brrr

It´s getting cold in Valpo...really really cold. During the day, the sun pokes through the clouds and it has the nice semi-overcast not too cold feel of the northwest. But at night...brrrr. I´ve been hearing "the rain is coming" for awhile now, but so far, no rain.

Two weeks ago, we went on our seocnd CIEE trip, this time we went about 5 hours north to La Serena. La Serena is pretty much the last real city before miles and miles of desert. It is the oldest city in Chile (after Santiago) and was build simply as a stopping point between Santiago and the north because it was the last place with potable water. The area is beautiful, but much dryer in the south of course. The city is a bit inland but we stayed in cabins right on the bay. While there we visited the childhood home of Chile´s most famous female poet, Nobel Winner Gabriela Mistral and also explored the nearby port city of Coquimbo. Yet, the highlight of the trip was SUPPOSED to be a visit to one of the world´s most famous observatories, Tololo. However, for the first time in years, it was cloudly that weekend and therefore we couldn´t go up. boo. I personally have no picts of La Serena and surrounding areas, but i will steal some from friend´s soon. However, we did throw a rockus costume party (the theme was "Chile") in the cabins and above is a picture of me dressed up as a traditional Chilean Huasa or Cueca dancer!

I think my travels are official over until I finish school. School is definitely speeding up and I am needing to save my money for my travels later. I still have plenty more to explore here anyway...more trips to the nearby sandunes, more wanderings through the hills, and a few more museums that I haven´t yet explored.

Indeed, I am still continuing my quest to learn as much as I can about Chile and per my personal interest, I am especially trying to understand the intersections of class, race, gender and of course politics. The other day we had a workshop on public health in Chile which was pretty interesting. I learned that there do exist a decent amount of social services for the poor, more than I had realized. What is complicated and perhaps resembles what happens in the U.S. too is the lower middle class often gets squeezed out of social benefits while still unable to afford others? I´m not sure, I am going to soon go visit some of these public health clinis which should be interesting.

Another issue regarding education in general that I´d like to address. I´m recognizing more and more how lucky I have been. While schools in Chile CAN be good, there is a key element lacking in education from kindergarden all the way to the university level...a high value placed on analyical thinking and group disussion. I find that most of my classes are structured around the professor talking and the students memorzing. While this can be helpful, it of course does not foster individual thought. I find that when I do group work with Chilean classmates, they often have little experience in discussion, of bringing an opinion to supplement the text. Of for example, a group project involves copying and pasting material from the internet, not researching facts and presenting them in a creative fashion. I know I am not speaking for all Chileans or all systems of education here, but this has been my strange and often frustrating experience so far.

Final note, I stil miss everyone to death. It was soooo hard to miss LC´s graduation! I´m loving Chile but will love to see my friends and family again too!