Rain

Last night it rained in Antofagasta. That rarely happens, since it's in the middle of the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. When I first moved here 2 years ago, I remember waking up at 6 A.M. and seeing dew on the patio twice. Last year, it drizzled for about 20 minutes and most of the schools in the city were closed. Rain is scary here; the houses aren't built for it and lots of houses center around an outdoor patio. Last night it started dripping drops around 6 P.M., paused, and started again around 9 P.M. and continued until 6 A.M. this morning, getting progressively heavier. According to one of our Chilean friends, it hasn't rained that much here in about 30 years. In 1991 it rained and there were floods and deaths and chaos, but he said after that they rebuilt the city to better withstand the next rainfall. I don't know how bad it is around the city, but many houses of people we know flooded. At school, 3 classrooms on the first floor flooded and part of the library ceiling caved in on the second floor. Teachers and staff spent the morning cleaning and sorting through books. Students around the city, including our students, had the day off. A rain day. I haven't been able to find any information online and I haven't yet watched the news, so I don't know any official details, just what I saw and heard. The main road on our walk to school was flooded, and one poor woman's car was stuck.

Rain on my bedroom window last night. A sight I've never seen here!

Rain falling on the streets of Antofagasta.

Saturday, August 19th

On this day, one week ago today, Heather Ricketts and Francisco Mura got married! It was a beautiful ceremony, broadcast to her family and friends back home via web cam, and the reception was wonderful. Lots of live music, delicious food and drinks, dancing, party hats and masks, and general fun for all.

Congrats and best of luck to the happy couple!!

birthday celebrations

Another fabulous birthday!

6 A.M. -- cookie and candle birthday visit from Kyla and Laura

8:30 A.M. -- surprise party #1, from my 7th grade homeroom

10 A.M. -- surprise party #2, from my 8th graders (last year's homeroom)

12:00 -- surprise party #3, from my other class of 8th graders

My students are so sweet!!! Even if they had just wanted the day off from class, :p they still went out of their way to make my birthday special...cake and presents and decorations...one class even made me a party hat...and throughout the day classes gave me assorted cards and birthday greetings, plus I even got some presents! A beautiful hand-knitted scarf, earrings, a bouquet of flowers, a new headset for my computer (skype me!), among other things.

And in the evening, a few friends came over for Chinese food and wine. Plus, Lindsey et al. are having a vegetarian birthday brunch for me on Sunday. :) I feel very lucky.

Pan de Azucar

This week we had Monday and Tuesday off, so a small group of us went six hours south to Pan de Azucar. We arrived at 1 A.M. Saturday night (Sunday morning) and were lucky enough to find a beautiful, completely empty, beach to camp on. The guys left Monday afternoon for a bachelor party, and the three females stayed until Tuesday morning. We made it home safely after some disconcerting car trouble and then being stopped by the police entering Antofagasta. Luckily, Heather managed to befriend everyone along the way and keep us out of trouble!

The days at the beach were beautiful and relaxing. Unless we headed into the town of Chanaral or the Coleta Pan de Azucar, we didn't see people or even any dogs. (Although the last morning we did spot some fox tracks around our camp.) The weather wasn't very sunny, but it wasn't too cold either, and we ate well (falfafel burgers, burritos), relaxed, read, and overall had a great weekend. Cheers!

boats at nearby Coleta Pan de Azucar

"Our beach." If you look closely, you can see the tents -- that speck left of center.

Sunday afternoon I went on a long, solitary walk along the coast

self-portrait

Torres del Paine, Chile

Just a recuerdo from an amazing summer.

wasting time

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

as requested

Here are some updated photos of Paddington....