I'm the type of person that typically does a lot of background research when something is of interest. I read a number of books and websites that had information regarding Chile and neighboring areas. The Last Days of the Incas, Magellan, Columbus, and Pinochet to name a few. One thing that I read that stuck in the back of my mind was a piece that mentioned a kid may come up to you if they hear you speaking English because they want to practice theirs.
The other night Erin and I were out at an Italian restaurant - something different for a change. Shortly after we arrived, a family with 3 girls arrived and was seated next to us. Toward the end of our meal, the girl that was about 8 or so came over to listen. Her mother told us (in Spanish) that she wanted to hear us speak English. The door quickly opened up and the older daughter (about 12) asked a couple questions in English, though she didn't particularly understand the answers. The mother spoke so quickly - even after "mas despacio por favor" - slower please. We had the unfortunate luck to be seated beneath a speaker play loud and lousy early 80's music from the US, which made it difficult to even hear the woman - let alone understand what she was saying.
The husband spoke some English - somewhere in competence between my Spanish and Erin's. They were going for ice cream after dinner and asked if we'd like to come along. Of course! We went to the Barrio Bella Vista restaurante y zona de tiendas (restaurant and store area) and found some new experiences. The ice cream was really closer to yogurt. You choose the flavor and fruit and then the worker mixes them up in kind of a big ice cream press/mixer apparatus. Words don't do justice, and sorry, no pictures. The lady looked like she could bench press a small car as it really was an arm workout.
The other piece is Erin is interested in volunteering at an escuela (school), and the woman we met was a teacher at a nearby school. There seemed to be considerable excitement in potentially getting someone from los estados unidos potentially in their school. We'll see how this all pans out.
Today as I arrived back from the University a couple boys that looked to be about 13 were standing outside the apartment building and asked me a number of rapid fire questions. The first thing I could understand was azul bicicleta (blue bicycle) and living on a particular floor. Yes, I lived near the apartment that had an azul bicicleta. I asked them where their school was (they had on uniforms of some fashion), but had to defer most of their questions as I was beginning to think they were speaking in slang. I went and got Erin and we were able to finish the conversation. No, we weren't from England. When we said los estados unidos, on kid raised an arm like a high five and smiled. So the piece about kids coming up to you to speak English is something I can confirm.
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