Song and dance, color and light :)

So I’ve got myself a routine, and so now maybe I can be a little less neglectful about this blog :)

My classes are finally all settled, and I really like them all. Choosing them, however, was one big whirlwind of panic. The international students luckily had a month-long grace period to test out classes, but I got a late start since the history classes started two weeks later than all the others. Scrambling to collect the required 12 credits, I kept ending up in really intimidating classrooms with distant, mumbly professors and *gulp* oral exams. But after a couple weeks of uncertainty, I ended up with six classes that I like: three history – Colonization of Chile, Formation of the Hispanoamerican Culture, and Urban History/History of Valparaíso – and three music – Choral Practical, Fundamentals of Ethnomusicology, and Traditional Dances of Chile. AND I’ve got my student ID card now, so trips in the micro buses only cost me 150 pesos (around 30 cents) instead of 400 (around 80 cents), not to mention my super sweet Chilean ID card, which allows me to legally walk the streets. Awesome.

So far, the workload hasn’t been terrible. I’ve read no less than three full books on the economics of colonial Chile…in Spanish…but the readings for the other history classes have been more manageable, and work outside of the classroom is rare for any of the music classes. The trickiest part is the technical stuff – things like finding out when classes are canceled so I don’t show up to an empty classroom and getting photocopies of all the readings when there’s only one copy of the book in the library – but asking lots of questions has allowed me to get closer to the professors and also to the Chilean students in the class (I actually ended up spending an afternoon with two kids named Nicolas and Sebastian after asking them for help with the photocopier). I’ve got a bunch of tests coming up this week and next, which I’m only angry about since all of the other universities have a week off for Fiesta de la Patria (and even more time off because of a slew of student strikes). Which means Sarah, Maddie and Hannah are off traveling in Patagonia and Chiloé while I’m studying in my room. Not cool. Also, sort of scary, since I’m used to having partner-in-crime in my Chilean adventures, and so this weekend I’m pulling off a solo gringa act at all the birthday parties and concerts I’m going to. Yikes!

But the classes, as much as I only intended them to be a small part of my adventure, have really shaped my experience here. A few weeks back, the music department of La Católica hosted an international music festival, and my chorus class participated in a week-long choral workshop directed by a visiting conductor from Poland. This was awesome, since the conductor spoke some English but no Spanish, so for once, I was the one who knew what was going on! We met for a series of rehearsals all week, and put on a concert that Saturday. And check it out: we made it onto the music institute's website! http://www.revistamusical.ucv.cl/fdv/fotos/019.act01.jpg and http://www.revistamusical.ucv.cl/noticias/ago13.31/info.html

But the best part of that workshop, really, was that I ended up spending a lot of time with some realty great kids – and all music dorks! The day after the concert, I went to school’s orchestra concert with Francisco (who, you’ll remember, is the guitarist from PANIKO ROCK FEST), Diego, Fabian, Sarah, Maddie, and Mary Ellen (another American in the chorus). We headed to Café Journal afterwards, and in the middle of one of the toasts, Diego broke out into “To Life!” from Fiddler on the Roof, following that up with some “Tradition” and “If I Were a Rich Man.” I sort of stared at him for a second, then hugged him, and declared him my best friend. That was a fantastic night (ignore the fact that my cell phone was stolen that night, which was a saga in itself), and a real turning point for me. The rest of the week, the group of us exchanged mp3s, went music-festival hopping, and sang both choral epitaphs to Don Quixote and 90s hits by Weezer. Tonight, in fact, Diego and I are hanging out in Viña and then going to see Francisco’s band play in Valparaíso. My theory holds: the best way to make friends is to sing with them. Which is why, um, I joined another student chorus, too :) And the Cuban cha cha chas and Peruvian folk pieces we sing are even more fun.

My dance class has also been a treat. Three professors, ten American students, fifty Chilean students and one nun (awesome, I know) all get together in the auditorium of a church to play Mapuche games and to do Aymara dances. Right now, we’re learning cueca, the national dance of Chile. (Sebastian: “What’s the national dance of the US?” me: “Uhh…I don’t think we have one…”) It’s a partner dance which is supposed to imitate the courtship of a rooster and a hen – the two dancers step evasively back and forth in semi-circles and S-shaped patterns until they finally end up arm in arm at the end. It also involves a lot of handkerchief and skirt twirling. All the American kids are still pretty lost, and there’s actually a quiz coming up, but fortunately so is Fiesta de la Patria. I hear the streets explode with flags, ramadas, empanadas, and cueca, so I should have plenty of opportunities to practice.

It probably seems like I’m busy all the time, but that’s not really true – most of my classes meet just once a week, and I don’t spend too much time with friends during the weekdays. Because of this, I end up having plenty of time to reflect, which has been invaluable. I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person who walks around with a notebook, and suddenly I am. I always carry a backpack full of journals and stationery, which I scribble in anytime I’m alone in plazas and cafés. I also bought myself a sketchbook and some colored pencils, which has been an adventure in itself since I know nothing about drawing, but has helped me put on paper some of the images and especially the colors that have stuck with me.

So, what did I forget? The weather is getting warmer and the Spanish is getting easier every day, Sarah and I discovered that the Chilean film Sexo con amor is way too much fun, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to come back to the States and not have a constant supply of avocadoes, kiwi and manjar (sort of like dulce de leche). I’m actually thinking about applying to be an RA at the Spanish House at Middlebury senior year, just so I can keep pretending I’m in Chile and organize onces and movie nights and cueca parties.

Thanks for reading, and double thanks to everyone who has written letters! I’m in the middle of a letter writing spree, so expect to hear back as soon as the Chilean post decides to deliver them! ¡Chao, que les vaya bien!