Chile Becomes Eclectic

So I gave this post the following title, because I´ve had some interesting,fun, and even normal experiences the  past few days that don´t really mesh together.And yes this is actually a spin-off of NPR's  "Morning Becomes Eclectic" title, for those who probably were wondering(*hem hem* Dad) But despite the lack of coherency I´d like to share them!

Let´s start with the interesting. Yesterday (August 8th) there was a big secondary school march which is just a piece of the puzzle in the lengthy history of student protests here. For lack of a well formulated, knowledgble explanation(guilty as charged-I need to read up a bit more) here´s the post from the email they sent us as a heads up.

"The Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES) and the National High School Student
Coordination (CONES) have called for protests in Santiago, Chile Aug. 8. Some ACES
leaders have called for students to radicalize their march tactics and occupy schools. Santiago's city government rejected a march permit that the student groups requested, but the groups vowed to march as planned.... The Aug. 8 protests are intended to call attention to the fact that a solution has
still not yet been reached between student protesters and the government. Students and their supporters have demanded free universal education; Chile's higher education system is one of the most expensive in Latin America. "

Before coming I did know that a lot of this had to do with more accesible education, but I still don´t understand the agenda of each organization.To be honest,I wasn´t aware there were multiple organizations. But anyway, I didn´t go near the areas where they told us not to go, so I assumed I wouldn´t see any action. I did see some of the aftermath on the way to school in the afternoon, which included three or four charred buses, shattered glass, and hoards of carabineros(police officers) patrolling the street with those clear shields. A Chilean girl  on my bus and I just looked at each other  like "woah" and ended up buddying up after we discovered we were both heading to the same campus. When I got off the bus, I could have sworn there were traces of tear gas in the air, because my eyes were watering as I was walking to my metro stop.  Before anyone of my loyal readers freak out(a.k.a my family) I just want to point out that this was well after the crowds dispersed. It was even rumored that a couple of the buses were in transit, so there were no passengers. It was just crazy to live in a moment of history and have a Chilean to tag along with and give me a bit more insight.

Later on in the evening the only evidence that there was a march earlier in the day was that the buses weren´t running as regularly. That made it a little difficult when I had to get across town to a friend´s apartment. But it worked out with the help of two middle aged Chilean women who practically escorted me to my friend's front door,like I had never used public transportation in my life.It was more sweet than annoying though, because I knew they just wanted to look out for me after the march and what not.

So now, the fun. The reason I went to my friend´s place is because a group of EAPers met up there before we headed to Miércoles Po! I mentioned it in an earlier post, but "po" is a shortened version of "pues(well)" used for emphasis. So I suppose the "po" just emphasises the fact that there is a carrete(Chilean word for party) on a Wednesday. It´s  actually a well-organized event that is thrown at a new venue each week and targeted towards extranjeros (foreigners). And extranjeros there were! But there were also a nice splash of Chileans in the mix. It was really fun, but I was so tired today since I had to get up for class about 3 hours later. Luckily we´re in la semana universitaria(kind of like welcome week here)so classes haven´t been getting too intense yet . I just have a lot of reading for each class. Which brings me to....
The normal:a lot of days here are normal... in a sense. What I mean is that a lot of the stuff I´m generally doing here day-to-day is what I would be doing my junior year in the states, like going to class and dreading mountains of reading. But now that I´m in Chile, every routine is a fresh experience. Yes I have a mountain of reading, but it´s also in Spanish. Also, I just scored an internship...yes! It´s with a national association that works for the rights of indigenous and rural women in Chile.So yes I would be seeking out an internship at Irvine, but not one like this! So far I know I will be learning a lot about their cause, and eventually helping them get ready to put together a sort of statement they bring to national congress each year, outlining the struggles/needs of indigenous and rural women in each region of Chile. I feel like I´m reallyyy far from that though and I have a lot to learn! My supervisor is a really sweet, down to earth older woman. After she was an hour late to the interview(in the Chilean fashion) she greeted me with a big hug and an apology. The interview was super relaxed too, because EAP students have worked with this organization in the past.

So that´s what I got for my second week of the semester.On Saturday, we have a   trip to Villa Grimaldi, a place used for torture in the dictatorship, so it will be sad but eye opening I hope. On a lighter note, I heard a funny reference in my swim class yesterday similar to one in the states. We were doing relay races that involved putting our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us, which eventually involved a swim train, leap frog, and a handful of other crazy races. But anyways, one of the people on my team told everyone to stretch their arms out "como colegio! como colegio!" Colegio is like junior high/high school equivalent. Which means he meant have your arms stretched out like you would in those awkward slow dances in junior high or "como colegio!" I don't know if he was specifically referring to a school dance, but the message basically carried the same meaning. It's funny how references among young adults cross borders. Chao for now!