Día Catorce

Erm I think we're a bit lost...

Today we had planned to get the coach to a vineyard for some wine tasting with the national park near by to complete a hike. I think its safe to say that today did not go according to plan.

After sitting on the coach for an hour and a half we got off in this rather odd place, with no idea as to where we were we decided to start walking. We had no idea where we were going until we pulled up our maps and aimed for a park 40 minutes away. Once we arrived we realised how bad this park was....nothing to see, although there was a gym there so me and Aimee got our workout on. 

                                                                                                       

After sitting in this park and googling of things to do in this area we realised that we were in the complete wrong place... (and that there was absolutely nothing to do here). We decided to book an Uber back to the coach station and head home. 

Think we'll make our own wine tasting tonight...

(Note to self, really plan where you're going before you go...)

Día Nueve al Día Trece

First full week of school and learning Spanish?

Monday marked the beginning of our first full week at Craighouse School! Time to get stuck in to the routine of school life again! 

This week allowed us to get fully involved in school life and also create opportunities for us to teach our new classes. A group of four of us have been given the responsibility of early morning reading sessions every morning for those first graders who have fallen behind. This allowed us to understand the abilities of the children and amaze us with their English skills. 

After contributing to the planning of our classes we are now able to begin to plan some sessions of our own. 

Next week I'll be starting to teach some phonics lessons to my first grade class. I cannot wait! 

Me and Aimee decided to make our bedroom feel a little more homely. We moved the beds around to make the room feel a little bit bigger and then had an addition of some Union Jack Flag bunting.

Wednesday marked our final day with our trip leader and lecturer. So to celebrate and say thank you to him we went out for a meal. Even though this meal tasted great I can't say that our bodies agreed with it, resulting in 6/8 of us getting food poisoning. (Can't say we'll be going back there anytime soon...)

On Thursday 3 of us (including myself) were not well enough to go to school so unfortunately had to miss a day. :( 

All better and back to school on Friday and we got to leave just after lunch time as we were going to our first Spanish lessons at the Universidad Los Andes. Here we received a very warm welcome from the international team and were given a tour of the campus. Very pretty as it is a lovely backdrop of the mountains! (And when the smog isn't SOOO bad you can see Santiago).

After a rather long day of being at school then travelling to the University we all went a bit giggley in our Spanish lesson (our professor must think we're mad!). 

2 hours of Spanish later, we have now learnt some crucial greetings and how to ask for your mum's last name?? (Don't know when I'll need that one!)

Bring on the long weekend!! Lots of fun things planned!! 

Chao for now!

Día Ocho

Dogs, tours and more dogs

One week in Chile has passed!!

We started with a morning tour around Valparaiso, giving us more of an insight into the city and also allowed us to see some more incredible art on the buildings. Every turn, wall and stairs have some sort of art painted onto them, everywhere you look you see something completely different, each with their own meanings. Whether these be political, protesting or just the local lingo.



Although this tour was very strange, the tour guide had about 7 stray dogs following him around the tour...made for some interesting entertainment.

This tour was fascinating and really worked up our appetites! TIME FOR LUNCH! As Valparaiso is located by the sea and was known primarily as a fishing city we thought we should have some fish. Heading back from docks we stumbled across a restaurant and not knowing anything about it we went in and sat down for lunch. Not knowing what we had ordered to eat we were eager to get stuck in when it arrived. OH MY! This lunch was absolutely amazing!

Being well and truly stuffed we set off for some shopping in the markets. after this we headed back to the hostel ready to get on a coach back to Santiago.

Valparaiso was a lovely weekend away and we've now got the bug to go and book more weekends away. 

Día Siete

I see the sea and the sea sees me!

After completing our first couple days at school we decided to celebrate with some drinks and karaoke in a very popular part of Santiago. The perfect way to end the week. The streets were buzzing with people coming in and out of bars and restaurants and stalls selling tons of food. We had planned to go to a concert but the queue was very long and the weather wasn't very warm so some of us left and went home to bed ready for our exciting weekend ahead.

