The time we had class in a parking lot?

As I mentioned in the last post, the students at UBA Ciencias Sociales took over several of the classroom buildings and went on strike. I wasn't sure if I was going to have class today or not, but the best (only) way to find out is to show up. This is a place where most classrooms have no heat/air conditioning, they walls are grey from cigarette smoke, and you are lucky to find a desk that isn't broken, so, obviously, there is no formal notification system as to whether classes are happening or not. I showed up to class today, luckily armed with my camera, so here is a little bit of what I saw.

When I walked up, I saw very quickly that entire block of the Ciencias Sociales building had been closed off to cars, and there were several groups of desks that had been brought outside the building. I had no idea what was going on, but I took some pictures anyway...I apologize for the lighting, but it was the best I could do at the time.







My class meets in the same complex, but in a different building/a section of the building that is not connected and has its own entrance. Rougly half of the students showed up to class, and when the professor walked in (30 minutes late, of course), she opened the floor to discussion about whether or not we would have class. This was the first time that I had the situation explained to me completely.

The students are protesting the condition of UBA's facilities. Everyone was very passionate and talking very quickly, so I didn't catch every word, but it involved something about a student being injured by a falling piece of glass or window (I think?). They are not happy that the buildings are in such poor condition when the state is allocating money to some private institutions instead of working on UBA construction projects. It sounded like there was a centralized location where a lot of Ciencias Sociales classes would happen that was under construction but stopped because of lack of funding. Classes are now spread out all over the city, and it can take over an hour to get between two buildings. The students who took over the building didn't want to disrupt classes, but did want to get their point across, so they set up places for classes to meet in the street and in the parking lot (shown here):


Our professor made it clear that she was sympathetic with the students and willing to discuss with them how to proceed before making a decision about class. One girl was very emphatic in her opinion that class needed to take place outside to show solidarity among the studend body; another said that we should have class either way, but if there is a choice, that it should take place in the street (clases públicas was the term used here); and, lastly, one older member of the class said that he had been at UBA for many years and nothing was going to change, that we should go on having class either way and not worry about it. After 20 minutes of discussion, the professor made the decision to take the class downstairs and outside.


At the front of the Ciencias Sociales building, my professor approached a guy with a megaphone who appeared to be running the show. He made a loud announcement ("PROCESOS URBANOS CON LA CATÉDRA HILDA HERZER"...Urban Processes with Professor Hilda Herzer), and everyone in the street cheered at this official announcement that another professor was sympathetic. We were led back to a circle of desks in the parking lot and proceeded to have an abbreviated class.

Here is how our (dimly lit) makeshift classroom looked:


There really seemed to be a sense of camaraderie among the students, and everyone was (smoking and) passing around mate, a very strong hot (warm...not spicy) herbal drink that is traditional here, in an attempt to combat the cold. They shared it with the professor, her helper, and all of us exchange students, which was pretty cool. At the end of the class, everyone applauded for the professor, and she applauded back, congratulating the students for standing up for a cause they cared about.