Mr. Bradford goes to London

Today is the last day for us in Chile. Katie took off for the airport last night, I'm assuming that she will be back home in the next few hours. The rest of us, Gina, Jake and myself will be returning to the states around 10-12pm tonight. It's been a great experience, one of those things that I hope will influence my decisions and concepts in the following years. I also hope that the Spanish that I have learned here will continue to improve and encourage me to study further. I think that in the near future I would really enjoy traveling in South America more. Returning home will be interesting as well. I've kind of gotten use to the situation here, meeting people from different backgrounds and living in a state of general uncertainty. It's been and adventure that I really don't want to end. On the other side I'm going to be returning to home and to the classroom that I will be taking over. I'm really looking forward to sharing the experiences that I h...

I must apologize for not updating the blog for the past day or so. It's mostly been because we've been relaxing in Valapariso, a coastal town about 2 hours from Santiago. It reminds me a lot of San Francisco combined with a small European town. The streets rise up the hills from the shore in a twisted and snakelike pattern, you often look over a railing and see the street you just came up 50 feet below you. After getting off the bus we took a taxi to one of the Hostels that we had in the guide book. The taxi guy over charged us, but was very helpful in making sure we found a hostel that had room. In the end we knocked on about three doors before we found the one we stayed at. The first day was spent going north of town to the "good beaches". We were warned by pretty much EVERYBODY that we shouldn't go to the beaches closest to us because "mal" people were there. Fortunately they have a nice rail system that runs north/south and we were able to use ...

This is a video of Juan. It was taken the last day of school and gives me an idea of what it is like to see the world through Juans eyes. He seems be at rear level for a lot of people. Please notice the Star Wars impersonation he does as Darth Vader, also notice the close up of his belly button that you see at the end. If you get motion sick from this movie, blame Juan, not me.

19 hour bus ride to Santiago followed by a 2 hour bus ride to Valepariso(sp?) I think my eating mechanism is broken. I've had 2 granola bars for the past 24 hours and I feel fine, I only ate those because I felt that I should, not because I was hungry. I hope my appetite comes back, but not too quickly. We had some guy in a taxi take us up the hill and finally found a hostel for 12 bucks a day. That's a bed in a shared room. I wish we had camping stuff, but we didn't pack for that type of trip. I think I'm going to sleep a lot during the next few days here. I'll post later.

Today was suppose to be the last day that we were in Antofagasta. Notice I said that we were SUPPOSE to leave. The government of Chile seems to be highly centralized and because everyone in Chile is taking vacations and such around the holiday seasons, there is no one in Santiago who can get the bus tickets for us to return and there isn’t anyone in Antofagasta who can authorize it. As a result, we will have to purchase our bus tickets and be reimbursed. I’m not holding my breath. The good news is that we get to spend an extra night here in Antofagasta with Mama Nuevo and Katie and Gina. The bad news is that the only bus we could get is Semi-Cama. Semi-Cama means no nice seats where we can lay back in. Think of sitting in a movie theater for 19 hours straight. Then take the movie away and replace it with the choice of watching a barren desert or Allie McBeal in Spanish on a blurry TV. That’s what we got going for us tomorrow, if Dante was on this trip with us he would have us...

Chilean English Summer School is over. The Government still hasn't bought our tickets back to Santiago, we will have to do that ourselves and get reimbursed for it, they have only had about 4 months to know that we needed the money, in Chilean terms that's like 1 day in American preparation time. Songs were sung, goodbyes were said, cheeks were kissed, (I think I'm going to go scrub mine with bleach), and things started on time. Well, within 30 minutes of the planned time, so that's like "on-the-dot" down here. I'll write more about it later. As I was about to leave, I stopped by my room to make sure I didn't need leave anything, and I found my chalkboard had been hijacked by my class one last time. This time is was filled with messages of thanks and well wishes for my trip back home. I'm not going to miss those little twits, but I'll think fondly of them and with them the best of luck on whatever they do. Heading back to Santiago, wish me l...

For those of you who saw the following comment posted on my blog: "We are requesting that you have Katie and Gina contact OJ Cotes immediately. We are concerned about their living environment and need to know what is happening NOW. ocotes@whitworth.edu.... it is only five hours difference, so please have them e-mail immediately. Peggy and OJ" The situation has been taken care of, to a point. Both Gina and Katie have a great sense of humor and are using it in this time of challenge. They are also both in good health. We only have one more day left in Antofagasta, (if the government actually gets around to buying our tickets for the bus), and we will survive until then. HOWEVER, next time you see them, ask them how the trip was, I'm sure it will be an interesting story.

