Day to Day Grind

It has been over a month since my last blog and I apologize, but I have been VERY busy with school, swimming, and trips. My current day to day routine in somewhat exhausting but in a good way. It takes 45 min to get to school in a super fun “micro”  where the driver seems to think he is a NASCAR racer and will do whatever it takes to get me to my school in 45 min through 6 o’clock morning traffic. It is fun now, but I was scared to death my first ride.

Chilean Sports Car

Mondays I have school till 7 o’clock at night, and Tuesdays till 5, after that it gets progressively better and I finish before 1 o’clock the remaining days of the week. At this point I can’t pretend that I don’t understand any of the material, and the teachers aren’t buying my constant “lo siento, no entiendo” response . So I am required to put some effort into the homework and study a little bit. I would say in most of my classes my work is D quality and if I can use a dictionary more like C- work.

School has been a bit challenging to adjust to, due to some of the restrictions on things that in the US were guaranteed freedoms. I am still arguing with the inspectors about why I shouldn’t have to cut my hair, as it is a requirement for all boys to show ears, eyebrows, and necks. Because my host mom is paying good money for me to go to school I will stop being stubborn and conform to their rules but it is hard to leave behind my “cultural baggage” that I brought with me from the states.

My host mom has found a indoor pool for me to train at. It has been a blast so far and the other swimmers are very funny and weird (like all swimmers). On weekends we have been traveling to nearby towns or going to the country side to relax and get away from the day to day grind. My family owns a ranch which is very tranquil and we spent the national independence day partying there.

University of Concepcion campus

The school recently went on a trip to the University of Concepcion and to a tree preservation park. At the park we learned about the importance of paper products and recycling them, along with a tour showing local trees.

More strange animals

Overall it was a fun trip. I will be writing about the national Independence day soon (September 18th) and all the crazy things I saw during the 4 day celebration.