Greetings from chilly Chile!  I have wonderful news: After a week and a half of being sick with a stubborn cold I am not only feeling better but will have my first day of work on Wednesday, July 17th! 

I still have yet to hear from the immigration office that my paperwork has been added to the system (aka it hasn't yet), but I should hear from them by the 22nd, I hope.  In the meantime, my supervisor Stephanie has requested I start work at 10 am on Wednesday to begin a week-long training before the 100 or so new exchange students arrive on the 24th.  I am super excited!  Stephanie already sent me my university email to activate which proves that it was not all a dream and that I am legitimately working at the Faculty of Econ and Business of University of Chile!  SOOO excited.  She's even ordered a PC for my desk.  And a chair, I imagine. :p

In other news we spent yesterday in Valparaíso.  The idea was to finally go scuba diving (bad weather cancelled it last time), but unfortunately transportation was against us and one bus, the metro, and two buses left us almost 2 hours late.  Grrrr.  Ah, well.  Next Saturday we hope to make it work.  Despite the downer of not scuba diving and arriving embarrassingly late, we did have a fun day walking along the coastal road, tidepooling, admiring the giant waves smashing against rocks, noticing the different eating habits of sea birds and visiting the Chilean naval wharf.  We even got to tour the deck of one of the frigates(?), and managed to get a close-up view of the famous sailing ship, the Esmeralda, which was named after the ships of the same names that played important roles in Chile's independence and the Battle of Iquique with Peru. 

Immersion in the world of the Navy also gave me the opportunity to witness first-hand the extent of Chilean racism and classism.  Luck would have it that we decided to visit the wharf on the day a new group of naval officers were to sail off on their tour of duty (we think for maybe a week?).  En route to the other ships, we walked past all the families who were of an obviously higher economic status and with mostly European-like physical characteristics who were there to send off their sons and daughters in the navy.  This means that there was nobody that was as dark-skinned as Antonio nor from a middle-class or poor family. 

Here in Chile, even the military and police force are classist.  Antonio himself pointed out that no police institution or military leadership academy accepted his applications to all eligible positions.  And pilot schools are terribly expensive, as well, leaving pilots suspiciously white and upper-classed.  A sad reality for such a big population of Chile. 

Antonio told me quietly, as we walked through the crowd that, "You won't find anyone from poor families in those smart uniforms on the top deck.  If there are people like that, they'll be the ones down below deck, or the ones painting the ship and doing maintenance."  He has told me on other occasions how no one would hire someone who looked like him as a bank teller or promoter.  And all because just like the US and other countries, Chile has been brainwashed into thinking that pasty, see-through, blotchy, blemish-highlighting, burn-easy, lighter-colored skin is the image of beauty.  Sad, as I feel completely the opposite (I guess you shouldn't be surprised since I did fall for a handsome darker-skinned Chilean.)

Obviously, given the recent judicial news in the US, we, too, have a long way to go before we can be color blind in our thoughts, actions, reactions, statements and politics.  Chile and the US will need to do a lot more to amplify the definition of beauty and celebrate and embrace the differences that make each of us so special. 

But like in the US, the only way for this to happen in Chile is for people to actually talk about it:  
    -  It is rare to find an advertisement or commercial with a darker-skinned model. In fact, my US friend was asked to be a model in an ad in the paper and in a music video in the mountains.  She is dark-haired, but tall, light-skinned and blue-eyed.  (Some reacted to this news with "We can't even find Chilean models for our own commercials?!  We have to go find US people for that, too?!")
    -  One thing that bothered Antonio about my Chilean host family (remember that though of darker skin they were a military family), was that they claimed they were from the middle class even though they had a daily nanny/housemaid.  They are not the only ones who live in the Chilean economic bubble-- oblivious or easily forgetful of the other reality of so many other families in the same city. 
    -  The "conflict" in the Araucania region between the Mapuche (the biggest group of native inhabitants in south-central Chile) and the Chilean government has yet to be addressed and resolved in a non-violent manner.  Police and Mapuche extremists are both a bit too "gun"-ho on the violence, if you get my drift.  On our train ride from Temuco back to Santiago there were Police escorts on either side of the track through this region and past the burned train cars from a few days before.  And all this despite the fact that Mapuche culture promotes peace and a hard-working life ethic.
    -  Photos are still requested on job applications and last names will get you just about anywhere (if you have the right one, that is).  In DC, when chatting with a Chilean politician and mentioning my boyfriend's last name, Painemilla, the Chilean responded, "Oh, I have some Mapuche friends/colleagues," or something similar. 

And this goes both up the socioeconomic scale as well as down: It's hard for Antonio to be motivated to meet the families of my students or friends, and form a friendship with them, when they are from a different economic class. It's hard for him not to loose patience with their complaints or comments which seem trivial or naive in comparison to those from people in our neighborhood who are confronted with a harsher reality. 

All of this proves that there needs to be dialogue on both sides, prejudices discarded, and opportunities created to bridge the gap that exists socially as well as economically. 

Just some food for thought from one of South America's strongest economies and countries.  I will keep you all posted about how my first few days of work go!  Big hugs to all! 

I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to think compassionately of others outside your box, your world, whatever that may be.  We are all human in the end, with the same needs, wants, and the capacity to love and be loved!  And that is really all that matters. 

I suspect that as I get further immersed into Chilean culture I will have more interesting insights to share, but I promise to try to make them shorter. :p  Apologies for the long email!

Love, Kaia (^_^)