the last post...

Well... here we are folks, my final and last post of the year!

I am now back in sunny (most of the time at least) England and have been for about a


week and a half. I've been meaning to do this sooner, but it's just been hectic trying to see everyone and fitting myself back into my old life again, as well as preparing myself for the next adventure - Uni!

A view of the entire width of Chile, taken from the plane

So, We spent our last weekend in Chile in the lovely city of Valparaiso - my definite favourite! (other than Cholchol of course ;) ) - where we ate icecream, bought some tat, climbed some hills for some incredible views across the bay and even right to the Andes mountain range on the other side of the country (I know, how absolutely ridiculous!) and of course, made the most of the nightlife!!

We made our way back to Santiago on the sunday, I actually spent Sunday and Monday quite ill with suspected Tonsillitis so not as much sight-seeing in Santiago was done as I would have liked but instead I just had a relaxed few days.

Then came Tuesday morning! The dreaded moment had arrived! We dragged ourselves up and down all the stairs (we were staying in a friends flat, on the top floor!) with all our stuff and out to the front to await a car to the airport. Check-in was fairly smooth, apart from a bit of confusion over the baggage allowance in which I was told I'd have to pay $200 for my bags! We managed to sort that out through the genius of the bag wrapping stand!

Those volunteers who lived in Santiago had families and friends so we just headed on through and met them on the plane.

We made it!

I won't bore you too much with details of the plane journey. It wasn't fun, let's put it that way. Due to the annoying times of the flights, I didn't actually sleep at all for the entire journey! We had a sweltering 2 1/2 hour wait in Madrid before another plane - which was delayed so long causing us to miss our landing spot in London! Luckily, we managed to get another one not too long after and so weren't too late in arriving.

Then all that was left was passport control, baggage claim, some emotional goodbyes and some even more emotional hello's!

And here I am, I have spent the last week and a half catching up with friends and family, I've managed to get myself a job and even joined a gym.

Big hugs were definitely in order!

I am missing the people I met in Chile a lot already, especially people like the Ortiz's and Danielle who I saw nearly every day, and it's still an odd experience walking into a shop and understanding everyone's conversations even when you're not even trying or not really listening.

It's weird, I don't really know how to describe it. I don't think I could tell you what I miss about Chile really, other than the people, I just can't seem to put a finger on it. I do miss the language, I'm still scared I'm going to lose my Spanish and so I know I need to make an effort to keep that going. But other than that, well, maybe it's too soon to tell - I'm still in the flow of discovering things I've been missing out all year at the moment!

So that's my year, over. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've met and worked with some of the most incredible people and made some of the best friends I probably ever will and hopefully, to some of those people, I've made as much of a difference to their lives as they have in mine.
I would never have been able to do anything like this without the amazing support and help of my family, friends and everyone who's contributed, even in the smallest way, to making this opportunity and this dream come true for me. I don't think I could ever say how grateful I am.

Wow - well, whilst that sounds ridiculously cheesy, it's essentially true.

So thanks! (again)

Hannah :)

The end is nigh...

So here we are - my last blog from Chile!

Saying goodbye to friends...

I'm currently sitting in a hostel in Valparaiso, having bid goodbye to everyone and left Cholchol for the very last time.

The week we were back in Cholchol was a hectic rush of trying to sort out our house - amazing the amount of stuff you can accumulate over a year! - and get it all into bags for our trip home.

At our despedida...

We were also invited to nearly everyone we know's houses which was lovely because we could chat to everyone and say proper goodbyes, whilst being force-fed ridiculous amounts of Chilean food. We also have several invites to peoples houses for when we come back to Chile to visit! Think I might
need to start saving for that one a bit first!

We were also thrown a lovely despedida by the Youth Group which involved a lot of icecream and karaoke!

at Los Ojos de Carbagua

During the week we ventured into Temuco for the last time, and to the towns of Villarica and Pucon with some friends - which was the perfect way to end our experience living in one of the most beautiful regions in Chile.

The last goodbyes were... horrendous. There are no words to describe it, but having the girls from the internado holding onto us and begging us not to go really does make me feel - well, firstly: why the hell am I leaving? But secondly: that I think I really have done something worthwhile with my year abroad, I've made some amazing connections here and I think I have made a bit of a difference to some of these kid's lives. They've certainly made a difference to mine.

