A Tale of Two Debates

Over the past month or so, we have kissed goodbye to our lazy afternoons off choosing instead to work with some of our finest students to compete in the National English Debate (and by national, remember that Chile is 6,500km long, so we´re probably going to win the lottery before we get anywhere near this trophy!). This years (not so hot) topic - "Rap music is a bad influence on young people".

With Jonny and my schools both competing, there have been many devil eye stares, cagey conversations about the merits of rap, and empty threats of sabotage. So we were both fairly relieved when the time came, and we finally got to see our students fight it out for us over a podeum, a microphone and 3 judges.

And so it was that we heard the topic of rap debated 4 times (3 too many) and an abundance of facts pulled from the most dubious of places....we heard that "actually nobody listens to rap anyway, so we should debate about regatton", that "my hump my hump my hump" will encourage you to go out and have unprotected sex, and that "girls who watch rap videos are 2.5 times more likely to hit a teacher". Given that I have not yet been hit, I´m hoping that this still means my risk is zero!

I would like to finish there, but I should probably inform you all that Jonny managed to school his kids to WIN the competition! (ahem, well done) and so will go on to the next regional round where he can look forward to arguing that "grades encourage students to learn". My school went out in style - a good old fight with the (unfair) judges, and a well earned pat on the back for being superstars in everyone elses eyes!

Sleeping with Saturn

Last week, we were treated to a surprise visit from Ministry of Education to check we weren't teaching the kids bad words and the like. Both of us were incredibly lucky in having a class of angels during the visit and were duly awarded "Excellent". Bravo! And what better way to celebrate than a weekend away into the hills.

After a curvy bus ride, we arrived (a little queezy) at our retreat...an isolated hacienda in Rio Hurtado. Our camping spot was hidden away down by the river, and with only us, the fire and the stars, we pitched up for the night, red wine in hand and a smile on our smug little chops. It wasn't until about 3 hours later that we realised we were not the hardened campers we thought, and after squabbling over blankets and sleeping bags, the freezing high altitude temperatures got the better of us.

Despite the sleepy start to the morning, we set off confidently on a hike to the local village for supplies. Although not 100% sure of the route, we picked our way through stunning pastures, woodland, vineyards and mountains. We'd heard stories of condors, mountain foxes and even the Chilean Lynx, but the only wild guy we ran into was this little sausage....

The weekend was topped with a trip to the private observatory. Lucky enough to arrive at new moon, we were treated to a spectacular view of some of the clearest skies in the world and shown the tricks of the trade by the Hacienda's astro pro. "Everyone has a sweet side" he told us as we learned to focus our eyes on the many wonders of the Milky Way. And sure enough, the sweetest star of the sky was not a star at all, but seeing Saturn for the first time....yes it really does exist, yes it does look like they told you in science class, and if you want to see why we were so flippin amazed, imagine seeing this with your very own eyes.... http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saturn,_through_82%22_telescope,reprocessed.jpg

The Silence of the Goats

May Day bank holiday celebrations in Chile are no different to many other countries - all the shops close, no-one really does any work, friends and family get together to eat and drink more than they should. This year, our head teacher invited us to a party for her uncle's 50th birthday on his goat farm to the north of our little town.

Arriving late into the evening, Thea stepped out of the car just in time to observe the remains of two freshly slaughtered goats swinging from the rafters of a small hut, whilst the the blood collected into buckets dotted around the party venue, for the patrolling rottweilers to lap up. Yummy. Welcome to May Day bank holiday in the goat slaughterhouse! Straight from carcas to the coals, this was one fresh BBQ. Goat steak is actually pretty tasty, but we both steered clear of the pungent goats cheese which was made the next morning, courtesy of the 200 goats who were standing just yards away watching their compadres being roasted. It goes without saying that everyone we spoke to was one of the kindest and friendliest souls you could imagine. From the newly borns to the much older abuelitas, this was Chilean hospitality at its best.