Feeling hot, hot, HOT!

My trip to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar was fabulous!  Thursday morning we left the University and traveled an hour and a half or so to Isla Negra, one of the three houses of Pablo Neruda, one of Chile's most famous poet and Nobel Laureate.  It is not, by the way, an island (isla = island), but was named that by Neruda.  

It was a pretty interesting beach house crammed with the artifacts that he collected.  It also happened to be shaped kind of like Chile (long and skinny) and had many boat/ship-like qualities to it as Neruda loved the ocean and all things related to it but was not fond of actually being in a boat on the water (prone to ocean sickness maybe?).  So he created his "boat" on land, which also included a little fishing boat (also on land) that he and his buddies used to sit in and drink.  He was quite the party-er. =P  

Unfortunately, the only way you can view the house is on a guided tour, which was very fast, so I wasn't able to see and enjoy everything.  But I did enjoy what I did see: his collection of bowsprits (the figures that decorated the bows of ships - usually ladies), shells, ships in bottles, masks, stirrups (yes, he had several pairs of horse stirrups), and some butterflies and bugs from around the world.     I also enjoyed meeting his life-size, fake horse statue that he bought.  After he bought it he had a party for it and invited his friends but insisted they bring gifts.  So someone brought it a saddle, another a giant food storage vase/container, someone else brought it a water container, and then it also acquired three tails: two that are where its tale should be, and then the other has been added to its mane.  So it's a very pampered fake horse that shows Neruda's lighthearted spirit, and love of jokes.

After we left the museum and had lunch we got back on the bus to go the twenty or so minutes north to Viña del Mar where most of us used our free time to hit the beach.  It was very beautiful and the water was warmer than Oregon (so still cold by most people's standards), but people were enjoyng it.  Most people, including most of our group enjoyed laying on the beach more than the swimming part, but I had fun in the waves.  The only bummer part was that the beach was a little steep and the tide was quite strong, which was a bit intimidating as it reminded me of when I broke my arm in Mexico (it was a super steep beach with a strong tide and I got smashed against the beach and hairline fractured my arm, when I was 10).  But it was still fun.  

Unfortunately, while we were swimming someone stole my friend Kristin's purse!  It was sitting right by the rest of our group on the shore, but no one had noticed it get picked up!  It had her camera, some money, her glasses and cell phone, but fortunately, she had left her passport at the hotel.  So that shortened her beach experience.  We informed one of the guards and they apparently called the police, because they showed up soon after.  I guess someone else (a Chilean woman) had gotten her back stolen, as well.  Unlike other Latin American police forces, the Chilean police are very good, respected, and NOT corrupt.  In fact, attempted bribery will get you nothing but a nice room in jail, or at least a nice ride in the back of their car.  So just an hour or so after Kristin reported it as stolen, they had reports that it had been found!  Kristin's hotel key had been in it so someone had called the hotel to say they had found it.  The police dropped it by later that night and all that was missing were the camera and Kristin's glasses (oh, and the box to her anti-diarrhea pills that she had in case there were problems with drinking the water - the pills were still there and undisturbed but the box that held them was gone).  

The next day we took the local bus 20 minutes down the road to Valparaíso.  It is SUCH an amazing city!  Countless times during our walking tour I kept telling whoever was next to me (who was part of our group - not to strangers) that it reminded me a lot of San Fransisco.  Like San Fransisco, it is on the water and all the colorful houses are crammed together on the hills and everywhere you look.  Except that Valpo (as its fondly called by people), is a smaller, squished version of San Fransisco.  Practically the whole city is on the hill, so there are many funiculars that dot the hillside and provide relief in the steepest areas.  We went on two: one that was old and one that was older.  It was pretty exciting (the older one was a little more bumpy than some of us would have liked given the steep incline).  

Besides the colors of the buildings, you will find new, modern feats of architecture will be standing right next to an abandoned and decaying building and the alleyways and walkways between houses are crazy: they twist and turn, go up a flight of steeeeeeeeep steps, get really narrow, and then widen out again.  And there was graffiti everywhere!  But it was more artistic than I'd ever seen before: bright colors, really good pictures of people, faces, animals, and statements, oh, and a few political advertisements like "Vote so-and-so for Chilean President" (the elections are coming up in November).  Not to mention the fact that nearly everywhere we went on our walking tour we saw several art students sitting and sketching whatever happened to be in front of them.  It was just amazing!  Such an artsey city!  

We also saw a lot more people in dred locks, and more unique and colorful clothing, as well.  And there were tons of shops selling earrings, wallets, and other things made out of recycled products (I could have gotten a pair of earrings made out of tiny hair bands).  Oh, and LOTS of street dogs.  There are lots of street dogs in general, in Chile, but there seemed to be more in Valparaíso.  One of the other students talked to her host mom about it and her host mother pointed out that if Chile hardly has enough money for its hospitals, how should it have enough to house and take care of the stray dogs?  It's sad, but she has a good point.  During our walking tour we had several dog escorts that would walk with us for a while.  Some looked healthier then others.  =(  We quickly found out that they like to bark at cars.  It was slightly amusing to watch a dog growl and bark ferociously at the grill of a slowly moving vehicle that was trying to navigate the winding street. 

