School, My first music video, Mendoza adventures, and more toilets

This was my first week at school with a set schedule.  It is a nice feeling to know where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing, and I also feel like a big weight has been taken off my chest without having to teach classes on my own.

I am starting to get to know some of the students´ names (from 7th to 12th grade I am working with about 400 of them), and I had them make up nameplates and fill out an interest inventory so I can get to know them better.  They really liked the nameplate idea and got pretty creative with their artwork on it, and on the other side of the nameplate they wrote their nicknames.

The classes I am working with vary greatly.  One thing I´ve noticed is that there is no such thing as advanced classes, so you get students of all different levels of English in the same class.  Some classes are really well behaved with kids with high levels of English, and in one class I had a few kids asking me about US politics and why people don´t like Obama as well as conspiracy theories in relation to 9 11 (In English).  Other classes were really talkative and disruptive that it was hard to even begin to know what their level of English was.

It seems like little things at the school are really interesting to the students.  I spiked my hair for a change, and I got so many comments from them about how I looked bakan and fleite.  They also seem fascinated by my clip on sunglasses.  I personally think they make me look pretty dorky, but maybe the concept of dorkiness is cultural.

On a completely different note but before I forget, I got to star in a music video.  Jason Milstein, a friend from high school, is in a really awesome up and coming band called The Medium.  I was the college professor handing out the diplomas to the students in the video.  Here is a link to it if you want to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN4LHWE86WI

So this is my second trip to Mendoza so far.  I was asleep on the bus when I woke up hearing the tires squealing and the driving giving it full gas.  After looking out the window I was surprised to see that there was snow all over the place.  I didn´t think to snap any pictures at the time, but there was about a distance of about a foot between the bus and the edge of the precipice.
The trip almost didn´t happen, as I didn´t realize how difficult it would be to find a place to stay for Easter weekend.  I got an email from the hostel I was at last time that they didn´t have any spaces, and I went to a bunch of websites and called a bunch of places with no luck.  I got to the second to last place in my travel guide, and they had a room.  It is actually a hotel, but they have single rooms.  I was breaking the bank with the cost of 90 pesos (which is about 23 dollars) becuase I am used to hostel prices.

For the price it is actually pretty nice.  I have my own private room with private bathroom, and breakfast is included.  The downside is that is not a hostel, which means no public computers, no meeting random people to hang out with, and no kitchen to prepare my own meals.  But all in all not bad with a few days notice before Easter weekend:

So far in Mendoza I have gotten to do a good amount.  I took a mountain biking tour, and the views along the way were amazing.  I got used to go down big hills in the dirt and rocks and mastered the position of keeping your balance between both pedals while breaking slowly, and it was a great feeling climbing the hills and working up a sweat.  It reminded me of the mountain biking I did in Oaxaca about 6 years ago.  Here are some pictures:

I also explored the Plaza Independencia with lots of street vendors as well as the pedestrian area of Sarmiento.  I walked into a wine shop to look around and was pleasantly surprised when they offered me a free sample of a wine.  I tried a red wine (a Cabarnet I think) and it was really good.  After that, I stopped into a mini market to get a bottled water when I noticed that they sold bottles of wine as well as mini bottles of wine.  The smallest bottle was 6 pesos (about $1.50) and was probably about 1.5 to 2 glasses of wine.  The next biggest was about 11 pesos ($3.75) and it was probably about 3 or 4 glasses of wine.  I doubt that you could find any place like that in the States.

The next day I woke up early and went to the Parque General de San Martin, which is large and beautiful.  There are tree lined streets, areas to bike and walk, sidewalk cafes, a zoo, and some amazing viewpoints.  I walked all the way to the top of Cerro de la Gloria (a large hill dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in wars involving Argentina).

 On the way back I stopped at a cafe and got a hamburger with French fries and some juice.  I have gotten used to not getting a bun with my hamburgers in Chile, so I was pleasantly surprised to get one with this meal, especially seeing that the entire meal only cost 4 bucks:

I updated part of this at an internet cafe that is connected to a Subway.  I haven´t eaten at Subway yet in South America, so I decided to give it a try.  Let me just say that they don´t know how to make their meatball sandwiches here.  First off, there wasn´t any mozzerella OR parmesan cheese.  They used American cheese, and there was barely any sauce.  It looked so pitiful that I added some lettuce and tomato to it. 

