Thieves and Rain

As many of you will know, I had a rather frightening week this past week. On Monday I was waiting at the bus stop in Renca and was quietly warned by a local that I was the target of a group of thieves. He recommended that someone accompany me from now on because it simply wasn't safe for me alone. I thank God that I had a very basic acquaintance with this man beforehand so that he felt that he should warn me. My host family were all for me quitting Renca but I wasn't keen this far into my time here. Thankfully our cook offered to walk me to the bus and wait till I was on-board so this is my new routine. While it is a little frustrating to be reliant on someone else to leave school, it is the only way to guarantee my safety. Needless to say, I was a little shaken up by this experience but am thankful that nothing has actually happened to me!

My parents have just emailed to say they are snowbound and I can proudly announce that we are rainbound here in Santiago! It's been raining all day and I got home to news that schools are shut tomorrow. It rains so little here that the city just isn't able to cope. The streets turn into rivers, house and businesses flood, the buses leak, the bus 'shelters' (roof, no walls) are almost completely ineffective and the number of car accidents has gone through the roof. I stupidly left my raincoat at home so was very glad for my layers of wool getting home. The whole family is now huddled in the living room around our 1 heater trying to stay warm. My electric blanket and bed are calling...

I learnt a Chilean idiom that I thought was so funny it needed to be shared. When two people are flirting they say that "there is the smell of feet in the air"! I have no idea why but perhaps we could introduce it into English? Thoughts?

This was also pretty funny. An escaped pig in the street just down the road from my kindergarten. Pork anyone??

Not much happening

Sunset 

It's been a largely uneventful 2 weeks back at school. It was definitely lovely to be welcomed back with cries of "Tia Anna!!" and then being swamped by kids wanting to hug me! It was very easy to slip back into my normal routine and am feeling a bit like I never had a holiday now... it's a little scary to realise that there is only two months left here. Last Tuesday someone attempted to pick my iPod out of my pocket which was a rather frightening experience. Probably the first time I've felt unsafe out at Renca and served as a reminder that I'm working somewhere dangerous. I think perhaps I had got a little complaisant. But they didn't succeed and I can add it to my list of life experiences.

English lessons continue to go well with origami penguins, whales and fish making an appearance this month. I also demonstrated my lack of drawing skills by attempting to illustrate the story of Jonah and the whale but the kids understood what I was trying to draw! Trying to teach linked handwriting to the 4-year-olds has definitely been one of the more frustrating classes this week. I mean, the lower-case 'e' in link doesn't even look like an 'e' so no wonder the poor kids are confused!

I made Pavlova for Mother's Day

The weather has changed rather abruptly and my sandals have been put away and my puffer jacket taken out. Generally in the mornings now it's about 5 or 6 degrees although yesterday was a grand 1 degree. However it can still get up to 20 during the day so layers of clothing is the way to go. The kindergarten has no heating nor do many houses so it feels a little like being in a student flat again. At school we stay in our woolies until at least midday when the sun finally has an impact. I hate to think how it is going to be next month as we really hit winter! I suspect I will be excessively fond of my new alpaca jersey...

A while ago I was asked for some not so nice photos so I surreptitiously took some in Renca the other day. I took them on my iPod so the quality isn't great but I hope they give you some idea of what the suburb is like.

Opposite the kindergarten

Apartments (their equivalent of state housing)

Stray dog (alive!)

Rubbish dumped on the side of the road

And this is the scrum I fight every morning to get on the train! Mind you this was relatively quiet day...

Argentina!

I think I'd better start with some important news. I'm going to Germany! I received the email on Thursday letting me know that I've won the scholarship so I will be heading over there in September for 9 months. While it is super exciting it's also a little daunting to know that I'm facing another extended period of time away from home. But, I'm sure it's all part of God's plan for me and that it will be a whole new learning experience too.

This past week marked half-way and therefore time to renew my visa. This meant I got to have holidays in Argentina! Whoop whoop! I left for the south of Chile last Wednesday and survived the 9 hours in the bus to Temuco. The lovely Nia and her family were kind enough to let me stay with them and it was great to be looked after for the week. On Friday morning Nia and I took the bus through the mountains to Argentina and the beautiful little town of San Martin de los Andes. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great and we didn't see much on the way over. Still, seeing these jagged mountain peaks appearing through the mist was pretty dramatic. I was surprised at how much like NZ the landscape looked but it made me feel very at home.

I must say I was very glad I had Nia with me because the Argentinian accents were very tricky for me to understand. We stayed at a wonderful hostel where the breakfast was yummy, the beds were comfy, it was warm and the manager very friendly and helpful. On Friday night we headed into the town to have a look around and find some food and found ourselves caught in a thunder storm - without raincoats. Needless to say we looked like drowned rats by the time we got back to the hostel! Thankfully the weather had cleared up a little by Saturday morning and we hired bicycles from the hostel and went down to the lake. Beautiful views and good exercise although my knee complained a bit. We had arranged to go horse-riding in the afternoon and had instructions on how to get there on the bikes. An hour later we finally arrived at this cluster of houses out in the wop-wops only to find they weren't ready for us and we had to wait an hour. We didn't mind too much and wandered down to a pretty stream and enjoyed the autumn colours.

Horse-riding was amazing. The sun came out and we meandered our way up into the hills. My horse Guapo (means handsome) was very content to just plod along but God forbid that another horse get in front of him! We had some interesting little bursts of speed whenever Nia's horse decided that Guapo was too slow and attempted to overtake. We ended up at the top of a hill where we had an incredible view of the mountains and I was super happy. Very refreshing for the soul after three months in dirty Santiago! Arriving back after 2 hours on horseback and facing the ride back into town on the bikes was not so great and we ended up walking - too sore!
On Sunday we bought chocolate which is what the town is famous for and wandered along the lake (in the sunshine this time). Thankfully there was a lot more to see on the bus back including volcanoes! All in all it was a fantastic trip and I'm all ready to face the next three months.

The lake at San Martin on Saturday

Looking up the lake

Waiting to go horse-riding

Nia biking (well, having a rest actually!)

The view from the top of the hill

Dulce de leche cake (it's kind of like caramel condensed milk)

At the lake Sunday morning - sunshine!

On the track around the lake

On the road home again

Volcano Lanin (border between Argentina and Chile)