participated in. Basically, everyone in the group comes in, takes off their shoes, and sits on a giant rug on the floor. When everyone’s in the room, the teacher shuts the doors so as to create a safe space (sort of like being in a CLC or something), and people who aren’t in the class aren’t allowed to wander in and out. The women then take turns sharing what they experienced in the previous class, and then the class activities begin. Basically, it’s about expressing yourself through dance. There are different activities, some individually-oriented and others more group- or community-oriented. The women seem to really enjoy it and they’ve created a great feeling of community within the group, but it was a little weird for an outsider to join in. The other thing that made the class strange for me was that the teacher used some music from the States, which, being in English, I could clearly understand. I have to admit that I was a little confused when a song all about loneliness came on when the women were doing a community-oriented activity. I’m doubtful that I’ll be returning to that class anytime soon, especially since the music kept making me laugh at inappropriate times, but it seems like the women really enjoy it and will be going at it for awhile.
On that same Wednesday I started to get a cold, which really sucked. Thursday the cold only got worse, and I think I slept more of that day than I was awake. When I went to an art class on Thursday at the house, one of the women who had been in bio-dance with me asked me if I was feeling worse than the previous day. I admitted that yes, I felt pretty sick and was struggling just to be out of my bed. In typical Chilean fashion, her response was that she noticed that in class the day before I had stepped off the rug onto the tile floor while wearing only my socks, and she KNEW I was going to get even sicker after that. I’ve already been warned enough that Chileans (or at least the women who come to the house) believe that walking around barefoot or in your socks on a cold tile floor means that you most definitely WILL get sick, no question about it. Wet hair is another really bad idea. It’s best to not let anyone know if you choose to not blow dry your hair after you shower, or you’ll get a good long lecture afterwards about how sick you’re going to be. The temperature has everything to do with getting cold. When I was sick, nobody cared. . .they all still kissed me on the cheek everytime they entered the room, it wasn’t a big deal to drink out of the same glass as me or pick up food off my plate. . .definitely not like when someone is sick in the States.
On Friday Caryn and I went with Mimi to Mass at the local chapel because there was a little social gathering afterwards to begin celebrating for the 18th. The priest is new to the area. He’s really young (36) and super animated. He does random things, like in the middle of his homily he asked Mimi who Caryn and I were, so then she had to introduce us to everyone as he asked questions about whether or not we could even understand him since he said we looked like we didn’t know what was going on. He randomly throws in a word in English, which can be a little strange and sort of overwhelming when everyone in the church turns and stares at you. After Mass everyone went to eat empanadas (meat filled pastries) and drink ponche (a mixture of white wine and peaches), which was only the beginning of many many many many empanadas in the past few days. That same night there were a bunch of women at the house making pino, the onion-meat mixture that would go in the empanadas to be made the next day. They made enough for about 400 empanadas, and let me tell you, the house still sometimes smells like onions to me.
Beginning in the morning on Saturday women were here working all day to make empanadas for the evening party. We were actually able to help with this process, rolling out the maza (dough stuff) and filling it with the pino (meat mixture). Even Caryn, the vegetarian helped fill them.
It was a fun day, but definitely a long day of work. For lunch we once again ate empanadas.
In the evening, Bridget, Caryn, and I put on the chinita dresses that had been lent to us so that we could “fully” participate in the party. I felt a little (and by a little I actually mean a lot) ridiculous wearing this traditional Chilean dress, but everyone seemed to get a kick out of it.
We basically just sat around and ate more empanadas that night (we switched it up and ate some fried cheese empanadas this time and anticuchos, long sticks full of meat). We had beautiful live music for awhile, and then switched over to a DJ with tons of cueca music. Oh, cueca. So much cueca. I’m not sure that I ever want to hear another cueca song again, but somehow I doubt that’s possible. All three of us each danced at least one cueca, and let me tell you, I think we were all pretty relieved when the music switched over to salsa and merengue and cumbia. The party lasted until about 3am, and the house was a disaster afterwards. . .
