Chi-chi-chi-le-le-le, Viva Chile!

Futbol (soccer for those of you in the US) is almost a religion here. In fact, my history prof said that there’s a church in Argentina named after their famous hero, Diego something-or-other (you can tell how much I care about Argentinian soccer—I’m a Chile fan through and through). So, it was imperative for the sake of our cultural experience to go to a futbol game.

Chile vs Ecuador, October 14.
Chile classified for the World Cup when they played Colombia the weekend we were in Mendoza. Part of me wishes that I had been in Chile when it happened because everyone was celebrating. A few students were in Santiago at the time, and said that there was basically a riot! At any rate, the game against Ecuador did not matter much to Chile, since we already made the World Cup. However, the game was a major deciding factor for Ecuador, and affected Argentina’s standing as well. Of course, a major topic of conversation at lunch and once a few days in a row was—who would win?

I could NOT wait to go to this game. Almost everyone in the group bought a Chilean soccer jersey to show our support and undying loyalty. We arrived at the stadium several hours early to guarantee our seats. A few of us got free baseball caps saying Chile’s going to South Africa—great souvenir for sure.

As we walked down the steps to our spot, people were whistling, clapping, and cheering—I wondered what was going on in the field, but there was no one there…turns out they were reacting to us gringas. We definitely got our 15 minutes of fame. People would approach us and ask if they could take a picture with us…we obliged. I honestly felt like a celebrity. It got old very quickly, though, so to amuse ourselves, we started making funny faces as they snapped pictures…a few people laughed, but I think it deterred them from asking again.

The people sitting in front of us also kept us entertained as we waited for the game. They kept trying to set each other’s hair on fire…and one of them was quite successful. Burnt hair smell for awhile…Que feo!

The atmosphere kept getting more and more charged as the game approached. The entire stadium did the wave (hacer la ola), and it was really cool to watch as it went around the entire stadium. People began chanting at least an hour before the game, and it was more and more frequent as the time to start approached.

Everyone went wild when the players took the field. The first half, nothing much happened but a few close calls for both sides. Chile scored in the second half, and this was the most memorable moment of the entire game. Everyone was screaming, clapping, and setting off flares. The celebration lasted several minutes after the game began again. It was incredible to be there.

It was hard to pick out the words to some of the cheers, and there wasn’t an announcer so it was hard to keep track of what was happening all the time--but the crowd’s reaction said it all…
“Jess, did you catch what happened?”
“No, but they are yelling ‘hijo de puta’ so it can’t be good…”

“Hey, what is it that they are singing?”
“I dunno…the only word I caught was ‘whore.’”
Needless to say, we heard a lot of garabatos (swear words) in the stadium.

The few cheers I did catch:
Chi-chi-chi-le-le-le, viva Chile! ßThe most ubiquitous and well-known.
Vamos, vamos Chilenos, esta noche, tenemos que ganar!
Ole, ole ole ole, Chile, Chile! ßThis one’s really fun because you can go on as long as you like.

The end of the game was great, too—some of the more daring spectators started climbing the fence. It was similar to the atmosphere after scoring the goal, but the goal actually was a bigger deal.

I cannot tell you how much fun this was—it really is one of those things you have to experience in person. I wish we could go to more, and absolutely cannot wait for the World Cup this summer!

________________________________________________________________

We’re at the halfway point in our semester, so are leaving tonight for a week-long Spring Break trip to the south of Chile. We’re going to Chiloe, an island, and then making our way back slowly, passing through lots of cities. It should be a lot of fun, and is definitely a needed break…we have had several tests and papers this past week, and more the week get back. I probably won’t have much access to the Internet, so please don’t be offended or worried if I don’t get back to you! Hope you are all doing well—ciao, un besito!

Don't cry for me, Argentina

Argentina: Buenos Aires y Mendoza
Went to Buenos Aires two weekends ago, and loved Argentina so much that I decided to go again this past weekend to Mendoza.

Buenos Aires:
Went with Jess, Andria, Angie, and Alex.
LOVE LOVE LOVED this city. It is hard to put my finger on why exactly, but it has this energy about it. General atmosphere-wise, I’d call it the NYC of South America.

