The beginning of this week has been nice and busy for me so far. I like it. Monday morning was orientation for Universidad de Chile. My program group has now been cut virtually in half since other students are attending La Catholica. However, the entire program has a mandatory class from 7-9 Tuesday/Thursday on Chilean culture with a number of guests speakers and field trips. Should be very interesting, I get 5 UC credits for it, and it satisfies an area studies requirement I need for my major. Excellent.
I arrived at the Business and Economics campus in downtown, one of the many campuses situated all over the city of Santiago that makeup the university, and did not realize that there would be many other Students from around the world attending this orientation through other programs. Tufts, Stanford, France, etc...there were a lot of gringos and foreigners in the house. We all sat through a series of PowerPoint presentations explaining the history of the university, library system, how to register for classes and afterwords were chartered on buses over to the Macul campus which holds a good portion of the faculties...it is TEN MINUTES from my house. Score.
The campus seemed pretty interesting. Rugged, large, lots of classrooms and space, graffiti, diverse student population...I even got offered a swig of some boxed wine being shared amongst some Chilean students as our group passed by (of course I took up the offer). At the end of the tour, we returned to the Econ campus downtown to pickup a book of the courses being offered this semester. I then proceeded to give myself my own tour of the Architecture campus next door, beautiful and active since their classes had started that day. There was a large book sale taking place on the campus; picked up Teddy Roosevelt's "The Rough Riders)" (english) about his 6 month participation in military campaign in Santiago in 1898 as well as Gabirle garcia Marquez's "Relato de un náufrago" ('The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor', obviously in Spanish). After, I headed to a downtown cafe to look through the course catalog, and on the way to downtown I was strangely offered a position to be a model by a Chilean company. I kindly turned them down, lol.
I headed back to the same building the next day to have a one-on-one meeting with a professor of La Chile who has been helping exchange students with class selections for a number of years as well as to pick-up my university I.D. card which is ironically my only form of identification other than passport since I lost my Santa Cruz Id and driver's license. I decided to take a Geography class with an economic emphasis, one on the Chilean copper industry, one themed around middle eastern conflicts with the west, as well as a Chilean history class centered around the indigenous population during the conquest. Classes have been delayed another week and a half because of the strikes, but I received the excellent news that the director of the undergraduate program at La Chile has emailed all professors to request that the international students be allowed to finished the term as scheduled (Dec 6) rather than having to wait out the rest of the semester depending on the specific department. I was worried I would have to be in class potentially all the way up until Dec 20th. Phew. My class schedule is subject to change if I see other classes I like, but for right now I am happy with it. Later that day I tried to pick-up my National Chilean I.D. card, but there was a mix up with my name on an important form. For some reason the registration office put III as my maternal last name. I went back to the office to have that fixed, and the process had a 2 hour wait. I'll head back to the ID card office tomorrow to request my card again, but I will most likely have to wait another week for it to be printed. Drag.
Well that's all for now. I am getting excited for my ski trip this Friday with the program, especially since it is only $24 dollars for lift ticket and transportation to the mountain (group discount). I am thinking about taking a bus to Mendoza, Argentina this weekend to go skiing, but it depends on the whether, price, and my motivation. We shall see. Take care, cheers.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Winding down...
Phew, what a nice week off. After having school everyday with field trips and meetings and such, it was so nice to be able to relax. But tomorrow the real deal starts. I have my orientation at Universidad de Chile at 10 a.m. to get a tour of the campus, ground rules, etc and then a private meeting with a faculty member from the university as well as a faculty member of the EAP program to receive advice on potential classes to take. I am a bit disappointed that I cannot take economic-intensive classes because the standards for economics department are much higher here in Chile. The EAP staff highly recommends other classes that will not be as difficult. Despite being a 4th-year Global Economics student, my experience level with economics classes does not even compare to the economics students down here. I can however take economics-themed classes in other departments that are accepted towards my final major requirements I have left such as globalization and Chilean specific economy classes. The only problem is that each department starts and ends at different times. Classes in the economics department start tomorrow and finish up Nov 28th, whereas the majority of the other departments have been delayed due to the strikes over the General Education Law and some don't finish up until as late as Dec 20th. I only need to take 3 classes, and a majority of them meet only 2 times a week (Tues/Thurs), which could potentially mean 4 day weekends every week. However, I will not mandate that my schedule is setup so nicely. After browsing through some of the class catalog, I am looking to take classes in history, social sciences, general education, and potentially literature. I want to take a class on the successful mining industry down here as well as a rare opportunity to take a literature class solely on Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. I can't wait to have a real schedule lined up for the next 5 months and start living the true Chilean college student life.
