It rains in Chile

Estimados Gringos... Como están??!!!!

Me? Great. You know why? Because it finally stopped raining. That’s right; it rained for 8 days straight!!! However, it was perfect for my study time I had over the weekend. But, it turned out it was all in vain. I think I was missing some of the material, because the questions I was asked were nothing that I studied. But, don't worry, I had a nice chat with the Profe afterward and he told me his expectations of me are different than those of the regular students. The class was Geografia de la octava region (Geography of the 8th region) which is the region that Concepcion is in. I took the class to learn a bit about my new temporary home. Although, I'm not learning as much as I hoped because the class is only once a week and the professor is really old and has a hearing aid in one ear making him very difficult to understand. However, it isn't a total waste; I'm sharpening my ear, and have learned some tid bits too.

It just occurred to me that until now I have not said anything about my classes. Well, here goes then.

Monday: 9-11 Espanol para extranjeros (Spanish for gringos). This class has diminished from 8 of us to 2 and now seems to be held in the profe's office. We do worksheets and discuss Chilean culture. It’s not really a class to learn spanish, it’s more to practice writing and to learn to express yourself better.
6-8 Baile folklore (Chilean folk dancing) This class is really interesting and fun. We are learning to dance the cueca (Chile's national dance) along with many other traditional dances. Chile is large and diverse so there is a wide range in the culture. Some of the dance moves are kinda silly, but it’s neat anyway. The profe is also very nice and often lectures to the class the importance of preserving the culture.

Tuesday: 12-2 Geografia
5-6 Futbol Its pretty self explanatory. We usually do some drills in the beginning and then we play scrimmages. This is all inside a gym. As I said in the last post, the game is quite fast. Also, the boys are pretty darn competitive, and good players as well. Its fun and great exercise.

Wednesday: 8-9 Espanol

Thursday: 5-6 Futbol

Friday: 12-2 Hable con sus animales (Talk with your animals) That’s right. This class is kinda ridiculous, but what the hell. The profe talks about behavior and conduct and we watch videos about various animal things. Also, we are supposed to observe our pet for two hours a week. My pension has a dog, so every now and then I’ll sit outside and watch him sleep. At the end of the course we have to turn in a report on our pets’ behavior. Also, last Friday I had my first exam in that class, which was also the very first thing I have had to do for the class all semester. (The same was the case for the geography test.) I think it went fairly well considering I’m slowly refining my dog whispering in spanish.

So that’s my school deal. The semester ends on June 27 and the next semester starts August 4. Next semester will be more serious as I have to take a Chemistry class. Speaking of school, right now most all of the departments are either in 'paro' or in 'toma.' Paro is when the students don't go to class in protest. Toma is when the students take over the building and keep it occupied around the clock and don't let anyone enter... only the students from that department may enter. So, that little dream we have all had waking up at 8am going to class hoping that just maybe the prof wont show... yeah that is a common reality in my life. I usually don't have class.. At least not recently. Why? Because the departments are not giving as much scholarship money as they have in the past. Money for food, transportation and photocopies.

To help me pass the rain and the not having class, Clare came down from Vina del Mar to hang out for the last week. We bounced around the town, testing our raingear and being gringos. We did a little hiking, dancing, and living the pension life. It was fun to have her in the house because we could speak english around my roommates and they couldn't understand anything. Normally that would be rude, but they are my roommates and they like to fuck with me, so it was fun to fuck with them. Even the score a bit.

On Wednesday of this week, I went to a bar with two roommates (Clare left on Monday night) to watch the first game of the finals of the Chilean futbol league tournament. There are two games for the final, one at each team’s stadium. The contest is between Colo-Colo and Everton. As mentioned before, Colo-Colo is very popular. So, it was no surprise that the place was packed. The people were cheering and singing the whole time as if they were there. The fanship of futbol is quite amazing. Colo-Colo ended up winning and the people went nuts. We continued to party a bit more at a couple other bars before buying some vodka and going back to the house. We were drinking in my room where the night culminated with my bed being shattered and my light fixture being broken. All is better now. I'm just glad their team won.

Things of note coming up on the agenda is a little backpacking trip and then a jaunt through Peru and Bolivia during the break between semesters.

I hope to get some pictures up soon of all of the protest banners around campus and maybe steal some of Clare's from her visit down here. NOTE: if you have had trouble seeing the pictures, you need to click on the picture, which will then take you to the full album!

I hope you are all staying high and dry and loving the start to summer!

Abrazos y besos para todos!!!

Paz-
Dan