Wednesday, March 31, 2004
It rained today in Santiago - the first time since I've been here. It just started all of a sudden, right after I had ordered a cup of tea in the cafeteria before my Tai Chi class. Since my class is sort of outdoors, the professor had to speak loudly when it rained so that we could here his instructions. Then the rest of the day it was sort of damp and misty, like the city was breathing. The rain also washes away the smog from the atmosphere, so I could see all the way out to the cordillera (the mountains), and the jets that were doing tricks over the city for an airshow. It reminded me of a sign that's in the metro... it's an entry from a contest called Santiago in 100 Words. It's called "Salida" (exit) and starts "Mientras llovía..." (while it was raining...) and is a very beautifully written, smooth story.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
My trip to southern Chile was awesome this weekend! We took a bus down to Temuco, and then from there had to decide whether to go to Villarrica (supposedly cheaper) or Pucón (closer to the volcano and everything there is to do) - there on opposite ends of a lake. We ended up going to Villarrica because a certain member of our group decided to buy his ticket before we had finished discussing where to go... *ahem*... but it ended up working out fine, we just had to pay to take the bus both days 30 miniutes over to Pucón to do things. And we found a cheap hostel (about $4 a night) where they could house all of us (there were 10 all together).
We got in early friday morning, and then by friday afternoon we had split into 2 groups: half of us went horseback riding and the other half went rafting. I rode horses because I didn't particuarly feel like getting wet. It was a GORGEOUS ride... we rode up this big hill (sort of a small mountain - a foothill of the Andes) and could look out over the whole area of the lake. Then we continued on to a waterfall that was just amazing. On the way back the horses knew they were going home, so they started to gallop a lot more. It was so fun and so fast, and I couldn't stop laughing. Then that night we made dinner and went to bed, because we had to be at the bus stop in Villarrica at 6:30 to catch the bus to Pucón to climb the volcano.
So the next day we get at the office where we booked the guide to take us up the volcano. I think we actually got to the base of it at 9 or so, and there is a ski lift for the first part of it, because it's just really loose dirt and not pretty at all. Then we started to climb through the dirt and lava rocks until we reaced the snow line. At this point they taught us how to hold our piolet (big ice pick) to catch ourselves if we fell, so we don't slide down the mountian. Then we had to walk in single file, zigzagging through the ice on footprints on a steep mountainside. It was actually a lot of work and pretty dangerous, but the views were AMAZING. The top of the volcano had a little ring of clouds around it that day, so once we got near the top we couldn't see out anymore. Then it changed back to dirt and lava rock right before we got to the top. The crater was really neat too, even though you couldn't see down into it because of th clouds. But it was just awesome knowing that I was standing on the top of the most active volcano in Chile (last erupted in 1984, usually erupts every 20 years). Then on the way down we slid on our butts (they gave us pants as part of our equipment) in litte luge type tunnels in the snow. I thought it was so fun - like a water slider without the water. Then once we got to the dirt part again we had to walk to the bottom, and this time we couldn't take the ski lift for the last leg. We got to the bottom at about 4 pm. All in all we hiked something like 6-7 miles up and down this volcano. Very cool.
Then that night we went to the termas, the natural hot springs. They actually pump the water from the springs to manmade rocky pit things, and you can stay there for up to 3 hours. It was a like a hot tub basically, but some of the pools were a lot hotter than a hot tub. It felt really nice after hiking up the volcano and helped my swollen ankles and wouded knees! People kept asking me about costellations, but I don't know southern hemisphere stuff very well. The only thing that I knew was Orion (though he's upside down)... I really want to look stuff up so I know what everything is down here. Then we left early the next morning (for our 10 hour bus ride).
Then today I had my first chilean quiz. It was in my Gabriela Mistral poetry class. ugh. I thought I was all prepared, and I was. He said he was going to give us a poem of hers and we would have to analyze it using the themes we had seen before in her other works, and i knew those themes really well. But the poem he gave us had NOTHING to do with those other themes - it only had to do with a couple that we had dealt with the class prior to today, not all the poems we had been looking at for 2 weeks prior to that. But I stretched and tried to make it work. AND he ended the class 5 minutes early, and I still had a paragraph to write! So I wrote down a few sentences about what I was going to say. It was hard, but I think I'll probably do OK.
We got in early friday morning, and then by friday afternoon we had split into 2 groups: half of us went horseback riding and the other half went rafting. I rode horses because I didn't particuarly feel like getting wet. It was a GORGEOUS ride... we rode up this big hill (sort of a small mountain - a foothill of the Andes) and could look out over the whole area of the lake. Then we continued on to a waterfall that was just amazing. On the way back the horses knew they were going home, so they started to gallop a lot more. It was so fun and so fast, and I couldn't stop laughing. Then that night we made dinner and went to bed, because we had to be at the bus stop in Villarrica at 6:30 to catch the bus to Pucón to climb the volcano.
So the next day we get at the office where we booked the guide to take us up the volcano. I think we actually got to the base of it at 9 or so, and there is a ski lift for the first part of it, because it's just really loose dirt and not pretty at all. Then we started to climb through the dirt and lava rocks until we reaced the snow line. At this point they taught us how to hold our piolet (big ice pick) to catch ourselves if we fell, so we don't slide down the mountian. Then we had to walk in single file, zigzagging through the ice on footprints on a steep mountainside. It was actually a lot of work and pretty dangerous, but the views were AMAZING. The top of the volcano had a little ring of clouds around it that day, so once we got near the top we couldn't see out anymore. Then it changed back to dirt and lava rock right before we got to the top. The crater was really neat too, even though you couldn't see down into it because of th clouds. But it was just awesome knowing that I was standing on the top of the most active volcano in Chile (last erupted in 1984, usually erupts every 20 years). Then on the way down we slid on our butts (they gave us pants as part of our equipment) in litte luge type tunnels in the snow. I thought it was so fun - like a water slider without the water. Then once we got to the dirt part again we had to walk to the bottom, and this time we couldn't take the ski lift for the last leg. We got to the bottom at about 4 pm. All in all we hiked something like 6-7 miles up and down this volcano. Very cool.
Then that night we went to the termas, the natural hot springs. They actually pump the water from the springs to manmade rocky pit things, and you can stay there for up to 3 hours. It was a like a hot tub basically, but some of the pools were a lot hotter than a hot tub. It felt really nice after hiking up the volcano and helped my swollen ankles and wouded knees! People kept asking me about costellations, but I don't know southern hemisphere stuff very well. The only thing that I knew was Orion (though he's upside down)... I really want to look stuff up so I know what everything is down here. Then we left early the next morning (for our 10 hour bus ride).
