Entering the world of "fotocopias"

Well, for those of us who have ever complained about the rip-off involved in buying textbooks, there is something to be said for the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are able to complete your reading for the next class at your own leisure. And that it's legible. And usually in color. Here in Chile, to avoid the extreme import tax involved with buying books, universities have discovered a unique way to combat the attack on students' wallets - make photocopies! Of everything. To be honest, it sounds like a great idea. Buy one book, have students make all the photocopies they want - it's a heck of a lot cheaper for both sides. The problem is, of course, that there is now only one book...and 40 students. So, we fill out a request form, stand in line for 10-40 minutes (depending on time of day), turn in our request, come back in 1-3 hours, stand in line again for 10-40 minutes, pay for our copies, and pick up our papers. To make this process even better, you have to fill out a separate request for each reading selection. For example:

The professor says, "Read Chapters 1 and 4 of book X, and article Y". So, you have to fill out a request for Chapter 1, Chapter 4, and article Y (yes, three requests). That's day 1. Day 2, he says, "Now read article Z and Chapter 2 of book A". Now you get to do the process all over again with article Z and Chapter 2.

Let's just say I'm learning to do homework in line.

Anyway, enough venting. In all fairness, things have been going pretty well. I decided to drop my class at the University of Chile (see story below) and take an additional class at La Catolica (still to be decided). Hopefully, by Friday, I will have a finalized schedule.

Ok, so long story about Tuesday. So, theoretically, I had a class at 8:30am on Tuesday morning at the University of Chile in room 32. While the campus is like 15 blocks from my house, there is no micro (bus) that takes me straight there. You have to do this funny U-thing. So, I leave the house at 7:30 and start the process: take the micro West, get off, supposed to take the micro South, realize it's a one-way street and the micro doesn't go South, walk four blocks West to the next micro stop on a street that does go South, take the micro South, start walking East, realize it's too far to walk, watch micro pass by because I didn't get to the stop fast enough, wait for the next micro traveling East, start walking toward campus and - FINALLY, arrive at campus. It is now 8:35am. I'm late. So, I walk around kinda disoriented because it's been like 2 weeks since we toured this campus, ask someone for directions to the Social Science building, finally find the building, finally find the room...and it's empty. I check the schedule on the door, and sure enough, the class is not even listed. What I found out later is that UChile is notorious for changing classrooms, times, and even days of their classes at the last minute without informing anybody. At this point (8:45), I'm tired, I'm sore from walking, and I'm completely at my whits end. So, I decide that this is totally not worth the effort, get back on the micro (North), take it to the metro, and head to the campus that I actually know how to get to. While the class I was theoretically going to take at UChile seemed kinda interesting (Cultures of Tierra del Fuego), it was not interesting enough to make that trip twice a week at rush hour. In addition, the Che Guevarra-Communist Flag-anarchist symbol ridden walls started getting to me after a while, as well as the rumors of protests later this semester. So I think this was probably for the best. It looks like I will be taking a history of Chile and South America class instead at 3:00 in the afternoon (a lot better for me, considering my family doesn't go to sleep till like 1:00am, and I don't run well on 6 or fewer hours of sleep).

Anyway, that was Tuesday. I managed to make it through the rest of my day ok, and spent the evening working on my final paper for Contemporary Chile.

Wednesday, I got to have lunch with Marjorie, a catechumin at St. Mary's (the Orthodox Church here). She's a history major looking into pedagogy following her graduation (teaching). We had a good time eating and comparing professors (got some good tips on which classes not to take), and will hopefully get to spend more time together throughout the semester. My Mon-Wed Education class is AWESOME! as it's all about Chilean education from a sociological perspective. We actually get to visit different schools around Santiago for our final project - a little nerve-wracking, as it involves a lot of group work, but I got together with some fellow international students (including one from Tahiti - cool!) and I think we're going to help each other get through this stuff. Later that evening, I went to choir rehearsal at church, met a girl from Brasil, and stayed for their weekly Liturgy. It was beautiful, and I got to meet a lot more young people. I really enjoy going, and everyone is very nice. The choir director is working to replace some of the less-desirable Liturgy music with St. Vlad's stuff, and Wednesday night Liturgy is like the springboard for using these melodies in Sunday Liturgy. I must say it's really cool how everyone works together to keep the parish growing.

Today, I turned in my final paper (yeah, printing is a whole other story...I'll save that for a different post), had my anthro class and poetry class, both of which are going well, and met a girl from Chicago. We spent an hour or so talking and comparing experiences here in Chile (in English...we both needed a language break).

And now, I'm home. Tomorrow is a national holiday for the Assumption, but unfortunately I won't get to go to church because everyone is going to the parish in Vina del Mar for their patronal feast day (bummer). The upside is that I will go here for Sept. 8, because it is the patronal feast day of the parish here, so that's some consolation. Tomorrow I will be playing tourist with another friend from the program and visiting some museaums here in Santiago. I will make sure and post pictures.

Anyway, for those of you going to church tomorrow, please say a prayer for me. All of you are in my thoughts and prayers as well. Chao!