Hola from Punta Arenas!

I am happy to say that my practicum and life here at the bottom of the

earth are going very well. Thank you for helping to make it possible for

me to come here.

The people here are some of the warmest, kindest, most welcoming people I

have ever met- and I mean everybody! I am enjoying the culture immensely,

as well as the work that I am doing. I have a lovely family with 2

¨sisters¨, and we all get along very well. I am learning a lot of Spanish

from my host mother and sisters, and the host father can translate things

into English if I need it. I couldn´t be happier with my home situation.

It took a little while for things to fall into place at school, there

being many English teachers and only one of me, and all of them wanting a

chance to have a native English speaker in their classroom. Once my

schedule got figured out, I ended up with 2 main classes, and many other

classes that I observe. My main classes (the ones I will be evaluated in)

are a 2nd grade and a 10th grade. I much prefer the 2nd grade, but it is

a good experience to have the (big) challenge of assisting in a high

school classroom. The teachers like having me help with activities

because they say that I have a ¨real¨ accent. It´s a lot of fun, and a

lot of work some days too. I am at the school for 5-8 hours a day. It is

a private school, which is a great place to be because apparently the

Chilean public schools are state mandated at 44 students per class, and

they are much more difficult to work in. Miguel de Cervantes (my school)

is a lovely school with sweet children and an energetic staff. I would

hope that practicum students in the future would also be placed in this

school.

I am really enjoying the city and the Patagonian spring. It is raining

today, but many days have been beautiful, with a blue blue sea and Tierra

del Fuego island across the water. The culture here is fascinating, and I

can´t imagine anyone not enjoying their time spent here. I think it was a

good choice for a sister city for our wonderful city of Bellingham! I am

going to visit the famous Torre del Paine park soon, which I am excited

about. Unfortunately, I don´t have any pictures to send, but I would be

happy to provide many when I come home, which is in December.

I hope this e-mail helps you encourage other people from B-ham to come

here! And thanks again for your role in giving me a place to stay and

work.

Sincerely,

Morgan Lenssen