Weekend 3

Ahhhh...Friday at last!

Today, we registered with the Chilean police. I now have my temporary Chilean ID card and will get my official one in a few weeks (another trip to the police station). Well, at least I can feel a little more official now. I'm really living here, not just visiting - crazy!

Another crazy thing was yesterday's orientation at La Catolica. There was a presentation by a student organization for international students. As I was looking at all the pictures from previous events (filled with Americans), it finally dawned on my that I'm the international student. Thinking back on my Cultural Diversity Club days and my "help the exchange student" background, this was really a change of pace for me. But I'm getting used to it. My only frustration is that among Americans, everyone only wants to speak in English. It's extremely disheartening, as I thought the whole purpose of being here was to learn Spanish. I've just made the decision to avoid as many Americans as possible and make Chilean friends...we'll see how that works.

Last night, this international student group (CAUC - don't ask me what it stands for) went "out" to a typical Chilean bar. After tasting the famous terremoto (earthquake) and watching my compatriots getting drunker and drunker, I decided it was not the place for me and, along with a friend of mine and a very nice Chilean guy from CAUC, headed for home. On the way, the three of us took a nice detour to the Plaza de Armas (I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not, but we were there on Tuesday as well). This is literally the center of Santiago. There's even a plaque that says "Kilometro 0" - at least, there is supposedly, as none of us could find it. Raul (the guy from CAUC) showed us some good shopping spots as well and gave us key safety tips:

*Trust the carabineros - they are your friend
*The metro is (crazily enough) one of the safest places in the city, because it's full of carabineros and cameras
*Don't go to Santiago Centro after dark without a Chilean escort...thieves can spot an extranjero a mile away

Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you that no unnecessary risks have been taken thus far. Also, for the record, Santiago is the safest city in South America, due to it's amazing carabineros.

As far as classes go, the current list is as follows:

Culturas fueguenses (Cultures of Tierra del fuego)
Antropologia chilena (Chilean Anthropology)
Educacion, Cultura y Sociedad (Education, Culture, and Society)
Poesia Chilena (Chilean poetry)

The last one may change, as the section of Antropologia chilena that I want to take is at the same time, but there will be another lit-related class for sure.

Classes at La Catolica (that is, the last three classes in the list) start on Monday (blah) and UChile starts next week. Time to start the grind! Realistically, I'm hoping that none of these classes turn out to be too difficult. I confirmed with other Chilean students that they are more or less extranjero-approved (that is, hopefully not too difficult). I opted out of taking a linguistics course because the only interesting ones are levels 4-6...completely doable, but not if I want a life.

Other than that, it looks like a quiet weekend. No youth group meeting tonight (bummer), but hopefully next week. Possibly a trip to Pomaire tomorrow (a cute ceramics town), but not sure of family plans yet. Shopping today (yay...more winter clothes!) and christening of my host mom's niece or something tomorrow night.

That's it for now. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will try to take some more as I start visiting places in a more touristy-fashion. Hope to talk to you all soon!