Last Wednesday I headed back to Valparaiso with a friend of mine who hadn't visited yet, and also checked out the neighboring town of Viña del Mar. The best way to compare the two cities is that Valparaiso is Chile's San Francisco with an artsy-rougher vibe whereas Viña next-door is more like San Diego with cleaner streets and buildings and much more wealth. They even have a lavish Casino!, but I wasn't gusty enough to test my luck playing blackjack in Spanish though I regret not playing at least a couple hands. The trip in total was 3 days, and very fun because this time instead of taking a bus, we rented a car which opened up many new possibilities for exploring. We also got lucky with the weather which makes the whole beach-side experience much better. Below, a Viña sunset...
After returning on Friday absolutely exhausted, I mustered up the energy to go to Santiago's Club de Jazz, the best jazz club in the city(Louis Armstrong once performed there). Friday night they had an interesting jazz-funk trio, but the experience wasn't satisfying enough for me so I came back the following evening, after the Muse show of course.
My long awaited Muse concert at Teatro Caupolican was great. The Brit rock group's first visit was amazing, with the venue entirely packed and fans singing the lyrics in unison despite probably not knowing what any of the words mean. The band members used a bit of Spanish in between songs to address the crowd while waving a Chilean flag about. The crowd loved it, I loved it. Yes that's Galaga in the background below.
Only down side was the venue isn't stellar. The floor seats were 65 dollars and sold out before I even got to Santiago, and the venue's construction made it impossible to sneak about. I paid 30 for upper level, but judging by how packed the entire place was, I was happy with having a good view and 'some' space.
Obviously as a result of the consecutive long days, I have comedown with a bit of the sniffles, but I'm getting better by the minute. I spent the majority of today completing an online traffic school from a silly speeding ticket I received just before leaving. Felt pretty strange taking the course in international waters. But the process was painless considering the circumstances. That's all the news for now from the Southern hemisphere. I have the EAP program ski trip this coming Friday, but not too much else coming up other than initial university stuff. I'll shoot for a next entry Saturday. Cheers and nos vemos.
Video I took during the show below.
Last Wednesday I headed back to Valparaiso with a friend of mine who hadn't visited yet, and also checked out the neighboring town of Viña del Mar. The best way to compare the two cities is that Valparaiso is Chile's San Francisco with an artsy-rougher vibe whereas Viña next-door is more like San Diego with cleaner streets and buildings and much more wealth. They even have a lavish Casino!, but I wasn't gusty enough to test my luck playing blackjack in Spanish though I regret not playing at least a couple hands. The trip in total was 3 days, and very fun because this time instead of taking a bus, we rented a car which opened up many new possibilities for exploring. We also got lucky with the weather which makes the whole beach-side experience much better. Below, a Viña sunset...
After returning on Friday absolutely exhausted, I mustered up the energy to go to Santiago's Club de Jazz, the best jazz club in the city(Louis Armstrong once performed there). Friday night they had an interesting jazz-funk trio, but the experience wasn't satisfying enough for me so I came back the following evening, after the Muse show of course.
My long awaited Muse concert at Teatro Caupolican was great. The Brit rock group's first visit was amazing, with the venue entirely packed and fans singing the lyrics in unison despite probably not knowing what any of the words mean. The band members used a bit of Spanish in between songs to address the crowd while waving a Chilean flag about. The crowd loved it, I loved it. Yes that's Galaga in the background below.
Only down side was the venue isn't stellar. The floor seats were 65 dollars and sold out before I even got to Santiago, and the venue's construction made it impossible to sneak about. I paid 30 for upper level, but judging by how packed the entire place was, I was happy with having a good view and 'some' space.
Obviously as a result of the consecutive long days, I have comedown with a bit of the sniffles, but I'm getting better by the minute. I spent the majority of today completing an online traffic school from a silly speeding ticket I received just before leaving. Felt pretty strange taking the course in international waters. But the process was painless considering the circumstances. That's all the news for now from the Southern hemisphere. I have the EAP program ski trip this coming Friday, but not too much else coming up other than initial university stuff. I'll shoot for a next entry Saturday. Cheers and nos vemos.