Today was just one of those that didn't go as planed. We had lunch served 40 minutes late, someone stole a cell phone so we were on lock-down and I'm having difficulty getting stuff set up for this computer slide show that I'm suppose to be doing tomorrow. Also, yesterday I had a total of 3 meals between 6pm and midnight, that's full meals, not counting lunch and dinner. I think I'm going to have to go into eating rehab when I get back into the states.

I remember first reading in high-school about the concept of a muse. William Shakespeare, Monet, Albert Einstein and the guy that wrote Peanuts all had muses. Actually, I’m not too sure about the others, but I know that the Peanuts guy did. Muses were supposed to be the inspiration for these artists. When they were feeling down in the dumps or couldn’t figure out what they should create, their muse inspired them to continue on. I always thought that the concept was an interesting idea, but I never knew where to find my muse. I have found my muse in the city of Antofagasta. His name is Juan. Juan is 12 years old and is a student in my class. From the start I noticed there was something different about Juan. He was born with an ailment that does not allow him to sit down for more than seven seconds at a time. When the seven seconds are up, Juan must leap out of his seat and run up to my side. When he does this he either is trying to draw on the board to assist me with the lesson,...

Wow, a lot has happened in the past few days. I really dislike not having the time to type in this blog. It may seem kind of lame, but I look at this blog as a form of meditation. A time where I can review the experiences that I have in a relaxing manner and try to understand what the heck has occurred from the last time that I updated it. Meditation may seem like a strange thing to say when I’m sitting in a comfy chair with a computer in my lap, but that is what I feel like when I am done, although I tend to still be a bit tight in the shoulders and lower back. Last time I updated, we were heading off to San Pedro. We were planning on leaving on Friday night, but we couldn’t get tickets until the next morning. What resulted was an impromptu hair cutting party for Jake. After that was a rousing game of cards with some amazing cards that Katie had. They all had breeds of cats on them, each card displaying a different breed. That’s 58 different cat breeds, including the jokers. I ...

We had a great time in San Pedro. I will take some time tonight to do a bit of a write-up. Right now we have to get home and do something with the "family". What, I don't know. BTW, school went really well today. I don't know if it's because I have one difficult student absent today, if I know we only have 4 more days left or if I'm just getting the hang of it. We'll see.

The weekend is over!!!!!!! We have survived and are getting ready to take off for one of the surrounding towns. We are debating between Ikeke (sp?) or San Paidro. I think we are going to San Paidro. One has a beach, SP has the desert and interesting things to see. Either place will not have 80 children yelling in Spanish. Rsssssseally, that's all thats important right now. I'll be packing light, probably not brining the laptop, but probably the camera. Wish us luck, and that we will have the energy to return at the end of the week.

Today was a difficult day in school. I believe that it's because I'm tired and am ready to have the weekend arrive. Right now I'm so desperate for some down time that I'd be happy hiding in the teacher's lounge with 5 bottles of water for hydration and a case of Beany-Weenies. Let me please just hide and relax, watch a few movies and not have to talk to anyone. Today I actually tried to work with the students and take the role of a real teacher instead of a story telling professional wrestler. I believe that I failed. The morning went well with a few games and the kids having fun. By the time of our first break I was ready to go to the beach. At lunch I dug deep and decided that I was going to teach them numbers because they all learn their numbers by rote. When I start counting they all start chanting along with me and I can't get them to shut up. However, if you ask them an actual number, by writing it on the board they take forever to tell it to you. ...

This picture doesn't have anything to do with the title. Well, not much anyway. The picture is of the meal that our Mama Nuevo will leave for us when she is at work and she wants to make sure that we aren't deficient in our bread and sugar/lard diet. We have however found someone at the school who hates pan, (bread), almost as much as us. The difference is that this mystery man is willing to take a stand. Some time during the day, twice so far this week, the Pan-dito has snuck multiple rolls of pan and filled up one of the boys toilets with it. I don't know why he is doing this, except that I believe that he is, as I am, sick in tired of pan at every single meal. In fact, he is willing to defiantly demonstrate his true feelings for pan. Only the fiery heart of a Chilean activist could make such a bold and triumphant statement. The Directora is confused and frustrated. No matter how many times she tells the students that they are at an ecological school that prides i...

