School's out for the weekend! That's right, not classes on Friday for the whole semester. I wouldn't have scheduled my classes like that on purpose would I? Included in this entry are also a couple pictures from La Universidad Catolica and a picture of the Andes, taken from my bedroom.
Moving on to the past few days. This past weekend, my family here in Santiago officially welcomed me in. That is to say we had a great feast of asado, or BBQ. I guess they have an asado nearly every Sunday (Lucky me!) where other family members come over, but they took a moment this week to formally welcome me into their home. Very nice, but more importantly... the food. We had pork ribs, steak, and some delicious garlic scallops. Leo is the master of the huge outdoor grill and whipped up a feast. I ate like a king and still had steak left over for lunch the next day. It was great to spend time with the rest of the family as well. I played some intense games of ping-pong with Cami and Tio (uncle) Ricardo. Both are quite good. We're sure to have some intense games. We also watched City of God, an award winning Brazilian movie with the family. Interestingly, since the movie was in Portuguese, I found myself reading Spanish subtitles. Didn't think I'd ever have to do that, haha. Highly recommend the movie by the way. Not for the weak of heart, but very powerful.
I now have something very important to tell my dad. Remember all the times you've given me crap for studying business and not something real like engineering? Well after much difficulty in trying to concisely explain to Chileans that I study Finance, I've resorted to telling them that I just study business. In reality, a business degree here in Chile is more general and not as specific as a U.S. degree in Finance, Marketing, or Entrepreneurship would be. And what do they happen to call the study of business here...Ingenieria Comercial, or Commercial Engineering. So now we're on an even playing field dad. End of story, haha.
Now to the boring part. Feel free to stop reading. Seriously, I'll never know. This past Monday was the start of classes. My schedule was somewhat already fixed, with two required classes: Spanish for Foreigners and Chilean Politics and Society. I have also elected to take a class at La Universidad Alberto Hurtado (named for Chile's beloved Jesuit saint, Alberto Hurtado). This class is called Poverty and Development, and combines in-class lecture and weekly service work. We have many options for where to perform this service and although I have yet to decide, I think I'd like to work with adults. I believe I'll learn more from this experience than from working with kids. Plus it's different from what the majority of the group wants to do, working with kids. I guess that's just who I am.
Are you really still reading? You must either be my mom, dad, or grandparents. So after scouring through the course book trying to find interesting classes that will also count for requirements back at ND, I think I've found two: Aesthetic of the Hispano-american Story and Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. The first will fulfill a requirement for an upper level elective for my Spanish major and the second will be credited as my university required second theology class. The problem is, these are very popular gringo classes. I really hoped to take a class by myself, without the crutch of another ND or even American student but this didn't prove to be possible while also taking a class that would count as something at ND.
Aside from that, I've been settling in very well and I'm enjoying each day with my family more and more.
I've also started up another blog with my good friend Shu specializing on Chilean adult beverages. Feel free to take a look. It promises (maybe) to be a worthwhile (somewhat) guide to Chilean wine, beer, and liquor because of our refined (certainly not) palates. You all saw right through that one, right?
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario