"And the mom wanted twins!"

Tonight I was making a ghetto handmade Candy Land for my English Club this Friday afternoon. It was a daunting task, so many colors! Luckily, my totally kick-ass host mom was like, "Jessie, te ayudo?" "Si, po!"

So as we are sitting at the dining table, coloring square after square after square, I mess up the color sequence which leads to my host commenting on my intelligence. (Even in a foreign language they catch on!)

"Jessie, que tonta!"
"Wilma, hay un chiste en mi familia..."

I told her about the Family Joke. The Family Joke goes something like this.
[Jessie does or says something stupid.]
"Jessie, you went to Berkeley?"

El fin.

After I explained the joke (informing her that it's funny because Berkeley is the number 1 public university in the United States and the world), she laughed really hard. This led to her telling me about a certain chilenismo. It is now officially my favorite chilenismo (más de "pan con palta" y "hacer una vaca"). The chilenismo goes something like this:

[Someone does or says something stupid]
"Y la mamá quería mellizos!"

"And the mom wanted twins!" (Or fraternal twins if we're getting picky. I'm sure gemelos works too.)

Get ready. I'm bringing this to the English-speaking world.

New School, Sad Jessie

Due to a series of events that were out of my control/ hindered by my inability to properly speak Chilean (let's be honest, I speak Spanish. Not Chilean), I will no longer be teaching English at my high school. I will still be working with the debate kids, but I will not be teaching classes at Liceo Polivalente San Nicolás. My heart is broken.

It all started last week when my host mom found out the Chinese volunteer was going to be receiving money to teach at my high school. She called up my school director and said, ¨You have to pay my Jessie too.¨ After a series of back and forths, I came to believe that I would be receiving money from the elementary school in town, therefore, I would be teaching at the elementary school AND the high school. I was quite fond of that idea since it meant I would be receiving money and that I would be able to experience both elementary and high school students. Broaden my horizons, you know? But since everything in Chile either happens at the last minute or is miscommunicated, I will be receiving a salary from the elementary school but I will not be teaching at the high school. So today was my last day and I cried on three separate occasions:

1. In my host mom´s car after our meeting with the directora of the elementary school.

2. When I told my co-teachers at the liceo what was up.

3. When I finished teaching 2C, my final liceo class.

When I told Javier, my pal and history teacher at the liceo, that I cried in Wilma´s car he said, ¨Tu eres tan sentimental, Jessie.¨ (You´re so sentimental.) Well...yeah.

I love my kids and I love my co-teachers. One of the reasons I came back is because I finally settled in--I found my rhythm and knew how to be an effective teacher. And I came back after the earthquake because I wanted to give my kids some sense of normalcy. And now, I feel like I´m letting them and my co-teachers down. Although, according to my friend Haley, ¨the earth is letting you and your school down.¨ True fact. Thanks, terremoto.

So tomorrow, I start classes in the básica, grades Kinder through octavo (8th). I'm excited but also sad (obvio, po). As the wise WorldTeach field director Allyson told me today, "Why you cryin'? You get to stay in your town, receive money, AND teach? Stop crying!" Well said, Allyson. Well said.

Dead hamsters, Chocolate Eggs, and a Feisty Three-Year-Old

Let's get the bad news out of the way. The remaining two hamster babies are now dead. One died of natural causes while the other was murdered by my host dad. He said it would be better if we just killed the other one because it was bound to happen eventually. True, but I mean, did we have to drown it in a latex glove? Plus, now we're in the difficult position of explaining to the twins why both babies disappeared at once. Mama hamster couldn't have been that hungry.. Luckily they are nine and not skeptical.


Phew. That's finished. So this past weekend was Easter! We didn't have classes on Friday so I spent three days hanging out with my family and recovering from my resfriada (cold/ sickness/ lack of energy/ snot). I also consumed too much meat and bebida (soft drink). Chileans, why can't you like water?

