lo que pasa, pasa

So classes are in full swing, and now I can definitely say that school here is sooo vastly different than back in the states, or at least at Southwestern. Attendance isn't a huge deal, especially if you have two sessions of the same class right in a row; alot of people will come to the first half and not stay for the second half...seriously, school here compared to our curriculums/classes/professors at SU is soooooooooooo easy and such a joke! In a weird, discombobulated way, seeing how education is here and liking it all the same, its made me soo appreciative of my education back home, and not only MY education, but our whole school system back in the states. There are times when I'm like, "oh yah, chile is all up-to-date with the states, blah blah blah" etc. but then even later that day, or the next day, or later in the week, little things happen, or I have a convo with someone and I realize, "wow, chile is sooo lagging in this, or in that, etc." I've had several convos with my family about upper education here, about the healthcare system, about politics, etc, and its just really....(for lack of a better word), really interesting, to compare the states and my personal experiences with how it is here in Chile, but then I'm like, DUH, thats what this experience is all about! so its really great to just sit there sometimes, and just imagine how it could or would be in the states...
Also, the workload here is a lot less, and still the students don't do it...I guess I'm just used to always having tons of reading/writing/etc up at southwestern, and being surrounded by people who I don't know...actually do their work...that now being put in a big university with tons of people and easy work (for the most part) is just really...strange. For example, for my lit. class we were supposed to read 2 stories and have something to talk about in class...easy...well, we had 2 wks to do it because class was cancelled one week, but still in class, he went around the room asking who had read it, and well, let's just say it was really only the gringo's in the class who had done any of the reading, minus a few chilean exceptions...and still the prof just joked about no one having done the work, after he walked out of the class to have a chat on the phone...hahah oh man it's so different for me. In another class, we have to write a paper on a subject of our choice, and our profe even said we could write it in english if we wanted to...WHAT?? who does that? but at this point, writing a paper in english would be harder for me to do anyway...pheww, just spanish for me, please.

Another thing, while I really like the 'chill' culture here (duh) and I could totally see myself adjusting and adopting/adapting to this way of life, it's made me realize how american I am, or shall I say NORTH american (some people here are pretty picky...) I mean, it's as simple as, I love getting up in the morning early to go for a run...but here, it's like thats taboo, or in my family at least. Why not wake up later and run later? I feel like I waste so much time sitting around (perhaps i should be doing other things, but I usually have nothing else to do), waiting for the appropriate time to do something.....

I've found a running partner, Jen, who is a crazy triathlete and has professional friends up at her school. We ran in what we thought was going to be a 6k race, but it turned out it was only about 2 miles, and it was all about participation, not competition...get this, we show up to the place where the 'race' was going to start, and they have a stage set up in front of a large open area for people to gather around, and first they have a yoga instructor up on stage going through a quick yoga routine before the race, and then afterwards, they have a Richard Simmons protege going through a warm up 'routine'...? Just picture lots of people jumping around doing crazy stretches to soem good music and people in costumes the shape of hearts walking around...I wish I had my camera! Anyway, so Jen and I are going to start running together in the mornings, and we're planning on doing a half marathon at the end of Sept. (maybe) but then definitely a half maraton at the end of October down south in Los Angeles...apparently it's a really small race, but you get to run through a cool, small, cultural town and see some good sights, and it only costs about $15 to enter...so we figured why not?!

My family just had some family friends over for once, and as usual, my family warned me that they talk suuuper rapido (like all chileans) so I just expected the normal...Nope. My family wasn't kidding...We're sitting around the table eating/talking/me listening, and man, I felt like I was back in my first week here in Chile...especially when more than 2 or 3 people start talking at the same time,and there's like 4 conversations across the table...it's insane...also apparently I'm not so great at hiding my confusion with all my facial expressions, so that made for some awkward situations when someone would point it out to everyone else and they'd basically just sit there staring at me and laugh...yesss. But other than that, once was fine... :)

Next weekend I'm traveling with my sister and mom to Mendoza, Argentina for a long weekend getaway. My sister here is a ballerina and apparently she can only get here ballet point shoes (i don't know what they're called in english...zapatillas de punta...) in Mendoza, and you can't order them online...so it calls for a trip! My mom and sister keep telling me how stoked they are to go, and how beautiful Mendoza is, so it should be really fun. It's about an 8 hour drive on a bus to get there, so we're leaving thursday morning, getting there in the afternoon, and we'll have until Sunday to just explore around and eat 'media lunas,' (some sort of dulce/postre/dessert thing) which evidently are the greatest thing under the sun, and they're suuuuper rico, so I have a feeling we'll be eating those at every meal knowing my mom...

hasta pronto-