Chile: classes

Hola,

My first week of classes is done (it wasn´t a full week, so I still haven´t been to some of the classes). It was a bit hectic, but not too bad as this week was pretty much get the syllabus and learn what the class was going to be about. I think they may be a bit difficult, but I should be okay. On Friday I had a class called Lengua Materna 2, a grammar class for people who want to be teachers in Chile. I really struggled on Friday because we were working with Ortografía (punctuation) quite different than in the United States. I am going to have to work extra hard in this class because it is the second session of the class and the rest of the students in the class took the first part last semester, so I have some catching up to do.

The first day of classes was Wednesday and I had some killer butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous all day long, even after I was done with class. One thing that is really different about school in Chile is that you don´t really buy textbooks. Apparently Chile doesn´t have copyright laws, so you go check the book out of the library, bring it to a photocopy shop and say, “The whole book please” and they make it for you. This is a much cheaper alternative to books, but a bit strange for me.

I met some more Chileans in class, and through some CIEE friends, so I am making friends with Chileans, which is really exciting!

Some observations that I have made:

1. It isn´t as awkward in Chile as it was in Peru. I stand out less here because there is more of a European influence, but I still stick out as a gringo, especially when I talk!

2. The mullet is very trendy right now. About 80% of the males 15-24 is sporting some kind of a mullet.

3. The hair trend for females of the same age bracket is layers, but the short layers are really short and chunky while the long layers are long. Often they wear it in braids, the shorter layers don´t fit and so fall over the rest of the head.

4. When I am with other gringos, it is difficult not to speak English, but I am trying. I found some other people in my group who don´t want to speak English, so I think I am going to start hanging out with them more.

5. I am finally healthy, I think. My cold went away!

6. Lelo taught me how to prepare a traditional dish the other day. It is beans (white ones), pumpkin, garlic, onion, carrot, oregano, olive oil, and spice. It is soupy until you add the spaghetti, then it becomes more like a hot dish. I was really yummy. I think it is called priolo.

7. I am scared of gaining weight because of the large amounts of bread that are consumed here!

8. Nico (my host brother) is happier now, which is a good thing. After his big exam that he was studying for the entire first week I was here, his girlfriend broke up with him, and he was very sad and slept all day for about a week, then went out at night and stayed out til 4-5am. I am finally starting to get to know him.

9. I wish for warmth and warmer weather, or somewhere to go besides my bed to be warm.

10. Lunchtime is later here than in the States, 1-2.

11. I still don´t have a student ID so I have to pay full price to ride the micro.

12. Apparently exchange students don´t show up on the list of students that are taking a course. This caused me to freak out in my first class because it made me start to think that I wasn´t supposed to be there. I talked to the professor and it was fine, but after talking with Lelo, who told me I should be on the list, I started to freak again and so I sent an e-mail and learned that we don´t show up on lists for about a month.

Love,

Kathy