Upon arrival in Taltal, we headed to the Paposo Inn, where we were greeted by Hugh and Aoife (pronounced eefa), an Irish couple, who were starting their 5th week with English For The Greatest (EFTG). They told us they had initially signed on for 3 weeks but kept extending their time. This is always indicative of a good volunteer exchange. During our time in Taltal, we also volunteered alongside an Australian named Nathanial, and two French college students, Nico and Julian. By the end of our stay, we were all hesitant to leave Taltal and the Paposo Inn, but since school is on break for 2 weeks, I guess it was sort of necessary to move on. Even Hugh and Aoife, who had completed 7 weeks at EFTG, admitted they should probably see other parts of Chile.
English classes are provided for free by EFTG for the community. Hector, the principal and director, has many donors, or "secret friends", who support his program, and he has a catering business on the side to make ends meet. Each morning and afternoon, he hand delivers breakfast and lunch all over Taltal; then he heads to the library for classes until sometimes 10:00. Talk about a busy guy! Though by 6 pm he has already been hard at work for 12 hours, he is still teaching energetically and cracking jokes. There are 7 different levels of students who attend classes, ranging from 6 year olds to 65 year olds, and Hector works with them all perfectly! Our role as volunteers was to sit in small table groups and assist the students with their coursework. Though there were a few children who gave us a run for our money, most of the students were awesome to work with! In fact, our students in adult classes became our friends in Taltal. We all got together each week for Gringo vs. Taltalino basketball, and we would often head to the local bar, Costa Traviesa, after classes for a round of Escudo (a brand of Chilean beer).
Several times during our stay, students would invite the entire volunteer clan over for asados with their family. Time after time, we were welcomed into homes by wives, husbands, children, parents, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters as though were too were family. If the welcome into their homes wasn't enough, the food was always above and beyond. In the states, if I am invited over to grill or have a BBQ, I expect hamburgers, beer and maybe some brats. In Chile, asado is an art. We're talking racks of ribs, steaks, chorizo, chicken, fresh baked bread, salads, wine and of course Escudo.
Every time we were invited over to people's homes, we had an awesome time, but one day stands out in particular: the final of the Copa America at Christian's house. We arrived in Chile at the start of the knockout stage of the Copa America, which was being hosted in Chile. Each night Chile played, we found ourselves gathered around tables at Costa with several of our students. We would all be drinking Escudo and cheering on the Chilean team. Though most of us did not speak the same language fluently, we always managed to be the most boisterous table. The gringos learned some choice phrases in Chilean Spanish and whenever a player of the opposing team deserved it, we all (regardless of Nationality) shouted abuse at the TV in Spanish.
The day of the final (Chile vs Argentina), Hector had planned to sell fish sandwiches and fries as a fundraiser for the school. We were graciously offered Christian's home to use as our preparation station.
The game was at 5:00, and we had approximately 100 sandwiches to prepare between 11:00 and kickoff. With the help of Christian, his wife Corina and several other students, we managed to pull it off just in the nick of time. We sent the last sandwich out the door as the game started. Our intentions of going to the bar for the game were out the window, and so we continued to drink Escudo and cheer on Chile from the back of Christian's house. It was a blast!
The game went to penalty kicks, and as soon as Chile's famous attacker, Alexi Sanchez, knocked in the winning goal, Taltal exploded. People spilled out onto the streets and headed to the main plaza where there was a caravan of honking cars filled with people. There was a big screen set up to show the hand off of the trophy, and thousands of people were chanting and jumping up and down in the plaza. It was the first time Chile had won the Copa America, which it being in its 99th year, made the victory all that more special for the country.
Of all the communities and cultures we have experienced so far on our trip, I feel we were most welcomed and integrated into that of Taltal. The people, from Hector and Ramon, the Inn owner, to Christian and his family, made us feel like we belonged. Thank you Taltal for making us feel like honorary Taltalinos for the past three weeks :) Salud!
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