When in Chile...

I got to have tecito with my English co-teacher yesterday afternoon, which not only included tea and bread, but the Chilean favorite, completos. I thought I'd put in my two cents and describe how to make a real completo. You must have the following ingredients:
Hot dogs
Fresh hot dog buns
mashed avocado
diced tomatoes
mayo
ahi (chilean hot sauce, optional)
ketchup

Heat up the hot dogs and put between hot dog bun. Layer mashed avocado, tomatoes, mayo and other condiments as preferred. Consume all ingredients at one time. If available, eat your completo on a completo holder-- a plastic hot dog tray that looks similar to a butter tray (I wondered why each person needed their own butter tray!) I opt. not to put mayo on mine. To add to the experience, you must have tecito with friends and family and gossip about the latest scandal with Cecilia, the ex Chilean Miss Universe, and her patos negros after the paparazzi caught her naked in her backyard with a lover, or whether Lisa will find a Chilean boyfriend that is not over the age of 40 and is not her religion teacher (my teacher's latest favorite joke).Gift from Tia Karina and Tia Sylvia (the kinder teachers) for Mother's Day (from two single, child-free women to another!)

I'm still in love with all of my students in a way only a teacher could love her students! More so, because I realize how fortunate I am to work at Cerro Moreno after visiting the liceo in Mejillones with Rio (sorry, Rio). Yes, the high school students really did climb in and out of the window of her classroom and made kissy noises through the hole in the door. Yes, they really love Rio in a way that students SHOULDN'T love their teacher (their favorite phraes in English is "I love you") and graffitti hearts bearing their name and the teacher's name. And, yes, they really did ask me if I wanted to run with them after smoking a joint. And I do find it odd that their finger nails are unusually long, and not as a fashion sense, mind you. So, yesterday, when my third grader who may have some sort of autism gave me his favorite marble and held my hand on our way to class, I couldn't help but feel I was in the right place! Weeks before, the same student was playing with a red rubble ball in class, which I confiscated, and for the rest of class he sat there with his head down the entire time! Perhaps I am making more progress in the school than I imagined. I admire my little second graders who could identify the entire list of vocabulary I had of food words and categorize them in my food pyramid (yes, I'm putting my nutrition degree in use!). I think the next couple months are going to go by too quickly.