Kids and the School...

OK, I admit, I’m getting real lazy about writing on the blog. In my defense, I’ve also been very busy.

Days at the school are getting busier. I’m sitting in on many English classes and many students solicit my help during breaks. Dave and I, together with the Scouts, are also working on setting up a permanent recycling program at the school, which is difficult because it is hard to organize anything in Chile. I’m also doing a program called Companionship, kind of like the big brother/big sister mentor program, spending about 20 minutes a day or so with students at the school who are having academic/social/family difficulties. In addition to these things, I’ve also learned that a big part of what we do here is simply being here. That is, spending time with the kids at the school, being a positive role model and participating in the community that has been established at the school. Many of the kids come from broken homes and to many the school is like a second home. Most arrive at about 8:00am and stay until after 5:00pm (although the days are longer than those of most North American schools I feel like less is accomplished because the classes are chaotic…students yelling/talking/not paying attention…things that wouldn’t have been tolerated in the schools that I went to). Many participate in workshops or extracurricular activities or just hang out with friends afterwards.

There are also many activities for students to participate in on weekends and vacations. For example, the Manquehue Movement owns a farmhouse in Patagonia where they send students on retreats during the summer vacations in January. I think Dave and I will be going in the middle of January.

Also, a couple weekends ago there was a big procession of the Virgin Mary in Santiago. Dave and I trudged through the rain with students from San Lorenzo and students from Manquehue’s other two schools San Benito and San Anselmo and then went to mass at the Cathedral afterwards.

And then last weekend we went on a 27km hike/pilgrimage through the Andes with many students from San Lorenzo, along with 75,000 other young people. The event was sponsored by the Catholic Church in Santiago and many parishes and schools went in groups including all three of Manquehue Movement’s k-12 schools: San Lorenzo, San Benito and San Anselmo. We woke up at 4:00am on Saturday. I only slept 3.5 hours Friday night because I met up with a college friend of mine the night before for dinner…she was passing through Santiago after vacationing and visiting her sister in Chile. When people go out for dinner in Chile it is not until very late and I didn’t get to sleep until 12:30. Still, the hike was a pretty cool experience and a good way to get to know the students (we walked from 8:00am until after 5:00pm!!). There were 14 stations along the way, one for each station of the cross, where they had bands playing music and such. There was a mass at the end and then a big party with music and people jumping up and down…not sure how everyone had energy for that! Then we got to wait well over an hour in a hot bus as everyone vacated the place. It was all worth it and I slept like a baby Sat. night.

Instead of resting on Sunday, Dave and I went with some other tutors to repair a student’s family’s house that had a leaky roof. The house was the same one that I went and saw a month or so ago (see previous posts), very rudimentary. The family was very thankful and cooked a big lunch for all of us.

This past Saturday (24^th) was the Day of the Family at the school. There were carnival rides and games and many of the students came with their families.

I’ve been impressed with the sense of community that has been established at San Lorenzo and all of the extracurricular activities that are available, but the sad reality is that at San Lorenzo very few of the students go to the university compared to almost all of the students in the other two more affluent schools that are run by Manquehue. While this is partly (maybe largely) due to financial difficulties, there also seems to be a big difference in the quality of education between the affluent schools and San Lorenzo. For example, at San Benito and San Anselmo (the affluent schools) I can carry on a conversation in English with almost all of the students. In San Lorenzo, there is not a single student who I can converse with in English and many who are about to graduate do not understand which of the following sentences are correct: “does he go to work” or “do he go to work.” Thus, the cycle of poverty continues and I think that someone needs to do something to level the playing field here.

In addition to the many community activities offered to the students, there is also a department at the school that is specifically dedicated to providing aid to the families. This is the same department that funded the materials to fix the previously mentioned roof.

Overall, still very content with everything here and greatly enjoy working with the kids at the school. It’s making me think about pursuing a career in teaching ESL.

Next weekend there is a retreat with the 8^th grade at the school and I think Dave and I will be participating (ie. Sleeping at the school Friday and Saturday night).

This past week has been different because we’ve been staying at another house. There was a reunion of Benedictine Educators this past week and priests from England and the US have come, so we moved to another house that the Manquehue Movement owns, just for 8 days, so they could stay in the other house.

On Sunday those of us who were “displaced” for the week climbed Manquehue Hill, the tallest hill in Santiago. It was good exercize and had a gorgeous view of Santiago. Coming down was difficult because of loose rocks. That’s it for now. Will post again in a couple weeks or so.

