Adios

I guess all things must come to an end sometime and now I am back in New Zealand, happy to be home but also missing El Bolson!!

My lovely class at Munduna farewelled me with presents and lots of hugs. Moni was such a sweet welcoming teacher to be with. The children gave me a key holder with some Patagonian flowers in it and Moni gave me a mate and yerba. I will treasure my momentos from El Bolson, and the wonderful people who welcomed me and made me feel so much at home.

Nancy, Vicky, Maria and I went out for dinner on the Friday night as I left the next morning to go to Bariloche and then to San Martin for the weekend. Nancy and Vicky were the AFS contacts who planned my visits and made me very welcome in their homes so many times during my stay in El Bolson.

I felt sad to say goodbye to Maria at the bus the next morning. It was freezing cold and very windy, definitely wintery. Only 23 pesos to travel to Bariloche-about $10NZ for a two hour bus ride. I managed to get a couple of hours shopping fitted in during my quick visit to Bariloche.

My month in Argentina was very special, I feel very priviliged to have shared in the lives of so many people and to have the experience of being in so many schools. My Spanish has improved so much but I did feel that I still have so much to learn. I hope I can continue to improve and find a way to continue speaking and practising.

Epuyen

Up early this morning!! I walked down to end of the road in the dark to meet Dianne, a teacher who works out at a new school in Epuyen. It was an interesting experience to go there as they have an environmental focus and all students must take classes in this. There are about 300 students.

They have a lovely big gymnasium, computer room, library and science labs so it is very well resourced, compared to many other schools in this area. The classrooms are quite small, there are usually between sixteen and twenty students in each class.

The students don't have any choice in what subjects they have. They take all the basic subjects plus the environmental ones, then just do a little Art, Music and PE to complement their curriculum.

Dianne is the English teacher, she goes out there once a month and the focus is on conversational English. However, the students needed a lot of coaxing to use English. A few were able to give a sentence. I certainly have a lot more understanding of how difficult it is to use another language and how small the steps need to be when you are learning!

Fiesta

The Anzac Biscuits turned out well but the Pavlova was just OK, it's always a challenge trying to cook in another country!! Even finding all the ingredients in the supermarket was interesting to say the least!! AFS had a stall at a fiesta organised by the Lago (Lake) Puelo community to celebrate the different cultures in the area for most of Saturday afternoon.

We sold food baked by the AFS students and me, representing food from a variety of countries. The money raised will go towards sending Francisco, a local student to Portugal, as an AFS student.

The Pav and biscuits were popular so we did our bit. The local TV network interviewed us and the microphone was stuck under my nose and I was asked what the ingredients of the Pavlova were!! Talking about stuttering and stammering as I tried to think of the words in Spanish!! So, maybe our Pavlova appeared on El Bolson TV.

There were a variety of dance groups and musicians performing all day. It was very interesting for me to see some of the Argentinean folk dances. Some of my students from Munduno were performing. It's starting to feel like home seeing my students at local events!!
Patrick, a NZ AFS student in Esquel did the Haka for the audience. Que cosa!!

While we were in the hall it started to rain and then when Maria and I went out shopping in the evening we noticed a fresh fall of snow on the mountains, just like a dusting of icing sugar on a rocky cake. It did seem strange going shopping at 7.30 on Saturday night!!

University

This morning I went to the opening of the University of Rio Cuarto's new building. The university has numerous campuses across the state, this one in El Bolson has been going for a couple of years. Maria, my host is the head of the university here so she has been hectically busy getting ready for this.

I heard the national anthem for the first time, it is quite a rousing song.

This afternoon, I am going to try to bake Anzac Biscuits and a Pavlova as the local AFS has a fiesta tomorrow at Lago Puelo. The idea is to raise money for a local student to go to Portugal as an AFS student. Hopefully we will be able to sell our products and help out. There are students from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Russia here so the AFS movement is quite strong.

The students do so well at picking up the language, they just have no fears about using it. Jono is from Christchurch and has been here about six weeks. he is here for a year.

Tonight we have the official AFS welcome so that starts at 9.00pm. Most things don't start until 9 or 9.30pm.