On Sunday Caryn and I went with Bridget’s host family to our first asado, or large barbecue with tons and tons of meat. Tons. Caryn, who has been a vegetarian for at least five years, even participated in the meat-eating activities. Then, what do you know, we ate empanadas once again.
I swear, it’s just a week of partying. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were national holidays, so nobody had to work, and most schools are actually closed Thursday and Friday. Monday night we ate, can you believe it, empanadas once again at a woman’s house around the corner. Afterwards they invited us to her brother’s house for continued celebrations. Everyone went, including the daughters who are only 10 and 12, even though we didn’t leave for the brother’s house until about midnight. It was a good night of drinking wine, sitting around listening to everyone else sing Chilean songs while two of the brothers played guitar, and then dancing to whatever music came on. We finally left around 3:30am, but it seemed like everyone else would continue for quite awhile.
Yesterday we hung out in the campo most of the day at the local school there, which 22 children attend up to sixth grade with one teacher. There were some interesting activities, from horseback riding to three-legged races to tug of war to catch the chicken/pig and win it. We had another asado at night with plenty of meat again, but thankfully for once we actually came back at a decent hour.
Who knows what’s in store for us next, but today we graciously declined an invitation for lunch. . .I think we just needed a rest from all this constant activity. For the most part, the language seems to be getting a bit easier and I’m feeling more and more comfortable in my surroundings, but it is really hard to get used to the constant cold.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
After one week in La Casa Ursulina
Well, after surviving one week and one day in la Casa Ursulina, I'm starting to feel a little bit more accustomed to my new surroundings and the people that I live and work with. That doesn't necessarily mean that I know how to use public transportation or how to find where I live, but that will come with time.
Throughout the past few months, many of you have asked me what I would actually be doing once I arrived here. I really didn't have much of an idea besides working at a women's center, but now I feel like I'm starting to figure it out a little better. From now really through December Caryn and I are just supposed to be getting used to the house, getting to know the women who come to the center, and working on our Spanish. For the time being, my day mostly consists of waking up, eating breakfast with the three women who work at the house and Mimi, the nun in charge, and sometimes a few other women who volunteer here. After that, it really just depends what's going on that day as to what we're going to do. Three times a week the other gringas (American girls) and I do Tae-Boe with one of the women from the community for about an hour, and then we either go downtown to run errands or do some sort of task around the house. For instance, today we learned how to clean out wool that has been shaved off of sheep. It's really actually a disgusting process that makes me appreciate wool so much more. You basically pull apart the wool so that all the dirt, poop, and other random things stuck in it falls off. After that it gets washed, you do the same cleaning process, and it gets washed again. We haven't learned much past that step yet, but we'll get to the point where we can actually spin the wool, which should be interesting.
Most of the classes here are either craft classes or exercise/dance classes. There's crocheting (but not like we do in the States usually. . .they use super fine yarn and make table cloths and other things that require intricate designs), painting on fabric, ceramic painting, making blankets out of used clothing and materials, and weaving, which I started to learn how to do today. As for the others, there's a regular excercise class, belly-dancing (which isn't nearly as strange as I thought it would be), and something called bio-dance, which I have yet to experience, though that also sounds a little weird. On Fridays we have a class for pregnant/parenting teens, which I'm excited to get more involved with.
This weekend the house is having a huge party/benefit to celebrate the 18th, independence day, which is a huge huge huge holiday here. Most people will have all of the next week off. We'll spend the weekend making empanadas and dancing the cueca, the national dance here. I've actually been attending class with the other two gringas to learn how to do the dance, and the teacher keeps telling us that we've learned it better than most Chileans now--who knows if she's just saying that, but we're quite proud about it!
Hasta pronto!
