Greetings from Valdevia!
Sorry for the delay in information... We have been muchos busy!!
I will start with Friday the 7th... as that is where we last left off!
Friday
We carried out the usual drill- u´know, up-breakfast-out... and met Loreto at the Metro station, jumped aboard the metro, and met with Karin. They were to be our tour guides for the day and a great support for the buying of resources. This place was like a cheap version of Staples... Teacher Heaven!! If only we had one of these in the UK!!!
It has to be said that Char, Sam and Rach did really well at keeping their overwhelming desire to buy stationary at bay whilst in the shop - full marks!
We managed to find nearly all the resources we wanted - and bobbed across the street to buy wool - top marks to Linz who successfully ordered and bought a variety of colours of wool for us!
We then caught the metro along to the bus station to buy our tickets to Valdevia for the 12 hour bus ride... eeeek!!!
Karin and Loretto took us to a restaurant for lunch, it was really nice, most of us tried a random pizza, Charlottes came with nearly a whole pigs worth of pork on the top, Rach had "4 seasons", Linz a variety of meats, Kirsty had "Tropical" - banana, pineapple and cherries, Sam and Helen went half and half on a Mussels pizza and a "Tropical" pizza... main and desert on a pizza!!! We also had papas fritas!! (Chips!) for the first time since leaving the UK! The food was really nice and we were all stuffed!
After lunch Loretto left us - but first took us to see her office (where we could store some resources for Camp Callejones), we went up in the normal lift but came back down in the service lift... very exciting!
We then visited the museum outside the Presidents building, and Karin came to accompany us. It had artefacts and exhibitions about some of the surrounding Islands.
We went to the Supermarkado to buy supplies so that Kirsty and Lindsey could cook a suprise tea... lemon chicken, veg and fresh salad... yum! We then ordered the session plans ready for Camp Callejones... provisionally anyway :P
Then a very tired set of people headed to the land of nod...
... Saturday
Today started quite gently, up and ready, then Char and Rach headed to the Supermarkado for food supplies for the next few days, Kirsty and Linz headed to investigate the corner market and Sam and Helen stayed at the hostel to email documents and info to Karin (in German and Spanish respectively) bravo!!
Helen and Sam had a caterpillar session on the sofa (in our sleeping bags to keep our feet warm!)
Cheese, avacado and salami sandwiches later we dressed to meet Manuel. Once Helen and Sam got outside they realised the hostel was a fridge and had to de-layer (as did others) 'cos the sun was warm!
Half an hours drive from Santiago to Lampa for an afternoon of activities with local children. We all began by supporting children on a giant bouncy castle slide. Rach and Sam then went to help 'control the line' for facepainting... a few paints in hand and we were painting 'Princessa' (Princesses) and ´Hombre aranya' (Spiderman) and... rabbits... a word I STILL can't remember how to pronounce... and trust me... I should be able to remember!! (This was Sams crash course into the face painting world!!) Soon Charl, Helen, Linz and Kirsty also came to join us in the madness of the facepaints!! Once the queue had gone we turned on each other... all ready and raring to continue on the facepainting... trust me, you want to see photos of this!! We were all covered, clothes and any available skin... but it was a great laugh!! We sang songs with Mauel and his Guias y Scouts and then made our way home... many attempts to get clean, face wipes and lots of washing in the shower but we STILL have shadows and colours on our arms... thankfully our faces are clean!!
The weather that day was lovely - we went out in long sleeved tops with t shirts over the top and were warm enough... until the sun set. As soon as the sun drops the temperature changes a lot!!
We had Chile for tea - thanks Rach and Char - then a relaxed evening catching up on journals.
Sunday
Most of Sunday was spent on the bus to Valdevia. 9.30am departure... 8.40pm arrival at Valdevia.
We were met by Andrea and 3 other Guias leaders from Valdevia. They took us to the hotel we were to stay in and then we had a chat about the plans for the week (We are in Valdevia until Thursday evening)...
We are going to visit schools, but this will follow when we've done it!! We are currently waiting for Andrea to collect us... so...
TTFN!! Team Chile xx
Monday, 10 August 2009
Friday, 7 August 2009
The one when they made it to Chile (the catch up entry)...
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
Greetings from Chile!!