Teaching

Just in case everyone thinks I do nothing else but eat I will share some of my teaching experiences. I have been in a variety of schools, both public and private, primary and secondary. I enjoy my days in Munduno, where I am usually in the Grade One class. I am able to help the teacher with their reading and writing-it's about my level!! There are twenty five children in the class, they have little desks and sit in a group. there certainly isn't a lot of room as the classrooms are quite small. Most of the time there is whole class teaching, with the children showing different levels of achievement within this. The faster finishing sometimes have another activity to complete while the teacher helps those who are slower. The children are very friendly and try to chat.

I have given a number of talks about New Zealand, in Spanish so that is quite a challenge!! The children enjoy hearing about NZ, although most of them find it a challenge to eat Marmite!! They can't understand the Kiwi tastes. Yesterday I talked to a school (public) where many of the children are from the country and board at this school during the week. They had to take notes on my talk and many asked good questions afterwards.

Today I was at the secondary part of the private school and spent a couple of periods in a Spanish Grammar class and a couple of periods in a Biology class. The teachers work hard here as they have few resources and have to photocopy a lot. There is a lot of emphasis on memorising and passing exams but the levels of achievement seem to be very good. This is a bi lingual school so many of the children are here for the whole day, lessons in Spanish in the morning, then in English in the afternoon. Yesterday, I was in the English literature class where the equivalent of Year 11 were reading and discussing Lambs to the Slaughter. Most speak English quite well, although their accents are quite stilted and they needs lots more practice at speaking it. However, I wish my Spanish was as good as their English!!

I know I have learnt a lot of Spanish since being here but it would take a lot more time to become fluent. Trying to remember all the verbs and the different tenses is really a challenge. It is a complex language but I have gained confidence in speaking about certain things. When getting the taxi home the other night I was able to have a reasonable conversation with the taxi driver, telling him about New Zealand and why I was here. Little steps!! The problem is that I want to take big steps and then get a bit frustrated. When one is the learner it is quite a different experience to being the teacher. No doubt, it is a good experience to be on the other side of the fence!!

Cakes!

I am amazed at the beautiful cakes that they have here in Argentina. they look so good in the shops but at the weekend I had a beautiful home made chocolate cake. Rosa baked the cake and Roseana decorated it.

The strawberries came from further north and they were very sweet. First she cut the cake in half through the middle, then she filled it with Dulce con leche, which is really like condensed milk that has been boiled until it is the colour of caramel.

She then covered it with a thin layer of cream, to which she attached the cut strawberries, then she decorated it with chocolate. Quite delicious. She made such a beautiful job of it.

For lunch before this we had chicken stuffed with ham and cheese, cooked in the oven and then covered with a sauce made from cream, mushrooms and onions. Not so good for the cholesterol!! It did taste fantastic but the portions were just enormous!! We ate at 1.30pm and that was enough for the rest of the day. Many of the people are like that, they have the main meal in the middle of the day and just have something light at the end of the day. I do find it rather difficult to eat a big meal at ten or eleven at night then go straight to bed. However, our every day routine is a little different and our main meal is late at night.

Pascua.

Easter is celebrated from Thursday to Sunday here so all is back to normal today. The children in the Grade One class were sharing what they did for the break. Some had been to Bariloche but most spoke of visiting grandparents or friends for an asado.

I took the bus down to Esquel on Friday afternoon. The buses are fantastic here and they are well used. I was sitting upstairs in the front seat so I had a great view. Much appreciated when you are travelling a route for the first time. I am amazed how far some of the people travelled. Maria's daughter travelled from Buenos Aires, a twenty four hour bus ride and many people seemed to be going that distance. It is such an enormous country that I guess the buses are the easiest way for the people to travel. Of course there would also be many who would fly. The main cities are well serviced by all forms of transport.

The trip to Esquel took about two hours, the scenery reminded me of the Desert Road, but there were more mountains and hills in the background. Beautiful in its own way! Esquel is a larger town, the population is about 50,000. The mountains are beautiful down there but the town is quite barren, you miss the trees of El Bolson.

