The college students all over Chile are protesting the price of education here. Basically what has happened is the education system has become a way for the government to make money, making the price of education very expensive (much like in the U.S. let’s be real, it’s RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE). But unlike in the U.S. they don’t give out scholarships for every little thing to help the families pay. So that being said the low/middle class are unable to pay for college without taking out an obscene amount of loans, which take years and years to pay back. (Hmmm doesn’t all of this sound familiar). Now the biggest difference is that if you do not go to college and instead get a job directly after high school you are pretty much stuck with that low paying job for the rest of your life. There’s really no way to move up the corporate ladder here. Which means that if you have a minimum wage job you can’t pay for your kids education so they have to get low paying jobs and can’t pay for their kids education etc. etc. It’s a vicious cycle.
So when you hear this you think to yourself “wow, no wonder these students are protesting! They want to be able to better themselves and their future children!” Well yes and no. Because then you hear that not only do they want lower prices on education, they want FREE education. And that is a huge problem because there is no possible way to have free colleges. Now not all of the students are this extreme in what they are asking for (only the communist ones, according to my host dad).
Hopefully that cleared up a few things about what is happening down here. (Side note: Before I continue I want everyone to know that I AM SAFE and AM BEING CAREFUL).
Okay so First Week of School, I was signed up for 20 classes (not 20 credits, TWENTY CLASSES) so obviously I skipped out on quite a few. Monday-Wednesday classes went as scheduled mostly in the locations we were told (some were moved last minute, Oh you silly Chileans always keeping us on our toes!) Then Thursday there were huge violent protests at our school (Like tear gas and water cannons violent), so to keep all the extranjeros (foreigners) safe our classes were moved to a completely different location for the time being. It was nice that they wanted us to be safe, but it kinda sucks not knowing what bus to take/how long it will take to get to school. Luckily, I figured it out and Monday I will know where to go (and to bring a sandwich for lunch because this location does NOT have a microwave. I learned that only after Nancy packed me a lunch that needed to be heated up.)
Overall I think my classes shouldn’t be too difficult. Except for the fact that they are college level courses taught only in Spanish and some of my professors speak incredibly fast and have illegible handwriting. AWESOME. NOT. Despite that and the strikes I am hopeful that I will find a way to become friends with real Chileans. Maybe I can get them to do my homework for me since they will be bored to tears what with the whole no classes thing going on.
Besitos,
Gaby
Below are some pictures of my school building Casa Central
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