2010 Chile: A Year in Pictures

Hey folks.
Here is link to some photos I've chosen to summarize my experience in Chile.

Click Here

Hope all is well with you.
good tidings!

Call It a Comeback

After a 8-hour bus ride from Angol to Santiago. After dragging my things through Santiago via metro and taxi. After a 10-hour flight from Santiago to Atlanta. After a 1hr and 7min flight to DC. After a 2-hour car ride from DC to Cumberland. I am finally home!

Many mixed feelings. Happy to be home. Sad to have left.

Most of the family came to see me off at the bus station. Tears fell as the farewells flew as I said "chao" to my Chilean family. My little sister and little cousins soaking my mama's outfit with their tears. My brother, Niko, avoiding my hug so that he could be the last one to say bye. Promises of my return someday was a calming assurance.
I will miss them dearly. I'm so fortunate to have fallen into such a loving family. My papas always told me how much I'm part of the family. How they love me as they love their own children, nieces, and nephews. Same with my tios (aunts and uncles) there. And my abuelos (grandparents). They all took me in and treated me as their own. I became a godfather to my little cousin for goodness sake! A big part of me did not want to leave. It was difficult.

Adjusting back to English wasn't very difficult. I had friends in Angol, other volunteer teachers, who I often hung out with. But on the airplane, I kept speaking to the flight attendant in Spanish. (She probably couldn't tell that I was from the US because I do look Chilean) In the airport, I walked into a store and seeing all the books and signs in English was quite alien. In the bathroom, I found myself looking for a toilet side trashcan to throw the toilet paper.

It was incredible to give my mom a great big hug when I arrived to DC. Such a good feeling. Walking out into a cold, brisk winter brought that 'christmas-y' feeling. It was nearly summer in Chile. Just last week I was basking in 80 degree weather, sweating underneath my hat. We drove and talked. I took a nap in the car. Not much sleep the past two nights of travel.
We stopped at a mall for some good ole Chinese food and to do a little Christmas shopping. In the shoe store, families speaking Spanish drew my attention and made me happy. I badly wanted to talk to them. But I didn't.

So now I'm home. sweet. home.

Looking back and looking forward.

Glad to be back.
Best wishes to you and your families this holiday season.

Summer Vacation in a Chilean December

Due to my downhill desire to write my thoughts (in other words, i'm lazy) I'll just show ya'll some pics. They can tell you more about my adventure the past couple of weeks better than I can.

Santiago





















Valparaíso

Viña del Mar






































La Serena









































Elqui Valley

Winding down

Time goes seemingly faster when you have an 'end date'. This week is my last week of teaching. Crazy. I often stop myself and look around to see what will soon be memories. Lately, I have been very busy making the "most of it". And for this reason I have not been a consistent blogger. I figure I would rather tell you in person about my recent adventures. There's no fun in repeating oneself, so just know that I'm having a time of my life.
Next week, I'll be in Santiago (the capital, for those of you who didn't know) for the final ceremony. Then it's about 10 days of travel. I have an open itinerary for adventure so who knows where I'll be. Then it's back to Angol for my Chilean brother's graduation and a final farewell fiesta.

Hope all is well with you!

Godpadre

I am a Godfather!
On Saturday, October 30, 2010, I stood beside my host parents, Fernando and Sandra, while my Chilean cousin, Agustina, was baptized.

Now I definitely have to come back to Chile to visit!

Muestra Gastronomica

Every year in Angol, food and drink is celebrated with a 2-day fiesta filled with music, dance, and terremotos (a drink that will make you feel like the ground is actually shaking if you have more than one).
Meats and veggies and punches and microbrews. Darkness came and as families left the party people stayed, and random people started recognizing me. Strange and random conversations, that I can't quite recall, insued.

Velcro kicks

It was beautiful out today. Definitely the hottest day so far this spring. I was chilling outside the front door with papa, cousins, uncle and beers and noticed the shoes my Tio Lucho was sporting. It reminded me of my kindergarten days before tying shoes was hip.