I was staying with friends so enjoyed being able to see them again, although the limitations of language does limit conversation. I often feel as though I'm in First Grade!! There are sign posts every two kilometers giving the distance to the bottom of Argentina. From Esquel it is still over 1700 kilometers to the bottom of the country.

Mi casa!

I am living in a log cabin about three kilometers from town. It is so quiet and peaceful out there. Maria has another little house out the back which she rents. The house is quite small, two bedrooms and a kitchen and Living area downstairs, then another area upstairs where Maria's son used to sleep, she uses it for an office and storage now.

The road I am living on leads up to Piltriquitron Mountain. The road is very bumpy and shakes the vehicle so much. Maria complains about the entendente every time we bump along the road. Like councils everywhere it is a challenge to get road maintenance done!!

There are beautiful roses in the garden and many of the flowers we grow at home also grow here.

A School Trip

I couldn´t help but feel how priviliged I am to be a part of so many fantastic experiences.
This morning I took the taxi into town at 7.30am and caught the bus to Bariloche. The buses here are very comfortable and many of them have beds as the distances covered are huge.

I got off the bus at La Escuela 150, most of the public schools here go by number!! It was about 8.25 and I was alone for 10 minutes but soon the sounds of school were evident. The bus arrived at 8.40 and the teachers soon after.

The children were very excited as they were going on a trip that day and I was to go with them. At the beginning of every day all schools raise the flag and play the national anthem, then at the end of the day they lower it. All the children had mate (a type of tea) or hot milk and a piece of bread with jam (if they want it) before the seniors went into school and the juniors lined up to get on the bus. We were accompanied by the junior teacher, an indigenous Maths teacher and the music teacher. The indigenous teacher was leading the trip as she was teaching the children about the trees and plants, how to recognise them and what they are used for.

We climbed up a mountain following a wellworn path. It was so dusty!! The children raced ahead disappearing in a hazy cloud of dust like a herd of cattle. It was so like a trip at home, the children were very well organised in groups and lots of stopping to count heads. The teachers are very enthusiastic and lovely with the children.

I learnt about some of the plants, many of them seem to be used for teas. We were joined by another male indigenous teacher and he led us on to the sacred area at the end of our walk. It was a little like going on to a marae, I walked with him at the front, then the girls behind, then the boys followed by the male teacher. The structure was made of wood similar to manuka, it was built in a semi circular shape, with a roof of sticks, then the side of the structure was covered in branches from the trees. This was built to one side of the area. In the centre was a large branch of a tree and this represented the centre of the world. We walked around in a circle a few times and I really wished I could understand more. I understood that the women and children sleep next to the wall of the structure, then there were pits where fires had been burning, then he said the men sleep behind that to protect the women and children.

I must try to find out more about the ceremonies that take place here. He said they would be here for three days. Like children all over the world going down was much easier so we were soon back at the bus.

The children all receive a meal at school, we had mashed potatoes, meat, lettuce and tomatoes. It was very tasty, they certainly look after the children. I´ll have to add the photos another day as my trusty WiFi connection isn´t working today so I couldn´t use my computor.

I came back to El Bolson in the school bus. The children on the bus were very friendly. A wonderful experience!!

Bariloche

On Saturday, Nancy and Marcello (AFS volunteer and husband) took Tahlia (an AFS student) and myself to visit Bariloche. It really is a beautiful place and reminds me of Queenstown in our South Island. We had a visit with Clarissa, who is an Français teacher in Bariloche. She spoke Spanish so beautifully we had a lovely visit. She was able to tell me about some Spanish songs that are suitable for teaching junior children. She even sung for me!

Llao Llao Hotel

We drove around the lake to Llao Llao, Which is a hotel that belongs to the Leading Hotels of the World group so very exclusive!! It is in the most beautiful setting, surrounded by water, mountains, trees and a golf course. Quite spectacular! From there we went into a National Park, the trees and flora were interesting, again some fantastic views.

While Marcello went to a meeting the ladies went shopping. Bariloche is known for its chocolate so it was very interesting to see all the window displays. The chocolate was impossible to resist! The shopping centers were very modern and lots of goods, Although many of them are obviously for tourists. I bought a couple of T Shirts, some CD's and some chocolate.

A Giant Easter Egg. Feliz Pascale.

