Week 2 of school down. Slowly figuring out how things work, but one major problem… the strikes/ marches for free education are growing and my school is starting to join in. On Tuesday, there was a “Paro Nacional” which means the whole country was on strike in support of the students. Both of my Tuesday classes were cancelled. I had class Wednesday, and then Thursday one was cancelled. Every week the students and faculty are going to vote if they want to be on strike or not. This is called “paro indefinido” meaning that each week can be different after the vote that week. Every “facultad” or major votes for itself, so for example the school of political science can be on strike, while chemistry is still in school. This is all at Campus San Joaquin which is where all of my classes are. There are 3 main campuses. Campus Oriente which is by my house, and where our ILP program was, is completely “En Toma” right now. Which means its taken over by the students. They put the desks in the gate blocking all the entrances except for one where there are always students so that no one can enter. It is completely closed down and has been for the past week. They are going to vote again next week to see about the next week. The problem with that is, our EAP office where the advisors for our program work is at Campus Oriente and they haven’t been able to get to their office. So in addition to all this confusion, we haven’t been able to contact our EAP advisors. SO basically this means at this point, I have no idea what is going to happen, if classes are going to continue or if San Joaquin is going to end up En Toma as well and if it does, for how long? It is all very exciting to be here at this historical moment but at the same time very frustrating because I came here to study and get credit. So that’s basically the recent news on school other then that things have been great. I went hiking with a couple friends last week which was really fun and this thursday I'm going snowboarding at Valle Nevada with the foreign exchange group on campus!! And its supposed to rain all week which means FRESH POWDER!! Also, last weekend, I went with my host family to their grandparents house for their weekly family lunch and it was really nice. We just spent the day eating, relaxing, and playing cards and dominos. Very much like my family gatherings at home which was nice.
Cultura Chilena #3: No one buys textbooks for their classes. Here there are no copyright laws, so on each syllabus there are lists of books and what chapters we will have to read for the semester. There is a photo copy place for each “facultad.” For each of my classes I just go to the photocopy place and tell them what class I’m in and which reading I need and they print it for you. Each reading, depending on how long it is, is about 50 cents. I got all the readings for one class and it cost about $6. Pretty cool. (when I said its been difficult figuring out the systems at school, this is one example in particular… but I got it now!)
Cultura Chilena #4: about $470 Chilean Pesos = $1 US Dollar (This Fact= Lots of Fun Math)
Hike up to Cerro San Cristobal (a huge hill in the middle of town)
View from the top of the Cerro, oh hey Santiago! The clearness of this day is very rare. We went the day after it had been raining on and off for a few days. That low brown looking cloud is smog.
This is at the top of Cerro San Cristobal, when your in town you know where you are by which way the statute is facing.
Hike in La Reina at the bottom of the Andes. This day was not as clear as the day before, and yes I'm wearing the same thing....
The Front of Campus Oriente.
If you look close you can see the chairs in the gate blocking the entrance.
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