Shout out to my brother, Ray.
Happy Birthday!

New Song; "Lonely Out of My Mind"

Who is the "right one"?
How can a connection be so strong that it could last for a lifetime?
What is it like to feel that the one you're with is the one you will love forever?

All I have are questions.
And this song.

Click HERE for the link to my latest tune: "Lonely Out of My Mind"

Also, find my music on Facebook. My name is Ryan Villa Nueva.

Oh, Valdivia

Hurling at over 120km/hr, Rodrigo and I were making our way east towards Ruta 5, the main highway that runs through Chile like a main artery. Rodrigo, a supermarket man from Victoria, saw my thumb on Angol's city limits and picked me up. As we trucked along the Angol - Collipulli vein, we talked small and simple. Rodrigo was heading north to Santiago so he dropped me off in Collipulli and I waited for my next ride down south. After an hour waiting on the Ruta 5 entrance ramp, a man named Roberto Besara stopped and let me in his newly bought used white toyota pickup truck. Through a high pitched, lispy voice he jokingly warned me that a spare tire was not included in the sale so if we got a flat tire I might have to find another ride. He was heading to Temuco, about 1 1/2 south of Collipulli. I mentioned that I was making my way to Valdivia, coincidently where Roberto is from. Besides conversing about standard introductory matters, we moved on to talk more about Valdivia, the Mapuche natives of Chile, and Bill Clinton.

Later, friends that were in Temuco called and wanted to come along to Valdivia. After giving Roberto a US dollar as a gift of hitchhiking gratitude, I met up with Johnny Minnesota, Jess Wisconsin, and Melissa Missourri and hopped on a bus to Valdivia. Roberto cautioned me of the difficulty of hitching a ride for 4 people, especially since Valdivia lies on a vein about 40km west of Ruta 5.

Speaking of this main thoroughfare, Ruta 5, which according to Guinness World Records is the world's longest "motorable road", stretches from Alaska to the south of Chile. Around 4pm when school was getting out, schools near the highway released their student body, some of whom need to cross Ruta 5 to get home. Whizzing by kids walking along the side of the highway at 70mph just made me uneasy. Carefree teenagers took their sweet time in crossing. This is definitely something you'd never see in the US.

We arrived on a brisk, partly sunny afternoon. The sun dipping in and out of clouds made me

constantly second guess wearing my jacket. Valdivia is home to Austral University, and the youthful vibe of the city was apparent as soon as I stepped off the bus. Along the southern bank of Rio Calle Cale, people were out and about in their running shoes and biking shorts. Crew

teams were stroking oars on the river. Things were moving.

The gringo gang and I found a cabaña then ventured out to the market to buy burrito ingredients, Crystal cervezas, and pisco. Later that night, Johnny Minnesota and I set out into the Valdivia downtown. We stumbled onto Avenida Esmerelda and went into an Irish bar. The bartender was anxious to use his broken English. After a few minutes of spanglish, we started talking about the Inglés Abre Puertas teaching program. By unexpected chance, the bartender knew about the program and then proceeded to point to a regular sitting by himself at a table drinking a tall glass of Kuntsmann bock. "He is in program, too" claimed the bartender. "No me huevees" I said (which translates to something like "don't bullshit me"). Turns out that the loner was in our same program! Jeffery, a 20-something from Manhattan, is working at a high school about 45 minutes from Valdivia. He frequents the city on the weekends, especially this Irish bar. Jeff spoke with a true New York accent and his latino background brought about a quick and active personality. The way he interacted made me change the way I talked. I found myself saying things like "yeah, dog. I get you." and "true, yo." Though, it may have been the Kuntsmann cervezas talking.

The following day was exploratory. Lots of walking and looking. The gang of gringos journeyed out before me. Disregarding the existence of cell phones, I decided to go find them with the possibility of chance. Sure enough, after 45 minutes, I bumped into them on the other side of the river near Austral U. We explored more in search of microbrews. We saw sea lions sleeping and scratching themselves on floating docks.

