First off, after vowing to go to all of my classes, even the 8:30am ones, I get up, take my ADD pill, and head to class. I get out fo the metro around 8:30 and I see a large group of people being herded and pushed and beaten by police. Ah, the student protests. You see, for as long as I've been here, the students have been demonstrating their unhappiness with the University's decision to nationalize, which basically screws over a lot of people because it detracts the value of their degree. Thus, the students have decided to use the main building of UB as their sleeping quarters, and have basically resided there for months. One night (Tuesday night, St. Paddy's Day), the police bust in there and forcibly remove the students, beating many over the head and in the torso with thier batons, which is illegal. The media, of course, gets most of this on camera, and so now we move to Wednesday morning, my first attempt to go to my 8:30 class that week.
"The student united will never be defeated"
More craziness...wait til I get the videos up...
Anyways, class was cancelled. People were outside yelling at all the faculty entering the school. This one student/professor? stood up and told us in English that the University was closed because the administration was a "bunch of motherfuckers." Cameramen were filming heated debates between the protestors and the professors (some of which supported the protestors) and we were standing there thinking, "wow, this is actually happening." You would never see this at UGA.
Anyways, with all but one of classes cancelled for the rest of the week, I had time off to search for new apartments and such. As it turns out, I get lucky, providence shines upon me, divine intervention occurs, whichever you prefer to believe, and I find a good place at a location for a good price (350 E per month w/utilities is pretty damn good for an apartment in Sagrada Familia). Now, I'm living with a Portuguese, a Chilean, and a ?German?, all of whom work a lot and don't really go out much or party, so that'll be good for my studies. We also get tons of channels on the TV and Miguel (Portuguese) has tons of movies on his laptop and some kick-ass speakers, so movie nights are back!!!
Speaking of movie nights, the other night I went out with Raquel (housemom) to go watch Gran Torino in English (thank God, I am so tired of watching American movies dubbed in Castillian). First off, Eastwood delivers a great performance as an old Korean War vet haunted by his past, estranged from his family, and suddenly forced to step out of his comfort zone and face the realities around him. Basically, the movie is a parable between life and death, living and dying. I was impressed by way Eastwood directed the anti-hero's journey throughout, and the pace kept me entertained throughout. I also appreciated the movie's treatment of racial relations in the US: tense at times, comical at others, and ugly. Anyways, I strongly recommend the film for Eastwood fans.
And...that's all. I'm picking up some snacks for the week. Hasta luego!
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