Martin and I spent our last week working hard on the documentary, and we aired a 7 minute version for our internship class and the professors in the international studies department yesterday. We had to give a 15 minute presentation in Spanish, and then we showed our documentary afterwards. It went really well! I think our class really liked it, and our professors asked us lots of questions about our experiences afterwards.
We realized throughout this process that the more we learned about the strike and the education system here in Chile, the more we realized how much there is to know and how deeply engrained in society this issue is. We sat down with our professor the other night for an intervew, since he was a college student in the 70's when Pinochet was in power, and he had a lot of interesting things to say. I have to be honest when I say my views of the situation in the schools here has changed completely since I arrived. I feel like I have been able to gain a well rounded viewpoint of the issues from all the people I have talked to, and can see how the current system is failing the people here in Chile. Im sad I wont be here to see the resolution that is sure to come, but I will definitely be watching and reading the news so that I can find out what happens.
We celebrated the 4th of July last night by watching the Chile/Mexico soccer game with some of our Chilean friends. They were playing in the first round of the Copa America in Mendoza, Argentina, and they won 2-1! Watching the game with Chileans was crazy...they were screaming at the top of their lungs every time someone lost the ball and when Chile scored...you could hear people screaming from every building on the street. It was 10 times crazier than when the Superbowl is on in the states! During the game the streets were deserted, not even the Micro's were running! It is definitely true that life stops down here when soccer is on. They play their next game Thursday night, so hopefully I will be able to watch it in the US!
Thinking about packing and saying goodbye to my friends and family is making me sad, but I know that it wont be goodbye forever as I know I will make it back here to Vina someday. I have had such a good time here, that I know I will make it a point to come back and visit someday whether it is later this year, in ten years, or in 50 years.
I have had so many new experiences and learned so many things while I am here that I truly can say I understand what people mean when they say that studying abroad is a life-changing experience. It forces you out of your comfort zone, but you end up learning and gaining a lot from the experiences.
My Spanish is infinitely better than before, as my vocabulary now is huge! I defintely could still use more practice, but I definitely know enough to communicate intelligently with other people.
It is going to be strange to step off the plane tomorrow and not hear people speaking Spanish anymore! I have been speaking Spanglish for the last six weeks so hopefully, mom and dad, you will forgive me if I have trouble switching over to English the first few days.
I have been dreaming in Spanish recently, and also have been starting to be able to understand Spanish without having to translate what people are saying first. Its a strange concept, but sometimes after I talk to someone I forget if we had our conversation in English or in Spanish, it all sounds the same to me now!
My friends here laugh at me, because I have developed a slight stutter when I speak in English. I am sure it will go away after a few days when I get home, but my mind just gets so confused sometimes that it trips itself up! I have also added a lot of Chilean slang to my vocabulary, I am sure the people in Spain later this summer will think it is funny!
I think it is about time that I go try to pack. It will be interesting to see how I am going to bring all this Chilean wine back...
Viva La Chile!
Julia Marie
The group out celebrating our last night in Chile!
It was so sad saying goodbye to Chilean friends, but we hung out together on the beach and set off fireworks in honor of the 4th of July!
Little Cami and I before I got on the bus to leave, she got to stay home from school to say goodbye!
