The days are already going by too quickly and already we are finished with our Contemporary Chile class. We have taken a lot of cool field trips around the city and have gotten to know our small groups and tutors very well. The pictures above are of me and my small group tutor, Romané, as well as a picture of my small group. Romané is a professor of Chilean history at the University of Chile. I especially wanted a picture of her and I together to show the difference in height. I always ask my host family to tell me if I am doing something that would easily mark me as an American. But my host mom said to me the other day that even if my skin and hair were a little darker, my height would give my american-ness away. In spite of my added inches, I am doing my best to blend in.
It has been a tough week emotionally. Classes start next week and we are all hunting for classes that work in our schedules. We are allowed to take classes from La Universidad Católica, La Universidad de Chile, and La Universidad de Santiago. But each college is not focused in one particular area, they have several different campuses around the city. When picking classes one has to take into consideration travel time from campus to campus which can sometimes be 45 minutes or more. It has also been a little mentally stressful to figure out where I fit in in the big group of us exchange students. There are about 50 of us and we participate in all of the program activities together. But it feels like we are all horses and they threw us in a pen together to kick and bite our way into little groups. Everyone is a little over-anxious to make friends and attach themselves to other people, but at the same time, we all know that we should be trying to make Chilean friends instead of always hanging around Americans. It is a awkward situation to be in, but hopefully it will change soon when we will all be in separate classes next week.
Sarah! How exciting and scary and thrilling!
Remember when we went to see that movie and were so grateful for the subtitles because of the sheer speed of the language and all the slang? You will no doubt be an expert at modismos and speak in a blur sooner than you think, I have faith in your adapatability, faith in your perserverance, just a lot of faith in ya, man.
Still running?
Hi Sa,
Are you letting your hopes breathe? I'm counting on it! It was great to hear your voice via computer/phone today. Take lots of pictures and store away even more memories. July will be here before you know it. We also send greetings to your host family. Give Michelle (Prez) a big hug for us when you see her again.
Love, d