Wintertime

Everything continues to go well here in Antofagasta. 

Winter is approaching and the cold weather is difficult to endure.  The temperatures are dropping into the low 60’s during the days… I should have brought more winter clothes J. 

It’s my last week of basketball in my sports class (whoohoo!!) and then we will start going to the city center for the swimming unit.  Thankfully basketball isn’t a real popular sport here, so none of the other students are real stars!  My only concern is that this week is “testing week” over our basketball skills.  I opted to take the layup portion of the test last week and made 6 out of my 7 baskets, and the one I didn’t make hit the rim, so I received half of a point.  I was quite excited to start out with a 6.5/7 because tomorrow I have to complete the free throw portion.  It’s not looking too good for me because during my 30-minute free throw practice last week, I made a total of two baskets.  Seeing as I have seven chances, I am expecting to receive a 0/7.  Maybe I will be having an off day and make at least one shot!

Earlier today Veronica informed me that Lulú’s (the niece that lives with us for the semester because college students here tend to live with their direct family or extended family) mom has breast cancer.  She is going to have an operation tomorrow in Santiago, and they will know more after this.  Lulú and her brother don’t know about the cancer yet, but I think the plan is to tell them tomorrow after the operation.  I feel absolutely terrible and am praying for the best.

My final blog topic for the week is the university system.  I find it extremely interesting!  I may not have this all exactly correct, but my understanding is that there is an entrance exam for all students who want to continue on to college.  The score that the person receives on the test determines what “carrera” or major they can choose.  The more money that the particular career path earns in the working world results in a more expensive carrera.  This means that as an elementary education major, I would pay way less to attend college than a pre-med major.  Secondly, there are parallels, and each student is placed in a parallel their freshman year of college.  The parallel consists of about 20 students that have a set schedule of classes together for the entire time they are at the university.  There is no such thing as choosing classes (that is why I had such a difficult time getting a schedule because I did it U.S. style and picked my individual classes).  There are also parallels in grades K-12.  Students attend the exact same classes with the exact same students for this entire time of schooling!  The students aren’t able to choose their classes even in high school… which means I wouldn’t have been able to take culinary arts, band, etc.  However, at the university there are a few elective classes that the students can take on top of their set schedule, for example my sports class.  I am absolutely fascinated with this system and also very thankful for the freedoms that I am blessed with in our education system.      

These are pictures of the demolition/my morning alarm clock/great source of dust that is occurring outside of my bedroom.

Love to everyone!