Saying goodbye to the Ortiz family was, if possible, even worse. They took us to the bus terminal in Temuco and waved us off onto the bus. Let's just say many tears were shed by all.

And so here we are, after a couple of very interesting trips across Santiago on the metro with a lot of very heavy bags, and then of course the bus to Valpo and the trek up the hill to the hostel! But we made it and it is beautifully sunny outside and we are ready to make the most of our last weekend!

Thanks for your support and for reading my blogs throughout this year. I hope you've found them interesting. I'll do one more from England when I return, just to sum up the feelings and my last adventures. But then, I guess that's it!

Thanks again,
Hannah :)

Valdivia and Chiloe

Camila, Daniela, Sarai and me in Valdivia

After an emotional last week at work it was finally the holiday time and the end of our project. We went on a lovely staff trip to some thermal pools which was a great chance to talk more to the people we haven't previously and the perfect way to say goodbye to all our colleagues.

Then we headed off to Valdivia for a weekend away with 2 of our friends. We ate a lot of fish and icecream had a lovely couple of days in a very picturesque town.

After that, it was back to Cholchol for a couple of days, enough time to squeeze in a couple of days with other friends and a trip to Temuco before we got onto another bus, this time all the way down to Castro, on the beautiful island of Chiloe (which is classified as Patagonia!) where another of the volunteers from Project Trust lives and works.

The beautiful beach at Achao

We spent the friday exploring Castro, ventured to a town called Achao on one of the smaller islands the next day, and then headed for a night out in Ancud on the saturday night. On the sunday we had a big 'Paila Marina' for lunch (basically a kind of seafood soup which is very yummy and very filling!) and then explored the town. It was (amazingly) beautifully sunny which made for some very very picturesque views of the town and the ocean and some of the surrounding smaller islands. We climbed to the top of one of the hills and had an absolutely stunning view of Andes mountain range right across the horizon. It was unbelievably beautiful - literally ridiculous that a view like that should exist really! Even more annoyingly - none of us had our cameras... then again saying that, I don't think that view is going to leave me for a while and I doubt a picture really could have captured it.

The very castle-like cathedral in Castro

During the week we went to work with Evie. She works with a foundation called Coanil which has 2 homes for people with disabilities in Castro - one for kids and one for adults -. We split our time between the two and spent our days playing and dancing with kids, and cooking and walking with the adults. All the people in those homes are absolutely lovely (I did want to take quite a few of them home with me after just one week!), though they can also be very difficult to work with and to engage in activities. It was definitely an amazing experience to have and I'm very glad we did it - no regrets there!

We were planning on staying on in Castro until the Sunday but due to bus timetables we came back home on the Saturday instead.

Me and some of the kids in the home

So now here we are, back in Cholchol for the last time! Now that's a scary thought! Only just over 2 weeks until our flight home and so time for relaxing, packing and spending as much time as possible with the people I love.

Hannah :)

Una Despedida Tan Linda...

As our last week of work looms, we knew that the girls in the internado were organising some kind of convidencia or farewell thing for us. We also knew it was to be on Monday.

Our surprise...

So last night, we heard them all evening blasting music and definitely up to something... At just gone 8 they knocked on our door and 2 of the girls led us through the dark (they'd turned off all the lights) to the large common room they have. They turned on the lights and all shouted surprise at us! They'd set up tables and plates piled with biscuits, sopaipillas, crisps, cake. It was so sweet. We each had a slip of paper underneath our plates with someone else's name on it and whilst we ate we all took it in turns and ask that person a question. I got asked what my favourite childhood memory was. So I said about the snow white dress my mum made me once - the first thing that popped into my head and a pretty nice memory all the same! In the next game, we had to each do a challenge.. mine was to dance - so I showed off my best gringa-style mad dancing  which they thought was hilarious! I did explain that being British... I just don't have hips like them!

playing musical chairs...

We also played other games throughout the evening including Musical Chairs (which I won!) and karaoke (Which my team also won.... ooh yeah!)

We were then presented with a present from one of the girls, and had to say a little speech and afterwards we were bombarded with hugs and kisses and more personal words of thanks from all the girls in turn. It was pretty emotional and I'm not gonna lie, a few tears may have leaked out at this point. But soon it was on with the fun, and back to enjoying this last little time we have left with them.

