I got back from Iquique on Sunday night. All in all it was a very good trip. I went with my friend Roberto and it was nice to just be the two of us. Iquique has a lot of history with the mining of nitrates and then silver used to be mined near the area as well in the 1800's. This lead to a lot of rich architecture. There are wood sidewalks and very beautiful plazas. They call the type of architecture Georgian so if you want to look it up you can. To me it kind of reminded me of what you would think of when you think of the Old West. We didn't really do much sight seeing, I wish we would have because there's quite a bit to see. However, we more enjoyed the night life if you get my drift. It's only 4 hours away, so it's not like I can't go back.

We still aren't in school. I guess they had a meeting yesterday to see how long the strike was going to go but I haven't heard anything. The latest I heard was June 15th and as early as this week. I am thinking we'll probably go back on Monday. I have also heard that the police are going to start coming into the campus and removing the students who are blocking the entrances. You can't get in unless you show your student ID at the gates. I wouldn't really mind going back to school. I would love to travel but the funds are definitely getting low. Plus, I've got to go to school sometime so I would like to just get on with it. There has also been talk about the school year going longer than planned because of the strike but I was told yesterday that that would only happen if the strike went longer than a month. Right now we're on two weeks, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I would really hate to get screwed out of credits that I paid for. Although this not doing much of anything is pretty neato too. Kind of boring at times, but I know that this upcoming year is going to be a killer so I am trying to soak this up as much as possible. I am taking 15 credit hours plus I am doing my Level II which is basically a month long intensive lab where I am in the classroom every day for half of the day and I have to do all these lessons and write up this big report at the end. Plus I have two jobs, possibly three. I start to freak out just writing about it! And it's my senior year! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok....breath....you'll be alright and you've got to grow up sometime.

I still feel that my thirst for seeing the world hasn't been quenched and I plan on doing my student teaching abroad. Nita is relieved that I will at least be doing an entire school year in Iowa this time which is something I haven't done since I was a freshman. Where's the next destination you ask? I am thinking Spain or England. Europe at least. South America is ok but I haven't fell in love in with like I did Europe. What's more is that there are some aspects of Latin culture I just can't wrap my head around. One big one is the fact that pretty much anyone will try and rip you off if they can. I have had a Chilean friend go up to a vendor and ask how much an item was, then I went and asked and it was almost double what she told my Chilean friend. I don't know if they think it's because I'm American so I must have a lot of money or something, I don't know. I have talked to some Chileans about it and they said it's pretty much with anyone, even if they are Latino too. My small town Iowa manners come out and me and that just really pisses (pardon my French) me off that people would do that to people. Ripping people off and stealing are two things I can't get used to here. Stealing here isn't anything, no one thinks twice about it.

I really wish I could be home today. Philip, the German foreign exchange student we had when I was a freshman, and his family are at our house right now. I haven't seen him in almost 7 years.

But I'm in Chile....I've got to enjoy where I am....I only have 51 days left...