I am leaving Copiapo tomorrow, well, technically today. As often as they say it, time really does fly by fast, especially the end of things.
This past week was a little bit different than the rest. A week and a half ago all of the public service workers in Chile (including teachers in public schools) went on a national strike, petitioning for a 14.5% raise for everyone. There was a 48 hour strike last week, and then this Monday the government hadn’t responded, so we went on strike again. This time it lasted for 4 days. It was very frustrating for me, only because I desperately wanted this final week with my kids and had a lot of fun plans for our last classes. But by the time Friday came and we got to go back to school I was thankful just to be able to say goodbye to a lot of my students.
On the good side, I did get a lot done this week, and a lot of sleep, running, etc. Also, CREMA TRUFA (my favorite flavor) gelato came back to my favorite gelato shop last week!!!!! I’d been waiting for a month for them to get it back in….such a great day. On Thursday night all of the teachers and principle threw me a Goodbye Tea at my school…it was really awesome….tons of awesome food, almost all of the teachers came, and the director said some really nice things. I was very blessed to be placed in a school with an incredibly supportive administration and colleagues.
Today all of the volunteers from Copiapo and Caldera (8 of us in all) went with our families to Playa Ramada (Ramada Beach) to celebrate Heinz’s 23rd birthday and to have a final hurrah with everyone. It was a GREAT time…a lot of our host families were meeting each other for the first time, all the kids were playing, Joy’s host family just got a new puppy, etc. We also successfully built a 10-person pyramid :-)
Tomorrow I need to finish packing, and my bus leaves from Copiapo at 8pm, to arrive in Santiago at 7am. I’m planning to spend 2 days out in Vina del Mar, then we have program wrap-up in Santiago. After that we’re headed to the Lakes Region for a week, and then I head down to Patagonia for a week to hike Torres del Paine. Might not get to a blog update for awhile, so please pray for the following:
- Safe travels for all, back to Santiago and throughout South America
- A productive and fun program closing ceremonies, success on the very painful BULATs exam
- Preparation for our hearts and minds to return home in the next few weeks.
This past week was a little bit different than the rest. A week and a half ago all of the public service workers in Chile (including teachers in public schools) went on a national strike, petitioning for a 14.5% raise for everyone. There was a 48 hour strike last week, and then this Monday the government hadn’t responded, so we went on strike again. This time it lasted for 4 days. It was very frustrating for me, only because I desperately wanted this final week with my kids and had a lot of fun plans for our last classes. But by the time Friday came and we got to go back to school I was thankful just to be able to say goodbye to a lot of my students.
On the good side, I did get a lot done this week, and a lot of sleep, running, etc. Also, CREMA TRUFA (my favorite flavor) gelato came back to my favorite gelato shop last week!!!!! I’d been waiting for a month for them to get it back in….such a great day. On Thursday night all of the teachers and principle threw me a Goodbye Tea at my school…it was really awesome….tons of awesome food, almost all of the teachers came, and the director said some really nice things. I was very blessed to be placed in a school with an incredibly supportive administration and colleagues.
Today all of the volunteers from Copiapo and Caldera (8 of us in all) went with our families to Playa Ramada (Ramada Beach) to celebrate Heinz’s 23rd birthday and to have a final hurrah with everyone. It was a GREAT time…a lot of our host families were meeting each other for the first time, all the kids were playing, Joy’s host family just got a new puppy, etc. We also successfully built a 10-person pyramid :-)
Tomorrow I need to finish packing, and my bus leaves from Copiapo at 8pm, to arrive in Santiago at 7am. I’m planning to spend 2 days out in Vina del Mar, then we have program wrap-up in Santiago. After that we’re headed to the Lakes Region for a week, and then I head down to Patagonia for a week to hike Torres del Paine. Might not get to a blog update for awhile, so please pray for the following:
- Safe travels for all, back to Santiago and throughout South America
- A productive and fun program closing ceremonies, success on the very painful BULATs exam
- Preparation for our hearts and minds to return home in the next few weeks.
- The job search...that all the hiring freezes would end and that when I get hom I´d have an interview with 1 or 2 of the 21 jobs I have so far applied for.
Thank you all for everything over the past few months, and I can’t wait to see some of you soon!
~Steph~
Thank you all for everything over the past few months, and I can’t wait to see some of you soon!
~Steph~
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