Days of Wine and Avocados

Yes, after a hard day's work, I get to come home to a glass of delicious Chilean wine, and avocado in some form or another. A kilo of palta as it is known here, is less than 2 dollars so we have it almost everyday. If it is here, it is featured in at least one meal a day, if not more. Joel is particularly happy with living in the land of palta, as he has let us know he could eat it at every meal. We don't know when the season will be over, or what we'll do when it is over...maybe the greenish tinge in our skin will fade.

Today 7 out of 19 students came to class. Only one emailed in a reason for missing, and another sent word with a fellow student. When I mentioned this low number to Millaray, my office mate, she said this isn't unusual at all.

I'm struggling some with trying to figure out what I need to do. I did get a syllabus, which I think I mentioned in another post I was happy with-interesting unit topics with which to structure our learning around. The issue is, I was not told about an important language exam that some of my students will take at the end of the semester, not what they learned last year, or really very many specifics about what grammar we are supposed to review or learn. This sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not-I'm just trying to explain some differences between here and at home. People are very giving of their time, and have been very helpful when I ask questions, but I have to figure out what to ask. Things will work themselves out, I just want to make sure I'm covering what I need to.

Those of you who know me can tell which is my desk:

It looks like I will be having a busy weekend-my colleague Katerina has invited us to dinner tomorrow (Friday), then Saturday is market day, as well as a visit with MJ, another Fulbrighter who is in Santiago and is coming to Viña for the weekend.