Wednesday, November 3, 2010

¿Dulce o Truco?- by Current Teacher in Chile Caroline

Halloween is not popular in Chile. In fact, it only made its way down from the United States about 10 years ago and has been slowly growing in popularity ever since. Since my lesson last week in class was about Halloween and all of the fun vocabulary that goes with it, I was able to see which kids were very pro-Halloween and which kids were being told by their parents that it is evil pagan celebration. Even so, none of the kids seemed to mind when I played the Monster Mash and attempted to do the dance from Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

My kids dancing to the "Monster Mash" with some "Thriller" moves thrown in

I was even invited to a couple of different Halloween parties this weekend. Cursing the fact that I left my German fraulein dress from last year at home, I went with a friend to Iquique's largest flea market to costume hunt. After 4 hours of digging through a glorified garage sale, I encountered a lightly used Alice in Wonderland dress that I found to be perfectly analogous to my time here in Chile. Not only was my costume a hit, but I also had a lot of fun telling people that I was "Alicia en el pais de las maravillas".

Me in my costume (over my clothes) after I triumphantly found it at the flea market. That chick in the background is totally jealous. 

Last week I had my "Big Show" with all the kids and all the fairy tales and all the stress. We had a room full of about 65 parents and at least 2 babies who were consistently crying throughout the whole thing (I like to think they were just overwhelmed with the sheer brilliance of the show). Other than an epic battle I had with the sound system and a few forgotten lines, it went really well. For your viewing enjoyment, I have uploaded some of the acts to YouTube. Since the kids were speaking a delightful hybrid of English and Spanish, you probably won't be able to understand much of the dialog. Regardless, the kids looked pretty darn cute in their costumes and seemed to have had a good time.

Here's the link to the Three Little Pigs- those guys at the beginning are the "Three Stooges" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIIyD2rEACg

Here's the link to Aladdin. As long as you don't mind horribly off-key renditions of "A Whole New World", you will probably enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE5kE8V9tlE

And finally, here's the link to Little Red Riding Hood; please note the great pause before the music starts at the end and know that I was backstage whispering obscenities to the antiquated sound system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXO5I2LNHCo

Okay, so in previous posts I have mentioned my desire to do some traveling around South America, specifically to Machu Picchu. Well, in five days I am doing just that... albeit in a bit of a different way than I had previously thought. Those of you who know me know that I am not the most outdoorsy type of gal; my idea of "roughing it" is to stay in a 10 bed hostel dorm with a shared bathroom. However, I am about to take a big friggin leap outside of the Caroline Comfort Zone onto the Inca Trail... 4 days and 3 nights on the Inca Trail to be exact. That means that I will be hiking (gasp!) and sleeping in a tent (double gasp!) and going without a shower for a few days longer than is socially appropriate. Yes, that's right: there will be no luxury train up to Machu Picchu for this girl; I am hiking 28 miles (through a very reliable tour company, so you won't have to worry) up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Will there be pain? Yes. Will there be blisters? Probably. Will I be sick from the altitude? Most definitely. But, upon my survival of this crazy trip, I will be able to say that I hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and not many people can say that. So, during the days of November 9-12, I ask that you send positive energy my way as I attempt something that is so very far outside of my comfort zone. Also, if you would like to send some Icy-Hot alongside that positive energy, I know that my aching body will thank you for it after the 12th.

So, next time you hear from me I will (hopefully) be able to share all the ups and downs of my climb to Machu Picchu (pun intended). Until then, here's the philosophical question of the day:

If people from Poland are called "Poles," why aren't people from Holland called "Holes?"

Caroline
Teacher
Chile

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