As of May 3, 2008 I officially became a college graduate. There was cake and presents, and flowers, and parents, and lots of posed photos with me and my empty diploma case. Then everyone left and the flowers died and I was forced to ask myself "now what?"
Well the good news thanks to the unwritten rule that graduation is the second to last big life event you get money for ( the next one being marriage, though I think most of the money comes in form of toasters and silverware). I am halfway to my financial goal of going to Chile!
I have even started taking Spanish lessons via an Au pair from Honduras. I now have a resounding track going through my head of Spanish verbs. Plus it sounds way better to say " I'm working at Starbucks and saving up for Chile" as opposed to " I'm a barista with a college degree."
Even the more I read about Chile the more I think I can learn there and relate it to the future. For instance did you know that Chile had an economic crisis similar to what we are experiencing now in the 80' s and is now emerging as one of wealthiest countries in South America?
There are still lots of things going on to report on though such as: the HidroAysen Dam Project, Salmon Farming , Copper Mining, Education Reform, Whale Conservation, the fruit industry and its various labor conflicts, and Femicide.