Actually, I can pinpoint a few particular things I loved about it:
1) Zapallo (squash). The hostel we stayed at had the most magnificent (and perhaps only) squash jelly I have ever tasted. I could eat entire jars of it every day. Squash and pumpkins were definitely a big thing in Argentina—had pumpkin ravioli the first night there…need I say more?
2) Coffee. We had legit coffee in Buenos Aires. None of Chile’s powdered wannabe coffee.
3) Books. Chile has no publishing companies, so the books are all imported and therefore super expensive. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, has publishing companies. Books were definitely less expensive, though about on par with those in the US.
4) Cheap food. First night there, we had been traveling all day without much sustenance. So, we went to a pasta place and decided to splurge a little…ordered nachos and a bottle of wine to split and our individual dishes of pasta (mine was the highly-acclaimed pumpkin ravioli in a 4-cheese sauce)…came to about 12 USD a person. Ridiculously cheap for the quality and quantity of the food. Another highlight restaurant was the Irish Pub…in Argentina.

Basically, we only had 2 full days in Argentina (travel ate up a LOT of time). We spent those days falling in love with the city as we walked through it. Some highlights were La Casa Rosa (the Pink House—it used to be white like the White House, but some president decided he didn’t want to copy the US or something like that, so he pained it red, but then this other president thought it was too Communist so they painted it over with white paint, but it could only tone down the red instead of fully covering it…at least, that’s what Alex told me), the garden (peaceful in the big city), El Museo de Bellas Artes (fine arts museum), the Cathedral, the Obelisco (looks like the Washington Monument), the widest street in the world (not counting freeways), a giant rose sculpture that opens in the day and closes at night, La Boca (colorful little neighborhood full of artisan crafts and where people tangoed in the streets), streets full of shops, and too many plazas and parks to count.

Our hostel was also really cool. We all hung out on the roof terrace and the second night we were there, watched a piano concert/light show. The building across the street was celebrating its 100 year birthday, so the street was closed, a stage was set up, and this guy played the piano. There is a floor of the building called purgatorio “purgatory,” so the music and light show (which was projected on the building itself) related to Dante’s Divine Comedy, starting with hell, then purgatory, then heaven.

Another highlight was making dinner one night in the hostel. Jess, Andria, and I missed cooking, so we made the food and Angie and Alex did the dishes. We settled on making vegetable stir-fry because we were all dying for a meal that wasn’t based solely on meat and bread. We way overestimated the amount of vegetables that we needed, so ended up bingeing on vegetables and pawning off a couple plates on people who came in the kitchen to eat their sad dinner of cereal.

Overall impression: If you find yourself in South America, do yourself a favor and go to Buenos Aires.

Mendoza:
Went with Andria, Beth, and Jess.
When your trip begins with the bus playing cheesy karaoke music, you know that it’ll be an amazingly quirky experience. The bus ride plus customs lasted a whopping 10 hours, which, ironically, is the same amount of time that it takes to fly from the US to Chile. However, between the karaoke, the best worst movie I have ever seen entitled Papa se volvio loco! (Dad went crazy!), and a blast from the past with 90’s music videos, it was fairly entertaining overall.
The first place we went in Mendoza was to the police station…to ask for directions to our hostel. Our hostel, what words can I give to describe it? We passed it at first because it was not marked very well…so we backtracked and saw this dark door on the opposite side of the street, “Uh…what does that sign say? I’m hoping that’s not it…ohh yep, THAT’S our hostel.” Looked pretty sketchy, no one really wanted to go in, but we braved it. It really wasn’t that bad inside, we were greeted by our hostel poet who never sleeps, Gaston. He’s your typical starving artist, and read us one of his poems, inspired by an argument with a friend, of which I will give you a brief translation so you understand the nature of his sheer poetic brilliance.
“I defecated from the passage of the colon of egoism,
I vomited the hatred during fanfare…” You get the picture.
He also found all four of us a four-leaf clover. If he had spent as much time cleaning the bathrooms as he did finding four-leaf clovers for us, the hostel would have been much improved. There was toilet paper for a couple hours of the day, so you learned fast that you needed to steal it when you could…and thus you participated in the vicious cycle. There was an entire colony of flies living on the ceiling of the downstairs shower…but at least there was a shower curtain in that one.
Our actual room was pretty nice, though…we were lucky that we got to share a 4-person room. It was like a 3-day long slumber party…I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. The number of inside jokes we have from Mendoza is innumerable—absolutely adore the girls I went with.

