On a lighter note, I absolutely love my Conversation and Culture of Chile professor. He is hilarious, and his laugh is so contagious! It starts out really soft, and then he'll burst out really loud and then he'll cover his mouth because he realizes he's laughing so hard, then it makes him burst out again. I wish everyone could experience this class. He also makes the greatest facial expressions ever, and is always telling short little jokes (he forgot someone's name today so he just kept calling him Juanito and the kid didn't even realize until he admitted that he just kept calling him that since he couldn't remember it). It's just so much more relaxing, and the greatest thing is he told us he doesn't want to give a grade but he has to so he'll just grade mostly on participation and that we don't have to worry about it. Such a wonderful class...
We also had our first city tour today, and I finally had my camera with me to take pictures of this wonderful place. You can view them here if you'd like: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=85941&id=729001888 (I think it should work as long as you have a facebook you can log into. If it doesn't, just go to my facebook and look at my photos) It was really cool. We got to check out some really neat streets and see some of the graffiti that is literally everywhere. It's so insanse, and some of it is so impressive. After walking around and exploring the hilly streets, we stopped by a cafe and I had some hot milk with chocolate and cream (basically hot chocolate). It was really good and super rich, and then we all walked back to the buses to head home.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet that I'm sure you'll be able to spot is the stray dogs (we had one follow us for about half an hour today). They are everywhere. It's a little sad, though I have been told stories of the dogs forming circles around a group of girls when they were out at night almost as if they were guarding them until their bus came. And just today, I was lucky enough to witness a pack of about 10-12 dogs all wait for the crosswalk sign to turn green for them to cross the street in the middle of downtown.
Oh, and update on the Helen Keller building. We drove by it again today, and someone said they saw a sign saying the Institute of Helen Keller. It turns out it really is an institute for the blind, so they do know who she is (or at least have an institue named after her).
Finally, I took the micro home from school for the first time today. I was with a few other ISEP students for a part of it, but I found out I live a couple miles or so further than anyone else, so I rode it alone for a while as well. Interesting fact: though the micros only have seats for about 34 people, they can cram as many as they want on. People were literally hanging out the door, and yet the driver kept piling more and more on. And unfortunately, no one was getting off, so it made things extremely difficult for when my stop came. I did manage to make it off alive though, and Rodrigo drove by shortly after to come pick me up (I think he was worried since it was my first time alone). I told him I can do it in the morning too, and I could tell his wife was a little worried but I insisted that I can manage and that he doesn't have to take any more time off from work just to ride with me. They're extremely nice, but I feel more than ready to go on my own, especially since the only reason I wasnt ready to go today was because I couldn't remember which street name I have to look for on the buses. I have that information now though and will be good to go tomorrow, finally =)
It's getting really late here so I must sleep. I hope you enjoy the photos I've taken of the beautiful city. Unfortunately, I think you need to actually be here to appreciate it as much as I do. Oh well, until next time, ciao
Welcome to my home =)