We also managed to get in a big group photo and many more besides and also presented them with gifts of our own. We had made them all bracelets as a little memory of us... They seemed pretty pleased with them which was good and demands for more have already come in so that will be my evening tonight!

Us with all the girls...

Altogether it was the most lovely evening. We hardly ever get to do something with all of the girls at the same time so it was an amazing chance to do that one last time before we all go our separate ways for the holidays and then as we head back to the UK. We also now have a supply of food stocked in our house which will last us the next few days as well as many more convidencias coming up in school before them, so I think we'll definitely be well fed!

Hannah :)

rendezvous and rambles

Well the last few weeks have definately given me some food for thought in terms of the short time we have left in this amazing place.

Rebecca and I, in Valpo

First off my lovely sister came to visit me so I had a week off work and together we set off on our own Chilean adventure. After meeting her in Santiago we travelled to Valpo for the weekend, before down to Cholchol where she joined in all parts of my life including celebrating a birthday with the girls in the internado, learning how to make empanadas and the burial of a dead turtle in the rain. 

The burial of our poor beloved turtle

We also travelled down to Puerto Varas, a town in the lake district with a beautiful view of Volcano Osorno - though due to the near constant rain, we didn't actually see it! But the postcards sure look beautiful! It was a really good week and a weird experience for me as well. I'm not quite sure how to describe it without it sounding weird and/or slightly cheesy but because my life here is so seperate from my life back home, and Rebecca coming joined them in some way, and made the concept of going back home in just a couple of months a much more real and daunting prospect as opposed to the far-off fact its been for most of the year so far. However, saying that, I don't regret her coming atall and I hope she doesn't either, it was amazing to be able to share my life here with my family and show her around the town and country that I have fallen in love with over the last 10 months.

The picturesque town of Puerto Varas.

It is now less than a month until we finish our project here in Cholchol and will have to pack up our little house and say goodbye to all our friends and family before embarking on one last month of travel before our flight home. It's a thing I don't like thinking about much if I'm completely honest. I've fallen in love with this tiny, cold little town in the middle of the Chilean countryside and all the people in it.
It's been tough, for sure. A lot of the kids are very difficult to work with, have difficult backgrounds and basically have no desire or motivation to learn whatsoever. But it's made me a stronger and more confident person, which will be very handy in the future for sure.

So other than that, I am now taking these last few weeks to enjoy spending as much time as I can with my chilean family, with the girls in the internado and all the other friends I've made here. Some of the other volunteers are coming to visit next weekend and there are plans to go to another town in the lake district with some friends a few weeks later.

So that's all for now folks, more heart-felt rambles to come soon I'm sure :)

Hannah x

9 months in...

Well... we've passed the 9 month mark (newsletters will be coming out soon - I promise!) and so now have less than 2 months working left and 3 months in total! It's all going much too fast!

So... the last couple of weeks.

the Mother's Day show put on by the school

Well we had the Chilean Mother's Day which is the same as the American one. For this we made Mother's Day cards in all our lessons (in English of course) as well as with the girls in the internado. The actual day was on Sunday 12th but was celebrated in the school a week later, on Friday 17th. For this day, we had been working all week with a group of 40 or so kids from 3ro - 6to grades, who were forming a choir. One of the songs they were singing was "Stand By Me", a Spanglish version. We were therefore helping with the English pronunciations as well as generally learning of the song. We also helped one of the girls in 4to Medio learn another Spanglish song. I was very proud whenever they managed to get the pronunciations and timings right! On the day, they were to perform as part of an 'acto' being put on for all the mothers. It was in the dining hall which had been decked out with decorations and tables filled with mother's of the students and food. After we'd prepped them all, we went and performed. I was sitting just in front of them singing so that if they were lost at any point they could look to me for help. But I'm glad to say that I wasn't really needed. They all sung extremely well and pronunciation was really good. I was very proud. The music teacher wants them to attempt "I Dreamed a Dream" next! But it's nice to get involved in the school in a slightly different way.

