so i've really started getting comfortable here in los angeles. i have a regular school schedule which i can't complain about... i have school most days from 8-1ish, with random breaks here and there between those hours. not bad ey? buuut our routine has recently been interrupted by a teacher strike here in chile. the los angeles teachers started striking last monday (may 18th). some regions in the north have been on strike now for about 5 weeks. crazy, right? so apparently they are upset because the government hasn't paid them their 2007 and 2008 bonuses which are promised to them by the law. so needless to say, the teachers are out on the street marching every day while the kids are doing god knows what... sitting at home with/without parents. its bothersome to me, but i guess this kind of thing happens a lot here in chile. another perk to these kids' great education.
on the bright side of this whole protest... we get to travel! this past week, we took a five day vacation to beautiful island of chiloe. our adventure actually started in valdivia, which is about 4 hours south of los angeles. we took an "overnight" bus... we left at 1230am and arrived in valdivia around 430 in the morning. woopy. we were a tired bunch. kelly and i had an interesting time trying to get a hostal at that hour, but we ended up in a cute hostal overlooking the river.
so we spent a day in valdivia, visiting the town of niebla and the kuntsmann brewery. valdivia is actually a german settlement in chile and is known for being the mama of this delicious (okay, i dont like beer much, but everyone loves this beer) beer. you can buy it in the states, but its called patagonia instead of kuntsmann. dont ask me why. so go out and try some!
hal's family picked us up the next morning for our road trip to chiloe! we travelled with hal's host "sister" (okay its actually his mom but she doesnt want to be known as such), and three of his cousins. they rented a car and let
us tag along on their adventure. we did so much site seeing i couldn't begin to name all the places we saw. but in short, chiloe is known for old wooden churches (the oldest being the achao church built in 1730... made of all wood. no steel nails, just wooden pegs. it was beautiful), crafts (lots of knit work), and absolutely breathtaking views of the ocean and the numerous lakes around the lake region. we went to the national park of chiloe where ryan and i were able to cross a small river to get to the beach... thank goodness for those rain boots we brought to chile! please take a look at the pictures on my google site to see the amazing beauty we were able to endure while on this trip. absolutely breathtaking.
as for updates on the homefront...kelly and i joined a gym. those simple carbs are gettin to me (or i guess i should say they're GOING to my butt!). the gym should be a great opportunity to meet some new chilean friends!
so i'm going to continue relaxing in my pjs on this wonderful wednesday afternoon and try not to think about how much i actually kinda like this teacher's strike...
love you all!
on the bright side of this whole protest... we get to travel! this past week, we took a five day vacation to beautiful island of chiloe. our adventure actually started in valdivia, which is about 4 hours south of los angeles. we took an "overnight" bus... we left at 1230am and arrived in valdivia around 430 in the morning. woopy. we were a tired bunch. kelly and i had an interesting time trying to get a hostal at that hour, but we ended up in a cute hostal overlooking the river.
so we spent a day in valdivia, visiting the town of niebla and the kuntsmann brewery. valdivia is actually a german settlement in chile and is known for being the mama of this delicious (okay, i dont like beer much, but everyone loves this beer) beer. you can buy it in the states, but its called patagonia instead of kuntsmann. dont ask me why. so go out and try some!
hal's family picked us up the next morning for our road trip to chiloe! we travelled with hal's host "sister" (okay its actually his mom but she doesnt want to be known as such), and three of his cousins. they rented a car and let
us tag along on their adventure. we did so much site seeing i couldn't begin to name all the places we saw. but in short, chiloe is known for old wooden churches (the oldest being the achao church built in 1730... made of all wood. no steel nails, just wooden pegs. it was beautiful), crafts (lots of knit work), and absolutely breathtaking views of the ocean and the numerous lakes around the lake region. we went to the national park of chiloe where ryan and i were able to cross a small river to get to the beach... thank goodness for those rain boots we brought to chile! please take a look at the pictures on my google site to see the amazing beauty we were able to endure while on this trip. absolutely breathtaking.as for updates on the homefront...kelly and i joined a gym. those simple carbs are gettin to me (or i guess i should say they're GOING to my butt!). the gym should be a great opportunity to meet some new chilean friends!
so i'm going to continue relaxing in my pjs on this wonderful wednesday afternoon and try not to think about how much i actually kinda like this teacher's strike...
love you all!
So the strike will be going on indefinitely?! I can see why you’d be concerned for the kiddos. On the other hand, traveling sounds wonderful. Are there usually hostals at the various destinations you’re hitting? Or do you have to get creative with lodging from time to time? The church pictures are beautiful and the water is so still in the pictures above that it looks as if you’re floating in the clouds. In other news, I’m glad you’ll finally have a legitimate gym buddy. PS Skype!
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