Mari Mari de Temuco

That's Mapuzungun for "good morning".  I am writing from Temuco, about 600 kilometers south of Santiago.  It is an area with access to Mapuche communities, the largest indigenous population of Chile.  Less than 10 years ago, the Ministry of Education began an initiative to maintain indigenous language and culture in schools.  Some schools near here are designated as Intercultural Bilingual schools.  The indigenous language is not a language of instruction but teachers are representatives of the community, Mapuche language and culture are taught, and the curriculum is modified for cultural relevance.  I thought Temuco was where I would be placed for my project so when I was assigned to Santiago, I knew I had to visit to Temuco to learn more, and thanks to a professional development grant from Fulbright I am able to.  

I've had quite a few "I'm not in Kansas anymore" moments in Santiago, and here in Temuco I've already had a few, "I'm not in Santiago anymore" moments.  Stepping out of the airport, the air immediately felt different- more fresh and pure.  The sun is less harsh and the weather is very pleasant.  The airport was surrounded by green fields and hills and on the drive into town we passed three snow capped volcanoes in the distance.  

The starkest difference was the help I got from strangers in getting to my first school this morning.  The only address I had for the school was a km marker on a highway.  The public transportation is micro buses.

No website or google maps to know how to navigate these babies.

Without knowing any better, I hopped on a bus that said the name of the town I knew the school was in.  A while into the ride through a rural and remote area, the driver asked me where I was going (?!?!) and told me I was on the wrong bus.  He pulled over, hopped out, flagged down another bus and told the driver where I needed to go.  On that bus a woman told me to follow her when she got off and she graciously lead me to the bus stop of a another bus.  Then on that bus, another woman told me she was going near the school and that I could follow her.  We got off, crossed the highway under a bridge by a stream and she pointed me towards the school.  What a journey and what generosity.  

The school was wonderful.  Though not a bilingual school, the student body of this public school, is majority Mapuche.  A small public school with one class per grade level, it has lovely buildings, classrooms and staff.  I got to observe a few classes with the "hablante" from the Mapuche community who is the indigenous language and culture teacher.  It was very interesting to sit in on the class as one of the students and learn a bit of the language.  Although the instruction seems similar to the traditional methods I have observed in other schools, the school environment seemed special.  Maybe it was the unique population or it's isolated location, but it was pretty neat. The director was kind and attentive.    

Last night, I had a drinks with my "housemates" here.  Anne, the German AirBnB host, Angeline, another guest from Worcester, MA who speaks English with an Australian accent after living there for 10 years, and I were chatting away in Spanish, go figure.  Very interesting women to share the evening with!

But not everything is puppies and rainbows.  The last few blog posts have been full of gratitude and happiness.  But you can’t have the good without the bad, right? I'm so happy to have had a good day since the days leading up to it were less than stellar.  

At the end of last week I was just feeling a little bummed about humanity.  That feeling unfortunately pops up every once in a while.  Many people in Santiago "work" by selling goods (chocolate, ice cream, panty hose, plants . . ) on the street and on public transportation.  It's hard to imagine being able to make a reasonable living from those efforts.  It's such a harsh contrast to the business suits and the fancy cars that drive around.  Makes you feel grateful and guilty all at the same time.  

And also weariness struck.  Around Halloween, I cherish the photos of my friends and especially of their babies all dressed up and celebrating.  I know I'll see everyone again soon and I know that missing the Halloween bike ride for the first time in 5 years is a small price to pay for this adventure.   I’m not sure if that’s what triggered it or if it was just time, but I felt a little of what might have been homesickness.  Not that I wanted to go home.  I just had some longing feelings for the comforts home has to offer.  Yesterday, walking around the mall trying to find help to get my cell phone to work I was rambling to myself, "wouldn't it be nice to be somewhere with great customer service, to be able to communicate without any challenge, to be able to try on both shoes instead of just one in a shoe store. . . "

Actually, I think it was starting off in a new place again that did it.  I was feeling back to square one.  Anton decided to stay in Santiago, so I was alone again.  I was also waiting to hear back (still am) from people I was in touch with about school visits.  Sundays are rough too since mostly everything is closed down.  But hopefully today was a good indication of how the rest of the week here will go!