i´m back...

!hola!
it´s been awhile since i´ve had access to a computer, so i have so many stories i´ve saved for you, if i can remember them all.
let´s see...

-there´s that time i took the micro (bus) in the wrong direction and kept hoping it would take me home anyway but finding myself very far indeed from my house, while dying from a full bladder and not able to find a bathroom until i found the grossest possible bathroom at a bar, where i had to crouch for 5 minutes b/c most toilets in santiago public places do not have seats (not to mention toilet paper, or "confort"), and then i walked home, which took about a half hour, and of course i was all alone...

-then last friday a friend of a friend was invited by her chilean friend to a party at a discoteque, which another friend had rented out for his 23rd birthday, in the middle of nowhere, a warehouse district, where all the lolos (hipsers) and punks were dancing like crazy and drunk and singing along to all these chilean and other canciones latinoamericanos, but i was super-cansada (they add "super" to everything here; in this case, i was super-tired) and could hardly move. it was such a huge improvement over the night before (in the icky suecia district)--not a meat market at all, in fact all of these charming chileans were teaching us to dance (you would not believe how well guys can dance here) but not sleazy at all. and i stayed out till 3 in the morning, shocking, huh?

-this weekend, most of my buddies from the eap program went to viña del mar, which is next to valparaiso, where the uss ronald reagan was stationed (why does that man have to appear in my blog again???) and there was prostitution galore with the soldiers hanging out. ick. but alas, i didn´t go because i was busy taking my siesta and feeling a little blue when they all left. they had a great time, in case you were wondering. instead of going there, i got to sleep a whole lot and learned how to play caraoke, which is a chilean card game not unlike a card game gringos play, whose name i can´t remember...very fun: my host mom and her divorceé friend were gossiping and teaching me bad words and playing dress-ups, it was super-cute.

-yesterday we started the intensive language program, and they put me in the toughest class, with all the native speakers! i´m honored, but of course this means that i have to work super-hard, too. it´s "heavy," as they say here. so i go to class five days a week for three weeks, four hours a day! but you should hear how the chileans speak, it´s beautiful to listen to. the accent is kinda italian, and they usually speak with a high pitch, i love it.

-and of course the most exciting thing going on in chile right now is the student strike at the universidad de chile ("la chile"), where i will be going in a few weeks. i don´t know too much about what´s going on right now, but it´s about what is effectively the privatization of the university: raising tuition and lowering financial aid, so that at least 1,500 who were at a recent protest can´t afford to go there next semester. apparently the students go on stike here a lot, but i hope they win so i don´t have to cross the picket lines (of course i hope they win for other reasons, too, i´m just saying...). right now they have a "toma" of one of the towers at the university, which means they´ve occupied it and kicked out all the administration. love it.

-there´s also a hunger strike for the release of political prisoners, which is the longest in chilean history. i don´t know the latest about this, but i know it´s killing the participants. if it´s still going on, it´ll be longer than 80 days. for all the news in chile, check out http://chile.indymedia.org

-i´m very worried about the international situation right now. it´s not too cool to be from the u.s. right now, so i´m keeping a lo-pro and hoping to blend in. (hah!) i´ve been in a bit of a bubble here, until i got the mercurio, which is a rather conservative paper, this sunday. all bad news, of course. i miss democracy now (www.democracynow.org) and socialist worker (www.socialistworker.org) for the real scoop on things. by the way, lots of chilean wear kaffeihs (is that even close to the real spelling? sorry!)--usually worn in solidarity with palestine--here, so i follow suit.

-people ask about the machismo here. i haven´t encountered that much, except that i live with that guy, who probably acts like the average chilean male, in the sense that the señora of the house serves him completely, and he does just about nothing in the house except get served. and as for being on the street, let´s just say i´m glad i´m not a blonde here. i actually haven´t gotten as much creepy attention here as i expcted--it´s been about as bad as in the bay area. we´ll see how things develop here though...

-i still didn´t get a cell phone, so it´s been hard to use the phone here: i keep buying calling cards...so that´s why i haven´t called! soon though.

-in case i don´t get to a computer again in the next few days, i have to say FELICIDADES to crystal and scott, who are getting married on this tumultuous upcoming weekend. i wish i could be there! best to you!

-i think i have another long weekend again, so hopefully i´ll get out of santiago to see a bit more of this beautiful country.

-i´m sorry to say i haven´t taken many photos here yet, so that´s why there aren´t any photos up. i also got a camera with regular film instead of a digital one, so it´ll be awhile until there are pictures up and you can have a good idea of where i am and all the beautiful things you are missing out on.

¡chao! ¡cuidate! !besitos!