Then today I had my first chilean quiz. It was in my Gabriela Mistral poetry class. ugh. I thought I was all prepared, and I was. He said he was going to give us a poem of hers and we would have to analyze it using the themes we had seen before in her other works, and i knew those themes really well. But the poem he gave us had NOTHING to do with those other themes - it only had to do with a couple that we had dealt with the class prior to today, not all the poems we had been looking at for 2 weeks prior to that. But I stretched and tried to make it work. AND he ended the class 5 minutes early, and I still had a paragraph to write! So I wrote down a few sentences about what I was going to say. It was hard, but I think I'll probably do OK.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
My Tai Chi class has been really great so far. I always feel so zen and relaxed when I'm done. :) The other day was funny though, because one whole wall of the room it's in is mirrored, so I stood there staring at myself and the chileans the whole time. I hadn't realized until then how much different I look from a chilean... they seemed to be a pretty diverse group of people, but I really stood out among all of them. I never thought of myself as particuarly anglican (I never really thought of myself as particuarly anything), but I've never felt so anglican in my life! It was sort of embarrassing.
Yesterday Leela and I had an interesting encounter with the professor of our Gabriela Mistral class. I knew he spoke French because he would mention an author or a region of France and have a super spiffy accent, but I wasn't sure about English. But after class on Tuesday he rounded up all the gringos and told us that he had just received a bunch of "deplorable" essays in Spanish in his other class (the one that's entirely gringos instead of less than half like my class), and he had spoken with the director of something, so now we're allowed to write our essays and final project in English if we want. He said he wanted us to be able to express our ideas and that he felt that the language was hindering that with the examples he had seen. So that *seems* like a good idea and was very well intentioned, but in reality I think it's going to be a disadvantage to us. I want to write in Spanish, not English - that's why I'm here. But I can't write my ideas in Spanish as well as the Chileans, nor can I write them as well as the US students writing in English. So I'm sort of stuck in the middle. Leela and I talked to Isa about this, and she said to talk to the professor about it and if it isn't resolved somehow, then she would investigate the situation and try to help us out.
Listening to this professor talk in English was the most surreal experience ever. All of a sudden he just busts out in this fluent, very proper British accent. It was like he took off his head and put on a new one and was a different person! I am very impressed with his knowledge and language skills though, and he is the cutest little guy. He wears those funny knit ties and looks exactly like the priest in the movie The Sweetest Thing (sort of like Mr. Magoo).
Oh and something exciting is happening! It seemed like EVERYONE was going to the South and I wanted to go so bad, but I didn't have anyone to go with (because they had all already gone) except Leela, and we didn't think we should go by ourselves. But then today a few of the guys in COPA were talking about going down to Temuco, to Villarrica to hike on the glaciers/volcano that's down there, and they said we could come along. So we're leaving tomorrow (Thursday) night at 10:30 pm on a bus, and it takes like 9 or 10 hours to get there. The ticket was about $8 - can't beat that. Then we'll come back Sunday. This is the perfect weekend because I don't have any homework and it's still warm. I have heard that it is SO beautiful down there, so I am really excited. Here is a website about it: http://www.patagonias.net/Cities/Temuco.htm Yay!
Yesterday Leela and I had an interesting encounter with the professor of our Gabriela Mistral class. I knew he spoke French because he would mention an author or a region of France and have a super spiffy accent, but I wasn't sure about English. But after class on Tuesday he rounded up all the gringos and told us that he had just received a bunch of "deplorable" essays in Spanish in his other class (the one that's entirely gringos instead of less than half like my class), and he had spoken with the director of something, so now we're allowed to write our essays and final project in English if we want. He said he wanted us to be able to express our ideas and that he felt that the language was hindering that with the examples he had seen. So that *seems* like a good idea and was very well intentioned, but in reality I think it's going to be a disadvantage to us. I want to write in Spanish, not English - that's why I'm here. But I can't write my ideas in Spanish as well as the Chileans, nor can I write them as well as the US students writing in English. So I'm sort of stuck in the middle. Leela and I talked to Isa about this, and she said to talk to the professor about it and if it isn't resolved somehow, then she would investigate the situation and try to help us out.
Listening to this professor talk in English was the most surreal experience ever. All of a sudden he just busts out in this fluent, very proper British accent. It was like he took off his head and put on a new one and was a different person! I am very impressed with his knowledge and language skills though, and he is the cutest little guy. He wears those funny knit ties and looks exactly like the priest in the movie The Sweetest Thing (sort of like Mr. Magoo).
Oh and something exciting is happening! It seemed like EVERYONE was going to the South and I wanted to go so bad, but I didn't have anyone to go with (because they had all already gone) except Leela, and we didn't think we should go by ourselves. But then today a few of the guys in COPA were talking about going down to Temuco, to Villarrica to hike on the glaciers/volcano that's down there, and they said we could come along. So we're leaving tomorrow (Thursday) night at 10:30 pm on a bus, and it takes like 9 or 10 hours to get there. The ticket was about $8 - can't beat that. Then we'll come back Sunday. This is the perfect weekend because I don't have any homework and it's still warm. I have heard that it is SO beautiful down there, so I am really excited. Here is a website about it: http://www.patagonias.net/Cities/Temuco.htm Yay!
Monday, March 22, 2004
I went to Valparaíso this weekend and stayed over in Viña del Mar in Ruth's host family's apartment, which I might add is gorgeous and right on the beach. Valparaíso what not at all what I expected... it looked more run down than what I had imagened. Someone said that they thought their tour book described it perfectly, and I agree... it said that it was the Tijuana version of San Francisco. It was still neat to see though and I liked going there. I also had tons of fun in Viña... there were about 6 of us who stayed over. We just walked around the boardwalk and chilled, and got splashed by the freezing Atlantic ocean in our clothes...
I also went to Tai Chi this morning, and it went really well. So I think I'll probably end up taking that. :D
I also went to Tai Chi this morning, and it went really well. So I think I'll probably end up taking that. :D
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Argh I'm all stressed again.
