Hello Teacher!

Note their trepidation.

I owes you a post...

I thought I'd begin with a description of another of my housemates, since I've already given you a portrait of Yohanna.  

Jonathan Rojas (28) is another teacher living in Hospedaje Adolfo.  He teaches chemistry and biology to grades 7 through 11 (we don't have a 12th grade), and has more hours than any other teacher.  He is the son of a highfalutin' Pentacostal pastor who leads a megachurch in La Serena, on the coast to the north of Santiago.  He has nine brothers and sisters, and loves talking about how big his houses were and are, and the nice things his parents have and how he's a momma's-boy.  Jonathan is very nice and generous, and can be very funny:

Una vez un circo llegó a un pueblo y los letreros anunciaron una attración especial: el pan hablando.  Cuando abrió el circo, el público estuvo lleno.  Aparecieron hombres que comían fuego, pero el público no se entusiasmó.  Aparecieron mujeres paradas en caballos, pero el público no se entusiasmó.  Aparecieron payasos con piés grandes y narices rojas, pero el público no se entusiasmó.  Gritaron, "el pan hablando, el pan hablando, el pan hablando!"  Por fin, salió un hombre con un pan normal y una jarra de agua, y puso el pan en una mesa.  Echó el agua de la jarra encima del pan, y dijo, "Les presento el PAN ABLANDO!"  

(el pan hablando means The Talking Bread, while el pan ablando means The Softening Bread.  I love puns!)

Jonathan also sings constantly.  He wanted to be a cantante lírico for most of his life -- how he ended up a biology teacher, I'm not sure.  As a result, we are often "treated" with surprise arias at the onces table, early in the morning, and while preparing for class.  

The creepster

The aforementioned creepster was on the boat again this week in Espolón.  I sat down with my headphones in and my book, next to the women, and yet he came and sat down next to me.  Adelio, the man who drives both the van to the boat-launch and the boat itself, came down from above and rescued me, inviting me up to the "cabin" where I could sit and chat with him and this old man.  The old man was very interesting, telling me about his sister who has lived in the US since the '60s, and who is spending her retirement traveling with her husband to places all over the world.  "She's been to Italy, France, everywhere!  They just got back from a cruise to the... I think Jamaica?  And I've never been to the upper end of Lago Espolón!"  It was really amazing to hear that, about how different two siblings' lives can be, just because one left their home.  Adelio was planning to visit people in the area to see how much of a water drop they have near their house.  You see, they use these turbine engines to create generators for the houses in rural areas -- if there's a stream that is on enough of an incline or if there's enough water running fast enough, they can install the makeshift generator and give the people light at night.  Otherwise, they're living by candlelight, and nights are very long here in the winter.  The creepster ventured upstairs later on, but with little encouragement to stay, returned below.  

Adelio's van:  it is red, with a side sliding door that falls off every time you open it.  The windows don't close all the way, there is no back windshield, instead replaced with cardboard.  About every other week, we stop along our route so they can lift up the driver's seat and throw more water in.  The men have to push to get the van started -- one week they tied a rope to the van and a pick-up truck pulled us a bit until we got started, AFTER they maneuvered the van around so it was facing the right way.  We also always cram about 10 people in the back every time, with animals above if there are any.

It finally Happened.

My toothpaste froze.

Photos: English Olympics, Charlie, and My Room.

     

The setting.

The players.

And the fun:

     

Tongue-twisters.  "Sally sold sea shells by the sea shore.  Kris Kringle crunches candy canes.  Double bubble gum bubbles double."

Charades  (mouth).

It was a long game, but so were the kids. ;)

Charlie!  With Trinidad, who alternates between being an amusing little girl in a brash kind of way, and the spawn of Satan.  She has punched me in the throat, stabbed me in the head with a pencil, and got mad when I wouldn't let her draw in Eva's books.  Seriously.  It's a good thing she's only four.

And last, my bedroom!

A Poem for Your Eyes, To Apologize

Attempts have been made and failed, 

I tried to keep up but then bailed.

So here's an attempt to start anew,

And share some things, just a few.

My housemates are good for conversation,

Making up English by adding (dash)ation.

Holation, they'd say, in greeting to you,

These silly young people in Futaleufú.

We have a new puppy, whose name is Charlie,

And he's stinky and bites but still is gnarly.

Solo's the other dog, the sad one outside,

Whose hair comes away on your hand, the poor guy.

We hosted an English Olympics on the fifth,

We were one of two teams, just like a Sith,

(You see, Siths always come in twos,

And because one must be stronger, one has to lose.)

Therefore we were gracious, and lost by one point.

After a tie-breaker activity, we did anoint

Team Palena, lucky ducks, those wonderful kids,

Who clearly rely on their egos, not ids.

My kids were bummed but quickly rallied,

And will work really hard (this time they dallied).

My birthday was Tuesday, which was really great,

In the lounge teachers wrote, "Feliz cumple Kate."

And we had coffee and cake at ten o'clock AM,

PreKinder and 7th sang, which was mayhem.

Then at night we celebrated yet more,

Chatting and laughter -- so not a bore.

"Kate -- Happiness -- love Mom" my cake read,

A sweet mistranslation that all of us fed.

Saturday there was another party for various things,

With lots of meat and potatoes and brindarings.  

We played truco, a traditional card game,

And I lost spectacularly, more of the same.

All in all, it's been a great week,

Sorry for not sharing often; my dedication is weak.

Photos are coming soon, really they are,

Hopefully this will prevent the feathers and tar!

Funny sayings and conversations about language:

- Thank you!

- Bienvenido!

- It seems like most of the words that are amalgams of other words are masculine.  Like, trabalenguas, parabrisas, paraguas...

- Parafina?  Paraguay?

Dulce es la venganza, dijo el Señor.   - Eva

Still on strike...

Turkeys!

 

I like the fat one one the far right, with the belly and the feet that are just dangling.

So it's been very quiet.  On Sunday I went on a hike with Nancy, Valeria, and Nathaniel, a fellow gringo who splits his time between Futa and Esquel.  We climbed the Cerro la Bandera, and had a snowball fight on the way down.  Then we got pizza with Jonathan, one of my housemates, and talked GRE vocabulary.  (Cleave is its own antonym.)  

View from about 2/3 of the way up.  Big scenes like this always remind me of the end of The Land Before Time (the first) when the Littlefoot and Sarah and Spike and Ducky and Petri all come out into the Big Valley...

Here we're almost at the top.  I wanted to share this especially because you may be able to see that there is moss on the right side of that tree stump, and the sun is setting behind us, which means that here the moss grows on the south side of the tree.  I just assume that this is so because we're in the Southern hemisphere.  

Nancy, in the mud.

Nathaniel and Nancy, checking out their complexions in the perfectly still water.

This is that weird spiky plant that grows all over El Espolón.  Doesn't it seem like a throwback to the Jurassic Era?

I like this photo because it seems suitably dramatic.

Nancy and Valeria.

Snowball fight!  Valeria was at the rear of our party, and she would let loose with some huge blocks of snow -- the size of those turkeys at the beginning.  Then there was Nancy:

She was just in front of me, and would hide behind bushes and attempt to ambush Valeria.  This was an unfortunately and unsurprisingly unsuccessful strategy, because she was wearing purple and was therefore spotted every time.  I sure she has learned from her mistakes and will do much better in the future.