Video I took during the show below.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Start to Break
What a coincidence, break began on Friday and Saturday afternoon there was a Chilean futbol match between La Chile (Universidad, but not affiliated with the school, just holds the name), and Union Española. I went to get some tickets on Saturday at the national stadium accompanied by my host father. Interestingly when I asked him to come with me to buy tickets, he misinterpreted that I wanted him to come to the game. He responded by saying that he couldn't go inside the national stadium because of the bad memories is brings him. During the Coup of Pinochet, troops used the national stadium as a torture and mass slaughter site. Famous Chilean musician Victor Jara was killed there, many believing troops chopped off his hands before execution. Shivers...
Anyways, we attended the match and it was a lot of fun. A passionate crowd nothing like anything in the states, and this is just the club league. Offensive songs, fireworks launched from the crowd, flares, the whole nine yards. Thank god La Chile won the match, 4-1 (almost 5-1). Afterward I was able to walk home since my house is less than 2 blocks away.
On Sunday, I went to go buy tickets for the National team futbol matches that will take place later this year. What a steal, Chile vs. Brazil, Colombia, Argentina for $50 US. Can't wait to see how those games play out. The two again Brazil and Colombia are World Cup Qualifiers and they mean a lot since in the Latin American group for the world cup, only the top 4 teams qualify with the 5th place team having to play a wild-card match against the 3 place team from the North American group. Currently Colombia leads the South American group, followed by Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and then BRAZIL. I am sure most of these teams will qualify but there is still a lot on the line.
On Monday night, one of my buddies in the program has a Spanish teacher from UC Davis who has dedicated his life's work to Chile and is an American. Michael Lazzara, PH.D. from Pricneton, is the real deal and recently published his 6th book. "Luz Arce: Después Del Infierno" his most current work is the story of a woman who worked close under Allende during the glory years, and then switched sides and turned on the party. He had a book publishing event last night at the National Library where in the audience was the widow of a former Allende supporter who was killed as a result of the side-switching by this woman.
Following excerpt readings from the book, the event turned into an open forum in which tough questions were posed as well as individuals making tense statements (one 15 minutes long). Chile is such an interesting country considering it was not long ago that the entire state was under a dictatorship and now it is currently seen as a model nation for the rest of Latin America. However, the polarized conditions of the masses cause a lot of angst and emotion when politics are brought up. The rapid transition from out of the horrors under Pinochet to general prosperity is unprecedented and makes discussing the past difficult. Too many people see the situation as black and white, whereas the goal of Mr. Lazzara is to try and change that mindset. A very powerful event, I was very lucky to be able to attend and then have dinner afterward. What an night.
I am going to try and head back to Valparaiso for the next couple days to show some friends around the city who haven't had a chance to visit it. Be back in a few days, cheers.
Chi-Chi-Ch-Le-Le-Le, Universidad de Chile!
Anyways, we attended the match and it was a lot of fun. A passionate crowd nothing like anything in the states, and this is just the club league. Offensive songs, fireworks launched from the crowd, flares, the whole nine yards. Thank god La Chile won the match, 4-1 (almost 5-1). Afterward I was able to walk home since my house is less than 2 blocks away.
On Sunday, I went to go buy tickets for the National team futbol matches that will take place later this year. What a steal, Chile vs. Brazil, Colombia, Argentina for $50 US. Can't wait to see how those games play out. The two again Brazil and Colombia are World Cup Qualifiers and they mean a lot since in the Latin American group for the world cup, only the top 4 teams qualify with the 5th place team having to play a wild-card match against the 3 place team from the North American group. Currently Colombia leads the South American group, followed by Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and then BRAZIL. I am sure most of these teams will qualify but there is still a lot on the line.
On Monday night, one of my buddies in the program has a Spanish teacher from UC Davis who has dedicated his life's work to Chile and is an American. Michael Lazzara, PH.D. from Pricneton, is the real deal and recently published his 6th book. "Luz Arce: Después Del Infierno" his most current work is the story of a woman who worked close under Allende during the glory years, and then switched sides and turned on the party. He had a book publishing event last night at the National Library where in the audience was the widow of a former Allende supporter who was killed as a result of the side-switching by this woman.
