Semana de Aniversario

Schools in Chile celebrate their anniversary, or inception, with a week of special activities for the students. This usually means the students have less class time and they participate in competitions between the different grades. Basically, the equivalent to homecoming/spirit week for
Vero's birthday celebration us. My school was founded on May 4th 1955 as a school for 1st through 4th graders and in 1964 was reclassified as a primary school for grades 1st through 1165 Chillan 8th. Since 1989, the school took on the name of the director at the time, Edda Cuneo Donaggio. Anyway, it's a small pink school that serves the families of the air base at Cerro Moreno. Class sizes and the intimacy of the school faculty resembles that of the private schools in Chile. Families of the military are exempt from paying for their homes on the base, as their

Feliz Dia Mama Torta
family members are serving the country, so the families are able to spend their money elsewhere. Yes, this may mean my students are somewhat spoiled by their lifestyle, but their parents are also more involved with their
Vero
education and put more restrictions on their children. Monday, the kinders, 1st grade v. 2nd grade, and 3rd vs. 4th grades competed in "baby futbol" or soccer with a handball. One of my little students (a first grader, I believe) began to cry after losing to the second graders! Futbol (soccer) is a huge passion in this country (Cola Cola, a national team, is the equivalent to the Red Sox... rowdy fans notorious for infamy during game time) There was more baby futbol between the older grades on Tuesday and the fathers played their own game of futbol in the evening. Wednesday evening, I helped judge "Si lo Sabe Cante" where the mothers competed to determine who knew songs the best. Groups of mothers representing each grade sat and listened to a portion of music. The mothers who knew the song had to run over to a bell. The first one to ring it then had to sing the song. One mother of an 8th grader argued with us at the end of the game as we didn't accept her singing! Even the next day, myself and the other teachers crossed her path, and she brought it up again! She wouldn't let it go. (hmmm... sounds familiar to Paly mothers) There was also handball games between the girls of each grade and the school's version of Peloton ("Survivor") Thursday there were dancing competitions between the younger grades (pre-school through 4th grade). Friday, I went to a Cayo Coco ("Fallen Coconut") with the teachers and we had some eats and drinks while listening to a professional singer. Some nights the bar offers karaoke, but I was a pooper and left early around 1am (most of them stayed at the bar until 2:30am) The singer sang three songs in English: "Easy like Sunday Morning," "Eternal Flame," and "Man, I Feel Like A Woman" I think that our school scored the highest on the national test for our region and tomorrow the mayor of the city and Fundacion Escondida (a mining company that controls a huge portion of the city) is coming to visit our school. We're also giving our English tests this week (the students have monthly exams in each subject). But Friday, we have Kermesses... like a food fair where each grade prepares food to sell at the school and there is a school dance. The festivity starts at 8:30 on Friday and goes on until 1am, although I might head back to the city earlier.
Cerro Moreno
Sunday, for Mother's Day, my host sister Barby and I prepared a special lunch (the biggest meal of the day) for my host mother and host sister. Barby and I bought chicken thighs, cream of mushroom soup, and salad fixins (I bet you can guess what I made). Yes, I decided we would prepare the classic Campbell's soup recipe only we had to use powdered soup instead because the

7th grade girls handball team
store didn't have Campbell's. Being inexperienced chefs, Barby and I started trimming the chicken first as that would take the longest. Halfway through cutting vegetables for our salad, I realized my host sister gave me the same cutting board used for the chicken as for the raw veggies. My dietitian/US mind wondered how on earth I lasted a month in this country without getting sick, but we continued cooking. We had to use my 1.5 yr. old brother's powdered milk to make the powdered cream of mushroom soup. Before you make up your mind about my meal, I have to let you know they loved it and the chicken was perfect. We had a freak out moment because
Kinder baby futbol
the chicken was so thick it was cooked on both sides but not in the center (over the stove top). So I wrapped the chicken in tin foil and baked it in our mini oven (which only heats to 250) for the rest of the time. Salads here are plated with each ingredient sectioned separately and the individual mixes everything together. I added herbs and toasted almonds as condiments to the dish, but I think I was the only one that took advantage of them! So, in the end, we had prepared a Chilean version of my American dish. =) I may try something new like won tons (wantanes, in Spanish) in a soup form. My friend Olivia and I also found a supermarket that sells foreign foods like peanut butter (thank heaven!), taco ingredients, and asian condiments like soy sauce. And so ended another amazing week in Chile!

Me and Teachers of E-88 at Cayo Coco