People, Pooches, and Perceptions by Jason Bowers

It only took five minutes for me to feel at home in Chile because of the host family that I was paired with. The picture below shows the greeting I received when I first entered my host family´s home. Her name is Annie and she is my new best friend. Everyday when I arrive home from school she runs into my room, jumps on my bed, and barks until I give her some attention. This behavior parallels that of my family as well, the Salinas´. They are extremely caring and welcoming and are constantly checking with me to see if there is anything I might need.

On my first evening with the family, we ate a meal around 4 p.m. that was delicious. I assumed this was dinner since it was so near when I am accustomed to eating the final meal of the day. The family then went to their own spaces and seemed to be wrapping up for the night. I was not very sleepy so I stayed up and did some reading. To my surprise at around 10:30 p.m., when I was getting ready for bed, the family kicked back into high gear and got me for "Once." This is represented in the picture above. The family has a room detached from the house with a huge grill, sink, table, and sound system. There was much frivolity and food as we navigated conversation in a group setting for the first time. It was a great welcome to the culture that went into the wee hours of the morning (too bad I didn´t take a cue from the family and get a brief siesta in earlier in the day).

My experiences at the school have been most interesting. The first picture above is the entrance to the arts facility on campus and the school dog, Carmella. The music students are very curious about everything concerning my life and experiences in the world and expecially my thoughts on music. In the class above, we spent a large majority choosing US songs that they enjoy and singing them with me accompanying on the piano. They have a great amount of natural musical instinct and I am looking forward to working with them for the remaining two weeks.

I have also gotten the opportunity to visit the University of Concepcion. The campus is beautiful with many open green spaces and trees and mountains framing the background. Chileans are clearly proud of their country and its history, evidenced in the art, architecture, and music that permeates the surroundings.