tomar un número
take a number. take a number. take a number. chileans love their numbers. buying toothpaste at the pharmacy? take a number. cheese at the grocery store? take a number. taking a number is certainly a great way to regulate lines, but chile has elevated this system to a whole new level. i’ll be able to wallpaper my room with number slips by december.
I took two numbers this morning. one was to apply for my chilean resident card. yes, as of this morning i am an official resident of chile. granted i have nothing to show for it until i return in ten days to take another number and pick up my card. I also applied for my student card at the viña del mar metro office. after my number was called, i handed the man my papers and he started typing away on the computer. he looks at me and says, “california?” “sí.” he keeps typing. then he looks at me with this goofy grin. “arnold schwarzenegger?” it’s too early in the morning to figure out the proper past tense verb form to use, so i just nod. a few seconds later, i hear him mutter under his breath “gobernator” and then starts smirking at his computer screen. globalization, folks.
the education situation has yet to be resolved. in fact, it’s gaining speed. just this week, the high school next to my apartment was taken over by the students. so now, instead of being awoken to the sound of soccer being played at 8am every morning, i am serenaded by the banging pans of demonstrations. on tuesday there were more demonstrations held throughout the country, complete with copious amounts of tear gas and enraged students attacking police tanks with rocks and axes. things are getting a little heated, and not just because of the cars set on fire by the protestors. no worries though, i am safe and sound, and our classes have been moved to the high school here in viña for the rest of the month.
did you know that the father from the movie stuart little is dr. house!? i was not aware of this priceless tidbit. crazy.
sunday i have a rock climbing excursion with my mountains sports class. it should be interesting for several reasons. 1. i’ve never climbed any rocks that weren’t screwed to a wall inside a building, and 2. vocabulary such as “is this knot tied correctly?” or “my foot is about to slip and i’m going to fall from this cliff” were never a part of the curriculum of my spanish grammar courses. i’ll let you know if anything too terrible happens.