I have found more notable additions to my previous post about toilets around the world.  Here is exhibit A, which is in my hotel room:

It looks like a normal toilet with one teeny tiny exception: IT HAS A HUGE METAL THING CLAMPED TO IT.  At first I thought it was some type of torture device, but I rejected that notion once my private parts were intact after using it.  I have yet to muster up the courage to turn the handle on the side or ask at reception what it does.

Then there is exhibit B, which is inside the internet cafe restroom:

This is what we call a minimalist toilet.  It is no nonsense and does not need luxuries such as handles to flush or a toilet seat.  If you look up, you will notice a tank of water overhead with a string to pull in order to flush it.  It is toilets like these that make me always bring a pack of tissues in my pocket and hand sanitizer with me wherever I travel.

After my experience with the minimalist toilet, I went back to editing this post and got a text from Allison.  It turns out she was in Mendoza also and was waiting to hear back from some friends about meeting up.  Her hostel was only a few blocks away, so we met up there and waited for Celine and Sonia.

It turns out Allison took over 12 hours to get into Mendoza due to the huge lines at the border, and she had spent the entire day by herself.  We hadn´t seen each other since we parted ways in Viña when I headed back to the hostel early while everyone else went out, so we had a lot to catch up about.

We got some soda while Celine and Sonia got settled into the hostel, and we became accustomed to the suprise we got when trying to pay with larger bills.  A dollar is about 4 Argentinean pesos, so I wouldn´t think much of having to pay with a 50 or 100 peso bill.  Apparently it is a big deal here.  Allison and I got used to the gasp and widening eyes as we tried to pay with a 50 peso bill for our 2 sodas costing 12 pesos.  After paying we sat and waited for about 10 minutes, and when we asked our waitress for the change she said we had to talk to the person at the register.  Going there, we learned that they did not have enough change to give us, and they were waiting for other people to pay with small bills so that they could give us our change.  Luckily it worked out a minute or so after that .

Then afterwards she had to break her 100 peso bill, so she got a bottled water at McDonald´s.  We thought it wouldn´t be as big of a deal there, but we got the same reaction.  Note to self: Next time ask for smaller bills when changing money in Argentina.

Once Celine and Sonia were ready, we all went out to get dinner together.  It was really cool becuase we all spoke Spanish well enough to speak in Spanish the entire time.  (Sonia is from Madrid, so we didn´t have much of a choice anyway)  When deciding where to go to dinner, I suggested Las Tinajas.  They seemed a bit hesitant at first, but I told them it would be worth it.

The food was great as always, and this time we got the additional experience of the butchers cutting meat and hacking it so hard that bones and pieces of the meat went flying in various directions.  I had always had some type of meat without bone before that, so this was a new adventure.  After getting more than our fair fill of food, we finished it off with chocolate crepes.  It was really nice to get to meet up with them, as I had been traveling solo for the entire time before then.

The next morning I woke up feeling a bit funky, and I think I ate something bad and was sore from all the walking the day before.  I tried to drink water and walk it off while doing some shopping, but it stuck with me.  I was able to talk to the company I scheduled a wine tour with and will be able to bring the voucher back on my next trip to Mendoza and use it then rather than lose the 50 pesos I paid.  I have been resting up and took some aspirin, and I am feeling better. 

Later on I got some McDonald´s to eat, and my stomach did fine with it.  I also bought some chocolate from a famous chocolate shop here called La Cabaña, and it seems like everyone was doing their last minute Easter candy shopping.  They don´t seem to be big on the Easter Bunny in Argentina, but they love their huevos (eggs).  They had all types of chocolate Easter eggs that were decorated with ornate designs and patterns, and they were of all types of varying sizes.  I had already bought some Easter candy back in Santiago, so I just got some assorted candies and some wine to bring back with me. 

In a few hours it is off to the bus station and back to Santiago.  It has been a good trip, and I know I will be back to Mendoza at one point or another.

Mendoza Day 2

So yesterday was an awesome day.