I broke off from the group to play my guitar. I found a comfortable riverside lawn with a view and sang to myself. Blankets were flung open and small sidewalk shops opened to the increasing foot traffic. Valdivia was welcoming spring with a fireworks display. The sun set at 6:30 and two hours later the night sky was filled with kabooms of color. The connection I have of pyrotechnics and July 4th made me feel like I was home. It was a happy feeling. Oh, say can you see!

I enjoyed my visit to Valdivia. I only wish I had more time to explore the surrounding area that I've heard much about.

It was a sluggish Sunday. Overcast skies reflected my clouded head. And I made my way back to Angol.

3 Weeks: Sickness, Hitchhiking, and Independence Day

¡Pasó Agosto! There's a saying in Chile that sings to the tune of the passing of August. The welcoming of September means that one has been through the worst of the Chilean winter and has most likely avoided catching winter illness. They also say (well, my host father says) that August is the month in which the most old people die. So for the month to pass instead of your life is quite a relief. However, as you might assume, my gringo-filipino self does not adhere to said saying. Just in time for the weekend, on September 2nd, I got the sickness. I became a prisoner to my bed, entertained by what I had in reach; a book The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, a Pablo Neruda book of poems, and a computer full of pirated movies. I ended up missing all of the following week of classes so that I could fully recover.
After days of doctor recommended 'lots of rest and plenty of fluids' I felt better enough to make a trip to Temuco for a friend's birthday. My friend Johnny Minnesota and I decided to save some money and make our way there by thumb. It may be the case that we were extremely lucky or hitchhiking in Chile is really this easy, but the very first car stopped for us and brought us all the way to Temuco. It was a really nice guy named Pablo who works in paint sales. We arrived with plenty of time to kill so Johnny and I people-watched for a bit and walked around. Temuco is much bigger than Angol. Lots more commotion.

The following week was packed jam with activities. September 18th is when Chile celebrates their independence day. On a partly sunny Tuesday, I had the honor of marching in the school parade through downtown Angol wearing a borrowed brown suede suit jacket. After waiting over an hour, my school, Los Nogales Politécnico, marched a glorious 3 minutes down the sidewalk filled street passing the mayor and other notable Angolinos.

Los Nogales march!

The next day at school, each classroom was ornamented with historical Chilean backgrounds and adorned with tables of traditional foods. Special guests were invited to the event which included a presentation of the cueca (Chile's national dance) by the students. The Cueca is a simply intricate dance involving sequences of turns and fanciful footwork. It also involves vigorous but elegant right-handed revolutions of a handkerchief. Apparently, the dance is intended to mimic a courtship between rooster and hen. Luckily, days before, I had reviewed a cueca youtube video and had a quick lesson by my co-teacher to show off my amateur dance moves. I amazingly stuck the landings and turned appropriately. So much so that several impressed guests told me that I dance the cueca better than most chilenos (though I'm sure it was just a display of their fine southern-chile hospitality). Thanks youtube!
Thursday involved a professor shindig at the school with empanadas and wine. I later went to the plaza to watch my little cousin, Ignacia, dance in her school's show.

little cousin Ignacia ↑

That evening began El Dieciocho (The 18th) marathon. The next few days would be a wash-rinse-repeat of: eat-drink-dance-sleep.

↓victoria and fernanda dancing the cueca

In Angol, the place to be during El Dieciocho is called Las Ramadas. It resembles a county fair you'd find in a small corner of the American southeast, but in place of rides there were "fondas" to eat, drink and dance. Imagine big tent-like setups with lots of tree branches covering the ceilings and walls. Tens of taca taca (foosball) tables riddled the center of the area as the foot traffic moved herdlike, mostly counter-clockwise, visiting the fondas. Barrels of chicha (a liquor/wine made from grapes or apples) lined the perimeter. Traditionally, chicha is drunk from a cacho (a severed horn of a cattle).



