Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile was great and now Rocky and I are headed to Lima, Peru. I met a lot of nice teachers and English Department Directors at schools all over the city. I showed them pictures of St. Stanislaus and told them about the ESL Camp that we're starting next year, and they were very impressed. They're going to spread the word to parents.

I also met with two people in government who were interested in the ESL Camp. First, I met with the U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Mr. Paul Simons, at his beautiful house in Santiago. I was there with a delegation of business leaders from Mississippi and all over the world. Ambassador Simons talked to us about trade relations between the U.S. and Chile. He specifically mentioned his two main issues that he wants to work on while Ambassador. First, he is trying to increase business between renewable energy companies in the U.S. and Chile. Second, he wants more English taught in Chilean schools and to encourage more Chilean students to study in the U.S. I spoke with a person on his staff who will keep me in touch with the embassy's efforts to promote ESL Camps like ours.

The other government official that I met with was Carmen Oria, who works in Chile's Ministry of Education. She is in charge of a program called "Programa Inglés Abre Puertas" or "English Opens Doors Program." It's a fairly new initiative in which the Chilean government is requiring all public schools in the country to teach English beginning in 5th grade. This week in Chile, Ms. Oria is promoting English education with events such as debate competitions, radio programs and a festival all in English. She liked hearing about the St. Stanislaus ESL Camp and thinks that she can help us promote the program in Chile!

Between these meetings, I was able to go on a couple of excursions, and the pictures below are from those trips. I went to a vineyard on Sunday called Viña Mar and ate an amazing lunch. During my last full day here, Rocky and I walked around a sculpture park on a cool, sunny day with the snow-capped Andes in the background.

That's all from Santiago, Chile. Now, I'm off to Lima, Peru where I'm told the food is amazing! Can't wait!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Here are some pics of Rocky and I in Buenos Aires. As you can see, he was very popular among the students at the three Brothers of the Sacred Heart schools that we visited.

Rocky called the window seat, so he stared out at the Earth below the whole time.








This is one of the THOUSANDS of beautiful works of street art that cover the buildings of Buenos Aires.














Rocky and I hit the cobblestone streets looking for future St. Stanislaus students.












We grabbed a bite to eat at a really neat cafe overlooking a park. That sandwich is served in a hollowed-out piece of bamboo!











Here's the key to my room at the Tango Backpackers Hostel.












These are students at the school Sagrado Corazon in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires. I met with Brother Mario Gassmann who is the director of this school. We talked about the St. Stanislaus ESL Camp, ate lunch with the other 5 brothers who worked at the school.









Here is one of the brothers with a group of students and Rocky.












These students LOVED getting their picture taken during recess.












The three people on the left work at another Brothers of the Sacred Heart school called Colegio Manuel Belgrano in Temperley, Buenos Aires. The brother on the left is Brother Eloy Lazaro who is the director of the school. The lady holding Rocky is the English coordinator and the brother to the right is Brother Ricardo Agustin who directs a different school called Colegio Benito Nazar in downtown Buenos Aires.





Here are some English classes at Colegio Benito Nazar.


















































Well, that's all of the pics from Argentina. I met with a lot of students and told them all about our school. They really want to come over and learn English, so maybe you'll be able to meet them in person some day.

Now, Rocky and I are off to Santiago, Chile.

Hasta Pronto!

Questions from International Club about Argentina

1. What are the most popular religions?

Catholicism is the most popular religion here. I have seen a small Jewish presence too.

2. What language do they speak?

The question should be, ¨What languagES do they speak¨? Argentina embraces many different languages. Spanish is the main one. Every single Argentine that I have met speaks at least one other language - with the most popular being English. German and French are also big down here. Portuguese is popular because Brazil is very close. There are language centers all over here where students go for private one-on-one tutoring sessions on top of what their learn in school.

The Argentinian government recently passed laws that require all schools to teach another language. Therefore, all Argentinian students learn another language from their first year of school to their last. Most schools offer English. However, some offer French, German and Chinese too.

One last note about language. The Spanish here is spoken very differently than in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. They pronounce the letters y, j and ll with a sh sound. Therefore, my name, John, is pronounced Shawn. It has taken some effort to get used to, but I enjoy hearing such a distinct variation in Spanish. You can always tell what country a spanish speaker is from by their distinct accent. Most people here can tell that I learned my Spanish in Mexico.