I met with Isa, our academic coordinator/advisor in the COPA program. I just wanted to tell her to drop my astronomy class for me (yay!), but she took that time to talk to me about my schedule. I told her I was signed up for 2 classes at La Católica (Philosphical Anthropology and Gabriela Mistral) and 1 at La Chile (Time, Memory and Narration). That equates to the maximum of 18 credit hours that we're allowed to take. She then advised me that I should only take ONE class at Católica, not two, because otherwise I would just be studying all the time and have tons of reading to do. She advised me to take a sport instead. Now, at first I was like, huh? I'm not used to taking 3 classes and a sport, and I'm used to studying all the time. But then I kind of thought that Isa would probably know about all of this better than I would... she's been doing this for a long time, so she would know better what would be too much work and what wouldn't. And I definately don't want to be spending all my time inside studying and stressing out. But I still feel like I'm copping out or something. I dunno.
If I dropped a Católica class, I would drop the Anthropology one... that class has been kind of scaring me/making me mad recently. The professor was all loose when we asked him about the syllabus the first day and what we're going to do in the class, saying that a syllabus is just a form of control. Someone asked him if we had to read books and which ones, and he responded by saying that most people like to read but everyone likes to read different things. And he said that he wanted our essays to come out from inside of us blah blah blah. So I assumed it was going to be all loose and we would be able to write about whatever inspired us. No no, not the case. My chilean friend Connie informed me (because I hadn't understood what he was saying about all of this) that we will have assigned readings and everyone will write about the same thing. So I just think that all of his waxing philosophical for 2 weeks is not really going to equate to anything real - it's still going to be hard and rigid, not all cool and inspirational like I thought. It seems like he's totally reneging on what he said before.
And what's frustrating too is that when he was complaining about how syllabi are all controlling yadda yadda, he said that the syllabus was on the website and we could see it if we wanted (using the subjunctive form of "want", mind you, implying a sense doubt). But it's NOT on the website (Connie couldn't find it either), which would be OK if the class was actually going to be as loose as he made it sound like, but it's not going to be like that. But I can't go see the syllabus and figure out what the expectations actually are for the class because the prof is just pretending to be loose. *sigh*
Marcela also told me that all the profs mess around in the first month of classes and then they all make up for it by giving insane assignments the last month of classes. So that makes me feel like maybe my assessment of that class is correct.
So if I play that game for a bit and go look at what sports there are to take... they're all really early in the morning or really late at night. Grrr. I am most interested in Tai-Chi though. I went to that pilates class and LOVED it, so now I want to do more exercise like that. AND I found a class that meets at 9:45am instead of 8:30am like the others, and it should be held really close to the COPA office, which is close to the metro. The other option is a Salsa class that I heard some other students talking about, but I think it might conflict with my Gabriela Mistral class. That would be really fun to take though.
I also don't think there is any problem with Case if I take a sport instead of another class... some students have to worry about credits transferring in the right numbers, etc., but I don't. But even without the sport I would have 13 credit hours. And I am so far ahead in my credits at Case: I have 105, which is a full year ahead (the minimum to graduate is 120, and generally you take 15 credit hours each semester). Originally I did that because I planned to get a BS in astronomy and needed an extra 30 credit hours, but I don't want to do that anymore: I'll either get a BA or a minor.
So that's what I'm thinking about right now... I can't WAIT until all this scheduling is over!
I met with Isa, our academic coordinator/advisor in the COPA program. I just wanted to tell her to drop my astronomy class for me (yay!), but she took that time to talk to me about my schedule. I told her I was signed up for 2 classes at La Católica (Philosphical Anthropology and Gabriela Mistral) and 1 at La Chile (Time, Memory and Narration). That equates to the maximum of 18 credit hours that we're allowed to take. She then advised me that I should only take ONE class at Católica, not two, because otherwise I would just be studying all the time and have tons of reading to do. She advised me to take a sport instead. Now, at first I was like, huh? I'm not used to taking 3 classes and a sport, and I'm used to studying all the time. But then I kind of thought that Isa would probably know about all of this better than I would... she's been doing this for a long time, so she would know better what would be too much work and what wouldn't. And I definately don't want to be spending all my time inside studying and stressing out. But I still feel like I'm copping out or something. I dunno.
If I dropped a Católica class, I would drop the Anthropology one... that class has been kind of scaring me/making me mad recently. The professor was all loose when we asked him about the syllabus the first day and what we're going to do in the class, saying that a syllabus is just a form of control. Someone asked him if we had to read books and which ones, and he responded by saying that most people like to read but everyone likes to read different things. And he said that he wanted our essays to come out from inside of us blah blah blah. So I assumed it was going to be all loose and we would be able to write about whatever inspired us. No no, not the case. My chilean friend Connie informed me (because I hadn't understood what he was saying about all of this) that we will have assigned readings and everyone will write about the same thing. So I just think that all of his waxing philosophical for 2 weeks is not really going to equate to anything real - it's still going to be hard and rigid, not all cool and inspirational like I thought. It seems like he's totally reneging on what he said before.
And what's frustrating too is that when he was complaining about how syllabi are all controlling yadda yadda, he said that the syllabus was on the website and we could see it if we wanted (using the subjunctive form of "want", mind you, implying a sense doubt). But it's NOT on the website (Connie couldn't find it either), which would be OK if the class was actually going to be as loose as he made it sound like, but it's not going to be like that. But I can't go see the syllabus and figure out what the expectations actually are for the class because the prof is just pretending to be loose. *sigh*
Marcela also told me that all the profs mess around in the first month of classes and then they all make up for it by giving insane assignments the last month of classes. So that makes me feel like maybe my assessment of that class is correct.
So if I play that game for a bit and go look at what sports there are to take... they're all really early in the morning or really late at night. Grrr. I am most interested in Tai-Chi though. I went to that pilates class and LOVED it, so now I want to do more exercise like that. AND I found a class that meets at 9:45am instead of 8:30am like the others, and it should be held really close to the COPA office, which is close to the metro. The other option is a Salsa class that I heard some other students talking about, but I think it might conflict with my Gabriela Mistral class. That would be really fun to take though.
I also don't think there is any problem with Case if I take a sport instead of another class... some students have to worry about credits transferring in the right numbers, etc., but I don't. But even without the sport I would have 13 credit hours. And I am so far ahead in my credits at Case: I have 105, which is a full year ahead (the minimum to graduate is 120, and generally you take 15 credit hours each semester). Originally I did that because I planned to get a BS in astronomy and needed an extra 30 credit hours, but I don't want to do that anymore: I'll either get a BA or a minor.
So that's what I'm thinking about right now... I can't WAIT until all this scheduling is over!
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
I don't have any particuarly exciting stories, since I haven't been getting lost recently! That's a good thing, though.
This weekend was fun - we went out for Sarah's birthday and so I got to know different parts of the city a little better. On Sunday I went to the mall in Las Condes with Ruth and found some really cute and cheap things (yay!). But then I had a hard time getting home... because there is a bus that goes directly there from the stop by my house that I always use, but there isn't a bus that comes BACK. I didn't know this... so eventually after waiting for 20 minutes outside the mall and seeing the same bus numbers pass by, I just got on one that was going towards the metro on a street I travel down every day, got off once I got to the street, crossed it, and took another bus back to my house. At least now I know!
I am SO happy I have a chilean friend in my Philosophical Anthropology class. The prof is really interesting but uses a lot of slang, so I don't always know what's going on. Plus he's really big on getting to know everyone and talking, so I'm terrified that he's going to call on me and I'm going to not know what he's asking or make some glaring grammar mistake. But on the other hand, a class like that is sort of good to be in because it will probably help me improve my language a lot. We also have a to a final project with a partner... so I am doing it with my chilean friend, Connie. :) Otherwise I would be partnerless.
Oh, and the 80's are hip in Chile, big time. The advertise "retro 80's" all the time, and it's all over the department stores. It's scary. Huge shirts, bright colors, funny stockings. Scary.
My Gabriela Mistral class was really great again today, too. I hope I can be as knowledgeable and well-organized as that professor is someday. We learn so many neat things - I just love Gabriela Mistral now. Though Leela and I had a heck of a time figuring out where to go to get photocopies of the readings for the class (they have these little kiosk things), and even once we found it, our class's materials weren't there. We have an "informe" due next Tuesday... but we asked him what that is, and it's a 1 page paper that kind of puts everything we've been studying together. I think I can handle 1 page, even if I get the material a bit late (he's read it out loud in class and everything and I take notes, I juts haven't seen it written).
I'm always hungry in this country, but yet I seem to be gaining some weight. I think it's all the bread and avocado. There are apparently gyms on every campus, so I am going to find one and start going.
That's all for now I guess!
This weekend was fun - we went out for Sarah's birthday and so I got to know different parts of the city a little better. On Sunday I went to the mall in Las Condes with Ruth and found some really cute and cheap things (yay!). But then I had a hard time getting home... because there is a bus that goes directly there from the stop by my house that I always use, but there isn't a bus that comes BACK. I didn't know this... so eventually after waiting for 20 minutes outside the mall and seeing the same bus numbers pass by, I just got on one that was going towards the metro on a street I travel down every day, got off once I got to the street, crossed it, and took another bus back to my house. At least now I know!
I am SO happy I have a chilean friend in my Philosophical Anthropology class. The prof is really interesting but uses a lot of slang, so I don't always know what's going on. Plus he's really big on getting to know everyone and talking, so I'm terrified that he's going to call on me and I'm going to not know what he's asking or make some glaring grammar mistake. But on the other hand, a class like that is sort of good to be in because it will probably help me improve my language a lot. We also have a to a final project with a partner... so I am doing it with my chilean friend, Connie. :) Otherwise I would be partnerless.
Oh, and the 80's are hip in Chile, big time. The advertise "retro 80's" all the time, and it's all over the department stores. It's scary. Huge shirts, bright colors, funny stockings. Scary.
My Gabriela Mistral class was really great again today, too. I hope I can be as knowledgeable and well-organized as that professor is someday. We learn so many neat things - I just love Gabriela Mistral now. Though Leela and I had a heck of a time figuring out where to go to get photocopies of the readings for the class (they have these little kiosk things), and even once we found it, our class's materials weren't there. We have an "informe" due next Tuesday... but we asked him what that is, and it's a 1 page paper that kind of puts everything we've been studying together. I think I can handle 1 page, even if I get the material a bit late (he's read it out loud in class and everything and I take notes, I juts haven't seen it written).
I'm always hungry in this country, but yet I seem to be gaining some weight. I think it's all the bread and avocado. There are apparently gyms on every campus, so I am going to find one and start going.
That's all for now I guess!
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Interesting news, divorce is on its way to being made legal in Chile. Apart from any moral discussions, not having a divorce law has been a problem for the country because people just end up separated, and then the mothers have to care for and pay for their children alone, while the fathers aren't made to pay child support at all since they're still technically married. Several students in the COPA program are in families where that is the situation. Here is an article: http://us.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/11/chile.divorce.ap/
This one was written a few years ago, but its related and makes interesting points: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/728066.stm
This one was written a few years ago, but its related and makes interesting points: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/728066.stm
Thursday, March 11, 2004
A couple interesting days.
First, yesterday. I seem to be having the worst luck finding things in this city. Yesterday I got lost in Macul (a not so nice area of Santiago) for 2.5 hours trying to find one of the campuses of Universidad de Chile. I was so lost and it was really hot and sunny, so now I'm all burned because the ozone is a lot thinner down here. So basically what happened is that 1. the street I was supposed to turn on didn't have a sign (and I'm sure it didn't because I went by there 4 times, about 45 minutes apart) and 2. my sense of direction seems to be broken. In the US I usually have a very good sense of direction (except maybe that one time I missed my turn going to the telescope... but that wasn't a sense of direction error so much as not paying attention). But here, every time I say what direction something is, it's the EXACT opposite. And when I look at a map and then try to picture myself spatially there, I feel like I'm upside down. So I'm blaming it on being in the Southern Hemisphere. :) I'm not sure if that makes any sense - I don't think it does - but I don't know why else my little gyroscope in my head would be broken. At any rate, I never found my class, so I just decided to give up on that one and took a micro to my COPA Spanish class.
But today... success! It was the first day I did not get lost and found all my classes. And the classes were so interesting... one is Philosophical Anthropology, in which the prof is really dynamic and interesting and the class seems like it will be really inspirational (and I have a chilean friend in that class!) and the other one was on the poetry of Gabriela Mistral. The prof in that one was not as dynamic himself, but I learned SO much just from the one class, and he was so knowledgeable about everything. AND he spoke really clearly. I also tried going to astronomy again... but I seriously think i am going to not take that class. The way I see it is that I'm here for a different learning experience, one that includes culture, language, and lifestyle, not just academics. I can take astronomy in Cleveland, but I can't take any of the other classes there because they don't exist there. I want to enjoy my experience here and learn from it, and that will be hard if I'm stressing about astrophysics the whole time. I feel like I'm on a train, and I'm so focused on getting to my destination that I never get off at any of the stops. So I'm here in Chile, and I'm still on the (proverbial physics) train, but I want to get off and explore this new place I'm in!
