Academic Strikes, Changes in my objectives

ACADEMIC STRIKE IN THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

On April 9th, the National University down the street where Cally studies went on strike. I am not sure about the details of the strike, but I know that it started on the 60 year anniversary of the murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a revolutionary from the 1940's whose face appears on the 1000 peso (about $.70) bill. I guess this is normal for the National University, which supposedly is full of revolutionaries or something (after seeing the huge painting of Che Guevara's face on a wall in "la plaza Che", I believe it). It is now April 25th and the University is still on strike, so Cally has had a good 2.5 weeks of vacation, while I continue to drag myself out of bed every morning at 6..


CHANGES IN MY ACADEMIC OBJECTIVES

This is my formal way of telling everyone that I will no longer be continuing with the specialization in Conflict Resolution. However, I will be taking other courses in different fields next semester. After nearly 4 months here I have realized that the coursework doesn't really interest me that much. Of course, some classes are interesting, but most of them I find it a chore to attend. My reasoning for taking different courses next year is the following:

1. I don't enjoy many of my classes
2. The diploma I would receive, the specialization, does not exist in the US or Europe, and therefore will not transfer. What will transfer will be the individual classes, so I might as well take classes that intellectually stimulate me.
3. 7am classes 6 days a week really sucks, especially for classes that don't grab my attention.
4. I miss taking language classes. I think this time I will take French.

So next semester I plan to take a few classes from the Conflict Resolution specialization, but also other humanities and language classes.

And that's my ever-so-tardy update for now.