Well Guys,
I arrived in Taltal on Monday night. By now it feels like I've been here for two weeks! This past weekend we stayed in Antofagasta for one night to see the city and attend a short orientation with the regional director of the Ingles Abre Puertas (English Opens Doors) program. Antofagasta is fairly unimpressive - it's city bordering the driest desert in the world (Atacama) after all - and just so happens to look very much like a mini-Lima. The coastline is even a bit rockier and far less inviting - more pollution I think. Still, the city happens to have a mall the size of Garden State, haha, with stores lined up as follows: pharmacy, futbol store, ugly clothing store, cell phone store, pharmacy, futbol store, ugly clothing store, cell phone store, and so on and so forth. Besides this never-ending cycle, there was actually a car store, as in a car dealership of every manufacturer, right inside the mall! Inside one of the futbol gear stores (I think it was Diadora), I tried to buy a very nice pair of sneakers, only to be told that they don't order any shoes beyond size 10. Yes, folks, I feel like a giant here. When I explain to people that my height (5'10") is the absolute norm for men in the US, they simply don't believe me! My Chilean gigantism is also exacerbated by the fact that the average height of my host family is approx. 5'1" - Father, 5'4" or so; Mother, maybe 4'10"; Brother, 5'5"? Sisters, about 4'11" each, haha.
Taltal is pretty much what I expected. We had to hop on a four-hour bus south from Antofagasta on Monday afternoon, even after taking a twenty-hour bus ride north from Santiago on Saturday - they could have just dropped us off on the way! All of the host families were at the bus stop when we arrived. My host family, along with my co-English teacher, brought me to the house and thus began my total immersion. It feels great to be back into the swing of speaking Spanish...even after a short three days I feel like I'm already back to my end-of-Peru form. With a solid amount of studying grammar and constant absorption of new vocabulary I should be fluent by the time I go back!
I will post some photos of Taltal when I get a chance to take some this weekend. It is very third world when compared to a city like Santiago, but very similar to what I experienced in the areas surrounding Cusco. First impressions of the school: I'M SCARED OUT OF MY MIND. It's very different from any school that any of us attended in the US. First impressions of the family: AWESOME. I live a bit far from the center of town, however, and the four other volunteers are living right in the center, so I feel a bit cut off at times.
Must get to sleep now though...my Chilean parents smoke a bit in the house and I'm starting to feel something brewing in my throat! I will be posting separate updates about the family and the school in the next few days since I have so much to tell and so little time.
Now, two more photos...
I arrived in Taltal on Monday night. By now it feels like I've been here for two weeks! This past weekend we stayed in Antofagasta for one night to see the city and attend a short orientation with the regional director of the Ingles Abre Puertas (English Opens Doors) program. Antofagasta is fairly unimpressive - it's city bordering the driest desert in the world (Atacama) after all - and just so happens to look very much like a mini-Lima. The coastline is even a bit rockier and far less inviting - more pollution I think. Still, the city happens to have a mall the size of Garden State, haha, with stores lined up as follows: pharmacy, futbol store, ugly clothing store, cell phone store, pharmacy, futbol store, ugly clothing store, cell phone store, and so on and so forth. Besides this never-ending cycle, there was actually a car store, as in a car dealership of every manufacturer, right inside the mall! Inside one of the futbol gear stores (I think it was Diadora), I tried to buy a very nice pair of sneakers, only to be told that they don't order any shoes beyond size 10. Yes, folks, I feel like a giant here. When I explain to people that my height (5'10") is the absolute norm for men in the US, they simply don't believe me! My Chilean gigantism is also exacerbated by the fact that the average height of my host family is approx. 5'1" - Father, 5'4" or so; Mother, maybe 4'10"; Brother, 5'5"? Sisters, about 4'11" each, haha.
Taltal is pretty much what I expected. We had to hop on a four-hour bus south from Antofagasta on Monday afternoon, even after taking a twenty-hour bus ride north from Santiago on Saturday - they could have just dropped us off on the way! All of the host families were at the bus stop when we arrived. My host family, along with my co-English teacher, brought me to the house and thus began my total immersion. It feels great to be back into the swing of speaking Spanish...even after a short three days I feel like I'm already back to my end-of-Peru form. With a solid amount of studying grammar and constant absorption of new vocabulary I should be fluent by the time I go back!
I will post some photos of Taltal when I get a chance to take some this weekend. It is very third world when compared to a city like Santiago, but very similar to what I experienced in the areas surrounding Cusco. First impressions of the school: I'M SCARED OUT OF MY MIND. It's very different from any school that any of us attended in the US. First impressions of the family: AWESOME. I live a bit far from the center of town, however, and the four other volunteers are living right in the center, so I feel a bit cut off at times.
Must get to sleep now though...my Chilean parents smoke a bit in the house and I'm starting to feel something brewing in my throat! I will be posting separate updates about the family and the school in the next few days since I have so much to tell and so little time.
Now, two more photos...
The Atacama Desert while entering Antofagasta.
El Santuario at Cerro San Cristobal.
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