After the tour most of our group went back to sunbathe but me and four other girls decided that we wanted to check out Neruda's house in Valparaíso, and I sure am glad we did!  Not only was it more interesting because we had time to look around ourselves, admire the excellent view of the city and read the history, but the bus ride back to Viña was extremely exciting!  It took us forever to figure out how much to pay the busdriver - we're all still pretty bad at numbers and they always say them so fast!  So we were balanced at the front of the bus as he started driving down the winding, narrow streets.  And he wouldn't close the doors all the way before taking off, or would open them before he stopped!  I thought I might fall out once or twice!  After we took our seats though we were really able to enjoy the speed at which he careened down the mountainside.  Whew!  It was quite a ride.  And I was giggling most of the way (trying to be as discreet as possible, of course).  And to get off we thought we might have to jump, but fortunately a woman and two kids needed to get off at the same stop so he made sure that he was extra careful for them.  

The program technically ended after lunch, but we all had decided to stay for one more night so we all went out that night and enjoyed the beach and Viña del Mar.  It was fun.  Unfortunately, I got burned on my shoulder really badly.  =(  It's finally stopped hurting, but it took a while.  I had put on sunscreen but apparently should have reapplied more often.  The sun here is SO strong.  Sunday was Silvia's birthday (or Saturday, I'm not quite sure, but we celebrated it Sunday) so we went out to lunch at another Military Swimming Club called Guayacán.  It was very beautiful and I enjoyed the pool.  Made sure to lather up with the sunscreen though!  Silvia enjoyed the giant chocolate almond heart that I brought back for her from Viña, so that's good.  =)  

Classes have started now, so it's nice to see other students at the University.  Unfortunately there aren't any Chileans in any of our classes, but I'm hoping to find a club or dance class to take so that I can make some Chilean friends.  Here is my schedule:

Mon: 

9:40 am - 11:10 am  "Environmental Problems in an International Perspective" 

(Profesor Juan Pablo Aristegui - this class doesn't start until next week)

1:20 pm - 2:50 pm   "Contemporary Latin American Politics"  

(Profesor Robert Funk - a Chilean who spent most of his life in Canada so his English is better than his Spanish but his Spanish is better than ours, and so he'll throw in an English phrase or word here and there.)

Tues: 

(No classes, will be my internship day but I'm still looking for one and doing interviews.)

Wed:

9:40 am - 11:10 am "Environmental Problems in an International Perspective"

(Profesor Juan Pablo Aristegui)

11:20 am - 12:50 pm  "Spanish II" 

(Profesora Marcelle Cepeda - she's very kind but a little over enthusiastic at times, but I like her and enjoy the class.)

1:20 pm - 2:50 pm "Contemporary Latin American Politics"

(Profesor Robert Funk )

Thurs: 

(Another day of internship)

Fri: 

11:20 am - 12:50 pm  "Development, Poverty, and Social Inequality in Chile"

(Profesor Leonardo Moreno - haven't had this class yet but it looks like it will be a TON of reading in both Spanish and English)

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm   "Spanish II"

(Marcelle Cepeda)

So that's my schedule.  So far I am finding it very difficult to take understand the Profesor and especially to take notes in Spanish.  Unfortunately, things seem to be mostly lecture-based (except for in Spanish class, which is mostly conversation), and so far powerpoints nor much white-board writing has been happening so I just have to try to listen and remember what they said to try to quickly write it down.  

Other thoughts, differences, etc:

• There seems to be quite a few Chinese restaurants around and I've seen a couple of Chinese food stores, too.  There have also been a sprinkling of Sushi places, but Chinese seems to be more popular.  Haven't seen many other different kinds of restaurants though.  

• All the houses, stores, and such are gated.  So walking down the sidewalk you will only see the walls and gates surrounding the houses and their yards, and may or may not be able to see into the yard. 

• There are ALWAYS people in the park and on the streets watering the plants, pulling weeds, or something.  I think it's just in Providencia though.  I still need to ask if they work for the neighborhood or city or....

• I have seen a Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, and McDonald's here.  I only went into the McDonald's once to get an icecream shake because it was super hot and there were not many other options (besides, it was a kind we don't have in the US, and I refuse to go there ever again while I am in Chile).

• A loaf of bread here (white, wheat, doesn't really matter) is about $1,200 (app. $1.98 US), and one liter of box milk (it only comes in a box, they don't have plastic jugs of it) is $700 (app. $1.16 US).

