Andrew´s year
in Chile: I´ve passed the 4 month stage of my year as a volunteer out here and
am absolutely loving it!!!
Tuesday 5th
of January 2016
The perfect reward for a steep climb up to Las Torres! Special to be alone on the second visit....
Before I start filling you in on the past two months,
I´d like to say Happy New Year and send my best wishes to you all from the
other side of the world in sunny Valparaiso!
I have spent the festive period travelling with my
family in the South, where we went trekking in the incredibly stunning Torres
del Paine National Park, before spending time in the beautiful Lake District,
characterized by its lakes, mountains and volcanoes. It was great to spend time
and share memorable experiences with them, with highlights being the exhilarating
white water rafting on the River Petrohue, an epic cycle ride on Christmas Day
and the Boxing Day swim in Lago Llanquihue, looking out over a recently erupted
volcano.
The impressive
Saltos de Petrohue, the spectacular Grey Glacier and the beautiful Lago
Llanqihue
Christmas in Chile is largely celebrated on Christmas
Eve, with families coming together in the evening for a special dinner before
attending mass, after which presents are exchanged. Although I unfortunately
missed out on this cultural experience, I am continually enjoying the Chilean
culture, and look forward to the many opportunities and experiences that lie
ahead in 2016!
Having been away at Christmas, it was great to spend
Hogmanay in Valparaiso with my Chilean family and the other Chilean volunteers.
Kyle´s birthday coincided with New Years Eve so we had a lovely meal with
endless family members before heading out to watch the long and impressive
firework display over the port! After exchanging our best wishes with everyone
we headed out and enjoyed a very memorable
night!!
November and December have been both busy and
enjoyable, especially after the summer holidays started on the 4th
of December. Before then we finished up our commitments in the school, with
classes and all our after school activities going well up until the final week
of term. A particularly enjoyable lesson was our final one with Kinder where we
made animal masks for them all, a fun way to round off one of the final topics
of the year. In the final week we got involved in fun things and celebrations,
and even attended the leaver’s final mass, which centered upon giving thanks to
God for their education at the school. I also went to the weekly mass that week
to experience more of this important part of Chilean culture!
However, the most memorable of the celebrations was
our St Andrew´s Day ceilidh, held on the revised date of December the 3rd.
Leaving up to the event, we put up poster boards around the school with
information on St Andrews Day and Scottish culture, and on the day we set the
scene by flying plenty of Saltires! Things started with Kyle and I delivering
informative speeches about the day in Spanish, a daunting task given virtually
the entire school was there! However, this made the atmosphere great with most
people clapping along to the presentation of the dances from our ceilidh class,
after which we had upwards of 50 pupils and staff attempting to dance the Gay
Gordon´s and Canadian Barn Dance. Getting involved in the dancing was great
fun, although slightly embarrassing when I added in an extra step to the
Virginia reel, leaving one of only two Scots completely out of time with the
rest!!
Everyone enjoying the Gay Gordons
Learning about a new culture is very interesting and
experiencing it first-hand gives you a unique insight into it. However, I
strongly believe that cultural diversity is important making the ceilidh and
culture class very worthwhile undertakings.
Another thing I am really enjoying is spending more
time with the teachers and doing things with them out of school. We returned
north to La Sarena where we visited a mountain top observatory in spectacular
desert like surroundings, spent a weekend camping at a beautiful and secluded beach,
and have also been out to dance and sample the traditional dish of Valparaiso
´Chorillana´ (Chile´s answer to pub food).
Amongst all this, much time has been spent planning
the summer travels to Northern Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Having spoken to fellow
travelers during my time in the South, and read about all the places we are
going to visit, I can´t wait to get started, although am certainly not
relishing the 23 hour bus journey that lies ahead in just a few hours! Through
living the true travelers experience I hope to get up close with the cultures,
landscapes and beauty that South America has to offer!
This is also
on display right on my doorstep, as a walk around Valpo takes in vast amount of
extremely impressive street art and murals, a reflection of the Bohemian
culture and vivid urban art scene in the city. In the coming months I aspire to
take my Spanish on even further and to explore and learn more about Chilean
culture and history in order to connect more with the country.
However, it´s best to live in the present so I´ll
leave it there for now! Once again thank you for your support of my Chilean
adventure and please stay tuned for a travel update at the end February. I have
a lot to learn, contribute and experience yet, but my experiences so far will
definitely stand me in good stead for what lies ahead in 2016!
I look forward to seeing you all on my return to Scotland
in August, Happy New Year!!!!!
Que
te vayan muy bien,
Andrew