All day and all night, the Angolinos celebrated. Some more than others. It's common to see an inebriated passed out on the street.
By Sunday, I had had enough. Enough meat. Enough empanadas. Enough beer. Enough pisco. Enough dancing. Enough 6am late-nights. Enough hangovers. I spent the afternoon at my host grandparents' house, napping a siesta and watching Chile's military parade on TV.

Tia Mín with antichuchos (kebabs)

↑ abuelo & papá tomando vino

↑ mamá with the meat

I had heard about Las Fiestas Patrias all year long and I believe it lived up to the hype. I had an incredible time celebrating with my friends, my host family, and random Chilenos who were amazed at finding out that I wasn't Chileno. This year actually marks Chile's' bicentennial. So happy 200th, Chile. ¡Viva Chile Mierda!

New Song: "I'll Say Yes"

¡Hola Todos!
Here is a link to my latest song. It's about how when learning another language there's a tendency to say "yes" to anything that anybody says to you. I've been in Chile for nearly 8 months now and my Spanish is awesome, but still I can't understand some of these Chilenos and I just say "yes!"

Click HERE for the link.

¡Disfruten!
Enjoy!

Tough Week

It's difficult to teach when students are getting up out of their seats, or blasting reggaeton music from their cell phones, or walking to the door and peering out, or having phone conversations, or drawing on their desks, or constantly asking to go to the bathroom.
It's been a frustrating week. But overall this second semester has gone swimmingly. I learned a lot from the first semester and have been more prepared in constructing a lesson and developing activities for the kids. I'm getting better at kicking out the meddlemongers.. those who disrupt the flow. It's not easy, though. I want all of the kids to learn and I try to give them entertaining activities to stimulate some sort of motivation. There are good days and bad days. Being prepared is what brings around the good days. I'm still adjusting to how I react to bad days. I yelled at the top of my lungs at one of my classes yesterday and kicked them all out of my class. I had some troublesome classes earlier on and all that frustrated anger exploded into amplified curse words. (in English of course).

Anyways, I'm doing my best to teach these kids something and I can tell who's progressing and who isn't. The majority of the students, maybe around 90%, are nowhere near interested in learning English. That's why I have to often play games in the class in order to keep them from falling asleep or doing all those crazy things aforementioned.

The students are always cool with me though. They always greet me and ask me how I am.

I don't regret for a second of coming down here to teach. I'm enjoying every moment of this trip and I can feel things changing. I'm different than I used to be, but still me.

But anyways..
apologies for the only every-now-and-then update. I haven't had internet at the house.



Hope all is well.
Be good.

Grinding

Not much to report.
The second semester began 2 and a half weeks ago and I'm finding myself in a daily grind.
I usually finish classes around 3 or 4. On Wednesdays I typically take a nap. Some days I study Spanish. Some days I play my guitar and attempt to learn cueca chilena music (it's kinda like chile's bluegrass). If it's nice out, I'll walk 12 minutes to the Plaza de Armas to read and people watch. Sometimes there's a blind man playing his accordion while his wife stands next to him with a black hat collecting tips. Old people are slowly moving about to find the right bench. Many schools let out around 5 and the kids take over the benches. I try to beat the sun home to avoid the cold that comes at night. Some days I just sit in bed and watch subtitled movies. Some days I'll stay in, make a fire in the little kitchen chimney and read.

I don't eat dinner here. Like many families here in Chile, my family has oncé. More often than not, I'm already sitting at the table watching Los Simpsons. Just like how Chileans find the American voices weird, I am still not used to the Spanish voices. My family comes to the table from wherever they were and we eat bread and palta (avocado), and drink coffee,tea or mate. Sometimes we might eat leftovers from lunch or once in a while make pizza or eat completos (hot dogs with palta, ketchup, mustard, and mayo).

I hear dogs barking a lot. There are many quiltros (stray dogs) that live outside and these walls are thin. These windows and walls are so thin that the cold seeps in and I can see my breath. I wear long johns underneath my pajamas. It's freezing after getting out of the shower and I shiver myself into a change of clothes. But, I'm not complaining. I'm accustomed to it.

