Animals near Puerto Natales

In addition to the "ovejas" (sheep), "zorros" (foxes) and "ñandus" (large ostrich-type birds), we saw several herds of guanacos as we entered the "Torres de Paine" National Park on May 1.

First Vocational Visits

Since our last post, "Team Chile" has been on the go. We successfully completed our first vocational visits and have presented to 3 Rotary clubs so far. Sandy has been a "trooper" and in spite of her injury hasn't missed a beat. For our first vocational visits which occurred on Tuesday, April 28, we observed and networked with professionals in the community of Punta Arenas. Amy networked with the "Director Regional de Turismo," Libby observed a youth and adult correctional facility, and Michelle spent time with the "Director de la Prensa Austral." I was fortunate to spend time with professionals at both the Liceo Nobelius (both an elementary and middle school) and the local university. The students in this photo are using the local newspaper to find examples of the grammatical concept with which they have been working in class. When students finish learning about a concept and are assessed, they earn a grade. Their grades are based on a number scale (1-7) instead of a letter grading system like we use in the U.S. One of my favorite parts of the visit was hearing the students use the term "Tia" instead of "Mrs." or "Senora" in front of their teacher's name.

- Joyanne

Some bad news, some good ¨:-)

We´ve had a few exciting developments since our last post. The first unfortunate of which was Sandy taking a bad fall in her hotel room- she tripped over her suitcase and came down on her wrist fairly hard. A doctor came to the hotel and checked her out and said it was fine, but when we arrived in Punta Arenas it was considerably swollen and some fingers were numb. She had xrays taken at the clinic here and discovered it was broken and needed an operation. The operation was only 30 minutes and went very well. She spent last night in the hospital (after several visits from her team) and is expected to leave today. She was in amazing spìrits and has impressed us all with her braveness and ability to speak Spanish in various drugged states!

While our fearless leader was in the hospital, the rest of the team had a city tour of Punta Arenas. The weather was fairly horrible and I´m surpised there was no hypothermia in the group. However, we saw some amazing sights. This place has a rich and storied history! Today the excitement really begins- we have our first vocational visits and tonight our first presentation to a Rotary club.

Michelle and a statue of a man (and dog) herding Sheep.

And no it´s not cold at all (insert sarcasm here)

Amy and Libby taking photos of the Straights of Magellen from a beautiful vista overlooking the city of Punta Arenas.

Thanks for reading and we promise to update as often as possible!

-Michelle

Pisco Sour tasting - Yum!

Working at the airport - last chance in Atlant to read up and contact friends and family!

We have landed!

Hola todos!
We arrived in Santiago this morning - stiff from our overnight flight on a crowded plane from Atlanta. Thank goodness for the eye masks and my SmartWool socks that were not too smelly as I put them near the head of the passengers in front of me!

We are staying at the Holiday Inn that is within a few steps of the airport complete with fountains in front, a lovely business center in the bar with free WiFi. (Which goes so well with a glass of Chilean red wine)

We ventured out to the City center today and walked at least 10 miles viewing architecture, people, and tasting a bit of the cuisine. As a team I think we are going to do very well - we have established some nicknames for each other...for instance, Libby is "La Guia" - the guide, Joyanne is "La Profesora" - the teacher, Amy is "El Arco Iris" - the rainbow because of her flexible personality, and Michelle is "La Ninita" - the Kid because she is youngest that that's her last name (Kidd). And, of coursed, I am "La Reina" - the Queen, dubbed by a taxi driver - so you know it's gonna stick!

Our experience today had us tasting a Pisco Sour, the official drink of Chile, which was delicious! Don't ask me what's in it, but it tasted sort of like a vodka gimlet with a bit more flavor to it. We also had to sample a little gelato and had a wonderful salsa with bread for our lunch.

The best statue that I saw today was two angels - one of whom is dying while the other stand over it. This was in front of the fine arts museum and was entitled "Unidos en la muerte y la gloria." - United in death and glory.

We will hit the sack early tonight to be prepared for our early flight to Punta Arenas (6:30 a.m.). That is where we will meet our Rotarian hosts for the first time and I am really looking forward to the experiences we will have there!

Hasta luego,
Sandy

Everyone is getting excited!! We leave tomorrow (Friday) for a LONG trip. The group will meet in Denver and fly to Atlanta and on to Santiago together. Then a quick overnight there and an early morning flight to Punta Arenas (where the forecast is 10 days straight of rain!)
We received our itinerary today so we now have more of an idea of what each day will hold. We are excited that a visit to Torres del Paine is included. (picture at left!) as well as many other exciting excursions! The next post will be from Chile! :) Hasta pronto!

MORE PICTURES!!!!

Team member Joyanne and alternate Paul in Fort Collins. Due to poor roads, we conferenced them in via Skype!
















District President Stuart Palmer getting the update from Amy!










Libby, Sandy and Michelle at Q







In uniform!

T minus 1 month until we depart!
We have had 3 team meetings and are almost set. The first meeting was in Steamboat Springs. The team all met for the first time at Rio Grande for dinner. Saturday we had a great morning yoga session and a day of meetings at the beautiful new Steamboat library. Group spaghetti dinner hosted by local Rotarian Jane (group picture).
The second meeting was in Fort Collins. Another fun group dinner at PF Changs started the weekend off. Meetings hosted by Chuck. We picked out team uniforms, discussed presentations etc.
This past weekend we had a small team meeting in Jackson. Due to weather in Fort Collins unfortunately Chuck, Paul, and Joyanne were unable to make the trek to Jackson. We conferenced them in on Skype so they didn't miss much. Practiced our presentations, worked on translations and had a wonderful lunch with District President Stewart Palmer at Betty Rock Cafe.
Team member Libby Foster!