On Saturday I cooked my famous sausage and cabbage soup for them and despite not having beef bouillon cubes or sausages that were not dripping with fat, I'd say it was a success. My family loved it which made me very happy. Although the fat that floated and covered the top was not appetizing for me. Regardless, the fam has asked for a round two. I also made my blueberry pie. Another success. And this dish wasn't dripping grease.

Sunday we had a special guest. Her name is Amanda and she is the three-year-old daughter of my host mom's cousin (I think). She has strawberry-ish blonde-ish hair (like me!) and blue eyes (like me!) so they call her La Gringa. She was quite taken with me and I would even say grew quite attached. Early Sunday morning we had a chocolate easter egg hunt in which my family made me participate. It was awesome. Amanda was all over these chocolate eggs like white on rice. I enjoyed her immensely. Especially when she performed a special rendition of Daddy Yankee's "Llamada de Emergencia". Who doesn't love some reggaeton?



That's about it. Things are changing at the school but I will update that once I know for sure what the heck is happening. I'll be heading to Santiago Thursday afternoon to spend the weekend and am quite looking forward to it!

Also, can I just say, thank God for taxes.

Abrazos!

I feel the earth, move, under my feet

Since the giant 8.8 earthquake that struck my region at the end of February, I've felt my share of shaking (I did feel the 8.8 in Mendoza after all, but not like here in the south.) However, the massive aftershocks that have occurred, I keep missing. But not the latest one!

Today, can best be described as a day of shakes. Rommy and I woke up to a temblor, we had lunch to a temblor, we read to a temblor, and then just now, we were about to Once to a temblor. I was sitting on my bed, reading the news, when the earth started to shake. At first it was slow, then it quickly gained momentum. It wasn't that strong, but it's the strongest quake I've felt since the Loma Prieta in 1989 (I was two but I DO remember it!) Let's put it this way. Normally, when we have a temblor, we look at each other and wait for it to pass. This one was strong enough that I heard the family flee the house, and Rommy yelled, "Jessie! Sale!" Needless to say I grabbed my flippy floppies and headed atrás (to the backyard). Once it stopped, I headed to the front where my host mom, dad, and the twins were. The twins were crying and my host mom was very upset. She's making the prediction: "We're going to have another quake." I'm going to stay positive here and say the 8.8 will be it for a while.

We haven't lost light, power, or internet. According to the radio, it was centered in Cobquecura (again!) and they've shut off the water in Concepción because it was so strong there. Concepción is a 90-minute bus ride from Chillán. Ohhhh, Chile.

News just in. It was 5.9. Not that strong, but hey, strong enough. We also JUST had another temblor as I write this. Chile, you're out of control.

We´ve got murderous hamsters in San Nicolás

Recent events here in San Nicolás have reinforced that I made the right decision ten years ago (holy crap! It´s been ten years already!?!?) when I set my hamster free in a park.

A few weeks ago, the twins received two hamsters. One they named Bella and the other they named Jake. Yes, these are Twilight references. I guess they didn´t take it seriously that since one was male and one was female that they would do what bunnies do and make babies.

And make babies they did! Earlier this week, we discovered three tiny little hua huas (babies). However, a few nights ago, the house erupted into chaos when Vania discovered that one baby was missing. Tears, screaming, running around, yelling--you name it, it happened here. My house is fairly loud in general, but after this incident, wow. It´s amazing how loud everyone can get.

After the murder, the fam decided to give Jake to another family. Why they decided Jake killed the baby, I´ll never know. So Jake is now living happily separated from his baby mama and babies.

My jokes have been dead on due to this, which is fantastic because since my host mom is terribly loud, so are her reactions to my jokes. After we discovered the missing baby:

¨Creo que los padres tuvieron hambre anoche.¨
¨JESSIE!!!!¨
And my personal favorite, when we gave Jake away:
¨Pienso que encontramos el asesino.¨
¨JESSIE!!!! Qué asco!!!!!¨

The other two babies are still alive, but I think it´s only a matter of time before we realize we punished the wrong guy.