Choices, choices.

Well, it has definitely been a week of choices.

First choice: right now. Every night before going to bed I turn on the TV to see if there's something that I might actually enjoy falling asleep to. Usually there isn't. But right now I can choose between: House, Scrubs, Must Love Dogs, Erin Brockovich, Brokeback Mountain (which in Spanish they translated into "Secret of the Mountain" hahaha), and Grease.

Now granted, these aren't on everybody's list of Top 10 things to watch on TV, but they are all solid options. Now, would it kill the channels to spread them out a little so I am entertained for more than one night?

Next choice: Do I go to Cajon del Maipu with my familia or sleep in? Normally, an easy choice for the former, but as I went to bed at 6:30am after returning from the birthday of my hermana's dentist friend, the choice was a little bit more difficult. I did, fortunately, choose the former.

More choices:... I have had more important choices to make this week. Such as, what classes to take. I believe I have finally decided. I'm taking two classes in the Anthropology department at La Chile. The first is about Mapuche Culture. It's a lot of reading and pretty hard, but I feel like I'll get a lot out of it so it will be worth it in the end. The second is called "Esthetics and Culture of North America." It sounds complicated, but really it's an anthropological look at American film. Que suerte! Especially since most of them are "classic" American movies that I haven't seen. Even better, the professors of both my classes are really nice. I think it helps that I'm the only gringa in the class. They probably feel bad for me. On the other hand, it's a great chance for me to meet some Chilean students.

My other two classes I don't find nearly as exciting. They are both literature, and more lecture than discussion. On the other hand, I think they'll be good. I even talked in one of them today. To analyze some poetry. I never realized how hard it was to catch hidden meanings in a different language...

Even more choices...ah yes! Which bus to take. A lot more complicated than you think when during rush hour some of the streets turn into one-ways. That means you have to go to a different stop to take the bus you normally get. And although you may only need 30 minutes to get from home to class (30 minutes!! it used to take me 5...) you never know if the bus will come right away or 20 minutes later. So it's best to leave at least 15 minutes earlier than you intended.

That being said, nothing starts on time in Chile. And they have recreos or breaks during the class, or at least during my Anthro classes because they are 3.5 hours long. It dawned on me today that the professors probably need these breaks as much as the students so they can smoke a cigarette.

Along with all these "important" choices, I've had some pretty fun cultural experiences of late.

1. Political "Assemblies" on Campus:
I walked into the Ciencias Sociales building on Tuesday to find out that there was some assembly going on. It's Anti-imperialism week at la Chile, so they were having an assembly about the "Cuban 5" arrested in 2001. I don't even remember hearing about this beforehand. But la Chile is a pretty liberal, leftist institution and is definitely anti-imperialist. And to think we have things like "Engineering Week" at Wash U... Anyway, it kind of turned in to a U.S.A.-bashing session, although I feel like really they're probably right and the U.S.A. wrongly imprisoned these five people. On the other hand, I had a gut-feeling of wanting to defend America. Or at least know ALL the facts, instead of just the "Viva Cuba" side.

2. Fútbol:
Today, one of Chile's 3 top professional fútbol teams, Colo-Colo, played against the non-professional Rapanui team in Easter Island. It was sooo fun to watch, albeit on TV. It's the first time a team has ever traveled there to play. Athough they lost 0-4, it was really cool to see all the Rapanui fans out supporting their team. And my padre thought it was so cool to see a team made up of "normal" people, meaning one was a teacher, one was an engineer, etc. Ah fútbol. Siempre uniting us.

Well, I think I have actually decided on Secreto de la Montaña (which I actually can't believe they're allowed to play in Chile considering the predominant and very negative sentiment toward homosexuals here).

Buenas noches!