For whatever reason, Chiloe has penguins in the summer on the north side of the island (further from Antarctica) and flamingos in the winter (down here in the southern part of the island). Apparently the flamingos migrate south for the winter to escape the extreme heat of the northern desert; I'm just not sure why they migrate all the way down here to the rainy, cold climate. Anyway, yesterday I decided to make the 30 minute walk over to the lakes where the flamingos live. It was a beautiful walk over down the one rural road we have around these parts, passing by small houses with farm animals, private stores, and even a tiny junk yard with some car scraps. I asked around and (possibly) found the dirt path that leads to the flamingos. However, when I got there the damn things were hundreds of feet away way off in the distance, so I figured I'd trek through the mud and see if I couldn't get a better view. Perhaps I didn't follow the right path, either. Either way, right on cue the winds came and blew in storm clouds. Not two minutes after I arrived, it started to pour. So I turned around and walked home, unsuccessfully trying to thumb a ride back. I guess the flamingos will have to wait.
I found out yesterday that two friends volunteering way up north will be coming down here at the end of the month, and my host mom is cool with them crashing here. Looking forward to have a few American friends for a weekend. Also, a volcano few hours north of here on the mainland started to erupt a week ago. Huge columns of smoke and ash have been covering the sky; the ash has even made its way all the way over to Bueno Aires, Argentina. Yet, since a few years back a volcano much closer to here erupted and buried an entire village (after it was evacuated), people here don't seem phased. They tell me that eruption was so powerful that, though the town is about 60 miles away from here on the mainland, you could see a mushroom cloud of ash for three weeks.
My school has been "working" on an English Show for a few months now; it's basically a talent show put on in English. I was told that this year the principal didn't want any singing and instead wanted a lot of dialogue. So we decided each grade would write some short sketch or brief play. However, both English teachers and I are new to the school, the kids couldn't make up their minds on what they wanted to do, and classes are interrupted weekly by assemblies, parades, etc. So we're basically three weeks away and nobody has done anything. And I'm terrified to ask about the English Show because each time it's brought up, I lose ground. For example, at the beginning of the semester the principal told us it would be July 1st, in the Centro Cultural in town, and it would be in the evening. So two weeks ago I asked if a time was confirmed with the Centro Cultural, and my teacher told me that it would possibly be at around 2 or 3 pm. I reminded him that we couldn't do that because the parents would still be at work on a Friday afternoon. So earlier this week I asked if we had established an exact hour, and I was told that we were no longer sure it would be in the Centro Cultural. I waited a few days, and asked again about it this Friday. Now we are no longer sure of the date. I'm basically dreading this whole thing.
But on the bright side, we're exactly a month away from three weeks of winter vacation! In that time, I'll be working one week in Santiago as a counselor for the EOD program's winter camps, then I'll have about 5 free days, and then my mom flies in for ten. Though I imagined Santiago as being sunny and warm year-round because it's 15 hours north of here, but apparently I was wrong. They say it's freezing up there too, so my mom and I will hopefully be traveling up further north to La Serena (which is where my gringo friends are teaching now).
Today we have a fund-raiser at school, with bingo and dancing. After that I'm planning on doing into town with a few folks to catch a blues show. A well-known band from Valparaiso is playing, and one of their opening bands is the band of one of my students. So that should be fun. It started raining Monday and they say it won't quit til September. We do, however, get short breaks every now and then, and ironically the sun even comes out sometimes as its raining. However, I feel it'll become more gray and rainy in the coming months.
One last note on the rain, the storm was so bad the entire island lost power. That's like three city of populations with about 30,000 and dozens of smaller towns, all without power for the day. Apparently this is a common thing here; we've already lost power at school two or three times. Obviously the entire day is wasted and teachers serve as mere baby-sitters. Hopefully my trip up north will get me out of the cold rain for a bit, but as the north had recent flooding, I ain't holding my breath. For now, looking forward to the blues show and spending another weekend watching movies.
-Paul
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