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Shadowing classes and registering at each individual department (hopping dearly that there are still spots open) is going as well as one might expect… every foreign exchange student is feeling at least a little stressed and confused. Most classes are open for registration anytime throughout the week, but the more popular subjects among foreign students, such as geography, history, and literature, all have registration on the same day starting at 8 in the morning. This entails getting up super early, taking the 40 minute commute to San Joaquin campus, and getting in line as soon as possible to have a better chance of registering for the classes I want.
After a lot of trial and error, I have decided on officially taking 4 classes this semester. The first is an art class, which will count towards my humanities credit requirement. This painting class focuses specifically on the human figure, which is a huge challenge for me, but it is worth 5 GW credits (compared to 3.5 which is what the PUC classes are normally worth), and it will be my only class on Mondays. The next class, called Mujeres y misticismo (Women and Mysticism), is under the Theology department, and while at first I was hesitant to take a religion class in a Catholic university, both the topic and the professor are incredible. The class that will perhaps be the most interesting this semester is called Riesgos y desastres naturales (Risks and Natural Disasters), and I am especially intrigued by it because it’s a geography course. The final official class I am taking is an advanced Spanish proficiency course that focuses on speaking. This class is under the GW program which means that only students I know are in it, and I think this helps create a comfortable atmosphere to practice speaking. On top of these four classes, I will be auditing another GW program class which is about the history of Chile. I decided to audit the class because it won’t count towards any of my requirements, and I would like to instead focus on my internship and independent research project about energy security and sustainability.
Thursday was one of the highlights of this week (putting aside the fact that I was catching a cold) because I finally met up with my chilean friend, Valentina, who I know from back in Colorado. PUC, or U.Católica how most Chileans call it, has many campuses, San Joaquín being the biggest one. Since students here commute from home and there aren’t dorms like in U.S. universities, the daily routine is quite different. Lunch is an hour and twenty minutes long during which most students microwave their food, buy a “hamburgesa” sandwich off the street, or purchase a light meal from one of the on campus delis. Students eat their lunch on the benches or just on one of the many lawns. I sat down in the grass with Valentina after heating up my food, and she introduced me to her friend group. I was thrilled when some of the girls commented on how good my Spanish was, these little complements always helps boost my confidence!