I've gotta run cuz we're going out tonight for Sara's birthday!
First, yesterday. I seem to be having the worst luck finding things in this city. Yesterday I got lost in Macul (a not so nice area of Santiago) for 2.5 hours trying to find one of the campuses of Universidad de Chile. I was so lost and it was really hot and sunny, so now I'm all burned because the ozone is a lot thinner down here. So basically what happened is that 1. the street I was supposed to turn on didn't have a sign (and I'm sure it didn't because I went by there 4 times, about 45 minutes apart) and 2. my sense of direction seems to be broken. In the US I usually have a very good sense of direction (except maybe that one time I missed my turn going to the telescope... but that wasn't a sense of direction error so much as not paying attention). But here, every time I say what direction something is, it's the EXACT opposite. And when I look at a map and then try to picture myself spatially there, I feel like I'm upside down. So I'm blaming it on being in the Southern Hemisphere. :) I'm not sure if that makes any sense - I don't think it does - but I don't know why else my little gyroscope in my head would be broken. At any rate, I never found my class, so I just decided to give up on that one and took a micro to my COPA Spanish class.
But today... success! It was the first day I did not get lost and found all my classes. And the classes were so interesting... one is Philosophical Anthropology, in which the prof is really dynamic and interesting and the class seems like it will be really inspirational (and I have a chilean friend in that class!) and the other one was on the poetry of Gabriela Mistral. The prof in that one was not as dynamic himself, but I learned SO much just from the one class, and he was so knowledgeable about everything. AND he spoke really clearly. I also tried going to astronomy again... but I seriously think i am going to not take that class. The way I see it is that I'm here for a different learning experience, one that includes culture, language, and lifestyle, not just academics. I can take astronomy in Cleveland, but I can't take any of the other classes there because they don't exist there. I want to enjoy my experience here and learn from it, and that will be hard if I'm stressing about astrophysics the whole time. I feel like I'm on a train, and I'm so focused on getting to my destination that I never get off at any of the stops. So I'm here in Chile, and I'm still on the (proverbial physics) train, but I want to get off and explore this new place I'm in!
I've gotta run cuz we're going out tonight for Sara's birthday!
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Today was another crazy day.
I wanted to check out a class at the Physical Sciences campus of La Chile, where the class that I wanted to go to yesterday was located. So I got there all early and looked at one of the packets to find the room the class is going to be in. And usually the rooms are easy... if it starts with an F it's in the physics building, if it starts with a Q it's in the chemistry building, etc. But no, my class says "Seminario Est. Human" for the room number. So I asked a couple of people where that was, no one knew but they postulated that maybe it was near the library (oh no not there again), and they said I should go over to the main building. I asked a guy there if he knew what that room name meant, and he said that he thought it was "Seminario Estudio Humanísto" and that it was above the library. So I go up the stairs, and sure enough there's a room that says "Seminario" on it. Phew. I wait around for class to start... one guy comes around and asks if I'm waiting for that class and I say yes... then a Prof of some sort and 4 other students or so come up. The Prof asks me what class I'm waiting for (among other things I didn't understand) and I say "Literatura I" and he waves his finger and says "No, no," goes and tries the door, sees that it's locked, and comes back and starts talking to another student who he knows. So I had no idea what that meant... I took it to meant that they were all there for another class, so I gave up and decided to try to make another class at the La Católica San Joaquín campus, since I really wasn't too interested in that Lit class in the first place and only tried to go to keep my class options open.
Success, I found the room at La Católica. While waiting outside a girl who was also waiting asked me what class I was waiting for and I told her (it was Antropología Filosófico), and she said, oh you're a foregin student. My gringo accent gives me away again! But we talked for a few minutes, she said I should meet her friend who speaks really good English, AND she told me that I spoke Spanish well. Yay! So we went inside the class after that, and the Prof was really nice, fairly easy to understand, and rather interesting (although he hopped around a bit on topics). Then after class the girl (Connie) and I exchanged phone numbers and email. A Chilean was nice to me!! I was so excited. :D
Later that afternoon I had to go to my astronomy class. UGH. Triple UGH. It was all around HORRIBLE. The professor was SO hard to understand. I hadn't encountered and real-life Chileans who talked like that, though I knew it existed and had seen it in a movie we watched in Olmué. He told us that we need to learn Linux so we can use the computers in the physics department to do our numerical/mathematical homeworks. UGH. There were also like 20 of us in the class, so I dunno how everyone is going to do their homework on a few computers. Then I spent basically the whole class (presented in powerpoint) trying to figure out how he was saying R-double-dot, H-naught, R-cubed, etc in Spanish, but that was somewhat difficult since he was dropping consonants left and right. The only reason I could even sort of understand generally what was going on is because today we were reviewing Newtonian Cosmology, which I've done before. Thursday we're doing Relativistic Cosmology, which I haven't done before. Argh I'm so worried about this class and I don't want to take it at ALL. I can't understand what's going on and I don't think I have the math skills that everyone else has. I thought maybe I could do it if it was mainly concept based, but it appears that it's not. The prof just yammered on the whole time, flashing equations on the screen. They also don't buy books here... they just copy them (literally hundreds of pages), so I don't have a reference that I can get help from, unless I want to have Carroll and Ostlie shipped to me.
Speaking of astronomy, here is the new Hubble Ultra Deep Field image if anyone is interested: http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/UDF_half.jpg. Very neat. I think maybe that pretty picture is about as in depth as I want to go into astronomy in my life. :-/ *SIGH*
I wanted to check out a class at the Physical Sciences campus of La Chile, where the class that I wanted to go to yesterday was located. So I got there all early and looked at one of the packets to find the room the class is going to be in. And usually the rooms are easy... if it starts with an F it's in the physics building, if it starts with a Q it's in the chemistry building, etc. But no, my class says "Seminario Est. Human" for the room number. So I asked a couple of people where that was, no one knew but they postulated that maybe it was near the library (oh no not there again), and they said I should go over to the main building. I asked a guy there if he knew what that room name meant, and he said that he thought it was "Seminario Estudio Humanísto" and that it was above the library. So I go up the stairs, and sure enough there's a room that says "Seminario" on it. Phew. I wait around for class to start... one guy comes around and asks if I'm waiting for that class and I say yes... then a Prof of some sort and 4 other students or so come up. The Prof asks me what class I'm waiting for (among other things I didn't understand) and I say "Literatura I" and he waves his finger and says "No, no," goes and tries the door, sees that it's locked, and comes back and starts talking to another student who he knows. So I had no idea what that meant... I took it to meant that they were all there for another class, so I gave up and decided to try to make another class at the La Católica San Joaquín campus, since I really wasn't too interested in that Lit class in the first place and only tried to go to keep my class options open.