We packed, we said thanks, we jumped aboard the minibus, arrived at the airport, caught the plane ON TIME (hoorah for Air France!) The plane was clean, we got nice food and great service. BA were not so good! We then waited in CDG airport, Paris, for our connecting flight... we made it! The plane was ready for takeoff and off we went - 3 languages they did the announcements in!
(approx.) 4 films each - great film choices, and some sleep, a hot meal, ice cream and breakfast and the seatbelt sign came on as we began our decent over the Andes.
It has to be noted at this point that we all had interesting experience with a variety of neighbours on the plane, some friendly, some not so much, a range of seat positions from the passenger infront but we all survived fit, well and ready for Chile (albeit a little tired, and out of sync time wise!!)
The view of the Andes from the plane window was amazing. This first glimpse was just what we needed to inspire us from the journey. The snow capped peaks in the early light looked grand. (We have some photos)
We were pleased to find 4 bags at baggage reclaim (YAY they made it with us!!), A Chile SIM, no searches at customs, paid for the minibus, 2 bags from baggage reclaim (LAN office) 6 excited GGUK members and we were in a minibus on the way to the hostel.
The hostel is simple, yet does the job well, although Sam and Rach don't like the feather covers on the bed - allergies = boo!! But it's ok as we are sleeping in our own sleeping bags :)
Day one was spent calling round our Chilean hosts "We are in Chile!!", and adventure out to the shops to buy supplies for lunch, a lovely lunch (the biggest bag of crisps ever seen) cheese and ham sandwiches, juice and then it was power-nap time! A snooze, a shower and a walk out later and we were sat in a Plaza enjoying a meal.
Rabbit, Pork, Steak and Tuna later and we were well fed and ready for bed... at 9pm Chile time!! (our bodies thought it was 3am Madrid time!!)
Thursday
5am Chile time, a club next door (we could hear the baseline) and a toilet stop 'cos our bodies thought it was 11am! and back to sleep we all went. 8.30 hostel breakfast hallulla (bread rolls), butter and jam - yum! A good ol' cuppa tea (coffee for Kirsty) and we were ready and raring to go!!
We went into Santiago to explore the city, get bearings, begin to look for resources, and investigate bus tickets for travel elsewhere in Chile.
Cerro Santa Lucia - we climbed up many steps to the top and the view was fantastic!! On the way down, whilst we were on narrow steps we all were... awoken... by a canon firing - right above our heads!!! This was a subtle way of letting us know it was 12pm....!!
An empenada for lunch (bit like a pastie) and we were ready to make the journey back to the hostel via the Supermarkado so that Sam and Helen could buy ingredients for a superb tea!
Pasta, tuna, tomato sauce, courgettes, pepper, onion, tomato... yum yum yum!! Too much food though, but everyone was well fed!! We can work on portion control :P
We went to get ready for our meeting... then someone arrived for us 30 mins early "it's just like INTOPS!!!"
5 mins and we were all ready and waiting for car 2 to arrive so we could be driven to headquaters.
Headquarters was great (albeit a bit Chile-y! jajajajajaja)they have a lovely door with their emblem painted on. We went upstairs and the meeting began. We were introduced to everyone who was around, who decided they wanted to come and look at us. 2 pieces of cake, numerous biccies, a couple of 'brews later and we were more knowledgable about the way the Guiding in Chile works. Charlotte had a plan. We had a team photo and off we went back to the hostel.
Here Charlotte shared the plan with us, and so we all know what is planned... but remember... this is GOLD!!
The people who welcomed us, and who will be working with us on the camp at Callejones were really friendly, they were open to discussion, made us feel welcome and very excited! and they (mostly) spoke fantastic English!! Once again Rach used her Spanish skills to communicate, and Sam even got to use some of her rusty German!! fun fun times!!!
Off to bed again... and ready for resource shopping in the morning...
TTFN... Team Chile... From Chile!!!!
Greetings from Chile!!
We packed, we said thanks, we jumped aboard the minibus, arrived at the airport, caught the plane ON TIME (hoorah for Air France!) The plane was clean, we got nice food and great service. BA were not so good! We then waited in CDG airport, Paris, for our connecting flight... we made it! The plane was ready for takeoff and off we went - 3 languages they did the announcements in!
(approx.) 4 films each - great film choices, and some sleep, a hot meal, ice cream and breakfast and the seatbelt sign came on as we began our decent over the Andes.