• Last Wednesday I came home from class and the "nana" soon left - which was a bit unusual as she usually stays until Silvia and Victor get home, but I didn't think much of it as I thought she had to leave early for some reason.  She acted normally.  But when Victor and Silvia got home they were surprised that she had left early, and when they called she told them that she was never coming back and refused to give a reason.  They'd employed her for about a year and had no problems with her.  So they freaked out a bit about finding someone to take Fransisco to school, etc, but they have finally found someone.  Her name is Himena (I think) and she's in her mid-30's and super nice.  I like her a lot!  

• Coming home from Viña we took the bus: it was $4,000 (app. $6.64 US) for a two hour ride on a charter bus with comfy seats that reclined a lot, blinds on the windows, and a bus attendant who put a pillow behind your head for you if you wanted one!  It was super spiffy and we slept the whole way.  Definitely will take the bus again!

• Had my first internship interview yesterday for the Fullbright Commission of Chile.  It went well, but was not what I wanted to do so I'll keep looking.  It's completely bi-nationally controlled though (US-Chile), half and half.

• We see PDA (public displays of affection) everywhere!  The funniest was when I had to go around a couple on the sidewalk because they were too busy making out.  Parks are especially popular.

• I saw an old woman in the store the other day who was walking around playing with her dentures.  Pop-in, pop-out, pop-in, pop-out!  It was very funny.  

• Many nights when I go to bed I can hear the guys playing soccer in the park across the street.  

• It is not uncommon to see "nana's" or maids walking down the street with a dog, baby, person in a wheel chair, or just by themselves.  You can tell they are maids/nana's because they where uniforms (that their employers choose and provide them with, I read).

• Every evening after tea time (around 6 pm), Silvia will talk to us (Himena and I) about her life, etc.  The other day she told us about when her daughter got married (she's divorced now).  Apparently she married a super rich guy (a "prince" she called him) who was also in the military, I think and so wore his highly decorated uniform for the wedding.  Silvia said that is was a gorgeous wedding but that it was a bit awkward because compared to the "prince" and his family, Silvia's upper-middle class family seemed almost dirt poor.  This was the first time I'd heard her mention class tensions.  

• She also mentioned once that she was married for 38 years before her husband died (of cancer, I think).  She said she that her husband was nice, but that they were like two trains, running parallel, but never connecting.  He seems to not have been very active in the family-front.  I read that this describes a lot of the marriages of older people, because it is only fairly recently that divorces were made legal.  

•  Chilean opinion of Obama: I've heard some say they like him, but most don't have an opinion of him as yet.  Because the US is so far away and therefore there is less that directly affects them, they are most concerned about what his position is on Latin American relations, in general.  Otherwise, many do see it as a great opportunity for change, and a good opportunity for US-Latin American relations.  Many also like that he is young, and see Obama as a more accessible president (for US citizens) than others before him.  So, overall, a more positive leaning.

•   Yesterday in Plaza de Armas (where the national post office, cathedral and a bunch of older buildings are), there was a big circle of people around two comedians who were telling jokes and doing funny things.  It really reminded me of the comedians in Mexico who would always attract crowds.  Remembering Mexico, though, and how Mom and Dad were called on to participate once, I made sure to try to blend in with the crowd and stay in the back.  =)

• There are also many beggars in the Plaza de Armas.  Some are disabled, but some are young people with torn clothes and paint all over their bodies with a few feathers stuck on them, too.  Very interesting and I don't know their story, so I'll have to ask.  

• People don't usually talk on the bus or train, except for the young people (the morning commuters are silent).  But today on the bus (for which you have to have an electronic "bip!" card to pay your fare), a man started making a speech to everyone.  I didn't understand it very well as his words were very fast and had a lot of force to them, but I did get that he was saying something about the government and politics.  He mentioned his love of Chile, so I'm guessing he was complaining, and trying to make a statement.  He received coins from people after he finished though, so I don't know.  

• Business casual definitely does seem to be the norm here.  Most people dress very nicely.  University students though seem to be more lax and wear jeans, flip-flops, bright colors, and the girls usually have their long hair down.  Things look very 80's, and many guys, especially if their soccer players, have short mullets.  

• There will be whole streets of automobile shops/part stores, etc.  In Viña Kristin and I found ourselves in a clothing market where there were just tons of clothing stalls with their merchandise hanging up to the ceiling.  

• I was telling Silvia about Neruda and how we saw two of his three houses and she pointed out that he wasn't the first Chilean to get a Nobel prize in Literature, and that the first was Gabriela Mistral, but that no one knows much about her.  Neruda was really into politics (he was the Ambassador to France for a bit), and was very flamboyant, so more know about him.  Also, Silvia pointed out, he was a man.  I'm going to try to get a book of Mistral's poetry now, too.

Okay, that is the end for now.  Sorry it was so long, but I had a lot to write about.  Last night I kept getting up to write down more differences, etc. that I wanted to share with you.  If anyone has any specific questions about Chile, please feel free to let me know!  Have a great rest of the week!

  

¡Chao!   

Saludo, Kaia

Week three: Isla Negra, Valparaíso, and Viña del Mar