Success, I found the room at La Católica. While waiting outside a girl who was also waiting asked me what class I was waiting for and I told her (it was Antropología Filosófico), and she said, oh you're a foregin student. My gringo accent gives me away again! But we talked for a few minutes, she said I should meet her friend who speaks really good English, AND she told me that I spoke Spanish well. Yay! So we went inside the class after that, and the Prof was really nice, fairly easy to understand, and rather interesting (although he hopped around a bit on topics). Then after class the girl (Connie) and I exchanged phone numbers and email. A Chilean was nice to me!! I was so excited. :D
Later that afternoon I had to go to my astronomy class. UGH. Triple UGH. It was all around HORRIBLE. The professor was SO hard to understand. I hadn't encountered and real-life Chileans who talked like that, though I knew it existed and had seen it in a movie we watched in Olmué. He told us that we need to learn Linux so we can use the computers in the physics department to do our numerical/mathematical homeworks. UGH. There were also like 20 of us in the class, so I dunno how everyone is going to do their homework on a few computers. Then I spent basically the whole class (presented in powerpoint) trying to figure out how he was saying R-double-dot, H-naught, R-cubed, etc in Spanish, but that was somewhat difficult since he was dropping consonants left and right. The only reason I could even sort of understand generally what was going on is because today we were reviewing Newtonian Cosmology, which I've done before. Thursday we're doing Relativistic Cosmology, which I haven't done before. Argh I'm so worried about this class and I don't want to take it at ALL. I can't understand what's going on and I don't think I have the math skills that everyone else has. I thought maybe I could do it if it was mainly concept based, but it appears that it's not. The prof just yammered on the whole time, flashing equations on the screen. They also don't buy books here... they just copy them (literally hundreds of pages), so I don't have a reference that I can get help from, unless I want to have Carroll and Ostlie shipped to me.
Speaking of astronomy, here is the new Hubble Ultra Deep Field image if anyone is interested: http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/UDF_half.jpg. Very neat. I think maybe that pretty picture is about as in depth as I want to go into astronomy in my life. :-/ *SIGH*
Monday, March 08, 2004
Well today was crazy.
I got to the COPA office early at 9:45, but Waldo told us that Isa wouldn't be in until 10:30. So I talked to her when she came in, and she told me that to get the signature I need to take the astronomy class, I needed to go over the physics department itself in the San Joaquin campus of la Católica, which is a ways down the metro. I got out of the office at about 10:45 and headed to the metro. Leela and I agreed to meet in a different metro stop at about 11:30 to go to the "Time, Memory, and Narration" class we're interested in, so I wanted to make that. But.... I went the wrong way on the metro for about 5 or 6 stops. *blushes* I needed to change to a different line, but I got on the metro going to the OTHER line. Oops. So then I finally got to the San Joaquin campus, asked about 3 people where the physics department was and finally found it. By this time it was about 11:35, so I called Leela and told her there was no way I could make it, but asked her to let me know how the class was. Then I found a secretary who told me what I needed to do, and I talked to a nice German girl who was studying astronomy there too. I also talked to a really nice Chilean postdoc student, and having talked to them made me feel soooo much better because they were so nice and I didn't feel stupid. So then I went across the way to talk to the physics faculty member whose signature I needed, and EVERYONE in the department was speaking in English. That was interesting. So he just checked to make sure I had taken astronomy before and I had talked with someone in the astronomy department, signed my card, and I went back to the secretary for her to stamp it. Once I got to where I needed to be it took like 15 minutes, but getting there was a bit of a challenge!
So by this time it's about 12:15 or so. I decide to try and find where my astronomy class is going to be tomorrow, so I spend about 15 minutes doing that. The campus there is really pretty... the buildings are generally pretty low and have lots of greenery - palm ferns etc. Some even have wooden trellises with grape vines.
Then I decide that I'll take the metro to where the class I wanted to go to with Leela was in order to find the room and acquiant myself with that campus a bit. But it's on the other north-south line so I had to wiggle around a bit to get there. I find the campus and try to ask someone where the room for that class is (because apparently you don't ever know room numbers until the day class starts, at which point there are packets lying around with information on all the classes that day.) The packet says it's in the videoteca, and I ask where that is. The guy who had showed me the packet vaguely said it was sort of over there in a big building. So I look for it, can't find it, ask more people (most of whom have never heard of the videoteca), but fortunately this nice guy asked me in English if I needed help. Turns out he was Chilean but lived in Connecticuit for 3 years while his dad worked there. So he took me to the library (biblioteca) where apparently inside was the videoteca, but I couldn't get in because we don't have our U. Chile student ID's yet (called a TUCH). But I said OK at least I know where it is, thank you very much for saving my sanity. So I wait for Leela, and at this point it's about 1:20. I don't see her, so I call her and she had somehow slipped by where I was and was at the metro, so I go meet her there.
She said the class sounds really good, and the prof speaks really slowly. We're going to watch movies like Memento and read short stories like Borges' "Funes el memorioso". So it does sound awesome, and I'm going to go to the next class on Friday.
Late in the afternoon we had our COPA class, which was interesting. I'm used to my classes being all literature-based, but this one has a big socioeconomic aspect about Chile. We even have homework due for next week. But it was interesting so far, and it's definately funny when Rosi makes fun of our gringo accents.
I had once with Leela and Sarah and then rode the metro home. When I got off, I was looking for a bus that goes to where my house is or a Metrobus, because they go there too. The metrobus was the first to come by so I hopped on it (it's also 20 pesos cheaper than the micro). But it was already very full... and then 3 more people got on... and then 3 more.... and then 4 more... and no one got off. There was literally zero space between people. I was so worried about how I was going to get off at my stop, and NO ONE got off before me (very strange), and so I couldn't just watch and see what they did to get off. So my stop started to come up, I signaled the stop with the little cord and started climbing my way to the door. But because I didn't get to the door for about 5-10 seconds, the driver took off again. So I had to get off down the street and walk back, but it wasn't a big deal.