It has to be noted at this point that we all had interesting experience with a variety of neighbours on the plane, some friendly, some not so much, a range of seat positions from the passenger infront but we all survived fit, well and ready for Chile (albeit a little tired, and out of sync time wise!!)
The view of the Andes from the plane window was amazing. This first glimpse was just what we needed to inspire us from the journey. The snow capped peaks in the early light looked grand. (We have some photos)
We were pleased to find 4 bags at baggage reclaim (YAY they made it with us!!), A Chile SIM, no searches at customs, paid for the minibus, 2 bags from baggage reclaim (LAN office) 6 excited GGUK members and we were in a minibus on the way to the hostel.
The hostel is simple, yet does the job well, although Sam and Rach don't like the feather covers on the bed - allergies = boo!! But it's ok as we are sleeping in our own sleeping bags :)
Day one was spent calling round our Chilean hosts "We are in Chile!!", and adventure out to the shops to buy supplies for lunch, a lovely lunch (the biggest bag of crisps ever seen) cheese and ham sandwiches, juice and then it was power-nap time! A snooze, a shower and a walk out later and we were sat in a Plaza enjoying a meal.
Rabbit, Pork, Steak and Tuna later and we were well fed and ready for bed... at 9pm Chile time!! (our bodies thought it was 3am Madrid time!!)
Thursday
5am Chile time, a club next door (we could hear the baseline) and a toilet stop 'cos our bodies thought it was 11am! and back to sleep we all went. 8.30 hostel breakfast hallulla (bread rolls), butter and jam - yum! A good ol' cuppa tea (coffee for Kirsty) and we were ready and raring to go!!
We went into Santiago to explore the city, get bearings, begin to look for resources, and investigate bus tickets for travel elsewhere in Chile.
Cerro Santa Lucia - we climbed up many steps to the top and the view was fantastic!! On the way down, whilst we were on narrow steps we all were... awoken... by a canon firing - right above our heads!!! This was a subtle way of letting us know it was 12pm....!!
An empenada for lunch (bit like a pastie) and we were ready to make the journey back to the hostel via the Supermarkado so that Sam and Helen could buy ingredients for a superb tea!
Pasta, tuna, tomato sauce, courgettes, pepper, onion, tomato... yum yum yum!! Too much food though, but everyone was well fed!! We can work on portion control :P
We went to get ready for our meeting... then someone arrived for us 30 mins early "it's just like INTOPS!!!"
5 mins and we were all ready and waiting for car 2 to arrive so we could be driven to headquaters.
Headquarters was great (albeit a bit Chile-y! jajajajajaja)they have a lovely door with their emblem painted on. We went upstairs and the meeting began. We were introduced to everyone who was around, who decided they wanted to come and look at us. 2 pieces of cake, numerous biccies, a couple of 'brews later and we were more knowledgable about the way the Guiding in Chile works. Charlotte had a plan. We had a team photo and off we went back to the hostel.
Here Charlotte shared the plan with us, and so we all know what is planned... but remember... this is GOLD!!
The people who welcomed us, and who will be working with us on the camp at Callejones were really friendly, they were open to discussion, made us feel welcome and very excited! and they (mostly) spoke fantastic English!! Once again Rach used her Spanish skills to communicate, and Sam even got to use some of her rusty German!! fun fun times!!!
Off to bed again... and ready for resource shopping in the morning...
TTFN... Team Chile... From Chile!!!!
Monday, 3 August 2009
The one with the busy hotel...
For some reason tonight the hotel seems a lot busier than usual... Either some other mass of people have had flight issues, or this hotel's used by holiday-makers too, which we were not sure about.
Linz and Kirsty ventured out into the 'real world' in search of pop, crisps and stamps. Unfortunately the only thing they didn't manage to find was stamps... the Tabac was closed we'll try again tomorrow!!
Today we spent the morning concentrating on our programme planning again. We are nearly finished making the sessions coherent in Spanish as well as English, which will make things much eaier when we are out there - a productive use of time! We sat out in the gardens, shared dictionaries and bottles of pop and kept the momentum going on the writing out of translations whilst learning a few words aloud along the way.
After successfully giving the room numbers for a few days, Sam passed the torch onto Kirsty, who successfully gave the room numbers today - well done Kirsty!
