Theologians

In a note completely unrelated to anything I must mention that as I write this the only Chilean radio station we get in our house, Las Dunas, is playing Theologians by Wilco. A very welcome little taste of the United States, I much prefer this to the occasional Abba that works it's way into the playlist.
Things in Chile have been falling into a routine, finally. I now have a pretty set school schedule. I've gone to class regularly, though one keeps getting cancelled! This is so very different from school back home. Things here are done so last minute and I've only had each class twice in the last month! I was initially a little bit freaked out by this, in the States we have the same class three times a week! But I've been assured that this is totally normal and not to worry, I will still get the credits.
The weekends are spent exploring little towns near Vina (Valparaiso, ConCon, Renaca, Limache). Each town has it's own very distinct vibe and even the architecture is strikingly different. Mostly though, Chilean buildings don't follow any sort of building code. You can basically build it to look how ever you want! They are also painted all sorts of crazy colors. One house that I walk by on the way to la Universidad is all bright magenta; I'll try to snap a picture of it this week.
Now that I'm a bit more settled here, cultural subtleties are beginning to present themselves. It's really hard to put them into words just now, as I am only starting to comprehend them. As things clear up, I'll write more.
Spanish is going pretty well. I had a break through in my Cine class this week. I actually understood exactly what we were doing for the first time ever in a class! We would watch 10 minutes of an old silent film and then one student would have to comment on the different styles and techniques of cinematography used in the montage. When it came time for me to provide my commentary I actually had a few valid comments to make and I feel like for the first time I was able to contribute something of substance to the class, such a great feeling. I have also discovered my favorite Spanish word: abeja. It's pronounced "ah-bay-ha" and it is super fun to say! It means 'bee'.
That's all the news for now although I have a few adventures coming up in the next 2 weeks which should make for some pretty fun blog entries/pictures.
Until then- hasta luego!
-Clarence