Following excerpt readings from the book, the event turned into an open forum in which tough questions were posed as well as individuals making tense statements (one 15 minutes long). Chile is such an interesting country considering it was not long ago that the entire state was under a dictatorship and now it is currently seen as a model nation for the rest of Latin America. However, the polarized conditions of the masses cause a lot of angst and emotion when politics are brought up. The rapid transition from out of the horrors under Pinochet to general prosperity is unprecedented and makes discussing the past difficult. Too many people see the situation as black and white, whereas the goal of Mr. Lazzara is to try and change that mindset. A very powerful event, I was very lucky to be able to attend and then have dinner afterward. What an night.
I am going to try and head back to Valparaiso for the next couple days to show some friends around the city who haven't had a chance to visit it. Be back in a few days, cheers.
Chi-Chi-Ch-Le-Le-Le, Universidad de Chile!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Free!
ahhh yes, Intensive Language Program completed. Friday was our last day, which for me consisted of a walk-in-the-park final exam followed by a PowerPoint presentation about my groups adventures to Valparaiso, specifically the problems that exist in the fishing industry between commercial and artisan. We rocked it and in return received many a'compliments afterward. Now begins a 10 day vacation and then student's attending La Chile University have a registration day on July 28th to discuss what classes we plan on taking. I was planning on using this time to travel outside Santiago, and I still might, but I have the Muse concert on the 26th and that in turn hampered my plans. It is alright since I would like to explore more of Santiago and the immediate surroundings before bolting to Machu Pichu, Beunos Aires, etc. I will have plenty of time in the coming months to take care of those trips. A buddy of mine and potentially a few others would like to rent a car and drive an hour of two outside the city, but we have not established firm plans. Seems better to keep stuff flexible.
As for the last week in recap, Tuesday afternoon, half the group got the opportunity to tour the inside of La Moneda (a.k.a Chilean White House) and see many things that normal visitors do not. In addition, President Bachelette was coincidentally in walking through during our tour and I got to see the back of her head...woohoo...as well as the Minister of the Interior. Strange culture down here considering that no tour group would ever be able to be within 50 feet of the president in the U.S., especially these days. I am not even sure if they still do complete tours of the White House anymore, but it wouldn't surprise me.
That evening, a good portion of the program went out to celebrate my birthday, especially since it was a national holiday the next day: Carlos Olin Montalvo III day, j/k. Two holidays, one religious and the other a northern South America deal. Anyways, we had a lot of fun, watched a bit of the all-star game and went late into then night. Too bad that it took so much out of me that I slept through my alarm the next day to go skiing at Valle Nevado, the highest altitude, best skiing around. Shewt. That's alright though, once again I will have many a chances to ski and since it was a holiday, ticket prices were raised to around 60 bucks and it was more crowded than usual. Heard the fellas still had a lot of fun.
Friday evening I was able to see the new Batman film, The Dark Night or El Caballero de la Noche. It was kind of like a learning exercise since the film had Spanish subtitles and I could learn some new vocab like El Guasón or the Joker. I really enjoyed the film from start to finish and Heath Ledger matched Jack Nicholson in his portrayal of the Guasón. Hope he gets the posthumous Oscar he deserves.
That's all for now folks, be back in a couple of days. Cheers.
As for the last week in recap, Tuesday afternoon, half the group got the opportunity to tour the inside of La Moneda (a.k.a Chilean White House) and see many things that normal visitors do not. In addition, President Bachelette was coincidentally in walking through during our tour and I got to see the back of her head...woohoo...as well as the Minister of the Interior. Strange culture down here considering that no tour group would ever be able to be within 50 feet of the president in the U.S., especially these days. I am not even sure if they still do complete tours of the White House anymore, but it wouldn't surprise me.
That evening, a good portion of the program went out to celebrate my birthday, especially since it was a national holiday the next day: Carlos Olin Montalvo III day, j/k. Two holidays, one religious and the other a northern South America deal. Anyways, we had a lot of fun, watched a bit of the all-star game and went late into then night. Too bad that it took so much out of me that I slept through my alarm the next day to go skiing at Valle Nevado, the highest altitude, best skiing around. Shewt. That's alright though, once again I will have many a chances to ski and since it was a holiday, ticket prices were raised to around 60 bucks and it was more crowded than usual. Heard the fellas still had a lot of fun.