Tomorrow I go to my first astronomy class... eek. I'm a bit nervous, partly because I know in a class like that I'll stick out like a sore thumb since it's not like Astrofísica Extragalactica is exactly an elective or anything. I imagine they all know each other like all the Case people know each other. Ah well, I just hope they're nice. I hope the content isn't impossible, either - I'm definately nervous about that.
I got to the COPA office early at 9:45, but Waldo told us that Isa wouldn't be in until 10:30. So I talked to her when she came in, and she told me that to get the signature I need to take the astronomy class, I needed to go over the physics department itself in the San Joaquin campus of la Católica, which is a ways down the metro. I got out of the office at about 10:45 and headed to the metro. Leela and I agreed to meet in a different metro stop at about 11:30 to go to the "Time, Memory, and Narration" class we're interested in, so I wanted to make that. But.... I went the wrong way on the metro for about 5 or 6 stops. *blushes* I needed to change to a different line, but I got on the metro going to the OTHER line. Oops. So then I finally got to the San Joaquin campus, asked about 3 people where the physics department was and finally found it. By this time it was about 11:35, so I called Leela and told her there was no way I could make it, but asked her to let me know how the class was. Then I found a secretary who told me what I needed to do, and I talked to a nice German girl who was studying astronomy there too. I also talked to a really nice Chilean postdoc student, and having talked to them made me feel soooo much better because they were so nice and I didn't feel stupid. So then I went across the way to talk to the physics faculty member whose signature I needed, and EVERYONE in the department was speaking in English. That was interesting. So he just checked to make sure I had taken astronomy before and I had talked with someone in the astronomy department, signed my card, and I went back to the secretary for her to stamp it. Once I got to where I needed to be it took like 15 minutes, but getting there was a bit of a challenge!
So by this time it's about 12:15 or so. I decide to try and find where my astronomy class is going to be tomorrow, so I spend about 15 minutes doing that. The campus there is really pretty... the buildings are generally pretty low and have lots of greenery - palm ferns etc. Some even have wooden trellises with grape vines.
Then I decide that I'll take the metro to where the class I wanted to go to with Leela was in order to find the room and acquiant myself with that campus a bit. But it's on the other north-south line so I had to wiggle around a bit to get there. I find the campus and try to ask someone where the room for that class is (because apparently you don't ever know room numbers until the day class starts, at which point there are packets lying around with information on all the classes that day.) The packet says it's in the videoteca, and I ask where that is. The guy who had showed me the packet vaguely said it was sort of over there in a big building. So I look for it, can't find it, ask more people (most of whom have never heard of the videoteca), but fortunately this nice guy asked me in English if I needed help. Turns out he was Chilean but lived in Connecticuit for 3 years while his dad worked there. So he took me to the library (biblioteca) where apparently inside was the videoteca, but I couldn't get in because we don't have our U. Chile student ID's yet (called a TUCH). But I said OK at least I know where it is, thank you very much for saving my sanity. So I wait for Leela, and at this point it's about 1:20. I don't see her, so I call her and she had somehow slipped by where I was and was at the metro, so I go meet her there.
She said the class sounds really good, and the prof speaks really slowly. We're going to watch movies like Memento and read short stories like Borges' "Funes el memorioso". So it does sound awesome, and I'm going to go to the next class on Friday.
Late in the afternoon we had our COPA class, which was interesting. I'm used to my classes being all literature-based, but this one has a big socioeconomic aspect about Chile. We even have homework due for next week. But it was interesting so far, and it's definately funny when Rosi makes fun of our gringo accents.
I had once with Leela and Sarah and then rode the metro home. When I got off, I was looking for a bus that goes to where my house is or a Metrobus, because they go there too. The metrobus was the first to come by so I hopped on it (it's also 20 pesos cheaper than the micro). But it was already very full... and then 3 more people got on... and then 3 more.... and then 4 more... and no one got off. There was literally zero space between people. I was so worried about how I was going to get off at my stop, and NO ONE got off before me (very strange), and so I couldn't just watch and see what they did to get off. So my stop started to come up, I signaled the stop with the little cord and started climbing my way to the door. But because I didn't get to the door for about 5-10 seconds, the driver took off again. So I had to get off down the street and walk back, but it wasn't a big deal.
Tomorrow I go to my first astronomy class... eek. I'm a bit nervous, partly because I know in a class like that I'll stick out like a sore thumb since it's not like Astrofísica Extragalactica is exactly an elective or anything. I imagine they all know each other like all the Case people know each other. Ah well, I just hope they're nice. I hope the content isn't impossible, either - I'm definately nervous about that.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Yay I finally got to go out! I had a bit of a rocky start... we were told that the metro runs til 11:30, but when I got to the stop (via a radiotaxi) at 10:55, the security guard told me that I had just missed the last one. I didn't know what bus to take to get to Bellavista and I didn't have the money to pay for a taxi the whole way there, so I called Leela and she told me where Bellavista is and to get on a bus going to Providencia and Alameda and get off at Plaza Italia. I had to ask this nice old guy on the bus if we were at Plaza Italia yet, and he told me where to get off. Then I had to cross the river and I FINALLY made it to where I was supposed to meet people (others had changed their plans too because of the metro closing). So we hung out at a place with live music for awhile and then a place with a patio, and it was really fun.
Now I've been trying to do my course schedule and I'm all stressed... all 3 of the universities have different ways to register and you do it in a different order, so I'm all confused. I also wanted to try to have no Friday classes since that will never happen at Case, but I dunno if that's going to work out. We have to take at least 15 credits and can take no more than 18. Since my astronomy class is worth 6 credits and my COPA Spanish class is worth 4 credits, that means I can either take just one more class that meets 3 days a week and is worth 5 credits (for a total of 15), or I can take 2 more classes that meet 2 days a week for 4 credits each (for a total of 18 credits). I can't have something in between cuz of the astronomy class. I'm really tempted to do just 3 classes... especially since I'm not sure I can take ANY class here that will count towards my GER (they just don't have any that would work). I wanted to take ceramics too, but it conflicts with my astronomy class. Maybe I'll look for another fun class like that.
So Monday morning sometime between 10am and noon I'm supposed to be someplace that I don't know where it is to talk to a person about some inscription that I have to get but don't understand in order to register for my astronomy class that I haven't been to yet. AND I can ONLY go THIS Monday between 10am and noon, because those are the hours alotted for the physics department (astronomy is within physics). I'm going to talk to Isa in the COPA office at 10am when she gets there and ask her what the heck I'm supposed to be doing. Hopefully I'll be able to make the Existentialism class I want to check out by 11:50.