Throughout the past few months, many of you have asked me what I would actually be doing once I arrived here. I really didn't have much of an idea besides working at a women's center, but now I feel like I'm starting to figure it out a little better. From now really through December Caryn and I are just supposed to be getting used to the house, getting to know the women who come to the center, and working on our Spanish. For the time being, my day mostly consists of waking up, eating breakfast with the three women who work at the house and Mimi, the nun in charge, and sometimes a few other women who volunteer here. After that, it really just depends what's going on that day as to what we're going to do. Three times a week the other gringas (American girls) and I do Tae-Boe with one of the women from the community for about an hour, and then we either go downtown to run errands or do some sort of task around the house. For instance, today we learned how to clean out wool that has been shaved off of sheep. It's really actually a disgusting process that makes me appreciate wool so much more. You basically pull apart the wool so that all the dirt, poop, and other random things stuck in it falls off. After that it gets washed, you do the same cleaning process, and it gets washed again. We haven't learned much past that step yet, but we'll get to the point where we can actually spin the wool, which should be interesting.
Most of the classes here are either craft classes or exercise/dance classes. There's crocheting (but not like we do in the States usually. . .they use super fine yarn and make table cloths and other things that require intricate designs), painting on fabric, ceramic painting, making blankets out of used clothing and materials, and weaving, which I started to learn how to do today. As for the others, there's a regular excercise class, belly-dancing (which isn't nearly as strange as I thought it would be), and something called bio-dance, which I have yet to experience, though that also sounds a little weird. On Fridays we have a class for pregnant/parenting teens, which I'm excited to get more involved with.
This weekend the house is having a huge party/benefit to celebrate the 18th, independence day, which is a huge huge huge holiday here. Most people will have all of the next week off. We'll spend the weekend making empanadas and dancing the cueca, the national dance here. I've actually been attending class with the other two gringas to learn how to do the dance, and the teacher keeps telling us that we've learned it better than most Chileans now--who knows if she's just saying that, but we're quite proud about it!
Hasta pronto!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
And so the adventure begins. . .
First off, sorry to all of you who may have been waiting to hear if I'm alive or not. It's been a busy first week with not much time for internet, but we're definitely off to a good start.
I left the States last Tuesday on an overnight flight to Santiago, Chile with Caryn, the other wonderful volunteer that I live and work with. After a very long flight, we arrived in Chile with the normal fun times of paying customs fees and getting our passports stamped. Bridget, the HM volunteer for the past year who will be here until December, picked us up with a Maryknoller named Judy who lives in the city. From there we headed to Judy's house for a good long nap and some wonderful empanadas (meat-filled pastry things that Chileans love!). It was quite cold in the evenings, but everyone assures us that it is currently spring and that it's actually getting warmer right now.
After a few days of rest and relaxation at Judy's, Bridget, Caryn, Sarah (a young lay Maryknoll volunteer who arrived only a few months ago), and I headed out to Los Farellones, a sort of ski resort area up in the mountains. When I get a chance I'll post some pictures of the beautiful scenery that we encountered there. After much confusion about when we would actually be leaving for the mountains and where we were staying, a friend of a friend of Bridget's picked us up and drove us to our home for the weekend. For those of you who know me quite well, you know that a one and a half hour ride up a mountain is not exactly the easiest thing for my motion-sick stomach, but somehow I survived the at least forty or so hairpin curves. When we got to the top (about 2800 meters), I experienced a little bit of altitude sickness, but nothing too terrible. We stayed at Bridget's friend's house, who is actually a cop in Los Farellones (which means he skis a heck of a lot). He left us to ourselves most of the time, so we basically just hung out and got to know each other better. After much deliberation, we didn't end up going skiing at one of the beautiful resorts, but we did go sledding down the side of what appeared to be some sort of random mountain that the cop took us to. It was quite the adventure, which involved the other building a jump while I rested at the top of the hill, exhausted from just a few rides down. Overall we had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other in such a gorgeous place, and we all made it out without broken bones!