Friday evening I was able to see the new Batman film, The Dark Night or El Caballero de la Noche. It was kind of like a learning exercise since the film had Spanish subtitles and I could learn some new vocab like El Guasón or the Joker. I really enjoyed the film from start to finish and Heath Ledger matched Jack Nicholson in his portrayal of the Guasón. Hope he gets the posthumous Oscar he deserves.
That's all for now folks, be back in a couple of days. Cheers.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Valparaiso and more...
Sorry for the delay on this recent post. My mind as been a complete mess lately with the dual-language issue combined with constant preoccupation It has taken me a while to collect my thoughts to say the least.
Late last week I took an evening to ride a funicular to the top of a hill that overlooked the city. Too bad the pollution inhibited the view tremendously, but it was still beautiful considering it was sunset. You get a sense of how massive of a city Santiago is, with so many different neighborhoods with their own characteristics.
For the weekend, all the students in the program formed groups of 5+ that selected various cities all over Chile to go visit while gathering information to be presented to the rest of the class. My group elected to go to the incredible port town of Valparaiso about an hour north of Santiago and investigate the cannery and fishing industry that exists there.
From wikipedia...
"Valparaíso (literally in Spanish: Paradise Valley and also called "Valpo" locally) is a major city in Chile and one of that country's most important seaports and an increasingly vital cultural center in the hemisphere's Pacific Southwest. The city is located in central Chile, where it is capital of the Region of Valparaíso. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, Valparaiso houses the National Congress. Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often considered to be one of Latin America’s most intriguing urban areas."
We stayed in an amazing hostel that felt more like our own house with another group in the UC program who was studying the graffiti culture of the town. The weekend meals consisted of massive amount of seafood and simple breakfasts provided by the hostel. The town reminded me a lot of San Francisco with colorful, closely spaced houses across hillsides with narrow streets and a liberal-artsy vibe. They even have cable cars and "acensors" to scale the unique landscape. We also were able to visit one of Pablo Neruda's three houses he has in Chile, "La Sebastiana," coincidentally on his birthday. Amazing spot and definitely my favourite part of the trip. I wish I could be studying there rather than in polluted Santiago, but beggars can't be choosers. I will most certainly return a couple times in the coming months.
Above, Neruda's house. Below, el Membrillo fish cannery
I got a free classical music concert tonight(Bach) and the intial Spanish language class ends this Friday. My 21st birthday is this coming Wednesday, which thank the lord is a national holiday down here. I have planned an all day ski trip since we got some rain for the first time in almost a month. The nightcap will be the premier of the new Batman film and going out with practically the entire program. Should be a blast. No riding in cabs with people I don't know nor any other funny business. I learned my lesson and haven't been alone or outside my group much since. Should be able to get a updated post in by the start of the weekend. Roger, over-and-out.
Late last week I took an evening to ride a funicular to the top of a hill that overlooked the city. Too bad the pollution inhibited the view tremendously, but it was still beautiful considering it was sunset. You get a sense of how massive of a city Santiago is, with so many different neighborhoods with their own characteristics.
For the weekend, all the students in the program formed groups of 5+ that selected various cities all over Chile to go visit while gathering information to be presented to the rest of the class. My group elected to go to the incredible port town of Valparaiso about an hour north of Santiago and investigate the cannery and fishing industry that exists there.
From wikipedia...
"Valparaíso (literally in Spanish: Paradise Valley and also called "Valpo" locally) is a major city in Chile and one of that country's most important seaports and an increasingly vital cultural center in the hemisphere's Pacific Southwest. The city is located in central Chile, where it is capital of the Region of Valparaíso. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, Valparaiso houses the National Congress. Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often considered to be one of Latin America’s most intriguing urban areas."
We stayed in an amazing hostel that felt more like our own house with another group in the UC program who was studying the graffiti culture of the town. The weekend meals consisted of massive amount of seafood and simple breakfasts provided by the hostel. The town reminded me a lot of San Francisco with colorful, closely spaced houses across hillsides with narrow streets and a liberal-artsy vibe. They even have cable cars and "acensors" to scale the unique landscape. We also were able to visit one of Pablo Neruda's three houses he has in Chile, "La Sebastiana," coincidentally on his birthday. Amazing spot and definitely my favourite part of the trip. I wish I could be studying there rather than in polluted Santiago, but beggars can't be choosers. I will most certainly return a couple times in the coming months.
