in Chile)
Note: I originally wrote this blog entry for my old Spanish school in Australia (The Spanish Cat), hence the error in the date above.
Note: I originally wrote this blog entry for my old Spanish school in Australia (The Spanish Cat), hence the error in the date above.
Hola!
 |
| From my apartment, a beautiful change in the mountains |
Well the weather is starting to get colder in Santiago, and getting around to my classes is becoming a very chilly affair, however everyone keeps assuring me that the coldest is still a long way off! The seasons are very distinct here, unlike in Melbourne where sometimes you seem to have all in one day. However in Santiago you are rewarded with beautiful snow on the mountains, an interesting change of foods, activities and lifestyle that comes with the seasons.
 |
| Flooded street |
Last week on a particularly cold day I had a class in a suburb called Peñalolen which is in the east of the city as you start to head up the ´cordillera´ (mountains). I´m told it doesn´t rain very often in Santiago, even in the winter, and most of the water which is used in the city comes down from the mountains from snowmelt and rain. However on this day there was nothing short of a torrential downpour, luckily my student´s mother offered me a lift back to the city as there were waves big enough to surf going down the street.
 |
| The TV symbol of the Salvador Allende government |
Everything is going well with classes. I am feeling like a better teacher every day and also feeling like I have more of a connection with my students and their progress. Last week during one of my ´practical English classes´ I went walking around the city with one of my students. We stopped in at an art gallery which is a famous historical building where the Pinochet government had their military base. The gallery is full of interesting things from Chile´s history. They were also serving free wine and food for an art opening that night, with lots of famous people from the country attending. I don´t think we were supposed to be invited but no one seemed to notice!
 |
| My wheels |
I managed to solve my public transportation issue. A friend of one of my students kindly lent me his bicycle as he doesn´t have time to use it! Now I am riding around in style to most of my classes, with the exception of those that are really far away. I love riding around on a bike in this city as it´s very flat, there are bike lanes and also it´s not illegal to ride on the footpath. Not to mention the stunning views which wait around each corner.
A little bit about what´s going on in the country right now, there is a big push for free education from the students and supported by what seems to be a large percentage of the population. The viewpoint being that good quality tertiary education is not available to lower class and even middle class students, with expensive public and private universities. Last week there was a student march through the centre of Santiago, around 90,000 people attended. Unfortunately the media chose to focus on the 0.01% which made trouble during the march and ignores the other 89,900 people making a point in peace. But so you can get an idea, here is a link to the news story with some pictures.
Lastly to finish this week here is a beautiful song which many of you may know as performed by Mercedes Sosa the famous Argentinean singer. However this is the original song, written and performed by the Chilean singer Violeta Parra. A very important part of Chilean history. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment