Yesterday, I went with my colleagues Juan, Claudio and Carlos to a science education meeting in the town of Viña del Mar, a beautiful area on the coast adjacent to the city of Valparaíso. We had to get up early and get going by 6:30 AM, a real test for me in Santiago, as I am still struggling with the time change, the season change (it is winter here and gets dark early at night and is still dark in the early morning), as well as the language change.
Anyway, we had a nice 90 minute drive to the coast, passing through beautiful valleys and areas including many vineyards as well as the areas of Curacaví and Casablanca. I had been on this road when Sarah and I were here back in November of 2007, but like most things at that time, it seemed more like a dream than a reality. At least now, I am beginning to emerge with some familiarity at least in scenary, and also, I must admit, in faces of friends.
The meeting went well and was all about a program of science education call ECBI that uses hands-on modules in schools to explore scientific concepts with students. The methods were clear and the presentations very well done, and I believe I understood a lot. It is still quite an immersion experience, but at least the knowledge that was being presented was something that I have great experience with as an educator, if I can only figure our how to speak about it better (mucho mejor).
On the return trip, coming out of the lovely valleys we entered the city of Santiago, and the pace and sites radically changed. There was a smell of smoke, some of the pollution that comes out and sticks around during the winter inversion. There was also a lot of traffic, a not so subtle reminder that this is a huge city and a booming metropolis. After making it back to Ñuñoa, I caught up with Sarah who had her own unique immersional day and we traded stories and laughs along with our friends for a fun day of travel and learning.
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