Above, Neruda's house. Below, el Membrillo fish cannery
I got a free classical music concert tonight(Bach) and the intial Spanish language class ends this Friday. My 21st birthday is this coming Wednesday, which thank the lord is a national holiday down here. I have planned an all day ski trip since we got some rain for the first time in almost a month. The nightcap will be the premier of the new Batman film and going out with practically the entire program. Should be a blast. No riding in cabs with people I don't know nor any other funny business. I learned my lesson and haven't been alone or outside my group much since. Should be able to get a updated post in by the start of the weekend. Roger, over-and-out.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Whoops...
Well, well, well...
Things had been on absolute cruise control for the past couple of days. I had class in the early afternoon all of last week. This coming week, class changes to the morning so at least I will have free afternoons and it will be a lot more of a flexible schedule. One evening last week I went to see a Brazilian independent film at the famous La Moneda (The Treasury), which was the site where Salvador Allende barricaded himself in a room and gave his last speech via radio while outside Pinochet and his troops proceeded to bomb the building and force entry. Allende committed suicide following his speech. The film was entertaining and cost not even 2 dollars to enter.
After the film, I went to a going away party for a Chilean student who is the neighbor of one of the American's in my program. He is going to study in Australia in 6 months and invited a bunch of people over to his house. It was very fun and I met a lot of nice locals. Couldn't stand the fact the only music was played was reggaeton, but whatever makes the people dance I guess. It get's old fast, especially after 5 straight hours of it.
On Friday of last week, I spent the morning registering my visa downtown and requesting a identity card. That should arrive in about two weeks. The office is like the DMV, but worse and slower. After, I got a quick haircut and headed to campus to take care of some school work. Class felt slower than usual since everyone was itching to get out and celebrate our day of Independence. A couple of us immediately headed to a Pizza and Suishi place after class, which was pretty fun. I came home to have dinner and drop off some stuff and returned to downtown around 10 to start the fun. ugh....
The night began at Le Petit to meetup with a small group. We headed to the park across the street quickly after arriving to watch a group of people perform a strange type of Brazilian dance, Capoeira, which combines dancing with slow fighting. It looks like slow motion martial arts, but there is no contact and people sing in a circle around the two participators. We then proceeded to place across town called Bar Barsico where pretty much all the students in the program packed the place full. That was fun, but many of us were craving to avoid dancing with just gringos all night. Bouncing around a couple of different places, I ended up at a large dance club with a couple people and had a good time. However, when leaving the place, I got in a taxi, first mistake, let alone a cooperativo (group, cheaper), second mistake, and on the ride home, all four of the people in the cab including the cab driver turned on me, one with a knife, and took my wallet and cell phone. I knew the dangers of this town and I could have avoided this situation easily. Lesson learned I guess. I have spent the majority of this first real weekend recollecting lost items, canceling cards, picking up a money wire at the bus station, etc. At least the things I lost can be replaced and I still have my health.
For the rest of this weekend, I am doing class work, watching Wimbledon finals, and reflecting lots of the past few days. As I said, class starts early on Monday but it makes my daily schedule easier. Hasta luego.
Things had been on absolute cruise control for the past couple of days. I had class in the early afternoon all of last week. This coming week, class changes to the morning so at least I will have free afternoons and it will be a lot more of a flexible schedule. One evening last week I went to see a Brazilian independent film at the famous La Moneda (The Treasury), which was the site where Salvador Allende barricaded himself in a room and gave his last speech via radio while outside Pinochet and his troops proceeded to bomb the building and force entry. Allende committed suicide following his speech. The film was entertaining and cost not even 2 dollars to enter.
After the film, I went to a going away party for a Chilean student who is the neighbor of one of the American's in my program. He is going to study in Australia in 6 months and invited a bunch of people over to his house. It was very fun and I met a lot of nice locals. Couldn't stand the fact the only music was played was reggaeton, but whatever makes the people dance I guess. It get's old fast, especially after 5 straight hours of it.
