First Visit to a Colegio

On Friday I got to do my first bit of research for one the professors I am working with. It is something I have been waiting to do ever since I started working with her and finding out about the project and going to the meetings, but it has taken a while to get everything coordinated so I could go. They didn't want to send me by myself the first because a) my Spanish isn't perfect and they wanted to make sure someone could do the tests with me the first time and b) I don't know the area where the colegio is/they think I will get lost if they send me on my own ;) Anyways, it was definitely worth the wait because it was a lot of fun.

I went with another one of the girls who works the professor-she is working on her master's in developmental psychology and will be using some of this research for her thesis. We met up at the metro station near my house at 9 in morning and took the metro allllllll the way down the blue line (on the way south-west end of Santiago). Fernanda (the girl who I went with) showed me the "tests" we would be giving the kids and we practiced during the metro ride. As Fernanda said, according to Katy (the professor) this school is the most flaite (aka ghetto) school we are working with. When we got off the metro, we had to ask about 4 people for directions to find the school. However, we eventually made it there. When we arrived, it reminded me a lot of the schools in Guatemala. We had to be let in because the whole school was surrounded by a big, yellow fence. Once we went in, we got shown to a room where we would be working with the kids. Then, the first kid came.

Fernanda administered the first test, and I observed, following along with an additional copy. There were 6 parts-the first 5 consisted of reading stories to the kids and showing them images and then asking them questions about what we had read. They all had to do with memory and being able to see things from someone else's point of perspective. For example, one story is about Ana and Sophia. Ana has a ball, which she puts in her basket; then she leaves and goes outside to play. Sophia takes the ball out of Ana's basket and puts it in her box. Then Sophia goes out side to play. Ana comes back inside. Then we ask: Where will Ana look for her ball? Where is Ana's ball in reality? Where was Ana's ball to begin with?

It was really interesting to see how the kids responded. We got a couple of really interesting answers, including "in the plaza"...okay...where did that come from? The last test was a little different from the first ones. (Well, they're all different, obviously, but the first few are fairly similar). In this one, we have a list of words and each word corresponds with a picture. For each word, we show the kids 4 different pictures and ask them to pick the picture that best represents the word. The was definitely the test (or "game" as we called them) that they enjoyed the least...by the middle of the test most of the kids looked bored out of their mind. I can't say I blame, it does get a little old after 20 words...

Anyways, all the kids were really cute. One of the girls corrected me when I was asking her one of the questions...I asked her "show me which one is the kangaroo," she looked at me and said "you mean "Can-goo-ru"" pronouncing it correctly. I was like "oh, yes, sorry" and she was like "okay, I just didn't understand what you asked me". It was really cute and funny. And, a major accomplishment for me...I understood what all the kids were saying apart from when one girl answered one of the questions (she had a little bit of a different accent, and was stuffy, and she used a word I didn't know...all things that complicated my understanding her), but apart from that I felt pretty good. (Katy had been concerned that I would have a lot of trouble understanding the kids, because they would't take pity on me and realized that I'm a gringa who doesn't speak perfect Spanish, they just talk how they talk.)

Anyways, it was a really great experience and I really enjoyed working with the kids. I hope that I did well enough that Katy will let me go again!

As Fernanda and I were walking back to the metro we started talking about the school system in Chile. She told me that the colegio where we had just been was the reality of most colegios in Santiago, not the colgeios that I'm used to seeing in Providencia (where I live, a nicer area). Then she was explaining to me that there are basically three levels of school: public, semi-public and private. The public and semi-public ones tend not to be very good; the only difference with the semi-public is that the parents pay a small amount of money for their kids to attend. But, the quality of education is not much better (if any better). However, just paying for your education in Chile gives you status, even the school is not any better. I was like "well that seems silly," and Fernanda was like, "yep, but that's how it works here." I shared a little about the education system in the US, but as I told her "I have a bit of a warped view because I grew up in a middle class town where the public schools were excellent." Anyways, it was interesting.

And, a note about Santiago, I know that cities are divided by social class in the US and schools are better in some areas than others-but take that and amplify the problem by ten and that is how it is in Santiago. Where I live, Providencia, and the surrounding areas (Las Condes, Vitacura, etc) are very nice. They are where the people who are more well-off live, the schools are good (although most kids attend private schools anyways, because, as I said earlier paying for your education gives you status), but as you go farther away from city center, east, south, especially, it's a completely different Santiago. It's like Santiago has split-personality-disorder, it's one city, but with many, many different sides. I guess that's inevitable in a city of 9 million (15 million, aka half the population of the country, literally, in the metropolitan area), but it's amazing how drastic the change is when you take a 30 minute metro ride. And I know that I haven't even been to some of the most impoverished areas of the city, I've been the lower-middle-class parts, which remind me a lot of places like Guatemala actually. Just the style of the architecture, the way everything is set up. It really hit home how little of the city I know and understand when I was out with one of my friends a few weeks ago. We were in a neighborhood called Quinta Normal which is the museum district of the city. I had only be near that area to Estación Central to buy tickets to go on the bus. I was asking him to explain where everything was in the city so I could orient myself (I couldn't see the mountains that day). He did his best to explain to me, but at one point he pointed to Providencia/Las Condes and he said "that's where you live. That's where your life in Santiago is. Everything you know is over there." And, I realized, that's really true. This city is huge. And I only know a tiny portion of it.