I’m taking back the Calle de Antofagasta. Tonight we had friends of Mama Nuevo over for Tesita. We had about 3 servings of sweets and as of 11:35 I do not believe we will be having dinner. I think it’s a good night. The friends that came over turned out to be Maru (I believe that is her nickname, I’ve heard other people call her Maria), Nancy and Anita. Maru is the director of the school, Anita is the English teacher and Nancy is some other teacher associated with the school that we are working at. Maru also brought her mother Ortilla over and her daughter and some guy associated with her daughter. I felt sorry for the guy, the women laughed and joked like a bunch of school girls. He just looked like he regretted ever agreeing to come along. Anita brought her guitar and we ended up spending about 60-90 minutes singing songs in Spanish and a couple of English favorites, “I Believe in Angels” and “What a Wonderful World”. Jake and I did a duet with the later, which seemed to be quit...

Today went much better. Actually, I don't know if it went better or I'm just loosing my mind. We spent the morning going over words for different parts of the room, chair, floor, door, etc. We then went to the concept of "touch vs point". Something that has helped us play more games throughout the day. I had the class break down today, as they are prone to do every 15 minutes during the day, and I found myself surrounded by about 4 boys speaking Spanish at about 500 words a minute. Finally Joseph, pronounced Hoseph, walked up to the board and wrote this gem down. After he had finished this they all started jumping up and down and pointing at me yelling Nacho Libre, Nacho Libre Which means that they either think I look like Jack Back, or they think I teach with the personality and entertaining energy of a professional wrestler. Either way, I think it's pretty dang cool. In case any of you are curious, this is what my board looks like when I am done at the en...

The streets of Antofagasta are always filled with music. Most of it is either Reggaeton , the local music of preference here, Top 40 or 80's music I haven't heard in years. Jake and I have a special treat that sometimes plays above this normal din. We have a group of people that live right next door to us that we have taken to calling "Calles de Antofagasta" or the "Streets of Chile." They practice about 2 times a week and usually play for about 3 hours. The first hour they are a pain in the ear, the second you are starting to wonder if they are just playing better songs and the third hour you want to go with them on tour. They play something that can only be described as Heavy-Metal Opera. Enjoy the Calles de Antofagasta , they are sure to be coming to a stadium near you. 2mb sample of the best garage band in Antofagasta! Listen to if for 3 hours straight and TRY to say it's not the most amazing thing in the world.

Jan 9 Teaching went much better today, I had a variety of subject material that I wanted to cover with the students, and the fact that the day was broken up into multiple segments made the day easier. For my “American Cultural” elective that I taught I had 14 boys in my room, no girls. I tried to get them to tell me what they wanted to know about American Culture. What actually happened was that they listened to me tell stories with pictures that I had on postcards, many personal sound effects and lots of words, which I think they never fully understood. I felt like I was teaching a human reproduction class with the ways the entire group of boys stared at me in this strained and embarrasses silence, only to nod or grunt when I mentioned something they had a passing understanding about. About half way through I realized that this I probably exactly how a class like that would go. Whatever the subject matter was, I believe that they understood that there were 50 states, Washington St...

I've survived the second day of school, and I have to say that I think I did better than yesterday, and that's all that I can hope for. Before I start taking about school, I would like to introduce you to my "Chilean Mother." She is one of the sweetest people that I have met, this is a picture of her that I took with my computer. I think she is trying to kill me. Jake and I arrived at home after school. We were both tired and ready to relax. She had prepared a simple meal for us of bread and luncheon meat. This was not the normal size of meal that we were use to it, but Jake and I were more than happy to have a light meal and just relax for the evening. I felt so good afterwards that I went out for a 20 minute run, one of the first that I had had in months. After taking a shower and relaxing upstairs watching "FAME", (think of a three way love child between American Idol, Big Brother and Bay Watch), it was 10:30 and Jake and I were about ready to go to...

Well, I have to say that I am at least alive after today. It wasn't that bad at all, except that I feel that I'm really going to reevaluate the techniques that I use in the class tomorrow. We had WAY too much time with the students without any breaks. It consisted of 2-3 hour blocks of time where I tried to guess what level of English the students were at. I found that my worst expectations were pretty much true. They don't speak that much English at all. I was suppose to have 24 students in my class. When the students finally all enrolled, I had six students. Six is a pretty strange number for a class. I don't know if I should bring everyone into a little circle and have them look at the same book or sit in front of the classroom and write on the board. I don't now if the students knew what to do either. Commonly they have about 45 students in a classroom. Only having 5 other classmates and a gringo teacher that didn't speak Spanish probably made the situ...

This was written last night after returning from the "family get together." In all of the South Park seriousness that I can muster on this late night, I have to say something; I’ve learned something tonight. I’ve had a bit of an epiphany about how different family structures can work. My family has always prided its self on being independent. When I was 18 my parents told me that they had raised me in the best way that they could, and even though I still lived under their roof and they supported me, I was now in charge of my life. They would be there if I wanted help or suggestions, but my decisions and actions were now my own. They have stayed true to what they said. They have always respected my decisions and the privacy of my life. They have also always been there for me with wise advice and total support when I asked for it. This has worked out well for the way that my family is structured and the way we live our lives. Members of my family move about every three ye...

Yesterday started off as a really nice and easy day. We hav our classes to prepare for. We were under the impression that we had the entire day off, something about the conversation last night being “nada mass por un antes dia.” I think we misheard and it was more along the line “you are not going to have time to do anything more tomorrow.” These translations are sometimes difficult. We started the day off well. I worked on some Spanish flash cards and Jake read a book. We listened to some Musica Americana, (Jason Mraz), and were getting ready to do some work for school. Suddenly Rosalinda’s son and daughter-in-law show up, drop off a fan, grab a couple of things, give a quick hola and chao and they were of again. 30 minutes later Rosalinda shows up with her son and daughter-in-law again, and we are told that we are going. Going were? Who knows? As we walk to the bus stop we are told that we are going to her sisters house. When we get there, a medium sized Chilean apartment w...

This was written on the 6th, before I posted from the families house. I often do this by writing in a word document and then doing a cut/paste into the blog. Jan 6, 2005 I know that it was a pretty big risk to take my laptop all the way down to Chile with me, but I have to say that so far I have been very happy that I’ve taken the chance. I’ve done a very good job of keeping it by my side at all times and I figure that if I ever am in a situation where it was physically taken from me, then I would have a lot more problems than loosing a laptop. At the same time, I have been careful to not bring it out in public places, or to ever let it out of arms reach. I feel like I should be doing some ad for Apple, with the amount and different situations that I find myself using it. It’s also beneficial with keeping in touch with friends and family. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to actually talk to friends back in the states with IM and send real time pictures back and forth. I haven’t b...

Jan 6, 2005 I know that it was a pretty big risk to take my laptop all the way down to Chile with me, but I have to say that so far I have been very happy that I’ve taken the chance. I’ve done a very good job of keeping it by my side at all times and I figure that if I ever am in a situation where it was physically taken from me, then I would have a lot more problems than loosing a laptop. At the same time, I have been careful to not bring it out in public places, or to ever let it out of arms reach. I feel like I should be doing some ad for Apple, with the amount and different situations that I find myself using it. It’s also beneficial with keeping in touch with friends and family. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to actually talk to friends back in the states with IM and send real time pictures back and forth. I haven’t been able to get the live video feed to work yet, but I’m sure that it’s technology ports between us that are preventing it, and not the actual technology on t...

We are at yet another family members house, having dinner. I´m amazed at the number of family members that these people keep in contact with. Either that, or Jake and I are being paraded around as the attractions of the year. Kind of like a traveling geek show. It´s probably a combination of both, there isn´t a lot to do here in grand old Antofagasta. The family wanted to make sure that we could use their computer and internet, a seemingly rare thing here. I have fulfilled my duties as a guest, have a great Sunday, wish me luck on the start of classes Monday!

Wow! I feel so much better! I think the arsenic has worn out of my system enough that my headache has stopped. Actually, Jake and I walked home and he had some aspirin for me. Thanks for all your concern and offers of bottle water. I've learned my lesson and will take better care of myself. I also did some research on the arsenic issue here in Antofagasta and found out that in 1971 they put in a water treatment plant that dropped the stillbirth and infant mortality rates to the same level as the rest of Chile. The arsenic rate is still above the 10 parts per billion that is suggested by the world relief agencies, but it seems to be much safer than was played out to me by some people. At the same time, I'm not planning on chugging gallons of tap water. I will still buy my bottle water. When I left the States I thought that I would be in a situation where I could save money because I wouldn't be spending it on coffee. However, my coffee habit has been replaced by a H2O ...

The picture is one that was taken yesterday of Daniel and Mario, Daniel is on the left . The picture above that one is pretty much what the entire 18 hour drive looked like, minus the sea in most areas. It was impressive in it´s nothingness. Sorry if my spelling is poor for this post, the spell check is set for Spanish, so everything was marked as being wrong when I tried to correct it. I think that I´m just tired , but i´m not feeling like the rose that I usually am . Last night I was dreaming in Spanish . My bed spread had a maze on it , and I had to give a little dot directions in Spanish in order for it to get from one end of the maze to the other . When I got done with one maze , another maze would start up . It all resulted in a bit of a headache . Coupled with the fact that I was already dehydrated and had spent the previous day in the sun it made for a difficult nights sleep . I...