Hi friends!

Hope everyone is doing well! Things have been good here in Santiago.

We had Teacher’s Day a few weeks ago. Teacher’s Day is a national holiday here where teachers are recognized and appreciated for all of their hard work and dedication. It goes without saying… I love this day! Unlike every other school though, SC doesn’t get the day off. Instead, we have a half day with the kids and a very fancy lunch. If you ask me though, I’d much rather prefer the day off.

An added bonus is that the kids all bring you all sorts of presents. Presents or no presents, it’s always nice to be appreciated.

At school, we’re entering into our last Unit of Inquiry. Things are officially winding down. We literally only have about 30 days of school left (not counting weekends) but who’s counting? It’s so bittersweet, I love my kiddos to the moon and back but at the same time, I need a long break. Everyone is exhausted, including the kids.

Halloween this year was the best yet! Each year, I have more gringo friends, which makes it a lot more fun. Chileans are starting to warm up to the idea of Halloween, kids are starting to trick-or-treat with the parents and people are hesitantly starting to dress up for work or parties. I’ve observed the Chileans to be embarrassed about dressing up for Halloween and have witnessed several strangers in public telling their friends they’d die of embarrassment if they had to dress up. This makes it hard for a girl who’s favorite holiday is Halloween. But hey, I can recognize that we’re not in Kansas anymore and Halloween isn’t even a Chilean tradition.

The party was super fun! There were probably over 70 gringos at the party. It was really fun to meet new people and see everyone’s costumes. As the night progressed, there were so many people that the police actually showed up and told everyone they had to leave! But overall, a great night with great friends!

But other than that, nothing new to report. I’ve been really taking time to work on both my physical and mental health, and I’m noticing a lot of positive changes.

Laughable Moments:

• During our weekly weekend sharing, someone didn't know the English word for "wife". After we told her, another boy raised his hand matter-of-factly and said dead seriously, "Miss I have a wife. My mom said I could have a wife when I turned 6". We thought he was thinking of a different word but he proceeded to tell us her first and last name and where he met her.

• I was telling one of my students about an upcoming assembly we had and I told her "They're going to give us sunscreen I think" and she immediately replied, "I don't like ice cream" (side note: what kid doesn't like ice cream?)

• Since the sun is starting to get stronger, the kids have to bring hats to wear at recess. One of my students told me, "Miss I have a hat from 'The Vegas'" -she was translated the Las in Las Vegas

• We did a buddy activity where the kids had to interview their buddies. They were trying to write their buddy's favorite book, but since the "g" is spanish makes the "h" sound in English, they wrote their favorite book as "Gary Potter"

• I started a "word of the day" that has turned into the word of the week... this week it was "groovy". I can't tell you how amusing it is to read a story and then have someone raise their hand and say "Wow Miss, that book was groovy!"

• At the Halloween party, someone asked me if I was the Statue of Liberty.

• Every few weeks, we change the names of our table groups and the kids get to decide. This week we were choosing our new name based on emojis since we're entering into the Feelings unit. Immediately, every table started arguing "We are poop!" "No! We are poop!" "We want poop!". In the end, no one is poop.

Wish me luck on this last leg of school year! I’m getting so excited to see everyone when I come home in January-February!