Today was our first weekend in Chile, so we decided to plan a trip to the sea, Valparaiso. All we had heard about Valparaiso was that it was covered in art, much like Brighton in the UK. We decided after such a busy week we deserved a lie in so met at 10am to get a coach. A short 2 hour coach journey later we had arrived and hit the ground running. Firstly we had to get an Uber to the hostel, unfortunately for myself, Sadie, Jade and Jen our Uber driver had no idea what he was doing so we ended up giving HIM directions. After finally arriving and settling in to our home for the night we left to explore.

We wondered around the city (which was built on many very steep hills, much like Plymouth), and somehow managed to stumble across a winter solstice celebration in the streets. This celebration consisted of a 45 minute long march down the road, which was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It was amazing to experience something like this.

There was so much more exploring to do, so off we went (stopping for a drink, obviously). After trying the traditional Chilean drink of pisco sourz earlier in the week I was not keen to have anymore of those, however we did find a mango sourz. This was like a mango sorbet with pisco in (now this was more up my street!). After a busy day of travelling and climbing the hills in Valparaiso we were ready for bed.

Día Cinco

First Day of School!!

Finally the first day of school had arrived, and I couldn't be more excited to get stuck in! (Although the 6am start was not what I wanted). First things first is to get out of Santiago and up the mountain, picking up some pupils along the way. Things are much different at this school compared to those at home, for example, school starts MUCH earlier. So I thought that by us arriving at 7.50am would leave us with plenty of time to settle in, oh how I was wrong. The children arrived to school at the same time as us, so there was no time to prepare for the day ahead. 

The day started out with a big welcome from the Primary team, which made us all feel very at ease. Then off to classes we went! My class teacher and myself went and took the register and did the morning task and then sent the children off to their music lesson so we could go and get some planning done. This planning took us up to break time, then we had two hours of maths!! (Poor children) Within this session I had a chance to get to know the children slightly better by having my own group during the carousel of activities. The children here surprised me with their English speaking, reading and understanding abilities. They all understood that I knew little to no Spanish so were very good with their English around me. (Although they were all still very shy so would talk very quietly). The children especially made me feel welcome with lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day as they are very tactile (and also introducing me to their parents). 

After maths came lunch (YAY!) not sure what todays lunch was but it was yummy. Almost like a donner kebab lasagna...(trust me it was good). After lunch was MORE planning (these teachers have sooooo much free time during the day!). Following this team planning was back to the classroom to dismiss the children from the school day. One thing that shocked me was at 3.05 my class teacher turned round to me and said that I could leave....AT 3.05! And that ends my first day at Craighouse, bring on the rest!! 

Día Cuatro

Up and up and up!

Last night we went on a little wonder around Santiago to find another big supermarket, however, we got a bit distracted by a section of bars, so of course we had to stop for a drink....or two...perfect end to the day.

Today began with a message from James saying we would have an extra half an hour lie in (RESULT!). We took this as an opportunity to go and explore in the aim to find somewhere to grab a quick breakfast. Ended up in a little pastry shop (much like a Gregs back in the UK) and not being able to read any Spanish we had no idea what we had picked up, so all our breakfasts were a bit like a game of roulette. I managed to pick up a sausage roll type thing with some cheese in (was ok I suppose). 

After a speedy breakfast we walked back to the apartment block to meet the rest of the team and begin our fourth day. Today we had planned to tackle the cable car that runs up to the top of San Cristobal Hill in Santiago. The views from up here were very different from that of Sky Costanera but just as amazing. There was a lot of smog above the city today, this was fascinating to see. 

Coming back down the hill was quite an experience....the funicular was on a very steep part of the hill and we decided it was a good idea to stand right at the front.

After climbing that hill we walked through an artsy place in Santiago, Pablo Bellavisba, where some nice bars and places to eat were pointed out to us. This is something we will keeping in mind as the night life is supposed to be very good here.

After all this walking and climbing we had worked up quite the appetite, TIME FOR LUNCH! Todays lunch we decided to go for somewhere with a set menu. We stopped off in this small restaurant where we demolished a soup, main and dessert (nicely finished with a glass of wine). Absolutely beautiful food, and this offered us all a chance to practice some Spanish (I think I'm getting a hang of some simple phrases now.)