Lunch was intended to be a 'Spanish only zone'... that lasted approximately 30 seconds, but everyone managed to order lunch in Spanish, which was an achievement, it's becoming a lot more normal and natural to use Spanish language - we will be more confident and successful in Chile for this reason I think.
The options for lunch seemed more normal today... it could well be 'cos we are getting more and more used to the choices available to us... So, to start, salmon salad or pasta... pretty normal... and for main baby octopus on a bed of onion, or veal... not too bad for today! Everyone gave octopus a whirl, we are an adventurous team!
Once again we had a real hearty laugh together at lunch, i'm not entirely sure what about - these are often the best sorts of laughs!
This afternoon was spent in the sun with Spanish vocab books, novels, ipods and swimming pool times again. It has been nice to see some sun this summer but absolutely gutting to be here instead of in Chile. This time together has been fantastic for us to learn Spanish, and to really bond and get to know each-other inside out, but all the preparation and time we have put in has been towards being in Chile, meeting members of Guiding out there, and carrying out the project. It seems odd being here when over the last couple of days we ought to have been meeting people out there and starting to lay plans for the big camp that is to be! Also, we ought to have been travelling overnight tonight to Valdivia to visit schools tomorrow - here's hoping we can re-arrange that and make it to them later in the project.
We haven't made it to tea yet, so we can't let you know if there is anything exciting on the buffet menu...
TTFN xxx
Linz and Kirsty ventured out into the 'real world' in search of pop, crisps and stamps. Unfortunately the only thing they didn't manage to find was stamps... the Tabac was closed we'll try again tomorrow!!
Today we spent the morning concentrating on our programme planning again. We are nearly finished making the sessions coherent in Spanish as well as English, which will make things much eaier when we are out there - a productive use of time! We sat out in the gardens, shared dictionaries and bottles of pop and kept the momentum going on the writing out of translations whilst learning a few words aloud along the way.
After successfully giving the room numbers for a few days, Sam passed the torch onto Kirsty, who successfully gave the room numbers today - well done Kirsty!
Lunch was intended to be a 'Spanish only zone'... that lasted approximately 30 seconds, but everyone managed to order lunch in Spanish, which was an achievement, it's becoming a lot more normal and natural to use Spanish language - we will be more confident and successful in Chile for this reason I think.
The options for lunch seemed more normal today... it could well be 'cos we are getting more and more used to the choices available to us... So, to start, salmon salad or pasta... pretty normal... and for main baby octopus on a bed of onion, or veal... not too bad for today! Everyone gave octopus a whirl, we are an adventurous team!
Once again we had a real hearty laugh together at lunch, i'm not entirely sure what about - these are often the best sorts of laughs!
This afternoon was spent in the sun with Spanish vocab books, novels, ipods and swimming pool times again. It has been nice to see some sun this summer but absolutely gutting to be here instead of in Chile. This time together has been fantastic for us to learn Spanish, and to really bond and get to know each-other inside out, but all the preparation and time we have put in has been towards being in Chile, meeting members of Guiding out there, and carrying out the project. It seems odd being here when over the last couple of days we ought to have been meeting people out there and starting to lay plans for the big camp that is to be! Also, we ought to have been travelling overnight tonight to Valdivia to visit schools tomorrow - here's hoping we can re-arrange that and make it to them later in the project.
We haven't made it to tea yet, so we can't let you know if there is anything exciting on the buffet menu...
TTFN xxx
The one where the team turned pink...
Today is Sunday - the official day of rest (especially in Spain) so we did that... rested! For most of the day anyway...
The team had to wait for Charlotte and Helen to come back to the land of the living, lazy start - EXTRA lie in!
Breakfast buffet... as usual... it is starting to seem that all we do here is eat!!
We found some sun loungers in the hotel grounds in a quiet area and seized an opportunity to update journals, write timetables (for one of our sessions - background info!) and learn some Spanish.
Once the pool man had finished de-leafing the water we were able to go for a dip or a dive in the pool... or a bomb... depending on who we are talking about...! Centenary ducks came with us - we were slightly dissapointed that they are face-heavy, and so tend to drown most of the time - but they do make excellent water pistols! "m'ducks empty!" We increased our global awareness... by throwing around the globe... we did use it to locate different places that our fellow missed-connection-for-Santiago friends were flying via... Lima... Uruguay... etc...
