Week of Journaling: Day 1

Today was a busy day. I woke up early to skype with Bee :D which made me so happy! It’s so funny that she’s in Japan, I’m in Chile, and we can still talk almost face to face. I even got to show her the guy who always passes by on his unicycle. Afterwards I left for my Environment class. This class has made me increasingly nervous over the past few days. Suddenly, I have realized a few things. One: it is a senior seminar. Two: I am a junior. Three: A senior here is basically like a grad student in the US, because if they study politics, that is ALL they study for four years. Four: I know very little about all of the Chilean political theories they have learned about during these four years. Five: Economics and political vocabulary is challenging in English. In Spanish, it is more challenging.

So... basically, I am insane for taking this class. But here I am. It is very interesting, and I think I will get a lot out of it, but I spend much of the class hoping the professor doesn’t ask me anything for fear of social and academic death. Today I talked to the professor after class about my concerns, and he basically told me not to worry about it at all, and that he would read my research proposal with “cariño,” which I hope means with a very relaxed and lenient eye. How I will manage to write and present a senior-level public environmental policy in Spanish is beyond me, so let’s hope I improve a lot by the time the end of the semester rolls around! The professor does seem very understanding though, and I met two of my classmates today!

After my classes I went back to Nuestra Casa to participate in a big meeting they were having. Megan, Becca and I presented ourselves to the group, and met a few of the guys who hadn’t been there on Saturday. There are about 25 of them living there in total. I learned a little more about what I will be doing with them: they do lots of things, but most center around work in the house, administrative work, and work in the street. Work in the street consists of “Calle Futbol,” a new movement to get young guys living on the street to form soccer teams that compete internationally, and “Jueves Solidarios,” where the guys from the house and a bunch of volunteers hand out food and talk with the people living on the streets in La Vega. I will hopefully be participating in the work in the street, doing community building projects with the guys in the house on Wednesdays, and possibly helping with some administrative work. This Thursday, I am going to accompany one of the women in charge on her visit to the futbol practice, and help hand out food in La Vega. I’m really excited- it should be quite a new experience! Javi might come too, which would be fun.

Tonight I came back to find a delicious dinner waiting for me on a platter, and joined Javi and Claudia for dinner in bed while we watched a beauty pageant on TV. A nice thoughtless end to a packed day. Now it is 2:10 am and I’m thinking it’s probably time to go to bed. Another packed day tomorrow! Stay tuned for a week of Molly’s ramblings!