Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Wednesday August 1, 2007

I’ve now been in Chile for 3 weeks. Observations thus far:

• My Spanish is not improving as far as I can tell.
• Olga can cook more types of food than anyone I know. (I have yet to eat the same thing twice, except for the carrot omelet she makes because I like it so much.)
• Studying abroad in a foreign language is thus far the most humbling experience of my life.
• It’s not about how much time you’ve been away from your loved ones that makes you miss them. It’s about how much longer it’s going to be before you can see them again.
• If I went to a Catholic school, I would get a theology minor. There is nothing more interesting or exciting to me than to talk about God, faith, life, etc.
• I totally take central heating for granted.
• I never want to live in a city with lots of smog.
• I am way more dependent on the internet than I would like to admit.

Today was my first day of class at Universidad de Católica. I decided that studying abroad will give me a rare chance to take a theology class, so today I went and checked out as many as I could. I went to Lo feminino en Dio y ser humana (The Feminine in God and Humanity) then Doctrina Social de la Iglesia (Social Doctrine of the Church), then El hombre y el trabajo (Man and Work), then Topicos de etica social cristiana (Topics of Social Christian Ethics), then Iniciación a la lectura de la Biblia (Introduction to the Readings of the Bible). I closed out the day with a class that I know I am taking through the CIEE program called Pobreza y desarrollo en Chile y America Latina: Teoría y práctica (Poverty and Development in Chile and Latin America: Theory and Practice). I enjoyed/somewhat understood each class. I’m not sure which one(s) I will take, but hopefully I’ll have it all worked out soon. Some funny/memorable occurrences of today:

1. In the Lo feminino en Dio y ser humana (The Feminine in God and Humanity), the profesora was talking about gender and sexual identity. She said the way she views her “womanhood” and sexual identity might be different from…then points to me and asked my name. Luckily I was paying attention and understood what she said, so I quickly responded, “Kayla”. “Kauga?” “No, Kayla”. She then looked to the whole class and said (en Español), “Of course I asked the only extranjera in the entire class!” I of course se pongo rojo (blushed) and she continued with the example simply saying “she”.

2. The professor for El hombre y el trabajo (Man and Work) is a priest and said the 1 pm student mass that I went to right after class got out! Mass was packed, with students even standing in the back. It felt great; like I was back at Our Lady of Wisdom in Lafayette! The funny thing is I understand the Chileans about as well as I understood the Cajuns!

3. I know I would absolutely love the Topicos de etica social cristiana (Topics of Social Christian Ethics) if I could understand the professor. L Interestingly, I wasn’t the only one in the room who looked like they had no idea what was going on. The professor started talking about how mysteries are mysteries because language isn’t sufficient. He went on to say that you could be listening to someone speaking Chinese and all you would hear was mumbling despite the fact that the person could be reciting the most beautiful poem ever written or reveal deep truths. Such sweet irony. The tiny bit I did understand throughout the 80 minute lecture/discussion is worth noting:

a. There is theology because there is Revelation

b.Theology is a discussion of the absolute but it is not an absolute

c. Theology is not the word of God

d. Theology is not ration nor irrational; it is a-rational.

4. In Iniciación a la lectura de la Biblia (Introduction to the Readings of the Bible), again the professor talked about different connotations of words, phrases, actions between different cultures. Language defines culture and vice versa. Ultimately, the language of God is the world.

5. The professor in Iniciación a la lectura de la Biblia (Introduction to the Readings of the Bible) said that he likes to get to know his class and that we should all go out for a drink sometime. One kid yelled out “Monday after class” so apparently (If I still take this class), we are all going to have a beer Monday evening after discussing the Bible for 80 minutes!

6. I could actually follow my Pobreza y desarrollo en Chile y America Latina: Teoría y práctica (Poverty and Development in Chile and Latin America: Theory and Practice) since it was Hector, our Resident Director, not from Chile. We have a mandatory 6 hours/week internship/volunteer job with one of 5 different organizations in Santiago. We start in 2 weeks and I can’t wait.

After class, which didn’t end till 8:30 pm, I came home, ate dinner, and then walked about 10 minutes to Natalie´s house to use her internet. I brought my computer hoping to use Skype to call home, but of course it didn’t work. ARRRRGGGGHHH! Olga said we should be getting internet this weekend. So I just have to hold out till then!