A lot of work, that hardly seems like work at all.

I have felt very fortunate to have had the opportunity to stay in Chile. Volunteering as an English teacher in Chile only wet my appetite for work in educational development. My experience with the English Opens Doors Program has been rewarding and eye-opening.

So as you all know, after teaching for 6 months as a volunteer, I was asked to stay and develop classroom materials for Chilean English teachers and their future volunteers. I published a document that contains a sundry of listening and speaking activities (one activity per chapter in every English book grades 5-12), ESL teaching ideas, and other banks of practical info. It was a huge accomplishment and I was very proud to see my final draft...which looks more like an academic thesis.

Upon the completion of my precious material booklet, I helped my boss create workshops to train volunteers. I made power points, wrote up activities, and even gave some of the presentations. It was wonderful to be able to give back to the program by helping to improve the quality of English teaching done by the volunteers.


Last week, our 8-month volunteers arrived. My boss taught all of the presentations I created, but she allowed me to give one session on volunteer collaboration called "Creating our Community". First, I constructed a cultural activity where the volunteers were split into groups and have to take-on a "fictional culture". There were 3 cultures: 1. a culture that was loud, talkative, greeted by kissing and hugs, talked about their personal life, etc. 2. a culture that was shy, soft spoken, greeted by outstretched handshake, didn't make eye contact or like personal touch and 3. a culture that was formal, polite, greeted by bowing and sitting on the floor, and liked to flatter people. It was fun to sit-back and watch the interaction:

Then, after discussing the activity, I had them get to know each other in their regional small groups and then I gave a short presentation. After the volunteer training period, I realized that my time at English Opens Doors would be coming to an end.

The end of my contract for my current job is set for April 11th. I had wanted to stay longer but my boss, Alissa, said that there was no work on the volunteer side of the office. The English Opens Doors Program consists of many parts, and the EOD volunteers are only one of many projects funded by the Ministry of Education.

You see, to have a better understanding of the importance of the Program English Opens Doors, you must first take a peak at why it was created.

Chile realized that if they wanted to communicate with the world and take a part of international business and other affairs, the country would have to speak English. Therefore, in 2003, the country decided to do a country-wide evaluation of its actual English level. The evaluation consisted of 8000 students, 400 in middle school and 400 in high school. Only 4% of the students passed the test with an ALTE level of 2 out of a possible 5. But how do we explain the successful students or the 4%? =English teachers that actually spoke English and English teachers that conduct their class in English. (*remember from my volunteer experience that my co-teacher did not speak to me in English nor in class)

So, the country uncovered a problem that they needed to solve, thus founded the English Opens Doors Program. The program set goals to have all professors at at ALTE English level 3 (out of 5) and to have all students at an ALTE English level 2 before graduating high school. So all projects within the program support this common goal: to increase the students' English level so that they will have a higher chance of being successful in the future.

But like we discovered, students are successful only with competent teachers. So beginning in 2004, the country began to mandate that all English teachers take English placement tests. If the English teacher does not obtain a satisfactory score, he or she will have 2 years to improve the score or will have to leave the field. After the teacher (or teacher in training) places a ALTE 3 out of 5, the teacher can benefit from many of the projects offered by English Opens Doors Program included here:

1. Semestre Extranjero (free study abroad opportunities for University students studying to teach English in exchange for 2 years of teaching in a public school) This year they had a trip to London for current English teachers and all costs were covered by the Ministry of Education.

2. English Summer Town (a national wide conference, English immersion week for teachers)

3. Native English speaking volunteers (part time or full time)

4. Debates and Dialogue Competitions in English (eligible to enter students to compete)

5. And lastly, English Summer-Winter Camps

The Camps are designed for "alumnos talentosos" or advanced students. These camps are not designed to teach new English to students, but rather, to create authentic opportunities for the students to practice the English they have already learned in real contexts. The camps are held during the winter and summer break, to encourage that the students continue to perfect their English skills even when school is not in session.