It started out with rock climbing.  I was so glad to see that it was warm and the sun was shining, and it made up for the cloudy and cool day during ziplining yesterday.  After making the trip there, I was glad to see that there was someone else doing the rock climbing with me.  Victoria was a woman from New Zealand but living in the UK, and our guide was Fernando.  Before we even got to the rocks to climb, Fernando noticed a 2 peso bill in the grass.  As he picked it up, I noticed another 2 peso bill and then a 5 peso bill. This sent us all in a flurry to try and look around further to see if we could find any 100 peso bills, but to no avail.  He told us to hang onto the money so we could buy fruit later.  I thought he was joking since where we were was so desolate, so I didn´t think much of it.

We got to the rocky area, and Fernando pulled out a bunch of shoes from his backpack for us to try on.  He was like the Mad Shooer or something.  Fernando got us secured and sent us up for our first climb.  I went first, and it was really challenging.  Being able to keep both of your feet and both of your hands secure was rougher than I thought it would be.  After stopping and slipping several times, I finally made it to the top.  Then Fernando helped me repel back down.  I told him how hard it was for me and asked if there were any easier ones to try out.  He then told me that in Argentina they rate climbs between grade 4 and grade 9, and that the one I did was a grade 4.


Victoria then took her turn, and she struggled too.  After she came back down, Fernando gave us some tips.  I learned that clinging to the rock for dear life does not help you, as you need to keep your body away from the rock in order to be able to move around and get from one place to another.

Our next few climbs went better though.  We were getting the hang of it with more practice, and it was easier.  I actually didn´t complete the second climb the first time around, as I stopped a few meters short of the end becuase I couldn´t find a way up and was too tired.  Victoria and Fernando encouraged me to give it another try after Victoria finished it, and that time I was able to do it.  It was such an awesome feeling to have completed it.

The sun started shining more brightly, and it was getting hard to see when looking to climb up.  Add this to the fact that my glasses were getting looser and looser and were almost slipping off, and it made it that much challenging.  Victoria was experiencing the same thing with her sunglasses.  I also realized that I had a tissue pack in my pocket to wipe away my sweat between climbs, but apparently I lost it on one of the climbs.

After a while, we decided to take our lunch break.  We sat in the grass and ate, and it was so peaceful to only be able to hear the water going by and no noise of the city.  We also heard the occasional rooster that apparently slept in.   Before I forgot I told Fernando about my glasses.  He then disappeared for a few seconds, and he came back with a kit to tighten glasses.  He tightened both of our glasses, and it seemed totally random that he had the tools with him to do that. 

We went back to the climbing area, and now Fernando was setting up some grade 5 climbs for us.  I thought grade 4 was challenging enough, but these were much steeper and had you climbing over rocks and having to reach up and around a bit. 

While Fernando was up at the top, we heard him whistle loudly and then call to us "¿Quieren fruta?"  We then told him that we wanted apples and bananas, and he came down a minute later.  It turns out that a fruit truck was driving by, and he whistled to him to get his attention.  I gave him the money we found in the grass, and he came back with a large bagful of fruit.

We enjoyed the fresh fruit and then did a few more climbs.  I was getting the hang of it and enjoying it, but it was wearing me out.  I hadn´t done something very active like that in a while, but I was enjoying it despite that. 

Then as Fernando set up the last climb, he came down with my pack of tissues.  I guess they got stuck to part of the rock and he found them.  The last climb was the most challenging, but the view at the top was amazing and it felt so awesome to see what I accomplished.

Here is me with Fernando:

This was such an awesome experience.  When I was in high school we actually took a field trip to an indoor rock climbing place, and I remember loving it and going back once.  Even though it is about 15 years later, it is so fulfilling to have done the actual thing.  Sure, I was scared and slipped a few times.  I got scraped up.  But I will never forget sharing the experience with Victoria and Fernando and them calling up to me to encourage me and help me up each of the climbs.

Once I got back to the hostel, I decided to hang around for a bit.  I talked with some people and got some tips on good wines to buy, and then I headed out with Peter (from Switzerland) and Nika (from Holland) to get some dinner.  Peter really wanted to go to 1884, but after wandering around for about 45 minutes we decided to go to Facundo instead.  We got a nice steak dinner with wine and sat outside.  I rarely have wine at dinner and even more rarely eat outside, so it was a refreshing experience.  Afterwards we went out for drinks and just talked about our travels, and it was a really relaxing night.

