Antofagasta

Just a wee note to say that it is freezing here. I did not think that it would be cold in the desert.And last night it rained. The children did not know what to do because it never rains here. Sometimes it is dangerous because there are not any trees to stop all the mud sliding off the hills but this time it was OK because there was not much rain. What news do you have?

Mrs C in Chile with Kerri Kiwi

Well hello everyone.
I hope the holidays have been super.
Have you found Chile on the world map yet? Santiago is the biggest city in the country. There are 6 million people living there.It is the capital just like Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. Everyone here speaks Spanish and just a few people speak English. Whenever I speak in Spanish people look at me and wonder what langugae I am speaking??? I will have to do lots and lots of practice every day just like we are practising our basic facts in maths. I think you are better at basic facts than I am at Spanish. Has anyone achieved their challenge of basic facts to 10 yet? Cannot wait to hear who has.
Today I have been to Valparaiso. It is a port city on the coast. It is where all the ships from the Chilean navy are. There is a wondeful museum there all about the way the Chileans battled to take the country from the Spanish many years ago. Some of the cannons they used in the battles had cannon balls the size of a soccer ball, some of them had spikes attached to them.
The hills behind the city are very steep. To get to the top you have to walk up zillions of steps, or you can take the funicular. These are very like the cable car in Wellington, but much smaller, much steeper and much, much older and very rickety. Kerri Kiwi was very scared but of course I was not.
Perhaps you can google Valparaiso with Mrs McC and see some of things that I have told you about. Let me know what you think.
Yesterday also I saw some wonderful sand art. The men were drawing mermaids, unicorns, octopuses, fairies and even Spongebob and the Simpsons. I will post some photos when I can download them as I do not have my computer with me.
Tomorrow I will go to Antofagasta. That is in the north, in the desert.
Mrs McClure, you will have to go to my school email to publish any comments that are written for the blog. Mrs Barton will know the address,
Write to me with all your holiday news,
Lots of love, Mrs C,

In 30 days Billy is going to live in Stewart Island. He is going there for 10 months. He will be able to go fishing, and shooting for deer. Lizards and kiwis and albatrosses and crabs and all sorts of birds and bugs live there. Room 3 is going to miss Billy terribly.

Today is the last school visit for Hamish. After the holidays he is starting school in Room 3. Hamish already has some friends in Room 3. They are Gen, Billy and Shaye.