Wednesday July 18, 2007

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Still no Internet, but i’ll survive. I woke up early (at 8:20!) to run before class. It was nice to finally exercise and I enjoyed the beautiful, not too cold weather this morning. Plus I was able to take a not freezing shower since I had just got done running. I decided this is the only way to go. Class today was again full of lectures, discussions, and way too much information. Despite the constant confusion, I am really enjoying the lectures. I’ve learned so much about Chile: its government, constitution political parties, Presidente Bachelet, and the structure and demographics of Chile. We also learned about the pollution of the air and water in Santiago, the geography and the economics of the city. Did you know that Chile is one of the only South American countries with potable tap water? That compared to other South American countries, Chile is relatively moderate (despite the fact that there is a “Socialist” president)? That there are over six political parties united in 3 different Coalitions? That the same reason Santiago as so much smog is the same reason California has so much smog? (The Humbolt current along the Pacific Coast brings cold water close to the shore and therefore cold air. This cold air moves inland and is trapped by the mountains. It then settles low on the city prevents the exhaust from cars, factories etc. from escaping into the atmosphere. Interesting huh?)

In my discussion group, our tutor told us that Chile is a very consumeristic society and even ventured to say that Chileans new temples are the huge malls. (The people go there to feel safe, loved, and happy.) They have huge Wal-Mart like stores called JUMBO ( pronounced like UMBO, or HUMBO if you are my father) in the upper class neighborhoods. The people see this as the ideal, apparently because they view the US way of life as the ideal. Sad huh?

My host mom told me that she used to think that there were no poor people in the US. She thought that everyone was middle and upper class and that everything was beautiful. It wasn’t until she saw on TV a Cuban doctor who works in the US talk about the living situation of the poor, the devastation of gangs, and the ineptitude of the government to help that she realized that there are poor people all over the world.

Tomorrow Chile plays Argentina and a bunch of us students are going to get together to watch it. And this weekend I’m going to go to the beach with the family of a friend of mine. I’m really excited and ready to start doing stuff around and out of the city.