Life Outside the Classroom

Well, in my last post I rambled on about my classes and what not--so what have I been doing outside of my classes? Well, I do spend a lot of time doing stuff for my classes (especially the last few weeks, because it's midterms/essays due/presentations to be given time)...but I do have a life outside of that too!

I'm working with two professors on their research--both work in developmental psychology and I'm the only undergraduate who regularly works with either of them. Right now "working" with them consists mainly of going to meets although for both projects I'm supposed to start helping with the actually conducting of research soon. One project is focused around technology--we use iPads and iPods to evaluate kids. Basically we find games that require different kinds of skills, then we have kids play them and evaluate them based on different variables. The eventual hope is that with the games they will be able to diagnose different things: like ADD, dyslexia, etc. It's a project that's in the trial stage, so it's interesting to see how projects develop. The other project evaluates kids learning in school--it's a longitudinal study that just started this year. There are 5 different tests that are administered (although not all kids get all 5 tests)...for the most part the tests are focused on language and memory. It's administered in (I think) 8 or 10 different public schools from around the city.

Finding out how to get in touch with professors was a bit of an adventure when I first got here. It's not at all like Berkeley where all the undergraduates want to work with professors and there's a whole system set up to find Research Assistants and what not. During the first week or so of classes I went to the Psychology departments main office and told the secretary I was an exchange student who was interested in working with professors in Developmental Psychology on their research. She gave the names and emails of a few of the professors in the department. I emailed them explaining who I was and a little bit about the work I had done in the states, everyone I emailed was super friendly and either offered to meet with me or referred me to another professor who they thought I would be better suited working with. In the end, I chose the two professors I'm working with because their projects sounded the most interesting and most like what I could potentially be interested in doing in the future. I'm the only undergraduate who works with either of them (although with the project that's in the schools I met one other undergraduate who goes to the schools and helps evaluate the kids), but other than that it's me, a few graduate students and a few faculty members. It's been a really great experience because all of the professors are really friendly and open, and interested in me and the projects I do the states, how I'm feeling in Chile, etc, which is cool. And, the fact that they let me tag along with their research is awesome since it's not something common for undergraduates here.

My other main activity outside of class is soccer. It took a while to find, but I eventually found the girls soccer team for La Catolica. We have practice twice a week in the evening (luckily on the days where I have class later too). Although I can't play in the regular games this season (because it's the middle of the year for them, and they have to have their team ready at the beginning of the year...or something like that) I get to practice with them and I'll get to play in some of the end of the season tournaments with them. The coach is really nice and so are all the girls...and it's nice to get out and exercise a couple times a week (the smog is still awful, so I haven't been going running).

Other than that I hang out with friends, wander around the city, do my homework...

Oh yeah! And my culinary abilities have expanded while I've been here too. I can now make rice on the stove and refried beans from dried beans. I was very excited when I successfully made beans, because they are a staple in my diet in Berkeley and I had been missing them (they have canned refried beans here, but they cost $4 per can)...and it was totally worth the 3 hours it took them to cook on the stove.

Well, until next time...

Thinking outside the box...

...is apparently not an idea that really exists in the university here. I feel that my university here is a lot more similar to high school than to college. The whole atmosphere, the way the classes are structured, the way the tests are...it's kind of weird...

Anyways, in regards to my above statement-I mean that in the sense that the professors have an idea about something (in the novel, etc) and that is the ONLY correct response. Which is rather frustrating coming from Berkeley where professors regularly encourage you to come up with your own ideas...just make sure you have evidence to back up what your saying. Not so much the case here; like I said it's more like high school where the professors "spoon feed" you the answers and then expect you to regurgitate them on the test--not exactly the kind of test that I enjoy taking, but so be it.

It's really interesting to me that the classroom is structured that way here because OBVIOUSLY the students are more than capable of thinking on their own and taking control--just look at all the political protests that are happening right now (I think they're finally getting some coverage in the States...?) I guess in some ways Chile can be more "conformist" than the US--in the sense that they have more a collectivistic culture...but in some ways the US is WAAAAYYY more conformist than Chile. Again, look at the student protests. As university fees in California rise and rise and rise we make half-assed attempts at protest that are only supported by a minimal amount of the general public and have very little force (comparatively) from the student body and last one, two days maximum and then are broken up and it's "life as normal" in the university. In Chile, there has been NO SCHOOL since at least May for many universities and high school because the students (and about 80% of the general population, according to polls) want to change the way the education system works here and are actually willing to put the time and effort necessary in to make that happen and make their voice heard.

