This semester ended rather anticlimactically - the finals process in Chile works in such a way that if you have the equivalent of a B or so in the course, you don't take a final. I therefore was exempt from all finals, except for Korean, which didn't follow this general rule.
Now, leading up to finals (for the last 2 months or so, actually), there were many paros, or strikes, at the university, resulting in one or more classes being cancelled every week, often for the entire week. Not only did this allow us only a portion of the planned course materials in Korean, which was affected the most by being a language class and only meeting once a week, but there was a police response. If the students marching and rioting weren't disconcerting enough, the police presence would seem to do the trick. Apparently, however, tear gas had to be added to the equation.
I was in the casa central of the university, along with many other students, when classes were stopped for a paro. On our way home in the micro bus, all the passengers started covering their noses with scarves as the policemen used tear gas on the rioting students. Now, I'm glad I wasn't one of those students, because even from the bus the tear gas was strong. Strong enough, in fact, that my vocal chords (or similar) were inflamed, and I lost my voice for a week or so. This was rather obnoxious, but became rather comical when I had to stage-whisper my answers to the Korean oral final across the room. Ah well. It's an experience, no?
With practically no real finals, I was free to spend most of my time planning for the 2-week trip that Carrie and I wanted to take through northern Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. So endeth my semester in Chile.
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