Lunchtime... Well. Where to begin??! This certainly was a meal to remember!!
Asparagus soup... cold... interesting, but may have been nicer warmer we decided...
Baby Eel Omelette... 'nuff said?! I do feel we ought to share that it actually could have passed off as a spring roll! and that every member of the team gave it a try!
Veal Jaw Stew... Helen = brave soldier! She was the only one to order this dish, and I do think she was slightly dissapointed when it was just slices of carved veal with a gravy, no jaw in sight!!
Mixed Fried Fish... erm... well, it was as it says on the tin... the fish came with faces!!!!!!!! Giant Sardines, Anchovies, Squid and a mystery fish, we all had a try at the different fish, although Sam needed some support with the face-removal of the fishies but then everyone had a go at eating/trying all the different fish, it was very impressive!
We did celebrate our adventurous nature with melon or ice-cream cake for dessert.
Another afternoon at the loungers/the pool doinga mixture of laying, swimming, bombing, diving, reading, session planning, Spanish-learning and we all started to look a little pink around the edges (proper British!) so we headed indoors to clean up for the evening.
We met 'at the sofas' armed with our project files, Spanish dictionarys and a little brain-power ready to translate more session plans so we are fully prepared for Chile... We split up the sessions and a flurry of activity and flicking dictionary pages followed! After a while though tummies started to rumble, and water was needed, so we headed to the restaurant for tea... buffet.
Lots of food, laughs and yawns later we headed off to bed.
Hasta luego!! xx
The team had to wait for Charlotte and Helen to come back to the land of the living, lazy start - EXTRA lie in!
Breakfast buffet... as usual... it is starting to seem that all we do here is eat!!
We found some sun loungers in the hotel grounds in a quiet area and seized an opportunity to update journals, write timetables (for one of our sessions - background info!) and learn some Spanish.
Once the pool man had finished de-leafing the water we were able to go for a dip or a dive in the pool... or a bomb... depending on who we are talking about...! Centenary ducks came with us - we were slightly dissapointed that they are face-heavy, and so tend to drown most of the time - but they do make excellent water pistols! "m'ducks empty!" We increased our global awareness... by throwing around the globe... we did use it to locate different places that our fellow missed-connection-for-Santiago friends were flying via... Lima... Uruguay... etc...
Lunchtime... Well. Where to begin??! This certainly was a meal to remember!!
Asparagus soup... cold... interesting, but may have been nicer warmer we decided...
Baby Eel Omelette... 'nuff said?! I do feel we ought to share that it actually could have passed off as a spring roll! and that every member of the team gave it a try!
Veal Jaw Stew... Helen = brave soldier! She was the only one to order this dish, and I do think she was slightly dissapointed when it was just slices of carved veal with a gravy, no jaw in sight!!
Mixed Fried Fish... erm... well, it was as it says on the tin... the fish came with faces!!!!!!!! Giant Sardines, Anchovies, Squid and a mystery fish, we all had a try at the different fish, although Sam needed some support with the face-removal of the fishies but then everyone had a go at eating/trying all the different fish, it was very impressive!
We did celebrate our adventurous nature with melon or ice-cream cake for dessert.
Another afternoon at the loungers/the pool doinga mixture of laying, swimming, bombing, diving, reading, session planning, Spanish-learning and we all started to look a little pink around the edges (proper British!) so we headed indoors to clean up for the evening.
We met 'at the sofas' armed with our project files, Spanish dictionarys and a little brain-power ready to translate more session plans so we are fully prepared for Chile... We split up the sessions and a flurry of activity and flicking dictionary pages followed! After a while though tummies started to rumble, and water was needed, so we headed to the restaurant for tea... buffet.
Lots of food, laughs and yawns later we headed off to bed.
Hasta luego!! xx
Sunday, 2 August 2009
The one with the Madrid exploration...
This morning we got up (Sam and Kirsty were early - YAY) and met for breakfast at the sofas. We then went to the buffet, and had once again a massive choice of foods for breakfast, plus the much needed cups of tea/coffee, fruit juice and water!
Kirsty spoke to the man at the Reception desk about how to get into the centre of Madrid, and returned with clear instructions about how to make it to the Metro station, and a map of the Metro, backed by a map of the city - well done Kirsty!