Aside from being frustrated from that standpoint about classes I am enjoying my classes and life in general. We have been in school for two whole months now which is really hard to believe. I don't know where the last two months have gone (hence, the lack of updating my blog...though to my credit I do THINK about updating it on a regular basis, it just always gets pushed to the back of my priority list.)

Anyways, I am taking 4 classes: Ensayo Chileno e Hispanamericano, Vargas Llosa, Novelista, Literatura Brasileña, y Cultura y Sociedad Latinoamericana...3 literature classes and 1 psych class. They're all interesting and it's fun to learn about things from a different standpoint (I feel like being politically correct is not as much of an issue here...) example from my Brazilian Lit class. We were reading literature from the colonial period of Brazil...letters from the Portuguese who are in Brazil writing back to Portugal...so of course what do they write about? What appears strange and different them (I think that's true about anyone when you travel, it's always the "different" that stands out), including the funeral rituals of the indigenous people. So, we start talking about funerals in Brazil, and Chile, and Latin America in general where when someone dies it's a big deal and they tend to have very elaborate funerals including parades through the cemetary, honoring the deceased, etc. I'm sure everyone knows about Day of the Dead...death is not as much of "the end of your life" in Latin America as the "beginning of the spiritual life." So, we're talking about all these rituals and ceremonies that they have, and my professors goes, "yeah, they don't do that in Europe or the United States, it's much more taboo when someone dies, and they don't honor the body as much." One of my classmates turns around, looks at me with wide eyes and says (not in these exact words, but basically with this tone) "You just dump the body in the ground?!" I'm pretty sure I laughed when he said that, but I was just like "No, we have a funeral and reception and things, it's just that the ceremony isn't as elaborate and we don't have like a specific day (like Día de los Muertos) to go visit the graves." Anyways, it was kind of funny, but also kind of shocking to think what kind of views people have about my culture.

What else...I have a lot of anecdotes and stories, but it would take all day to write them all. Another thing about being here is that I feel like I"m in a constant state of learning. Every day I learn something new (and not in the sense of in my classes, or like it is Berkeley, where obviously I'm constantly learning too), but in the sense I'm always discovering new things about the culture, language, city, people, whatever. It's really exhilarating and makes feel like I'm a kid again sometimes (like where everything is just new and wonderful), but it can be exhausting and the same time. And I'm not just talking about the language, because that's a given. But on that note, I feel like my Spanish is improving (I would hope so seeing as I've been living in Spanish speaking places for 4 months now...) but I still can't think of how to say things sometimes or how to express myself correctly which can be extremely frustrating--but it also means that I'm constantly learning new words and phrases.

Well, that's a brief update of my life. I've now had the chance to visit Mendoza, Argentina, Pomaire (pottery town), Sewell (mining town), and Valparaíso (ocean town)...all of which have been really fun and different from on another.

Oh yes, one more brief thing. Fiestas Patrias was weekend before last and it was SO FUN. Fiestas Patrias is like Chile's 4th of July (the 18 of September is their independence day) but it's a WAY bigger deal here. The whole country goes all out...everything is red, white and blue, there are flags EVERYWHERE (apparently there's a law that you have to hang a flag for the 18), but if even taxis and cars have little car flags. It's basically 4 days of partying, eating, drinking, going to fondas (very similar to county fairs), hanging out with friends and family. The famous drink of the weekend is called Chicha and it's a really sweet drink...basically everyone drinks it because it's "the drink" of Fiestas Patrias...I"m not really sure how to describe the taste of it, I guess kind of like really sweet wine. Food includes...meat, meat and more meat...empanadas, kabobs, choripan all made on the barbecue... It's really yummy, but not so healthy (it's basically like their Thanksgiving and everyone ends up gaining like 10 pounds). The fondas remind me a lot of county fairs...the best ones are on the outskirts of the city or out in the country. They have lots of carnival games and rides (like Ferris Wheels!) and of course dancing (cueca...the national dance of Chile) and food and drinks. One other thing that the weekend is famous for is flying kites. But they're kites made out of crepe paper, so the tear really easily, and you have to use some special technique to keep them up in the sky. It's not just run with it behind you and hope it catches the wind like I did when I was a kid. No, theres a whole, pull the string in this direction when the tip of the kite is pointing in that direction...it's actually kind of hard, but it was fun :) And there's just open filed full of hundreds of people flying kites. Apparently some people try to have competitions where they try and cut the string of other peoples kites (kind of like in Kite Runner), but others just go just to enjoy flying the kite.

Well, I will try and post pictures on Facebook soon to accompany all the things that have been happening...and I will TRY and keep updated more often (although no absolute promises ;)