We try to talk about a variety of topics but the student protests keep popping up and can’t be avoided. Wednesday and Thursday past saw the biggest gathering so far. Sadly the riots have claimed their first fatality. There's more information here.
The building I work in closed early, which means I lost a day’s work. Is this the irony of wanting free education? Due to the students I’ve lost a day’s wage – being an ESL teacher in Chile at the moment does not lead to Easy Street – but we still have to pay all our living expenses, the girl’s education being one of them.
It was anticipated that there would be problems with families joining the march, safety and transport so many schools were closed, ours included, for Wednesday and Thursday. Lena and I were there with cameras at the ready and one old man turned sideways and crab walked past us so we could read his sandwich board and snap a picture of him. This was his chance at 15 minutes at fame. To be honest he wasn't worth photographing so I ignored him and he resented it. Even if you don't know the words being spoken to you, you can still get the meaning.
There is a rumour circulating that if you suck on a lemon it softens the effects of tear gas. There was one man selling lemons for 100 pesos each. You can normally buy them in the markets for 200 pesos a kilo.
We skipped over to Boris’ house on the other side of town and made empanadas and crab pie while Truce took photos.
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