School Week

"School Week" sounds far less glamorous than "Semana del Colegio", but the craziness that was the three days leading up to our September vacations wasn't  lost in translation... not even a little bit.

So far from my experience working in my very posh Chilean school, School Week is in the top 3 things that I wish I could bring back with me to a Texas school eventually.
 (The other two things are actual recess for children of all ages.. like more than 10 minutes, because kids need to spend at least part of their day just being kids.. and the teacher uniform.  Seriously, I can't adequately describe my feelings for the delantal.  It simplifies life so much...it deserves a blog post all its own.. honestly)

Anyway, Semana del Colegio was a three-day break from all things academic organized entirely by the students for the students.  What would undoubtedly be called a "gigantic waste of time" in the United States, was so fun to watch unfold.  Obviously, something organized entirely by kids lacked what we might call, complete organization, and was more what we should call semi-organized chaos at times, but was something that every kid, from age 4-18 seemed to enjoy every second of.

The whole school was divided into 4 alianzas (including the teachers).  This year the theme was "International Festivals" and each teach had to prepare a presentation to start the week that included information about their particular festival (so I guess they did learn something) and costumes, and dancing... so much dancing.  My team was Red, and also Chinese New Year.  They made a giant paper mache dragon.  That happened.

Then, every minute of the next three days was scheduled in manner that had kids running, dancing, screaming, jumping, in every corner of the school.  There were choreographed dances, non-choreographed dances, teacher dances, basketball games, dodgeball games, trivia races, talent shows, sack races, a go-cart race, and even mini-dieciocho fondas.  There were even "Misiones Imposibles" recorded around town and played for all of our entertainment.  My favorite:  "Sit by someone on the metro, answer your phone and say "Tengo el cuerpo, que hago con el cuerpo?" Everything earned points that were added up little by little until the winner was announced between Cuecas on Friday.  Aside from the somewhat shocking costume choices and dance moves coming out of the conservative Catholic environment which are things that make you go... eep, the week was chalked full of smiles.

To sum up, these three days reminded me that there is so much more to school than being in class.  The kids took so much pride in what they were doing and in upholding the traditions of this yearly activity.  Chile has taught me in many ways to, for lack of a better way to put it, freaking chill out and stop worrying.  I think our schools in the US could use a little bit of this mentality before we create an entire generation of kids that hate school so much they confuse that with hating to learn. (You didn't pass the STAAR, now you don't get lunch with your friends for the entire year.... YOU ARE KIDDING ME!)  Learning happens even amid the chaos, and sometimes... you've just gotta DANCE!

Photo evidence: (the child on the right is 4th grade Chilean me... Down to the teeth, kind of nerdy demeanor and mad dance moves)

Presentations:

As Sarah put it... Casual goat.

This girl wore this handmade llama costume every day.

Huasos

Giant board games:

Sports:

Celebrations:

Friday Night Fútbol

The first Friday night of September in Texas is traditionally spent attending the first football game of the season. As a band director, it also came with anxiety about the first show in front of real live humans, and also the slightest twinge of guilt that you were secretly wishing for a loss to make sure marching season ended before Thanksgiving.  

The first Friday of September 2013 was spent at a stadium as well, but despite a few similarities, was a whole new experience.  We attended the World Cup Qualifier Game Chile vs. Venezuela at the Estadio Nacional here in Santiago.  We put on our official "La Roja" gear,I bought an obnoxious red, white and blue Horn thing, and we joined the masses migrating to the neighborhood of the stadium.  We arrived quite early to make sure we got decent seats with our cheapest tickets in the Galeria.  It was fun to watch the seats fill as game time neared.  At one point, I noticed some particularly enthusiastic Chilenos with painted faces behind us and asked them if they could do me the honor of painting my face to make me more Chilena for the night. They obliged, and also snapped photos the entire time.  I'm guessing there is hash tag gringaloca somewhere... No importa.

Gringos love Chile too.  

We participated in the wave, choruses of chants, and songs.  A few of my faves:

The ever so classic:  CHI!  LE!  CHI CHI CHI!  LE LE LE!  VIVA CHILE!!

The "we can't settle on the melody" :  Vamos!  Vamos Chilenos!  Esta noche... Tenemos que ganaaaaaaar!!

The very Chilean:  " se ganaron Los wueones"

The Obvio: "otro gol Chile otro gol"

The "leave it to the Chileans because those garabatos make me uncomfortable"....

Also, immediate noticeable cultural difference:  whistling= booing for us, as in, is a negative thing.  My favorite thing of the night was the surround sound of cat-calling (woo-wooooo) every time the Venezuelan goalie got the ball.

2nd favorite thing was when the random kid ran on the field in the last to minutes to give Alexis Sanchez a giant (creepy and a little long) bear hug.  We won 3-0 which means we qualified for the World Cup!  (Chile va al Mundial... Another song).

Warming up:

The military band even joined to play both Anthems (hence the flip-folders.  I admittedly judged them for not memorizing their music until they busted out another country's Anthem).

VIVA CHILE!

Dia de la Chilenidad

It is September in Chile, which means the celebrations of patriotism and a slow,yet noticeable, feeling of "play instead of work" is taking over the country. Fiestas Patrias are still more than a week away, but flags are beginning to fly and Cueca is being danced at every turn. (At free-Zumba in the park last week, the last two songs were Cueca because, and I quote, estamos en Septiembre.  Everyone apparently carries a handkerchief with them at all times just in case, and the other Gringa girls with me and I did our best to fake it.  Seriously... No idea).  This week, my school celebrated the day of the Chilean, where basically, they all thanked god for being Chilean and for Chile, danced, and ate empanadas.  September in Chile also means... Surrender to the fact that you will get fatter.

The parents brought pebre, bread, sopaipillas, and more.

Then the children killed with cuteness in their traditional dress, doing traditional dances from the different regions of Chile.

Easter Island:

The North:

A few teachers kicked it off with legit Cueca:

Then the 6th graders showed them what's up.

And the littlest ones just hopped around looking too adorable.

Afterwards, they had traditional Chilean games for the kids which included climbing poles, sack races, hopscotch and tug of war on concrete (obviously).  

September is a rad month to be here.  The amount of pride for country is contagious and heart-warming.