First day of second semester and who's this new English teacher?

We are all wide-eyed (or in some cases, just barely open-eyed after a two week vacation) and wonderous about meeting each other for the first time. I am still reeling from my transition from Portland's heat wave to landing in Chillán's mid winter chill, compounded by the lack of central heat in my new school. This is my first class of the ten I teach each week and my first group of the 400 students I will interact with each week. They are lovely, curious, edgy, worried, distracted, accepting seniors. This class is one of three who are all girls, the remaining seven are co-ed. All of my students are seniors on a wide spectrum of interest and ability in English. Language barriers are transcended by a genuine desire to connect. I am in the unique position of teaching English in Chile while not being fluent in Spanish. There is something magical in sharing the same learning curve with my students. In many ways it levels the playing field and heightens the receptivity from both ends. Welcome to Chile, Miss.

Donde está La Presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet?

Here we have most of the U.S. Fulbright teachers on a whirlwind tour of Santiago. Currently we are at the Palacio de la Moneda where it was intimated that we might actually meet President Bachelet. Of course I was ecstatic and replaying the script in my head of what I would say in my paltry Spanish. Alas, she had more important business to address (imagine that!!) than meeting a group of starstruck teachers from all points in the United States.

Buen viaje Catherine

Catherine left Portland today for Chile. As you can imagine, packing for a whole year presented some challenges, but we eventually fit everything into suitcases and got her on the plane. Whew! The past couple of weeks has been hectic and full of anticipation. Now the trip really begins.
Dan will be heading down to Chile three weeks from now after cleaning up the house for the incoming renters and hanging around to meet Rodrigo, Catherine's exchange teacher, when he arrives from Chile in early August.

First post

Catherine and Dan are just getting ready to leave for a year's trip to live in Chile. Catherine has a Fulbright teacher exchange and will be teaching English in Chillán, a medium-sized city in about 4 hours south of Santiago in the central valley. Dan will be hanging out and practicing his spanish with the abuelas en el mercado.

Click the map to the right to zoom in on an annotated map of Chile