Whenever any of us start getting flustered about something, a COPA person just tells us to calm down and remember that we're in Chile... so that's what I'm trying to remember. ;)
Now I've been trying to do my course schedule and I'm all stressed... all 3 of the universities have different ways to register and you do it in a different order, so I'm all confused. I also wanted to try to have no Friday classes since that will never happen at Case, but I dunno if that's going to work out. We have to take at least 15 credits and can take no more than 18. Since my astronomy class is worth 6 credits and my COPA Spanish class is worth 4 credits, that means I can either take just one more class that meets 3 days a week and is worth 5 credits (for a total of 15), or I can take 2 more classes that meet 2 days a week for 4 credits each (for a total of 18 credits). I can't have something in between cuz of the astronomy class. I'm really tempted to do just 3 classes... especially since I'm not sure I can take ANY class here that will count towards my GER (they just don't have any that would work). I wanted to take ceramics too, but it conflicts with my astronomy class. Maybe I'll look for another fun class like that.
So Monday morning sometime between 10am and noon I'm supposed to be someplace that I don't know where it is to talk to a person about some inscription that I have to get but don't understand in order to register for my astronomy class that I haven't been to yet. AND I can ONLY go THIS Monday between 10am and noon, because those are the hours alotted for the physics department (astronomy is within physics). I'm going to talk to Isa in the COPA office at 10am when she gets there and ask her what the heck I'm supposed to be doing. Hopefully I'll be able to make the Existentialism class I want to check out by 11:50.
Whenever any of us start getting flustered about something, a COPA person just tells us to calm down and remember that we're in Chile... so that's what I'm trying to remember. ;)
Thursday, March 04, 2004
We found out what COPA Spanish class we're in yesterday (we all have to take a mandatory "Advanced Spanish: Grammar and Composition" class, but they divide it up into 3 groups) and I am so excited because my class is really great. A lot of my friends are in it, and all the people who are in it are really nice and are good speakers. So it should be a really fun class AND it's not the one that conflicts with my astronomy class, so I'm super excited.
Oh, by the way, my astronomy class here is the equivalent of SIX (yes 6) credits. Here it's 12 by their system, but converted to US credits it's 6. Now I'm all worried that it's going to be insane work, since most classes at la Católica are 8 or 10 credits (so 4 or 5 US). I guess I'll just go and see! (International students get 2 or 3 weeks to shop around in different classes). I hope it works out.
Today after our orientation at U. Diego Portales me, Leela, Rachel, and Sarah went to get something to drink in an area called Bellavista behind where Sarah lives. It was a REALLY cute area, and we got these awesome smoothie-type things that they made with fresh peaches and pears.
I might try to go out tonight again, but it's hard trying to organize something on the spot. It's expensive to call people on their cell phones (like 50 cents a minute) and then I end up not knowing how to get where people are going. But even if tonight works out, we are DEFINATELY planning ahead on going out tomorrow night - maybe back to Bellavista.
Oh and my host mom's granddaughter is staying over tonight... she is soooo cute! She's about 5 years old and she was goofing around and showing me all of her toys. And she actually spoke Spanish that I could understand! That was exciting. No but she was really cute and really happy and sweet.
Oh, by the way, my astronomy class here is the equivalent of SIX (yes 6) credits. Here it's 12 by their system, but converted to US credits it's 6. Now I'm all worried that it's going to be insane work, since most classes at la Católica are 8 or 10 credits (so 4 or 5 US). I guess I'll just go and see! (International students get 2 or 3 weeks to shop around in different classes). I hope it works out.
Today after our orientation at U. Diego Portales me, Leela, Rachel, and Sarah went to get something to drink in an area called Bellavista behind where Sarah lives. It was a REALLY cute area, and we got these awesome smoothie-type things that they made with fresh peaches and pears.
I might try to go out tonight again, but it's hard trying to organize something on the spot. It's expensive to call people on their cell phones (like 50 cents a minute) and then I end up not knowing how to get where people are going. But even if tonight works out, we are DEFINATELY planning ahead on going out tomorrow night - maybe back to Bellavista.
Oh and my host mom's granddaughter is staying over tonight... she is soooo cute! She's about 5 years old and she was goofing around and showing me all of her toys. And she actually spoke Spanish that I could understand! That was exciting. No but she was really cute and really happy and sweet.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Well, today was much better. The COPA students met downtown for a tour (which was interesting and moderately helpful - I say moderately only because we walked around so much that I'm not sure how to get back to some places). It was sooo nice to see people I knew again after being alone for 2 days. After the tour we had the afternoon free. So me and 3 other friends (Leela, Sarah, and Rachel) went and got cell phones. :) That was fun even though the cashier made fun of us... but I'll admit we were being pretty gringo-ish explaining things to each other in English and all - but it was a bit confusing because it's so different from the US system. I also, as a result, took the bus twice today - downtown and back. It is SUCH a relief to have my first time doing that under my belt. It seems like the system is confusing and therefore hard to figure out at first, but once you know where you're going it's really easy because you just get on the bus with the name of the street you want to go to in the window. But the key is that you have to know where you're going!
Then we were going to go out tonight, but that didn't work out. No one really knows where anything is in relation to everything else, nor the best way to get there. So we're going to try and organize something more concrete for tomorrow night.
I have to go downtown again early tomorrow (and the next day, and the next) for more orientation stuff. Then I pick classes, etc, and class starts Monday. ::eek::
Then we were going to go out tonight, but that didn't work out. No one really knows where anything is in relation to everything else, nor the best way to get there. So we're going to try and organize something more concrete for tomorrow night.
I have to go downtown again early tomorrow (and the next day, and the next) for more orientation stuff. Then I pick classes, etc, and class starts Monday. ::eek::
Monday, March 01, 2004
Ug, feeling a little more stressed now. I have to learn how to take the bus (called micros) and the metro from where I am to everywhere I need to go. I stress out about taking the bus in a country where I actually speak the language let alone one where I don't. :-/ Then I'm all worried about my classes because apparently (according to a COPA staff member who is a college student) the girls here will be really antisocial and won't want to be friends with us. So then I worry that I won't know what's going on and have no one to help me, and then that I won't have any friends and be all by myself all the time. I imagine that probably won't happen... but I'm definately a big bag of worries right now. Once I get a schedule and know how to go to class and kind of what's going on (and my Spanish improves), I imagine I'll feel a lot better. :)