The week before, on Friday 10th it was the 'Día del estudiante' (Student's Day). For this, all the classes had 'compartirs' where they eat food and watched films, and then there were 4 different activities set up around the school. We were helping out in the Karaoke. It was good fun and ended singing one of our favourite spanish songs with some of the girls from 3ro Medio. We did also get to have a bit of a look round the other activities before the end of school.

the lovely rose I was presented with for Mother's Day

After lunch, the official end of school on a Friday. We, along with all the other staff were swept into the Technology room where the administration staff had set up tables of biscuits, sandwiches, crisps and juice. We had a few speeches and then food and afterwards, each one of the female staff were presented with a rose and a present for Mother's Day! This even included us, even though we are nowhere near being mother's! I got given a lovely purse which has now replaced the grubby one I had previously. It's lovely how much the school appreciates it's female staff, this day and the International Women's Day celebrations we had a couple of months ago have really shown me that!

In the last few weeks I have also had friends round to make sopaipillas, attended a suprise birthday party (not mine) and then for the first time, I'm on my own in the house as my partner has gone to Chiloe for a long weekend, leaving me on my own. My friends have been amazing though and I have spent most of the weekend at their house anyway so I've been fed and not bored!

I'm very much looking forward to the next few weeks, my sister arrives this coming Friday to visit me for a week and I am VERY VERY excited about that! Bring on the adventures!

Hannah :)

One month later...

Hey all!

I realise it has been nearly a month since I last wrote a blog and for that I'm very sorry, though life has been rather hectic but then seemingly routine at the same time... not a good combination for blog writing it has to be said!

We have been extremely busy with all our new classes and also with helping to plan for the older classes as well. The English teacher is involving us more in these classes now in terms of preparation which is good, but makes our very little planning time even more jam-packed and stressful! But we're coping!

There was a week for the 'convidencia escolar' in which all the different classes made posters and presentations for different things needed for us to function well as a school; such as honesty, respect, responsibility etc. There was an extremely cute play done by Kinder and various others. My partner took part, singing "Stand by Me" accompanied by the music teacher on a guitar. Unfortunately, my singing skills really aren't up to par, so I gave that one a miss! She sung really well though and I was very proud!

Church Youth Group

On Saturday  13th, we met up with Ruth and Benja for the last time in Temuco for coffee and cake, as by the following Tuesday they were off on their way to the UK! We have, however, arranged a date to go visit them when we get back to the UK so though it was emotional, it wasn't like it was forever! Then a  friend visited the following weekend and so that was a very relaxed few days.

We have recently started going to the youth group with the church, they're a lovely bunch of people and we've already been to an asado and a couple of meetings with them and are getting along pretty well... Got a few more people to say hello to if we pass them in the street now!

In windy Puerto Saavedra

in Carahue - City of 3 floors

On 1st May it was the Internacional Día del Trabajo (more commonly known in English as: Labour Day). Consequently, this was a national bank holiday - did make the week feel very strange I tell you that - and so we went on a family outing with the Ortiz's to Puerto Saavedra. We had a lovely day and despite the cold, it managed to say pretty sunny for most of it. The scenery was beautiful, we went up to a mirador overlooking the meeting of the Imperial River and the Pacifi


c Ocean, the whole day reminded me a bit of a Cornish style landscape - we even had fish and chips for lunch! Something sorely missing from our lives for the last 9 months!

Nahuentúe - the tranquil riverside town where we stopped for Fish and Chips!

At the mirador in Puerto Saavedra

We went on a girly shopping trip to Temuco (buying nothing but icecream... priorities!) on Saturday and then this week we have been working on Mother's Day in all our Basico classes. I know that the UK Mother's Day was quite some time ago but it's this coming Friday here and so we've been teaching the classes a few of our traditions and then helping them to make Mothers Day cards to take home with them. We also spent last night doing the same with some of the girls in the Internado!

And thats all for now! In the next month we have another long weekend, though I'm planning to stay around Cholchol as I'm saving my money for the following week when my lovely sister is coming all the way from the UK to visit me!
I'm planning on showing her around Valparaíso, one of my favourite Chilean cities, then coming down here to show her Cholchol and introduce her to some of my friends, and then we're going off to explore a town somewhere in the Lake District! No idea where as of yet, but I'll keep you posted on that one! So that's all very exciting and I will try to post another blog a lot sooner than the last one!

Hannah :)