3. Is it dense in population?

Buenos Aires is VERY dense in population. In fact, it is the 4th largest city in Latin America with 13 million people. The physical size of the city is not so large, so just about everyone lives in high-rise apartment buildings. Everywhere you go, the streets and sidewalks are crowded...not just in the downtown parts, but even in the residential parts of the city. Not only is Buenos Aires full of people, but it´s full of DOGS too! It seems like EVERYONE has at least one dog...sometimes three or four. During the workday, it´s common to see many people who walk dogs as their job. I have seen some dog walkers walk at least 15 dogs at once. Also, because it´s kind of cold here, people dress their dogs in vests and sweaters. I´ve seen some crazy dog fashions lately. One down side to all of the dogs is that they turn the sidewalks into smelly mine fields. You really have to watch your step here. They say that the first pile you step in is good luck. I´m not going to test that theory.

4. Is soccer the most popular sport?

Soccer is definitely the most popular sport here. The two main teams are River Plate and Boca Juniors. Tennis is also big. An Argentine tennis player recently won the U.S. Open. He beat Federer. I think they call him del Potro???

5. What does it look like?

The city is located at the mouth of the Rio de Plata which is on the Atlantic coast, but you never see the water because you´re always surrounded by tall buildings. There is new architecture mixed in with the old on every block. Random grafitti with no artistic merit is rampant everywhere you look. However, there are a few works that make you stop in your tracks and awe at the true talent and hard work some artists put into their pieces. Some people who own buildings around here have even commissioned some of the street artists to paint masterpieces on their buildings.

7. How do Argentinians pronounce Argentina?

Ar-hen-TEE-nah

Latin America, Here I Come!

I've got my e-ticket, my room confirmation at the Tango Backpackers Hostel and the phone number of a Stanislaus alumnus who lives in Buenos Aires. I'm good to go!

Since June, I've been planning a 6-week trip through 5 Latin American countries to promote the new English as a Second Language (ESL) Camp that Stanislaus will begin to offer in January 2010. On Saturday, I finally head out on this big adventure!

The places I'll be visiting include:

• Buenos Aires, Argentina (The land of tango, Evita and Jorge Louis Borges)
  
• Santiago, Chile (Known for its vineyards, Easter Island and Pablo Neruda)
  
• Lima, Peru (From my plane I'll see the magnificent The Andes and maybe Machu Picchu?)
  
• San Jose, Costa Rica (I'm looking forward to the coffee, rainforest and no military.)
  
• Mexico: Merida, Cancun, Veracruz, Cordoba, Puebla, Mexico City, Guanajuato (I heart Mexico for many reasons, but the two most important are tacos and mariachi music.)
  

I have been contacting Stanislaus alumni and Brothers of the Sacred Heart who live in these countries in hopes that they can help me get in touch with parents who might be interested in the ESL Camp or Stanislaus in general. So far, I've made some really great contacts in each country.

I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what to expect. I just hope kids in Latin America find this camp fun and interesting and beg their parents to sign them up. The ESL dorm is waiting for about 20 students, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have that many signed up by the time I come back from my trip.

We've created a pretty awesome camp, so signing up students shouldn't be a problem. Here's a breakdown of the ESL Camp: Throughout the 4-week, English-immersion camp, students will attend ESL classes in the morning and participate in fun activities in the afternoons and on weekends that will further build their English skills. Just a few of those activities include:

• Field trip to NASA's Stennis Space Center
  
• Field trip to the New Orleans Audubon Zoo, Aquarium of the Americas, Insectarium and IMAX Theatre
  
• Live brass band performance at Preservation Hall
• Haunted History Tour of the New Orleans French Quarter
• Honey Island Swamp Tour
• Field trip aboard the U.S.S. Alabama battleship
  
• Water sports (summer only) such as skiiing, sailing, swimming and fishing.
• Other sports such as bowling, baseball, skating, soccer, dodge ball, volleyball, billiard, football, ping-pong and more.
  
• Finally, during the last week of camp, students will take an amazing trip to Disney World!

That sounds like fun, right?

Anyway, back to my trip. Buenos Aires will be my first city. I'll be there for 6 days, and I have all of my stops (about 100 schools, travel agencies and language centers) mapped out so that I can hit the ground running.

Here's a quick video of the Hostel that I'll be staying at in the posh Palermo district of Buenos Aires.



Wish me luck!