Hello. My name is Estefanía Layseca From casa esperanza. This is a normal day for me:
At 6:30 a.m. my day begins with the alarm going off. I begin with all that must be done in a normal day: shower, dress, do my hair and makeup, etc.
What for many might be something simple and in some cases take no more than 30 minutes, for me it takes at least an hour. The next step would be breakfast, which is normal to begin the day, since it is the most important meal of the day and we all know that, but for me it is not so simple. It means getting up a half hour earlier, which means a half hour less sleep. When you live an hour from your school, usually that time in bed is valuable, so normally my breakfast is a cup of coffee to go and a piece of toast.
I wait for the bus at the bus stop, which also should be an easy job, but at 8 a.m. it is almost impossible to get on because at that time all the buses are usually really full. You will understand that it is difficult to squeeze on and equally difficult after 15 minutes to get off in order to catch the metro (subway). The metro is no better, and in spite of my anxiety to get to class I have never been able to get on under my own steam, let’s just say I get carried on with the crowd as this is also peak hour for the metro with 8 people you don’t know compressed into the space for one. Those are the first 45 most uncomfortable minutes of your day, and that does not take into account the delays or technical problems that the metro might have.
Once I arrive at the university, things may be a little simpler. I’m not joking as I want to get good grades and the academic demands are many. I need to read, record, take notes, everything that helps you obtain good grades. Unfortunately higher education in my country is not for everyone and many schools do not prepare students for it. If you want to be part of a good school that does prepares you for it, the demands are different and you must have the economic resources to qualify. Consequently House of Hope is a great blessing for me as there are persons like you who help us. This is something only God can do. He puts the ideal people in place to help us in the university process.
My day at the university usually ends at 6:30 p.m. That means I am away from home all day. After that it is the same hour-long trip to get back home, only this time I am trying to get on the metro with half the population ofSantiago trying to do the same.
It may not seem important, but believe me, IT IS. Think of all these people invading your personal space and add to that many more who are leering at you, most of them men, deciding if you look pretty or not, which is very uncomfortable. Among those pressed together and staring at you there are often drunks who push to get closer to you, not because you are Miss Universe or the most beautifully girl in Chile, but simply because you are a woman, and they find that interesting.
Generally there are few gentlemen on the trip home. And although you may not believe it, what bothers me most is not the trip itself, but what happens during the trips. Owing to the close contact of the passengers, there are robberies every day. I can truthfully say that I am sure that God cares for us because apart from giving us the opportunity and the great blessing of having everything necessary to study, He blesses our travel as only He has freed us from more than one danger on the return trip home House of hope.