On Friday of last week, I spent the morning registering my visa downtown and requesting a identity card. That should arrive in about two weeks. The office is like the DMV, but worse and slower. After, I got a quick haircut and headed to campus to take care of some school work. Class felt slower than usual since everyone was itching to get out and celebrate our day of Independence. A couple of us immediately headed to a Pizza and Suishi place after class, which was pretty fun. I came home to have dinner and drop off some stuff and returned to downtown around 10 to start the fun. ugh....
The night began at Le Petit to meetup with a small group. We headed to the park across the street quickly after arriving to watch a group of people perform a strange type of Brazilian dance, Capoeira, which combines dancing with slow fighting. It looks like slow motion martial arts, but there is no contact and people sing in a circle around the two participators. We then proceeded to place across town called Bar Barsico where pretty much all the students in the program packed the place full. That was fun, but many of us were craving to avoid dancing with just gringos all night. Bouncing around a couple of different places, I ended up at a large dance club with a couple people and had a good time. However, when leaving the place, I got in a taxi, first mistake, let alone a cooperativo (group, cheaper), second mistake, and on the ride home, all four of the people in the cab including the cab driver turned on me, one with a knife, and took my wallet and cell phone. I knew the dangers of this town and I could have avoided this situation easily. Lesson learned I guess. I have spent the majority of this first real weekend recollecting lost items, canceling cards, picking up a money wire at the bus station, etc. At least the things I lost can be replaced and I still have my health.
For the rest of this weekend, I am doing class work, watching Wimbledon finals, and reflecting lots of the past few days. As I said, class starts early on Monday but it makes my daily schedule easier. Hasta luego.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
1st Day of School
Yesterday began my first day of classes, but our program only begins with a mandatory Spanish language class at Universidad La Catholica. It meets everyday for four hours for the next three weeks, but it definitely seems necessary to start off with. My regular schedule of classes at the university of La Chile doesn't begin until late July, but we can begin to sign up for classes a bit sooner than that. I have all the details in a mini-bible for all students, but it's a bit far away to go into extreme detail for now.
I luckily got one of my buddies to pick me up a Muse ticket yesterday for July 26th downtown at Teatro Caupolican which should be a blast. It is their first time to Santiago and the concert will take place on the last weekend of our 2 week vacation following the end of the intensive language classes. There looks like there are a lot of people in EAP that are going to get tickets, so I can't even wait to see the scene. I have been searching and picking up various flyers for other events that are a bit more culturally appealing. In September and October the Chilean national team is playing in two world cup qualifier games against BRAZIL and ARGENTINA, so I am most certainly going to attend one if not both of those games. The national stadium is 3 blocks down the street from my hours. Only the top four teams can qualify with the 5 place team forced to play a playoff with the North, Central America, Caribbean group. Current standings go 1. Paraguay 2. Argentina 3. Colombia 4. Chile 5. Brazil.
After first day of class yesterday, a group of 11 went down to Plaza Nunoa (same place with Le Petit Bar), where we chatted over drinks and french fries, and then made our way over to a very nice Italian restaurant called La Taverna. It was a very nice evening. Few of us continued back to Le Petit bar following, where the discussions continued. It's very nice that a lot of people here seem to be thinking with the same mindset about life and just life in general. I guess it takes a certain type of person to come abroad and we're all similar in that sense. We also met up with a local Chilean who is neighbors of one of EAP students. He spent time in Vail and Aspen so his English was very good, but we switched between languages frequently discussing cultural differences and such. He is having a going away party tomorrow night since he plans to study in Australia for six months. Very interesting guy. The night ended with a random guitar player coming into the bar and playing a series of Beatles tracks that our group all sang too. Too cool.
My camera battery has died since I forgot to bring the power cord. All I have is the transfer usb so I could be out of pictures for a while. Hopefully I can find some cure to this situation at an exclusive electronics shop downtown that has a lot of stuff, but that trip will have to wait until later in the week. I have been able to find the items online, but shipping costs are a joke and I can hold out.
fingers crossed, cause in addition to camera cord need a rare dual usb to mini usb cord for my music hard drive, but once again that can wait. I am enjoying the simple life down here, especially as I scan through the constantly released headlines of news in the states. I am so glad I chose Chile to study considering it appears to provide the best, affordable life-style in Latin America right now. I have some homework to take care of for class at two today as well as a quiz on the subjunctive tense, so I will cut this discussion short. However, I have plenty of time to build upon it. Hasta Manana.
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