So this past weekend we went to Valparaiso. I had been sick for a week or so before (which is why I haven't posted in a while) but I got better just in time to go. It was cool to be in a city so different from Santiago. Valpo is right next to the water and is basically one giant hill. There are tons of stairs and crazy steep hills. There are tons of buildings but no really bigs ones so there are just miles of tiny colorful houses and buildings. Another big thing in Valpo is the murals. There are amazing, colorful murals everywhere on the walls. Some are incredibly detailed and they make the city so beautiful.
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| From Valpo |
So when we got there we went to the Liceo Tecnico Femenino de Valparaiso. It's an all girls technical high school. They have five focuses: Child care, elderly care, cooking, sewing, and graphic design. We were able to see classrooms from most of these focuses and talk with the girls. It was an interesting school to observe because of the technical focus. The issue is that the skills they are learning are for work that does not earn much money. IE The child care focus is not studying to be a teacher but a teacher's aid in a preschool. At this same time it is better for the girls to be learning something practical rather than nothing at all. But there really is not support for kids who want to go further than just graduation. We had many interesting conversations around this issue.
After our time at the school we went to a tiny little restaurant to have Chorillana. We got one plate for every three people...and by plate i mean platter. Chorillana is basically french fries with fried onions and egg and beef. So basically the best thing ever. Jeff, Sophie and I ate the entire thing. It was amazing. After that we talked with two men from the Teacher's College of Chile. This group is a volunteer group of teachers who work to make change in the education system in Chile. It was really interesting to talk to hear their perspectives. They basically said that everything about the education system is pretty crappy though. We had the rest of the night off so we explored around Vina del Mar which is the town over from Valpo where we were staying.
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| From Valpo |
On Saturday we traveled to a rural village on the outskirts of Valpo. This was an awesome experience for all of us. This school was very poor, had very little resources, only about 50 students, but the school really was inspirational. It was a Saturday so there were no classes but a teacher and a few students came to talk to us anyway. The teacher, Edda, was super simpatica. The school consisted of about four rectangular buildings with a classroom in each. The kindergarten and pre-K students were together, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shared another classroom, and 4th,5th, and 6th were in another building. There was another on-room building for extra-help and Speech therapy. But children with problems would not stay in the extra-help room, instead they were integrated into the regular classrooms and go to the extra-help room every once and a while. I found it amazing that such a small and poor school had such forward thinking about integration and special services. A lot of schools here seem to put students with learning issues in their own classroom. But this school definitely works to put all students in the least restrictive environment.
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| From Valpo |
Another thing we loved about this school was the garden the students have at the school. Each first grader has their own plot and are taught how to care for the garden and have the responsibility to care for it. There is also a lemon orchard and a hot house and paltas (avacados). This was such a cool thing to have a school. It can teach so much about science and nature, it teaches responsibility, and is something practical the kids can use in real life. The school was so hospitable to us and gave us bebidas and galletas (soda and cookies) at the end. It was also amazing that the kids were willing to come in on a Saturday. The students genuinely loved their school and it definitely seemed to be a diamond in the rough for them.
After the rural school we headed back into Valpo and had the rest of the day free so we went to lunch at a seafood restaurant right on the beach. Valpo is know for its Mariscos (seafood) so we had to try it. I got fried fish that was amazing and everyone loved the seafood cauldron. It was an awesome meal. Then we went for a walk on beach which was gorgeous. The city raps around the ocean so it was awesome to see the whole city of Valpo and the ocean. We had gorgeous weather too and we were able to take our shoes off and feel the sand. Then we went to Pablo Neruda's Valparaiso home which was even more amazing than his home in Algorrobo that we visited during orientation. The view from his window was amazing.
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| From Valpo |
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| From Valpo |
This trip to Valparaiso showed me a lot about the education system in Chile. There are a lot of issues in almost every part of the Education system. It was also a beautiful city to see with the beach, colorful houses, murals, and hills. And I took tons of pictures as usual so be sure to check them out.
Amor y Paz,
Kim
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