One More Day

Well I found out some great news today. Claudio asked about who was going to take the quiz tomorrow and luckily he remembered me saying I wanted to, so we discussed it in class real quickly and David gave up his spot for me so now I get to take the quiz tomorrow to get it over with. Also, Grant and I volunteered to present tomorrow in Carlos' class as well. So what's so good about that? Well, as of 3:30 tomorrow afternoon (possibly sooner if we present first), I will officially be done with all of my work here in Chile, and my summer will finally begin. It'll be so nice to have Thursday and Friday to just relax and hang out. I'm definitely going to go out now Wednesday night, I'm gonna go crazy dancing and I dont even care what anyone else thinks cause I'll be done with Claudio's class forever! Oh man I'm excited!

Today I got up and headed to class early so I could print out my semi-decent essay. I re-read it and it's really not that bad. I'll probably post it on here later for all you Spanish speaking friends (or anyone who knows how to use a translating site). Right as Claudio was about to begin class, one of the coordinators came in with some form for us to fill out. Immediately, my face lit up and I could see my day getting better already. Could it be? Is that really what I think it is?
"Please fill out this evaluation for both classes, and then hand it in when you're done."
Boy, I thought the day would never come. It really was like Christmas in July for me. I made sure to voice my opinions about Claudio in a very professional manner (basically, I refrained from calling him a *&#$^%#$^% who needs to shove his head up his @$$ and cut the $*#&#$*%). In all honesty though, I just let them know how intimidating he has been for us, and how I feel he is not the right fit for study abroad students since he never realized that we weren't here solely to learn but rather improve our Spanish and experience a different culture. I just hope other students don't end up with him for an entire semester, (God bless those poor souls who do...).

Carlos' class was once again a little slow. I think my body has a five week learning span that once I hit week five and a half or so, it just shut down. I'm ready for a break from learning. My mind needs time to regather itself (though keeping up with my Spanish during the summer has been so awesome and definitely will make things way easy once I get back to school in the fall).

After class, I met with Grant to work on our presentation. Luckily, I knocked off almost all of my work last night so all I had to do was format my slides a bit and come up with some questions to ask the class about the story. We worked for an a hour or half or so, and all I had to do once I got back to my house was spruce it up, add some pictures, and then make sure the grammar was all correct. Grant asked Carlos about how much it's worth and he said it'll be worth just as much as everything else has been. Wow, now that's what a professor should be like for this type of program. He realizes that we really don't want 50% of our grade to be based off of one oral quiz question, so he just makes everything worth the same and grades based off of our participation. I'll miss Carlos.

Once it was time to leave, the rain really had started to come down, and by the time I hopped on a micro I was already fairly soaked (since it was a beautiful day when I left in the morning, it didn't even cross my mind to bring an umbrella with me). Oh Chile, how I hate tacos (traffic jams). I left the university at around 6 and didnt get home until 7...it didnt help that as soon as I hopped off the micro, the rain suddenly started coming down about twice as hard. The streets were full of mini rivers rushing towards my vulnerable Converse shoes and unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in wading through them all without getting my socks wet. In fact, I somehow managed to get my jeans wet up until about my mid-calf. After walking for about three blocks, I noticed my shoulders starting to get cold. By the time I got home and took off my jacket, both my shirt and undershirt were thouroughly soaked. I quickly learned that my black jacket is not water proof nor should it ever be worn in wet conditions again, unless I want to wear a sponge. Luckily, I think the rest of the week should be dry.

After eating my once, I sat with my parents and just talked about random stuff for the next hour or so. It was really nice and relaxing, and a lot more entertaining than just watching TV. I guess there's another foreign exchange student coming on Saturday morning before I leave, so they talked with me about what I think they should do or shouldn't do with her. She's staying for the entire semester, crazy. They also talked to me about their New Year's celebration and how it's essentially like our 4th of July, complete with barbecues, fireworks, and parties until way late in the night. They told me I need to experience a Chilean New Year sometime so I can ring in the new year during the summer rather than our uneventful winter celebrations in the U.S. My mom then said she'd like to celebrate the 4th in the U.S. because it looks like fun.

I've learned so many interesting things about the Chilean culture (the majority of it from my family), and I'll make sure to write about it all once I get home such as how they are an extremely conservative country (abortion is illegal, divorce was illegal up until 2004, the government used to be connected with the Catholic church), but at the same time there are some extreme opposites (PDA is completely acceptable [and disgusting], scantly clad/mostly naked ads are everywhere, the past four presidents have all been from the left). I also know a whole lot of other random info and facts that I'll share so be stoked, because I know I am.

I just finished making my powerpoint pretty, and I've gone over my notes for Claudio's class once already. I really need to look over those another time before going to bed, so I should get going now. I hope you all have a lovely day and prays would be great for my quiz and presentation tomorrow. I can see the finish line!!! Much love, chao.