We arrived home about 10.30pm, I was quite exhausted but my host was ready to go dancing! I do not know how these Argentineans keep up the pace!!

Asado Time!

Today is a holiday, the day of remembrance for the time that the military ruled the country. It is a perfect day, weather wise and I'm at the Jauja cafe downtown. Maria doesn't have the internet at home so they are becoming very used to me being here!! They make fabulous ice cream and chocolate so it's no hardship to be here.

We went out for lunch, we met up with a group of Maria's friends for an asado, the famous Argentinean BBQ. The home we went to had a special room for asado with a giant fireplace. The wood was burnt to one side and the coals were spread very sparingly under the frame, it took over an hour to cook the beef, pork and sausage that we ate. There were a variety of salads, coleslaw, potato and lettuce. The meat was quite delicious and the locals sure can eat lots of it. My head was spinning by the time the afternoon was over, I could understand some of what was spoken but really I struggled to understand the detail!! Never mind I must have patience!!

Lessons I've learnt!!

One of the first things you learn is the importance of the kiss!! Un beso. Every time you meet someone it's one kiss-cheek to cheek and even if you only chat for two minutes you kiss the same way to say Good bye. The expression that I love and you pick up very quickly is Chau which everyone seems to use to say, see you!

Mate is a very important part of the culture and some Argentineans seem to drink it continuously. They have a special container and a special pipe-like metal straw. The mate powder is put into the container, usually with sugar and then hot(not boiling) water is poured on to it. The unusual part for us is that it is a communal activity and the mate container is passed around from person to person. This can go on when riding in the car, in school, at work or just when sitting around in the afternoon. When you have had enough and don't want to be offered any more, then you say Gracias or Thank you.

Meal time are very different here. We start with breakfast or desayuno about 7.30am, it is usually a couple of pieces of french bread toasted, crackers, jam, cheese and coffee. In many places they also have pastries for breakfast.
Most people have a two or three hour siesta or break in the middle of the day, so lunch is quite important, we have had pasta and empanadas so far, both served with salad. Empanadas are delicious, basically a light pastry filled with chopped up beef with onion and other bits and pieces, or ham and cheese.
Dinner is served anywhere between 8.30 and 11.00pm!! It can be a variety of things, chicken, meat, potato chips, often followed by fruit.

The late meals do take a bit of getting used to!! My host, Maria lives a few kilometers out of town so I don't go home for lunch or siesta, I ahve been going to Vicky's, she is an AFS volunteer who has a Russian student, Jono the kiwi student often seems to be around as well.

Settling in!!

Here I am in El Bolson, I´ve survived my first classes!! I visited two schools this morning, both were Secondary Schools, one public and one private. There were about 30 students in the public school class and about 25 in the other school. All had been studying English so I managed to answer questions in a mixture of English and Spanish-Spanglish!!

The two AFS volunteers are very kind and try very hard to help. One of them, Nancy was my guide this morning and I am at Vicky´s for lunch, then she will take me to a bi lingual school this afternoon. Hopefully that will be a primary school.

Now, to back up a little-I arrived in Buenos Aires Friday afternoon, there were five NZ teachers so it was great to have a night together. An AFS volunteer met us at the airport and we came by van back to a hostel where we were to spend the night. We had an orientation at the head office, then another couple of volunteers took us on a walking tour of BA. We went down to the Port, crossed the Bridge of the Women, Puente de los Madres, walked past the presidential palace (The Pink Palace), past the National Bank and various statues, finally sitting down to dinner about 10.30pm. I had a big piece of meat with potato chips (a very traditional meal), it was only about $6.00.

Jo and Christine left to go to the Bus Station at 8.00am and Suzanne and I were taken to the national airport at 10.00am. I was welcomed at Bariloche with a big welcome sign by Maria, my host, Vicky(AFS) and Gigi, a friend of Maria´s daughter.

3 weeks to go

I know that I am going to El Bolson so it has been well researched on the net!!
I will be staying with Maria, who is also a teacher but I'm still waiting to hear which school I will be in.
There's lots to do at school, next week I head down to Massey for a 3 day course which is part of the course about Learning Languages to Year 10 that I have enrolled for.