Before the University of California students are mainstreamed into the Chilean universities, we enroll in a three week Language Immersion program (ILP) at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Yesterday, I completed my first full week of school here...Great Success! In the ILP, we watch cultural and historical movies about Chile, learn new vocabulary words, perfect grammar, practice conversational skills in addition to learning about Chilean history, politics and culture. In Chile, there are three different types of evaluation, control which is the equivalent to a quiz, prueba (a test) and finally, examen, (a final). The weather down here is very similar to the winter in Davis and it has been pretty chilly (no pun intended) the last two weeks.
As a result of Santiago’s rapid economic development over the last ten/fifteen years, there are major concerns regarding air quality of the area. The pollution is trapped by the gigantic Andes mountain range often making it hard to exercise outside. According to a health study, the high levels of air pollution often exceed the guidelines as suggested by the World Health Organization. However, this week it rained on and off for two days, greatly improving the air quality.
Gladyis, the mother of my host family, was telling me that there is a lot of discrimination against the Peruvians that come into Chile looking for work. The Chilean economy has experienced the most growth in South America in recent years and as a result, many Peruvians come to Chile looking for work.
To celebrate the 4th of July, a group of students from the Education Abroad Program got together and we played a soccer game. It was hard to transition back to soccer after playing rugby for two years and once or twice, I had to remind myself not to tackle the person with the ball. Anyway, I hope wherever you are, you are having a Happy 4th of July!
Words of the day: Deportes=sports, hace frío=it’s cold, sol=sun
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