Lost in Thought and Lost in Translation

It looks like I am getting into a routine here now that I have my classes set and have been spending time with friends that I have met from the university. I am now trekking into my second week of classes and am ready to take on what the professors throw at me. Today, I had my second session of Psychosocial Trauma. The course was much different today than what I anticipated it would be like. We spent most of the class talking about social and political events that have taken place throughout history that have caused traumatic experiences for individuals. We also talked about events that cause trauma, although at a lesser degree, that give governing bodies the ability to exercise power and control over others. Normally I would find this topic very interesting and would find many areas to agree with. However, the class session ultimately spent more time discussing these events that happened, and the opinions of the professor about the political actions, rather than the effect these events psychologically had on those who were impacted. Before starting my courses, I was advised that I would likely come across this and I was adequately warmed, however, I was not prepared for the highly biased information that was being lectured. I do not mean to say that I feel the professor was poor-intentioned, I just was very surprised that the historical information that was being presented was saturated with information saturated with the professors personal beliefs, rather than beliefs that were informed by academic knowledge. I am so grateful for my ability to critically analyze the information that is presented to me, allowing me to consider the possible benefits and disadvantages of every given situation. I wonder if the native students posses the same ability to form their own opinions rather than take what is taught to them as pure fact, especially because I am told that it is common to professors here to be biased in the information they teach. I appreciate the importance of understanding historical backgrounds that have caused psychosocial traumas, however, after understand those backgrounds I am more interested in understanding the psychological and theoretical implications from the traumas that took place--at this point I feel we are lacking this information from class. As draining as this class experience was for me today, I am also grateful to see the perspectives of my professor because it is a starting point for me to explore the topics we discussed at a deeper level so that I can make an informed decision on what my stance is on the topic. The only thing I wish is to be able to express myself better in Spanish regarding what this experience was like for me, because it felt very stifling, hopeless, and lonely to sit with all of this and not adequately share these thoughts with others in the way I meant to.

Over the weekend I had a nice time. On Friday evening I went to the Symphonic Orchestra of the University of Chile and saw a very nice performance of three pieces, including the overture from The Magic Flute (this brought back great memories of seeing that opera performed in full while traveling in Madrid). After that I went with a friend and met some friends of his. Much later that night they decided they wanted to go out to a club, so we traveled to the other side of the city. Remember how I have said that one must be flexible when being living in a new country? Well, little did we know that we were being taken to an alternative club. My friend's reaction was priceless when he realized where we were. Nonetheless we had a great time and it was fun meeting some new Chileans! On Saturday I got a dose of Western culture as I went to a huge mall with a friend. Later that night a few friends came over and we made dinner together, had some great discussion, and enjoyed one another's company. Sunday was low key, as I spent hours revising my research paper that Professor Green and I are submitting for publication, followed by hours more of studying. And let me tell you, studying academic writing in Spanish is not a walk in the park! In fact, my translator lacks like half of the words I needed to find. Likewise, it has been driving me crazy that a lot of the new words I am learning in Spanish lack a corresponding word in English. For example, cronicidad seems to translate to, "a chronic state of being." Now I am searching for the Spanish words that mean, "Time to go to bed because it is past your bed time," and, "typos will be checked for later because right now I lack the energy and motivation to care."