I made it back to Santiago in about 6 and a half hour.  I am going to miss it in Mendoza and am hoping to return for the weekend of Semana Santa.

Teaching and Arrival in Mendoza

So I had three more days of teaching this week.  The class behavior varied from class to class and what time of day I had them.  Basically kids in grades 5 to 10 have 2 classes of English Lab working on computers each week.  For some classes these 2 classes are back to back, but for others it could be the 1st period one day and the 9th period another day in the week.  Since the lab wasn´t ready, we got to see these classes for both of their hours for English lab.

It is really interesting to see how classrooms vary from culture to culture.  German classrooms seemed to be rather teacher centered with students listening attentively, while US classrooms tend to be somewhat student centered and with students listening pretty well too.  Chilean classrooms seem to be rather teacher centered, but also with lots of side conversation throughout the class.  I had students work in partners, and they seemed to not be familiar with it.  I get a sense that my teaching style is going to be different than what they are used to, and I figure with time they will get used to it.

I felt pretty discouraged after teaching one particular class.  They weren´t listening, and over the course of about 20 minutes I had to take away the following things in the following order: cell phone, note, note, scissors, stars being cut out with scissors, paper being used to create said stars, note, note, nail polish (the two girls only got one nail painted on each of their hands) and a few more notes.  At the end of class I called for the class to stand and for me to dismiss them, and one student ran out of the class and a few more tried.  I went after him but wasn´t able to catch him.  Luckily one of the teachers recognized him and told me who he was.

It was somewhat comforting to me when I spoke with one of the teachers at the school and asked about how his class with them went.  He told me that it was really bad, and I asked him if he had to take anything from them.  His response was, ¨Yes, their lives¨.  I got a much needed laugh, and it put things into perspective that the kids were not just acting out becuase of me.

Despite this, I can say I am truly enjoying the teaching here.  The students for the most part speak pretty well and know a lot of English, and after having had them listen to Yesterday by The Beatles and dictate the lyrics I can see that they are eager to learn English.  Whenever I am walking around on campus, I hear ¨Hi Mr. Daniel! How are you?¨  And no matter how the kids act in class, it is nice hearing them speaking English and wanting to speak it with me outside class.

Thursday after school I got a new pair of clip ons (as I broke my first pair in half when they were in my pocket) and got my money changed to Argentinian pesos before I left.  I got to the bus station early and hung out at an internet cafe to kill some time.

At 10:15 I boarded the bus.  I traveled with Tur Bus, and they had it set up as a semi cama (semi bed) for each seat.  As we were going back and forth the winding road up the Andes, I thought to myself; ¨Right now I am crossing the Andes Mountains in South America going from Chile to Argentina.  This is pretty cool.¨ 

Around 1:15 we got to the customs/border patrol, and we sat on the bus for a while.  Then after about half an hour, we had to get out and show our tourist cards.  As we were waiting in line, I was wondering if Argentina is the only country where people (tourists, locals, and customs officials) can be smoking next to no smoking signs. 

We got on the bus again, creeped around the corner, and then had to get off again.  As we were waiting for them to X ray the luggage and search our carry on bags, I got to chat with 3 people that are from Germany and Holland who are studying in Santiago.  Then around 3:30 we once again got back on.

After fallling back asleep, I was awaken by my arm feeling wet.  It was raining, and apparently there was a leak in the bus.  Around 6:30 we finally arrived.  The first taxi I took was trying to overcharge me as he did not want to use the meter and didnt tell me it was broken, so I hopped out at the first corner we got to and then grabbed a new one.  The first taxi told me it would cost 15 pesos (which looking back at it was only 3 dollars) but the second taxi didn´t even cost 10 pesos using the meter.

The rain might alter my plans to go ziplining, mountain biking, trekking and repelling, and other adventure sports.  Apparently there are a lot of adventure sports to do here but also very good shopping.  It´s about 7:50 now, so breakfast is being served and there are some signs of people being awake.

I promise my next update will have more pictures and less writing.  :-)