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BVC Week III, Fiestas Patrias

As I said, had last week off for the Fiestas Patrias (Independence Holiday), basically the biggest holiday in Chile... yes, even bigger than Christmas. The celebrating started on Friday of the previous week as the school made the transition from celebrating the Semana del Colegio (week of the school) to the festivities of the Fiestas Patrias. After the student competitions were finished for the Semana del Colegio, there was a Mass held at the school with all of the students and staff. Afterwards, in the same outdoor court where the Mass was held, some of the teachers danced the Cueca. The Cueca (pronounced kway-ka) is a traditional folkloric Chilean dance that is about as symbolic of the Fiestas Patrias in Chile as apple pie is of Thanksgiving in the US. Interested readers could go to You Tube and search the terms “Chile” and “Cueca” and I’m sure you could see what it’s all about. The dancers were dressed in full Huaso and Huasa regalia (traditional Chilean cowboy/girl) and it was quite entertaining to watch. After the students left, there was a party for the staff in the cafeteria where we ate Empanadas and drank Chicha, a very sweet alcoholic drink somewhat like apple cider perhaps. We then got to see more Cueca dancing. David actually danced in front of everyone…they tried to get me to try out my Cueca dance moves too, but I stayed firmly glued to my chair.

The following day, Saturday, is when we left for our 5-day get away at the beach. The parents of one of the Oblates from the other Oblate house are both well-respected heart doctors and own a beautiful house on top of a hill that overlooks the ocean and they let us stay there. I learned that when Chileans go on vacation they take relaxing seriously. The Oblates mostly sat around and watched the tennis playoffs. I can handle sitting around for about a day or two but then I get itchy to do something, so I might have gotten a little bored, but I was on vacation in a beautiful house with an awesome view of the sea, so I won’t complain too much.

We came back in time to celebrate the 18^th ,the independence day, in Santiago. We went to Parque O’Higgins, a big park where there were a bunch of stands and tents set up selling Empanadas and shishkobobs and barbequed meat. Then on the 19^th we had our own barbeque at the Oblates’ house.

This week we’ve been back at the school working, helping in the English classes and working on developing a recycling program for the school, a concept that is lacking in Chilean society it seems.

I’m glad to be back in Santiago though. I missed the housemaid’s cooking while we were gone. Seriously, she makes all of our dinners from scratch and they’re awesome! Her name’s Maria and I’ve only met her twice because she comes during the day and I’m always at the school, but I’ve decided I want to smuggle her back to Minnesota.

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Week II Semana del Colegio

So, Chile ended up tying the game with Venezuela and then lost to Brazil this Wednesday 2-4. On Saturday, Dave and I went to the Vega with Anthony, an Oblate who’s from England who lives at the house with us. The Vega is basically a giant farmer’s market in Santiago where a bunch of vendors set up shop. It’s very South American…people everywhere, buyers and sellers shouting prices back and forth, the smell of fresh fish, meat and fruits and vegetables. I wish we had one in Minnesota; everything’s fresh and reasonably priced. We bought a bunch or fruit, bread and fish for about $80. Not dirt cheap, but less than the supermarket.

On Sunday, Dave and I went for a walk up Cerro San Cristobal, a big hill just a few blocks behind our house, with two other Oblates, Anthony and Tote. The view of Santiago was spectacular, even though it was cloudy and a little rainy. It’s been rainy and cold this week, but it’s been sunny and warm the past couple of days. I actually got a little sun burnt.

Work at San Lorenzo is going fairly well. This week has been kind of screwy because it is the annual school celebration, so there were only classes on Mon and Tuesday. We helped in some of the English classes. I was surprised how many of the students have only a very basic understanding of English even though they are graduating soon. We have also been doing some monotonous work in the library. The Library just updated their computer system and all the books have to be recoded, so we’ve been spending a couple of long hours there every morning helping with that. We’ve also been doing Tutoria with the students…basically hanging out during the breaks between classes. I’ve been trying my best to remember the kids’ names, but it’s impossible and they like to taunt me by asking me what their names are in large groups all at once. There is one kindergarten girl, Valentina, who has taken a special liking to me and always finds me in between classes and follows me everywhere. The kids are great and very affectionate. Many of them come from very poor families. I didn’t quite realize how true this was until I went on a walk with one of the tutors from Tutoria and some other students to visit two homes of two San Lorenzo students in the neighborhood that needed their roofs repaired for rain. The purpose was to survey the houses in order to organize a group of volunteers to come and make the necessary repairs. Both houses were very small shacks with cardboard walls and bare bulbs hanging from the styrofoam ceilings. The one house was home to 4 kids and their mother and the other to a young girl and her grandparents. Students who attend San Lorenzo do not have to pay. The school is financed by donations and contributions from the Manquehue movement and the two other schools, San Benito and San Anselmo.