This Wednesday afternoon, the head boss, Rodrigo, called me into his office to offer me a position. He asked me to be the project manager of the "English Camps". The project would be mine....I would have to develop activities or a curriculum plan/schedule, find Universities (providers) to carry out the English immersion camp, contact publicity agencies to advertise our project to find more possible providers, write the terms of reference, determine how to select the students to participate, and measure the impact or results.

So even though I felt somewhat unqualified, I took the job. I think that I could use my creativity to design a fun, English immersion camps. I know the word "camp" seems to sound unimportant, however, this project can make a difference. Not only will I be a project manager, but I will be running English events countrywide!!!

I think I am most excited about this challenge because it will allow me to teach English in a way I always dreamt to teach: by embedding vocabulary in every day experiences, such as learning a dance or cooking while speaking English. I mean, how do you learn a second language? By studying books? Or by actually speaking it in real situations...making mistakes...looking like a fool...building confidence...and practice, practice, practice?

I am sad that I will be away from my family and friends another 10 months, (though i am still coming home for 2 weeks in May to visit!) but this job couldn't be passed up. I can learn new skills, start to build my career, and impact the students in a more direct way.

With all the responsibility I have been given, it makes my knees shake a little bit. Wish me luck! I sure am gonna need it...

The fall is upon us.

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and the jackets are finally getting their first showing of the year; the summer is starting to wind down...and I'm going to miss it!

I found that in Chile, people are more house ridden when its cold, but quite the contrary in the summer. Everyone has been out-and-about the past few months in Santiago. My favorite thing to do when I had a free moment, was to take a stroll through a nearby park and "people watch." It was always very relaxing and heart warming to see the families pushing strollers, children eating cotton candy and riding rented go-carts, couples kissing in every grassy knoll...and speaking of couples, i went with Felipe, mi pololo, on a picnic a few weekends ago to make the most of the beautiful weather we are having.

So we sure have been blessed with sunshine, alright. Except for last Friday when a "monsoon" hit Santiago out of nowhere.

Last Friday, I had plans with Felipe to make sushi. We needed to head out to pick up a few more ingredients to start cooking, but just before we left, it started to rain.

Felipe voiced his annoyance of the rain, while I shouted with glee. He said, "No, you just don't understand. When it rains in Santiago, everything falls apart. It was not built for rain"....I couldn't imagine how the mixture of rain + Santiago would be anything abnormally bad, but I would find out soon enough.

Regardless of our feelings about the rain, we went out. We walked happily under our umbrella and when the rain started to fall harder, we ducked under a covered entryway. oh boy did we think we were clever! We even laughed at the "losers" that got stuck in the downpour. Everyone was completely drenched.

When the rain slowed down a few minutes later, we decided to take the chance and continue walking towards the supermarket. Now, granted, the only reason we decided to leave the house in the rain was because the supermarket is only about 4 blocks away. However, I started to realize what Felipe was talking about regarding the rain when we found ourselves stuck in the median of the main street we had to cross...

We didn't make it all the way across to the other side of the street. The rain had turned the main road into a muddy, street-juice river but of course, we didn't notice until we were halfway across. The other side of the street had accumulated a deep puddle the size of Texas on our direct path. There was no way around it. There was no turning back at this point. So we were stuck at the median and thus had to wait.

So if you use your creativity, you can picture these "sloppy seconds". With every passing car (the drivers weren't considerate enough to slow down), we were hit with a muddy splash. And we were hit on both sides. It was unmerciful.

But we kept going, determined to make sushi. We took the path through the metro tunnel instead, so that we could reach the other side. (Apparently, Felipe had suggested this route beforehand but i didn't hear him...so it made everything feel like my fault) However, when we came from underground, we were again surrounded by an endless, muddy puddle. We had been trapped by the rain, people, and angst in the air.

So i learned my lesson about the rain and i will never laugh at the unprepared people without an umbrella again...

And now that summer is leaving for good, this busy-bee (me) may just turn into a house ridden Chilean after all.