So we set off out, clad in our navy Guiding uniform and international neckers and headed for the Metro station.
Well done Rach and Linz who successfully bought 6 return tickets (€2 each - bargain we thought!) We met two friendly spanish people on our journey, who gave us hints and tips on how to keep our belongings safe in the City. Muchos Gracias!
We boarded the Metro and travelled towards the city. We give a thumbs up! to the Madrid Metro, the trains are airy and clean and this made for a pleasant journey. We arrived near the centre and followed the map across the city to the Palace. On our way to the Palace we were asked "(in a Spanish accent) excuse me! What part of the States are you from?" We told them that we were Girl Guides from the UK, to which they responded to have a nice day.
We wandered on towards the centre, seeing many lovely buildings along the way (the closer we got to the centre - the bigger they got!)
A plaster stop - as prevention is better than the cure! - and we sat in the middle of a lovely Plaza enjoying the sights and the people.
We continued our journey to the Palace, this time meeting an Australian couple who were really interested in who we were, where we are from, where we are going and why, so we managed to have our first conversation about GGUK, GOLD and our marathon to get to Chile!!
We arrived at the Palace - which we decided had many similarities to Buckingham Palace. The next job was to find our way to the Metro station to get back to the hotel. A pit-stop at a shop on the way back and we found the Metro. One train change and we were back in Barajas. Back to the Hotel for lunch!
Lunch... Hake head bilbao style or mixed meat skewer... a very interesting meal!
The afternoon was spent learning Spanish in the Hotel Gardens, we swam lengths of the pool, held our own Olympic diving competition, and then sat to dry off.
We got ready for tea, sat around having a chatter about everything and nothing (including that you can post vegetables with only address labels and stamps with the Royal Mail). And slowly made it to tea.
Tea looked lovely, and everyone enjoyed their tea, Sam sloped off to bed as she was first to flake out, followed gradually by everyone else, too much sun for one day maybe? Me gusta el Sol!
¡¡Hasta luego!! El equipo de Chile x
Kirsty spoke to the man at the Reception desk about how to get into the centre of Madrid, and returned with clear instructions about how to make it to the Metro station, and a map of the Metro, backed by a map of the city - well done Kirsty!
So we set off out, clad in our navy Guiding uniform and international neckers and headed for the Metro station.
Well done Rach and Linz who successfully bought 6 return tickets (€2 each - bargain we thought!) We met two friendly spanish people on our journey, who gave us hints and tips on how to keep our belongings safe in the City. Muchos Gracias!
We boarded the Metro and travelled towards the city. We give a thumbs up! to the Madrid Metro, the trains are airy and clean and this made for a pleasant journey. We arrived near the centre and followed the map across the city to the Palace. On our way to the Palace we were asked "(in a Spanish accent) excuse me! What part of the States are you from?" We told them that we were Girl Guides from the UK, to which they responded to have a nice day.
We wandered on towards the centre, seeing many lovely buildings along the way (the closer we got to the centre - the bigger they got!)
A plaster stop - as prevention is better than the cure! - and we sat in the middle of a lovely Plaza enjoying the sights and the people.
We continued our journey to the Palace, this time meeting an Australian couple who were really interested in who we were, where we are from, where we are going and why, so we managed to have our first conversation about GGUK, GOLD and our marathon to get to Chile!!
We arrived at the Palace - which we decided had many similarities to Buckingham Palace. The next job was to find our way to the Metro station to get back to the hotel. A pit-stop at a shop on the way back and we found the Metro. One train change and we were back in Barajas. Back to the Hotel for lunch!
Lunch... Hake head bilbao style or mixed meat skewer... a very interesting meal!
The afternoon was spent learning Spanish in the Hotel Gardens, we swam lengths of the pool, held our own Olympic diving competition, and then sat to dry off.
We got ready for tea, sat around having a chatter about everything and nothing (including that you can post vegetables with only address labels and stamps with the Royal Mail). And slowly made it to tea.
Tea looked lovely, and everyone enjoyed their tea, Sam sloped off to bed as she was first to flake out, followed gradually by everyone else, too much sun for one day maybe? Me gusta el Sol!
¡¡Hasta luego!! El equipo de Chile x
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