May was the longest month that somehow at the same tine just absolutely fleeeww by...I accompanied a group of 40 Andacollo students and 300 St. George (the other Holy Cross school) students on Trabajos de Invierno for 3 days. We worked to help repair, rebuild, and construct homes for the people in one of the poorest hills of Valparaíso. I think it was a really powerful experience for a lot of the students, not only to bear witness to a kind of suffering that is not present in their lives, but also being able to play a very small part in helping to betters these people's lives. I spent the day working on putting a new ceiling and siding on the house.
View up the hill
Before Trabajos de Invierno finished, I left with my boss Oliver to go up the coast to the Congregation's Retreat House in El Quisco. There we had the 8th grade jornada, Campamento de Integración. The purpose of this jornada was integration--to help the two 8th grade classes get to know one another before they are mixed going into high school. We did a lot of icebreaker activities, and spent time talking about the hopes and fears of the kids for the next year.
Icebreaker
Group Shot
Semana de San Andres came at the end of the month of May. This is a huge week for Pastoral--all of the classes participate in special activities learning about and celebrating the life of Saint Andres Bessette--the first Holy Cross saint. The kids made special billboards in their classrooms, participated in jeopardy-like competitions, and finished the week with a special day, Día de Acción Social. There was a formation in the morning filled with prayer, song and poems, and prizes, and ended with a dance done by the Cuarto Medio girls. The rest of day the kids all mixed up--the high schoolers went with the elementary kids to play games, have snack, and put on presentations of what it means to live a life of solidarity. The older kids all dressed up and everyone had a great time!
I had special visitors towards the end of the month--my friend Julia from childhood and her college friend Rav arrived in Santiago. They are making their way through South America, and stopped to see me :)) We went out to dinner the first night in Bellavista.
Julia, Rav, and I
They came and visited the school on Thursday before I had to teach, so I showed them around the school and we visited the Rector's office and one of the kindergarten classrooms. I think they really enjoyed seeing the kids and the madness that is Andacollo. On Friday we made our way to Valparaíso for a birthday getaway. (Julia and my birthday's are two days apart). Our hostel was in Cerro Alegre, which is the most historical and central hill in the city. It is also the area that is most traditionally "Valparaíso," with the street art and walkable streets. (Some of my favorite street art)
After breakfast on Saturday we made our way down the hill and towards the water, where we got a boat tour of the port. Valparaíso is the largest port city in Chile, and the tour also helped to give us a perspective of how the city is set up--basically houses upon houses upon houses--the farther back the poorer they are.
I got to the boat for a ratito
a look back into the hills
sea lions lounging about
boats in the port
We then made our way through the Plaza Sotomayor and back up the hill for lunch and then walked around a couple hills to Pablo Neruda's Valparaíso house. We did a tour of the house and wandered back to our hostel. Julia and Rav planned the next leg of their trip before we headed out to a DELICIOUS birthday dinner. On Sunday we kind of just wandered throughout the different streets, looking for cool art and fun places to eat ate--it was a perfect way to spend a Sunday. We left Valpo in the early afternoon so that we were back in Santiago for mass. I then took the girls over to Victor and family's house for once after mass.
Julia and I in the Plaza Sotomayor
rooftop coffee
Let us eat cake!
I unfortunately had to work a lot for Semana de San Andres so the girls spent Monday and Tuesday being tourists in Santiago and then we would hang out after my workday was done...Tuesday was my 23rd birthday! I was recieved tons of brazos and besitos all day from the students and staff. Some of the students even threw me a little surprise birthday party--full of cake, song, balloons, and laughter. I felt so loved :)) Julia, Rav, and I celebrated that night with a special dinner that they cooked and then we went out for beers.
Rav preparing the bread
Julia making the pasta
The girls left early on Wednesday morning for the second half of their adventure, and I finished the week off with a surprise birthday celebration with the ChACE girls on Sunday! It was a lovely day, full of presents, yummy food, delicious ice cream, and friendship :))
Carolyn, I, Tiz, and Laura
June should be a calmer month, as the semester comes to and end and winter takes over...make sure to send warm thoughts down my way!