This week was San Lorenzo’s annual school celebration, so Wed thru Friday was all just fun and games and no classes. The students and staff were divided into three alliances, blue, yellow and red, and there were competitions between them ranging from everything from juggling to math to soccer, jump rope, singing songs in English, trivia and a bunch of other stuff. I was in the yellow alliance; Dave was in the red. I helped my group with the song in English (not singing, thank God) and I played soccer, reluctantly. I was the goalie and I spent the whole time playing in fear envisioning a 90 mph soccer ball blow to the face. Chileans, just like all South Americans and much of the rest of the world, are diehard soccer fans. Playing soccer seems to run in their blood. I’ve never been a soccer player and the last game I played was probably in middle school. Apparently I impressed them though, saving 3 goals and only allowing one to get by. It was all quite fun and seemed to promote good school spirit. The red alliance ended up winning, but yellow came in a close second.

Everyone gets this next week off for the Chilean Independence day celebration on the 18^th, so later today (Saturday) Dave and I and two or three Oblates are heading west to the coast for about 5 days for vacation. Sunday is my birthday, my second birthday spent in Chile. I’m excited to spend it near the ocean on vacation!

That’s all I got for now. ‘Till next time.

BVC week 1

Well, Dave and I made it to Santiago sin problemas. Had to fly to Chicago then to Toronto where we had a 5 hour layover and then fly 10.5 hours to Santiago. I won the coach-class lottery on the overnight flight to Santiago…A young Argentine couple asked me if I would mind switching seats so they could sit together. I was reluctant because I had specifically chosen an aisle seat, but they convinced me when they said there was a pretty young lady in the seat adjacent to the one they wanted me to move to. She was quite gorgeous, but she was from Argentina and I’ll probably never see her again. But, even better, the seat was in the very front of the coach section and had about twice as much legroom. Good start to this 10-month journey!

Some are probably wondering why I am back in Chile…wasn’t I just here? So, I should probably explain a little of what I am doing. After graduating from St. John’s I signed up for the Benedictine Volunteer Corps (BVC), a volunteer program that is sponsored by St. John’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that runs the university. The BVC has various sites throughout the world where they send SJU grads to live and work in Benedictine monasteries for 9 or 10 months. One of these sites is here in Santiago with a Benedictine lay group called the Manquehue Movement. Manquehue is the only BVC site that isn’t a monastery. Rather, it is a lay community of about 1,600 members that follows the rule of St. Benedict and runs three Catholic, Benedictine schools in Santiago (San Lorenzo, San Benito and San Anselmo). Instead of monks and nuns, they have oblates, some celibate and some married, who work within the community and get together a few times a day to pray the liturgy of the hours and lectio divina. I am volunteering with David Allen, a fellow Johnnie grad who is also in the BVC and we are staying in a house in Santiago with other Oblates who work at the schools.

The first week has been hectic. On Monday, the day we arrived, we went to the house and unpacked our stuff and then one of the Oblates took us on a tour of San Benito school, where we met more people than my brain can process in one day. Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at San Lorenzo and San Anselmo and on Wednesday night we also volunteered in a women’s shelter. That was quite the experience. We talked with some of the women and served food. The place was full to capacity with women who otherwise would have spent the night on the street. One woman had three young kids and was pregnant. Dave and I hadn’t eaten and were starving, but didn’t eat there because we were afraid more women would show up throughout the night and that they would run out of food. Thursday and Friday we’ve been at San Lorenzo. All three schools are pretty big and nice. San Benito and San Anselmo students are generally upper-middle class. San Lorenzo is more inner city whose students mostly come from rather poor families. San Lorenzo is where we will be volunteering mostly, helping with English classes and a mentoring program called Tutoria. We are kind of confused about exactly what our role is at San Lorenzo and spend a lot of time hanging out and talking with the kids. The school has internet and that’s the only time that I have access to it until I find an internet café near the house.

The days have been long so far leaving the house at about 7am and getting home at 7pm. I hope the weekend is a little less intense. This weekend there is a big soccer game between Chile and Venezuela…if Chile wins this they go to the World Cup. Some people our age from the Tutoria program at San Lorenzo invited us watch the game with them. I am hoping the Oblates will let us go.

It’s been cold and cloudy but I have lots of warm cloths. Everyone has been very accommodating and it’s been great to practice Spanish daily again. Will write another update soon. click for photos