Visitas con la clase de español

This past week in Spanish class was surprisingly fun. I will never say that again, 1. because all we have coming up are tests and presentations, and 2. there are no full weeks of class left! It's crazy how fast the academic class section of the SIT study abroad program passes by. Tomorrow, we leave for a 3 day trip to Tacna, Peru, and it's funny to me that I will have been in Peru without visiting larger cities or seeing Machu Picchu... just another reason to come back! Then we have a week of final presentations and exams and another trip, this time to Temuco, Chile (largest concentration of Mapuche ethnicity) and Bariloche, Argentina (basically the swiss alps with a street of chocolate stores.. oh no).

In Spanish class this past week, we talked a lot about mental health in order to complement our visits to the Center for Mental Health, focusing on serious mental health issues, and the Center for Women, which focuses on domestic violence and rehabilitation. With a lot of heavy conversation going on, especially as we heard first person accounts of their marital issues at the Center for Women, a trip to the fish market and the agricultural market was a welcome break. We still had assignments to bring back to class for discussion, but it was mostly learning about the different type of products offered and whether or not the fishermen/vendors knew the health benefits of the foods they sell.

The fish market is currently mostly populated by fish from Southern Chile- everyone told us that they were the best tasting ("mas rico") if you fried them in oil.

Sea lions on the rocky coastline at the port ("lobos marinos")

Fish vendor making ceviche

The agricultural market vendor stalls 

Olive stand

Since students enrolled in the universities here are still on strike, we have continued to be the only students on the alternate Universidad de Tarapaca campus. We have classes at the CFT campus, where all the technical and professional skills classes are held. A few nights ago, several students/mischievous kids (usually the more dangerous stunts aren't done by students, and instead sketchy younger kids) on the main campus were burning tires and forced the police to cut off traffic all around the university. A bunch of us were together at my neighbors' house eating apples with honey for Rosh Hashanah and we could just see the police perimeter that was set up. Thankfully, nothing progressed from there even though the police were prepared with tear gas. This was the first time since we've been here that I've seen any time of confrontation on this issue, but students in Santiago frequently organize marches, protests, and arguments with police.

UTA Campus CFT classrooms and Elizabeth

I also finally snagged this picture from my friend Emily of me with my family during the 18th of September festivities. I finally met my dad, Gonzalo, who works in a town about 10 hours away from Monday through Saturday. He was lucky enough to get the week off to visit Ester and I.

The props were provided for the photo... I did not wear that hat all night

I'll update you all again once we get back from Tacna. Hopefully I will return with lots of amazing alpaca products and insight into how the healthcare system works in Peru in order to make comparisons with the system in Chile. Ciao for now!
- Marisa
marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu