Fun Fact (no particularly compelling words for today): Covering your head with a scarf to approximate a conservative muslim does not disuade construction workers from cat calling. O well, it was worth a try.
In advance, I apologize, I sense a somewhat unfocused blog post coming on.
Just when flowers were starting to bust out all the over the place, we've had a spot of gross cold cloudy/ rainy weather the last few days, leaving me more in the mood for Swedish guitarists than salsa or reggaeton. This is super weird, but i kind of like Santiago better when its overcast (although the cold damp is no fun, especially with my hair). I never really realize how old and beautiful the city is until then. There's so much great architecture, color, grafitti and sculpture in the city that isn't super obvious at first glance but if you just focus a bit, another city entirely is there for the viewing. I've been obsessed with trying to take different routes to places lately, because I love variation and the way different things look from different angles. Just walking down another street in Bellavista was like finding a whole different world I had never noticed: colorful bars, artistic grafitti and beautiful mosaic tiles in the street. One of the really interesting things about Santiago is the way the city has and is constantly reinvented/ing itself. The areas of wealth in the city have pretty much always been on the outskirts nearest the mountains, but due to the city's expansion over the years, the upper class areas have constantly more farther and farther out. Which essentially means that there is beautiful architecture all over the place.
Classes have been really good, when I've had them. One of my facultades, Public Affairs, has been on and off strike pretty much all the time, which means that my econ class gets cancelled every once in a while, like today. One thing I don't really get about classes here is how much repetition there is: professors generally spend at least 20 minutes re-capping previous classes at the beginning of every class, so the introduction of new material is certainly much slower, which helps, but also makes it really tempting to zone out for a while. Despite the fact that they never seem to go to class and are taught much slower, I feel like Chilean students are definitely as well read or better read than we are. And they are definitely better at discussing/arguing a point verbally than the average American student. My Globalization and Copper class never fails to make me feel deficient in both of these points. We've been talking about postmodernism the last 2 weeks, of which I know almost nothing. I have no idea how our professor had time to read the work of so many people. I suppose being an upper class male in Latin America guarantees that you'll have a lot of extra time thanks to mothers, maids and wives, but even then! He seems to have econ/business stuff down but probably also has a philosophy degree or something. He's always got another book or philosopher or idea up his sleeve.
Soccer has been really fun too. I realized I can probably only make 1 practice a week, which is fine, but I wish I could do more to get to know people better. Yesterday's practice was great though- running, cardio, strength training, and then an informal game vs. the ladies of the chemistry faculty. My friend Molly and I ended up hanging out with several members of the team until after midnight, which was somewhat ill advised since I didn't do my econ homework/it was a school night (not for them, their facultad is on strike), although I think 4 hours of intensive spanish slang class probably was actually more useful in the long run.
I caught up my econ reading this afternoon, in a cute café. The most interesting thing I've learned from my econ class so far is how the tables have really turned as Latin American economies go: the wealthiest colonies in the 16th/17th century are now some of the poorest areas on the continent (ie Bolivia, Peru). Even in Argentina, the wealthiest areas in the colonial period are now those that struggle most, thanks to the introduction of the Borbonic Reforms turning Buenos Aires from a pirate infested backwater to a more legitimate economic power.
Back to what I what I was talking before with the city, it's so interesting to me how although levels of inequality or poverty might be relatively constant within societies, their geographic distribution can evolve, even into a completely opposite situation.
I still haven't quite figured out cafe culture here. Rather than ordering, getting food and then sitting down in standard Boston café style, I'm never sure if I should:
a) Order at the front or wait for a waiter.
b) Clear my own dishes
c) Pay at the front (this generally seems to be the case)
d) Do I leave a tip? (For a lot of things you don't, like in cabs)
Just a few more things to figure out, when I thought I had the drill down.
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