Often at night I feel little earthquakes. My room is on the second floor and I can feel every single one. Some are a strong 2 second jolt. Others have lasted up to 20 seconds. I'm usually too sleepy to get up so I just ride it out.

Talking about sleepy. I'm gonna sleep a siesta right about now.
Maybe something will happen soon. A trip somewhere. Some sort of wild night. I don't know.
But I'll make sure something will happen soon and then I'll fill you in.

Chau!

Chileanueva.

English Winter Camp - Pucón

These kids bring out the goofy in me. They give me the chance to make funny noises, weird faces, and dance to nonexistent music without me feeling like a total insane-in-the-membrane weirdo. I like it.
I'm at camp. And here's a first for me: I'm the counselor! It's English Winter Camp in Pucón, Chile. There are many other week-long camps throughout the country with motivated Chilean kids who want to use/learn the English. They like-uh the English.

I made my way from Angol to Pucón on Sunday. The mini-bus hit a bump in the road and jolted me awake to an eye-opening view of Volcano Villarrica. The snow covered body of the colossal, conical composite volcano dominated the heavens more than the sky itself. In May, I conquered a 5-hour summit hike to the crater where I saw things I've never seen before. (Click on May in the blog archive for full story).

Having never been a camp counselor before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But with my time spent here in Chile, I've learned to keep an open mind and also to keep the toilet paper out of the toilet (they just throw it in a little trashcan beside the toilet here. and no it doesn't smell, suprisingly).

The camp was held at a high school called Liceo Hoteleria y Turismo. Staring outside its front doors, you can see incredible snow covered mountains. The back patio offers a view of Volcano Villarrica. It. was. awesome!

•looking out front

•view of volcano villarrica out back

The kids at camp were just phenomenal! Their English was very impressive and I could actually hold conversations with them. Plus, I gotta give props to kids who would sacrifice their winter break to be at a language camp!

We played games, sang songs, scavenge hunted for things in the city, and found gringo tourists walking around and bothered them with questions. We learned the song "Waving Flag", that World Cup song that has been absolutely overplayed and will soon be forgotten.

About 40 kids attended the camp and all were super! They actually listened to me!
We split the kids up into 4 groups.. 10 for each counselor. I had Team Tigers, Chris had Panthers, Hillary was with the Wolves, and Katie had Scorpions.
Each team had a chant and we had competitions between the groups for to win points. My awesome lazy tigers came in last place at the end of the week, but no importa. We went out with style.

•the counselors: hillary.me.chris.katie

I liked it when the kids would get excited about an activity as simple as making a poster. I liked it when the they would attempt to speak English to me. I annoying liked it when the girls would steal my hat and gloves. I liked it when the guys fought over what lunch soccer team they wanted me to play on. I liked the sight of snow on the mountains. I liked making fires in our cabin's small chimney. I liked singing Christmas songs. It was a great week.

The food that they fed the counselors for dinner was incredible, too! Alvaro, a chef that is also a professor at the school, cooked us exquisite dinners like salmon, steak, and pasta (gourmet style). It was frickin' delicious!

On Saturday, we ended the week with a Talent Show where the kids performed dances, songs and stories. It was hilarious and extremely entertaining. You just had to be there.

Truth is, I will probably never see those kids ever again. But what's important is that we had as much fun as possible with the time we had together. The majority of the connections that we make when we're young are temporary. I've learned to appreciate moments. If you don't acknowledge the importance of the moments you share with those special to you, your time will pass by much quicker than you would like.

Click HERE for a video of some pictures during the week

A July Winter Vacation

It's winter break in July! My world has been turned upside down and Summer is on the other side of the world.
It was late last Thursday, and I was sitting down on a cold bus station bench with Fernanda. Feña is an incredibly cute, but fierce, Chilena that I met a couple months ago at a bar where we danced until the lower single digit hours of the morning. We've been dating recently and she's great, but things are complicated and I won't get into it here. I hopped on the 11pm bus to Santiago with my gringo compañero Johnny from Minnesota. I was sleepy, but Don't Mess with The Zohan was showing so I laughed myself to sleep by watching the whole movie. Oh, Adam Sandler.

