My name is Garrett...remember me? Yeah, it's been awhile...

Alright, the last time that I blogged, we were living in a different decade, the Duke Blue Devils were undefeated and a consensus national champ pic, and George Bush Sr. was president of the US, and mustaches were not the most popular/best form of facial hair. Okay, maybe only two of those are true, but it has been almost 4 months. Ufta.

So for the two of you who are actually still reading and moderately interested (thanks mom and dad), here is a basic summary of what has been going on the past 120 days:

December: Finished up the school year and planned for the upcoming year. I am going to be teaching 4th grade english. This means I will be teaching in the first unit (great news), and I am going to be working with Marianne, a Chilean angel disguised in the form of an English teacher. We will have 5 classes of 20 students each (the classes are usually 40, but she takes half and I take the other half). I will also be teaching an English club, "The Stories Around Us", an additional four hours per week. Should be reasonable.

My pedagogical philosophy in one word? INTIMIDATION. (Marianne is on board.)

My folks came to visit for Christmas. They came for two weeks, and it was wonderful. A bit of a trip to be celebrating in 85 degree blue skies and sunscreen, but a celebration none the less. We got to go to Puerto Varas, Peulla, Chiloe, Frutillar, Vina, Valparaiso, Zapallar and Santiago. Pretty impressive docket for two weeks.

Here is our makeshift Christmas. This includes a recyclable grocery bag, err, I mean Christmas tree, fireplace courtesy of youtube, and Christmas carols, also generously provided by youtube. My mom would want me to emphasize the nativity scene as well that she brought.

Here is my dad walking along the Vina beach at sunset. This is what Chileans call "muy bonito" which I think roughly translated means delicious burrito. Yeah, confusing, I know. I'm still working on the whole language barrier.

After my folks returned to the states, I went to Colonias, which is essentially a mission trip for St. George where abused children come for a week at the beach in Quisco. I am glad I was able to be a part of this, but I would be lying if I said that I relaxed much this week.

A brief summary:

- Phil and I crammed into a two person tent needing to be ever vigilant as unattended children rifled through our bags.

- helping out with meals by setting up/cleaning/taking down/cooking/etc. Basically everything. Meanwhile, we were terrorized by a frustratingly cute demon in the form of a puppy. I literally threw this thing out of the kitchen at least thirty times each day. I really wish I was exaggerating.

- trying to convince St. George students that it was important to watch their kids on the mile walk to and from the beach every day. Unsuccessfully.

- praying that none of the kids would be lost/drowned during our three hour forays on the Pacific each afternoon.

- the last night, staying up with the kids until 2:30 am as the only adult from Saint George on a trip with 50 high school seniors and another 50 kids from the center. Slightly stressful.

All that being said, it was a good week. I got to meet some great kids, got to spend some quality time weeping/hanging out with Phil, and got to feel like I was in a camp setting again.

This week thankfully ended, and I had about a week to hang out/recover in Santiago before heading out on the next adventure. I got to make it back out to Zapallar to spend some time with some old Fisher friends who were visiting. Great to see them.

Upon returning, I had a beautiful surprise waiting in my inbox. I received the following email from a former student, that brought significant joy to my life. Please enjoy:

Subject title: michael jackson

hi! this email is being made to ask you all a very special task. this year in 2011, in some national award, its michael jackson vs. adam lambert. even though mj is dead he is a legend. i wont ever forget him, he is my rolemodel. i love him with all my heart.i really want you to vote for him physically but if not possible please vote for him where love is at its most, in your heart.please i love mj and this means everything to me. i fear that if stinky lambert wins people will forget mj. did i forget to mention, adam's winning so far. - tears-

your vote will mean everything. i love you all!thankyou

I changed absolutely zero of that, including the face things. I taught this youth for an entire year. Yep. This is why I love working with kids. RIP MJ.

Well, this whole blogging thing is pretty exhausting, and I think the best way to reconcile my lethargy/laziness with the limited attention of my parents, err, um, readers is to divide this summer recap into segments. Thus concludes segment one of the 'I am still alive, and I owe you an apology' blog series.