After lunch, it was time to tackle our second hill of the day, Santa Lucia Hill. (Unfortuntely this one did not have a cable car) Many sets of wonky steps later we had finally reached the top. Once again this view was very different from both of the other ones we had already seen, but just as stunning. (Worth the many steps up!)

After a very exciting day we had realised that the trail had taken us to our favourite market! So off we went to buy some useless things from some stalls. Fuelled with excitement we decided it was best to go home as we had to prepare for our first day of school tomorrow! This ends our holiday portion of the Chile adventure until our half term in July. Couldn't be more excited to start school!

Día Tres

First impressions

After dinner last night with the PMT of Craighouse school and making first impressions with the school, day three meant it was our first visit to the school where we would be working for the next three months! This included professional photographs, a tour of the school, introduction to our class teachers and our class followed by a workshop of how the school works. 

The school is in the most beautiful location, surrounded by views of the andes. The site itself is huge! Stretching from play group all the way to year 13 with 7 form entry in most of the year groups. I cannot believe I will be working in an environment like this for the next three months! 

The tour of the school included walking around the whole site and introductions to many more members of the staff. Every single person was very welcoming and was very excited to have us and eager to start working with us. (Also some introductions to some safety procedures such as earthquakes...) Onto lunch, had a classic Chilean style lunch of some sort of mashed potato with different vegetables and some meat (YUMMY!), eating with a view in the sun was something quite special. After lunch I got to meet the group of year 1 children I would be working with for the duration of my time at Craighouse, very lovely and excited bunch of children, eager to practise their English skills with me and teach me some Spanish. 

I couldn't be more excited about starting work on Thursday! 

Día dos

Really should start learning some Spanish....

Today consisted of more exploring around Santiago and getting to grips with metro (or as we have nicknamed it the 'bip'). We visited many different areas of Santiago including some food markets and arts and crafts markets. 14,000 steps later we stopped for some lunch (just in time for the England match, which we managed to watch in the restaurant). After a lovely peppermint lemonade and a big chunk of lasanaga we were well and truly stuffed, back home we went to have some time to rest before our dinner with the PMT of the school.

After many difficult conversations with the Chileans occured we have all realised that we need ti brush up on our Spanish (or in my case just start learning some...).

After some well needed rest we got ready for out dinner, the mini van picked us up at 7 and whizzed us off to a chillean restaurant. Here we met a lot of the staff at Craighouse school and had many opportunities to chat with them about the school and life in Santiago.

Many different types of food were placed in front of us (couldn't tell you what any of them were) but we tried every single one. Every dish was anazing! There was lots of.fish dishes and meat dishes, Sadie and I decided to order different main courses and share so we could try both. Tried another pisco sour (still not a fan) but did find a juice which was incredible! We all left feeling well and truly stuffed with good food and drink. Excited for our first look at the school tomorrow we headed to bed. 

Día Uno

 Día Uno in Santiago

After a 14 and a half hour flight we were ready to begin our adventure. I'm not entirely sure what I expected of Chile or Santiago, but I definitely did not expect it to look this picturesque. Seeing the mountains surrounding the city when we stepped out of the airport was something I was not ready for. To start our travels we firstly settled into our apartments which we would be calling home for the next three months. (Thanks to Aimee for bringing multiple packs of bunting to help make us feel more at home!)

A short while later, off we went exploring the city of Santiago. Our first stop of this trip was to climb up the tallest building in South America to get some better views of our new home. Up Sky Costanera we went, 61 floors high, towering over Santiago. Stepping out of the lift, the views of the Andes took my breathe away. The views were absolutely stunning!

Wondering around to find some places to eat was our next mission. Stumbling across a sports bar just a block away from home was a decent find (think we've found our local). After some good food, off to bed we went, completing our first day of our three month long trip.

Bring on these three months!

Trip of a lifetime!

Hi, I'm Liv, a trainee Primary School teacher studying at Plymouth University. This summer I am undergoing a very exciting opportunity to not only live abroad in Santiago, Chile, but to also teach at a primary school located at the foot of the mountains. This was not an opportunity that I could pass up on! Travelling has always been an interest of mine, seeing the world and experiencing different cultures is something that I have always jumped at the chance to get involved with, this trip offered me lots of chances to experience different things both in South America and in a bilingual school.

Here goes nothing!