In the past couple weeks the temperature has definitely dropped and it’s clear that it’s no longer summer :( We’ve have rain on several occasions and after each rain storm the temperature drops significantly. Lately it’s been nice during the afternoon but the mornings and nighttime get pretty cold. All this week I’ve seen people raking leaves… I can’t stop thinking that it’s October because there are leaves on the ground but eventually I remember that its April… somehow this just doesn’t seem right! I’m not quite used to the months and seasons not lining up according to what I believe is “correct.” Also you can tell that the seasons are changing because it’s getting dark out earlier and earlier every day. This past week when I was playing tennis they turned the lights on at 7:00 pm because it was getting quite dark out, the week before it wasn’t necessary to turn the lights on while we were playing… talk about fast changes.
In mid March I went to the coast with Evelyn and her friend Ceci and Ceci’s daughter Myra. The goal of this trip was to visit a family that Evelyn had become close with while living and working on the coast a few years ago. We had a good day, walked along the beach a little and stood where the Japan tsunami reached, haha. There was a lot of worry about the tsunami waves reaching Chile and many people were evacuated along the coast but fortunately nothing much happened. There were some big waves but I don’t think there was much damage. For lunch we had the hugest grilled fish I’ve ever seen and it was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately the day was cut short by our need to work the next day and the limited transportation that passes through the town and we had to leave before dinner time.
Throughout the month there have been many changes in girls in my house at the orphanage. A couple girls “left”… I’m not 100% sure what this means in all the cases but I know that some of them went to live with families that had been visiting them. I don’t know if these families are their biological families or not but at any rate it’s great for them but I will miss them. Since some girls left we also got new girls, they are doing good so far at adjusting to life at the orphanage.
A couple weekends ago we had a workshop on Popular Education with Domodungu. Popular Education is about learning by doing and having a more horizontal relationship between the facilitator and the students rather than learning solely based on memorizing facts and the teacher being the only one with knowledge and power. We are encouraged to use Popular Education in our workshops at Domodungu. We were up in Vilches for the workshop and on the last day a bunch of us went to pick blackberries. Evelyn and I filled a 3 Liter pop bottle with berries and her mom made blackberry jam that night :D, homemade jam really is the best!
At the end of March Sarah, Luz Maria, another lady and I went up to Vilches to do some hiking. Sarah wants to organize a day hiking trip to offer at Domodungu. We took the first bus up to Vilches at 8am and came back on the 5pm bus. The hike was nice but not too difficult or too long. It took us 2.5 hrs to go there and 1.5 hrs on the way back. There was a lot more uphill on the way there and we made more stops. Our final destination on the hike was a big marsh/swamp area. It’s not the most amazing destination but for a hiking trip with inexperienced hikers it will be good because it is a pretty area and most of the hike is through the forest. Probably the funniest part of the hike was the dog that acted as our “guide.” We saw him at the entrance to the park and he walked in front of us/led us the entire way. When we stopped for some water or a snack he would sit a little ways ahead of us on the trail and wait patiently until we were ready to go again :) It was really cute!
On March 28th we had an opening ceremony where we talked about all the workshops that will be offered during the semester, gave a tour of Domodungu and explained other important information about workshops and Domodungu in general. All in all it was a success and many people signed up immediately for workshops. This semester I am giving a “Healthy Cooking” workshop. It has been successful so far and the ladies have really enjoyed what we have been making. The first week we made banana bread and pumpkin bread. In the banana bread we substituted some of the flour for oatmeal and talked about why these breads would be better than making a regular pound cake which is the most common type of “cake” here (because these are sweet breads they call them cake here…). I also found a great handout about nutrition labels so we discussed that as well. Last week we made black bean burgers with oven fries and everyone was very impressed by the results :D I am also taking a few workshops at Domodungu. In addition to helping out with the library and the greenhouse I am taking crochet and yoga. Crochet has proved to be difficult but I’m slowly learning.
The first weekend in April there was a tennis tournament and the Talca Country Club where I played tennis in December. Since I hadn’t played since the very end of December I didn’t play in the tournament but I helped serve food at the snack stand my host dad runs. I had a good time and it reminded me of working at the Mighty Mites concession stand :D. I have started playing tennis again on Wednesday and Friday nights. I have a new coach now because the other one didn’t return after summer vacation.
Yesterday I went to a baptism for Evelyn’s friend’s daughter. The baptism was not part of a normal church service but its own separate ceremony. Later in the day we went to the baptism party which reminded me more of a wedding reception than a baptism party! There was lots of food, an open bar and dancing. A good time was had by all!
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the past month…
