My Lungs Hate Me Right Now

Chile smokes, a lot. You really don't realize the effect of a "No smoking within 25 feet of any public building entrance (which includes windows and doors" law until you've been to another state or country where this doesn't apply. Last night, I went to a small underground dance club/bar to celebrate, and boy am I not used to that much smoke (not all of it was cigarette smoke either). But first I feel I should explain why I was celebrating.

Yesterday morning, I got up and went to school early to finish up my powerpoint with my partner Grant. I had to leave early to go take my quiz for Claudio's class which had half of my grade riding on it. Luckily, I saw one of my classmates beforehand and she stopped me to tell me a little about it. She then asked if I was nervous and I said of course. So then she told me a little secret that Claudio had told her. Apparently her and one other person had done really well on their essays, and that other person was me! It helped remove some of the pressure since I was afraid the start of my time with him would just consist of him ripping me apart.

Feeling a little better, I went to his class and sat down with him. He told me that my paper was short, but that it was very concise. He then proceeded to read my thesis and my conclusion, and then commented how he really liked that I had both of those. Even though it wasn't very long, I answered everything that needed to be answered and it was very well formated, so he gave me a 6.3 out of 7 on it. 6.3 out of 7! That's about a B+ in our grading system, I was so happy! He also commented that it was very well written, and I just thought to myself, well no duh man, just because I can't speak very well doesn't mean I'm an idiot. Oh well, I don't think I could ever be happy with him.

As far as the quiz went, I chose a random number and of course he begins with "Ok, now this is probably the hardest question, but lets just see how you can do." Great. The question was, "Describe the importance of Alessandri to the people of Chile". We did not cover him nearly enough in class, so all I could remember was a short reading we had from him and how we talked about him writing a new Constitution in 1925 that prohibitted re-election for Presidents, it ended the union of church and state, and it also restarted Chile as a Presidential system instead of Parliamentary. He asked me a few other questions and I was able to answer parts of them, but overall I didn't do too well, well at least according to him. At this point, I didn't even care though. I feel it's so ridiculous to base half my grade off of this one question. So hearing him tell me I did bad and that part of my problem was the language made me want to jump up, ring a bell and yell "We have a winner!!!!" Maybe if he would've realized that I'm not a fluent native speaker at the start of class, he wouldn't seem so surprised that I'm such an idiot when it comes time to the oral quiz. Thankfully, he gave me a 5.1 since I did answer the main points which means that I officially passed the class!! All I need to pass is a 4, and if you take the essay which is worth 30% and the quiz which is worth 50%, I currently have a 4.5 if I were to get a 1 on my participation grade (yay math major). I got out of that class as soon as possible and went to tell Grant about how things went.

For the presentation in Carlos' class, Grant and I decided to just go first and get it over with. We were supposed to take up about 30 minutes, but Carlos always likes to butt in and talk so ours ended up going for just about an hour. We definitely have nothing to worry about in that class gradewise. After listening to another speech, we were free to go and I was officially free with my work in Chile!!! I was so excited and went home to just relax and enjoy myself. I heard that a group of my friends were going to go out at night to La Sala because Charquipunk DJ's on Wednesdays. I figured I haven't really gone out yet and that it'd be a great way to celebrate being done with classes, plus I don't have class today until 2. So I talked to my parents and reassured them I'd be safe (they worry when I show up past 7...) and my dad drove me to the cafe where all of us were meeting up at.

The club was literally underground, and the set up was really cool. The club was split into two sides, each with their own DJ. Charquipunk played a lot of Chilean raggaeton/funk and salsa music, while the other DJ played more techno/dance music. We all hung out with Charquipunk for most of the night, but after a while the smoke got to be too much for me so I decided to check out the other side with a couple friends. Luckily, it was more ventilated and not quite as warm, so we spent the rest of the night on this side. Plus, I definitely am a fan of the techno/dance music, and I literally danced the stress and frustration of Claudio's class away all night. I went crazy and danced however I pleased (getting a few funny looks from the locals a lot of the time), but I didn't care. I was free, and I was going to dance how I pleased. I really had a great time and I'm glad I decided to go. We left the place at 2:30, but unfortunately our micro driver wouldn't go until he had a full bus load, so I didn't actually get home until around 3:30. It was so erie walking through my neighborhood once I got off the micro, it was quiet. I never realized how constant noise is during the day until this moment. There was not a sound to be heard anywhere. I almost just sat along the curb for a bit to take in the moment while watching the lights of Viña and Valparaíso, but then I realized it probably wouldn't be to safe. I made it to bed by 4 and was able to sleep until 12.

Now, I'm off to eat and then to class. Only two more nights here, crazy. Chao amigos.