I've been living in the desert for about a week now. The altitude is extremely high and it took a few days for my ears to pop. It is extremely dry here, and my skin has already started to crack and bleed despite practically bathing myself in lotion twice a day. The city I live in, El Salvador, was created by North Americans in the early 1900's. Later, the mining company was nationalized and the North Americans left. For this reason, many of the street names are in English and the streets are extra wide compared to the typical Chilean streets. The city was set up in the shape of a Roman Helmet. I climbed to the top of a nearby mountain and was able to verify this fact. Most everyone lives here because either they or their family works for the mining company. There is a population of about 6,000. Everyone that works for the mining company, CODELCO, lives in a house owned by the company and they do not pay for the rent, water, electricity, or phone. CODELCO also funds 50% of the school's budget in El Salvador. The copper in El Salvador is starting to run out and there is talk of shutting down the mine by 2011. This will have huge ramifications for the city.

The father in my family works for CODELCO as a chemist. His daughter just finished University and will be joining him at CODELCO. The mother is a baker and makes cakes and pastries all day long. This weekend she is particularly busy because it's Children's Day on Sunday and everyone is asking her to make sweets for their family. Children's Day is widely celebrated here in Chile. Do we have this holiday in the states? There is also a 13 year old boy in the family. He is one of the best students in his class and will be traveling to Antofogasta next week for a public speaking competition in English. I have been helping him practice for this. The final member of the family is a 5 month old poodle named Tatam. He wears an adorable fleece jacket because it's winter here and they don't have indoor heating in any of the buildings. I don't think I could ever get used to this. It's about 58 degrees in the house right now and my hands are freezing as I type this!

My school is incredible. It's 50 years old and was built by the North Americans. They have wi-fi throughout the entire building. Incredible. I came from a school with no running water and intermittent electricity. There are three English teachers at the school who all speak English very well. I will be working with all of their classes (grades 3-8). This week I observed and on Tuesday I will start teaching my own classes.