Yesterday we arrived in Chillan, our home for the next fifteen months. After a four and a half hour train ride south of Santiago, we were greeted here by about twenty of the women who are most involved in the women's center. They were very welcoming and excited to meet us, but it was quite overwhelming to enter the crazy world of Chilean Spanish (with lots of missing syllables and strange slang) with a regularly scheduled meeting of so many people. We unpacked last night and just got settled, learning how to use hot water bottles to make our beds warm or figure out which of the billion cats around here actually belong to the house. Caryn and I actually live where we work with a nun from Kentucky named Mimi. She's been wonderful in helping us get accustomed to our new surroundings. Today we saw how the house functions on a normal day--errands and things in the mornings followed by a huge lunch and classes in the afternoon. Many of the women here are involved with weaving and crocheting and even spinning wool, so we have plenty of things to learn how to do and watch with awe. They all seem like great people. . .once I can better understand what they're saying!
So basically, Chile is somewhat cold right now, the women are all very nice, the Spanish is difficult to understand, the food is good, and I've got a warm water bottle waiting for me in my bed!
I left the States last Tuesday on an overnight flight to Santiago, Chile with Caryn, the other wonderful volunteer that I live and work with. After a very long flight, we arrived in Chile with the normal fun times of paying customs fees and getting our passports stamped. Bridget, the HM volunteer for the past year who will be here until December, picked us up with a Maryknoller named Judy who lives in the city. From there we headed to Judy's house for a good long nap and some wonderful empanadas (meat-filled pastry things that Chileans love!). It was quite cold in the evenings, but everyone assures us that it is currently spring and that it's actually getting warmer right now.
After a few days of rest and relaxation at Judy's, Bridget, Caryn, Sarah (a young lay Maryknoll volunteer who arrived only a few months ago), and I headed out to Los Farellones, a sort of ski resort area up in the mountains. When I get a chance I'll post some pictures of the beautiful scenery that we encountered there. After much confusion about when we would actually be leaving for the mountains and where we were staying, a friend of a friend of Bridget's picked us up and drove us to our home for the weekend. For those of you who know me quite well, you know that a one and a half hour ride up a mountain is not exactly the easiest thing for my motion-sick stomach, but somehow I survived the at least forty or so hairpin curves. When we got to the top (about 2800 meters), I experienced a little bit of altitude sickness, but nothing too terrible. We stayed at Bridget's friend's house, who is actually a cop in Los Farellones (which means he skis a heck of a lot). He left us to ourselves most of the time, so we basically just hung out and got to know each other better. After much deliberation, we didn't end up going skiing at one of the beautiful resorts, but we did go sledding down the side of what appeared to be some sort of random mountain that the cop took us to. It was quite the adventure, which involved the other building a jump while I rested at the top of the hill, exhausted from just a few rides down. Overall we had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other in such a gorgeous place, and we all made it out without broken bones!
Yesterday we arrived in Chillan, our home for the next fifteen months. After a four and a half hour train ride south of Santiago, we were greeted here by about twenty of the women who are most involved in the women's center. They were very welcoming and excited to meet us, but it was quite overwhelming to enter the crazy world of Chilean Spanish (with lots of missing syllables and strange slang) with a regularly scheduled meeting of so many people. We unpacked last night and just got settled, learning how to use hot water bottles to make our beds warm or figure out which of the billion cats around here actually belong to the house. Caryn and I actually live where we work with a nun from Kentucky named Mimi. She's been wonderful in helping us get accustomed to our new surroundings. Today we saw how the house functions on a normal day--errands and things in the mornings followed by a huge lunch and classes in the afternoon. Many of the women here are involved with weaving and crocheting and even spinning wool, so we have plenty of things to learn how to do and watch with awe. They all seem like great people. . .once I can better understand what they're saying!
So basically, Chile is somewhat cold right now, the women are all very nice, the Spanish is difficult to understand, the food is good, and I've got a warm water bottle waiting for me in my bed!
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