On Friday, after an incredible cup of real coffee (not that nescafe crap), Johnny Minnesota and I went for a walk with his Aunt's dog, Canella. The cool morning air was not the familiar bitter freeze that I know so well in Angol. It was a gorgeous day and I could see the enormous Andes Mountains that surround Santiago. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of the range in the distance before an awful smog settled in around 11 that morning.

•View of the Andes from barrio Ñuñoa in Santiago

That evening, the English Opens Doors program held a ceremony for those volunteers that completed the first semester and will be returning home. I was glad that I was not one of those receiving a certificate. I imagined myself, though, shaking the director's hand and packing my bags for home. I imagined leaving my friends and my Chilean family. I imagined leaving my students and teachers at my school. I imagined leaving Fernanda. I saw myself dropping my bags on the kitchen tile at my Cumberland home and giving my parents a hug like never before. I pictured myself laying on our nice leather sofa, channel surfing 70 channels (66 more than the tv in Angol).
Then I saw myself stuck. What am I gonna do now? Who am I going to speak Spanish to? How am I going to put to use the things I learned in Chile? Please, please don't send me back to the Country Club waiting tables for old grumpy ladies playing cards!
I snapped back to reality and grabbed a glass of wine. I love and miss my family and friends back home, but thank the Jesus Lord God that I'm not going back now.
I bade farewell to my friends and called it an early night. I had to wake up early to go SKIING!

Saturday morning started at 6:30am. Not easy with a filipinot noir hangover. Jordan and I had breakfast with his friend from work, Chloe, and we made our way out to meet some Australians. After a frustrating hour and half of renting equipment and waiting for the Australians to buy their precious vodka, we finally started making our way up to the Andes.
It was an incredible day and a beautiful drive up. We started hitting the curves that slowly ascend up the mountain and at about curve 25 or so, the car was having issues. The new VW bug, which brought flashbacks of my older brother's car in high school, was crapping out. Maybe it was out partying the night before like I was.
The Australians sent word of a small town at curve 40. We managed to slug bug up there without the white punchbuggy totally dying. We threw on our boots and gear and heel-toed down to the road to hitchhike the rest of the way up. In a hot minute, a small Chilean truck was waiting it's turn at the stop sign and we hopped into the back. The bed was ridden with lava rocks but I didn't care to get my pants dirty. The driver gunned it to 50+mph on the straightaways and the mountains were so big it felt like we weren't moving it all.

•Hitchhiking in the back of a pickup

The skiing was great and offered some great powder in parts and I'm glad I got to ski the Andes.
I forgot to bring goggles and I don't have sunglasses so I spent the day without a piece of glass separating me from the mountain. Later that night, I looked into the mirror and saw my eyes were a sun-burnt red. oops.

• Valle Nevado

Sunday was the World Cup final match: España vs. Holland. Friends and I watched the game in a crowded sports bar called California Cantina. I was for Spain and so was Octopus Paul. Thanks to Iniesta, we were both satisfied.

Monday, I played guitar in a Santiago metro station and made 3,500pesos (about $7).
Tuesday, I rode a train south with my friend Kelsea to a city called Talca. The train was súper, but the city wasn't. Many of the homes and buildings in Talca were destroyed in the earthquake in February. Quite sad. It was a simple night of pizza and movies.

•Off the train in Talca

•Tree from the train

Wednesday, plans changed and we decided to skip the trip to Chillán after hearing of similar earthquake tragedies that took place there.

Now I'm back in Angol for a few days and just relaxing.
Sunday, I will be going to Pucón to work at an English Winter Camp for the week.

Hope all of you back in the Northern Hemi are having a good summer! Send me some love once in a while. I love getting letters.
My mailing address is:
0181 Los Andes
Población El Rosario
Angol, Chile

OR just send me an email: villanrc@gmail.com


¡Espero que todo vaya bien!
Chau!

.Chileanueva