I loved the energy and personality of Buenos Aires, but Mendoza was so much more fun and felt like a mini-vacation. Saturday was spent shopping—we found a chocolate/wine factory and an alfajor factory (alfajor=specialty Argentinian cookie sandwich with dulce de leche in the middle), but the majority of our shopping excursions involved shoes because Mendoza is known for its cheap shoes. Never have I seen so many shoes in one city. There were huge window displays, and we had to attempt to point out to the salespeople which shoe we wanted to try from the window.
The weather was hotter across the cordillera (mountain range), so it was a good thing that helado (ice cream) was about as common as the shoes. We found the most ridickulous (misspelling intended) ice cream cones I have ever seen at La Reinese. They were specially made for a double-scoop, so there were two cups for the scoops of ice cream attached to a regular cone…they looked curiously like male anatomy.
I met a very complimentary old man in La Reinese. He asked me if I was from Germany (sidenote: third time someone has tagged me as a German, but once I was asked if I was Australian because I talked like Olivia Newton-John—go figure). He then proceeded to talk to me about my “belleza”—“You’re beautiful [turning to the workers behind the counter, all male] Isn’t she beautiful?” The guys behind the counter could hardly keep from laughing. He then complimented me on my Spanish, which was far more flattering, though a compliment I don’t think I deserve. At any rate, once he finally got over my “belleza” and found out I was from the US, he started talking to me about Obama and how wonderful it is that he won the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ve talked to a few Americans about this, and most people react saying that Obama hasn’t really done anything yet. But everyone in South America has been extremely excited about it and genuinely believe Obama deserves it. My host parents have told me time and time again how much they love Obama. I don’t think that we understand how much it means to other countries around the globe that Obama is our president.

I love the prices of Argentinian food. Between ice cream, Subway, and our homemade vegetable stir-fry (SO good) and chocolate banana pancakes, we spent roughly $5-6 USD on food for one day. Our last night there, we treated ourselves to a meal of steak and wine…Que rico. The steak is really tender in Argentina because the landscape is so flat—the cattle do not develop their muscles and so the meat is better.

The most adventurous part of the trip was rafting. We all had a love-hate relationship with our instructor, whose rugged attractiveness was equal only to how much he wanted us to get soaked. The scenery was gorgeous and looked rather similar to the Southwest US. The river was turquoise and carved a canyon into the reddish rock—perfect day for rafting. We wore these ridiculous blue jumpsuits, orange lifevests, and a white helmet—ready for anything. The start of the ride was lovely and Beth was telling us how much we would thank her for pushing us to go.
Not more than 5 minutes later, we were screaming as water poured into the raft. We were caught in a current and we moved from one side of the raft to the other as it spun around. We had gotten rid of our paddles before because we were supposed to disembark—however, the current had sucked us back in (though we have our suspicions that our guide merely wanted to pretend that we were stuck). There was this guy standing on a rock pointing at us and laughing as we clung to one another and screamed; I hated that man. My one thought of survival was, “Don’t let go of Beth!” We were all almost sobbing because of how shocked we were from the cold water, and apparently at one point I yelled, “Jesus, you have the power to stop this—why aren’t you using it?!?!” But honestly, it was one of my favorite memories from the Mendoza trip, and really hilarious when I look back. We realized how incredibly lame the current actually was when the instructors offered to the people on the other raft to get “caught” in the same current—for fun. Felt more than slightly ridiculous after that.
The rest of the trip was gorgeous and without problem. Our instructor had us all stand up in the boat and put one foot on each edge—the “prueba de vikingos” (Viking test). Rafting was incredibly fun, and incredibly worth it.

We also went out dancing one night, advised where to go by our kind shoe-saleswoman. There was a live band and the Argentinians all knew the words, so that was a really fun environment. Lots of students from the program were in Mendoza this weekend, though we stayed at a few different hostels, but most of us ended up in the same club—purely by chance!

The artisan fairs were also a lot of fun. We bought a few small souvenirs and the biggest cotton candy I have ever seen. The next day, we went to all the major plazas in the city—Italia with it’s gorgeous fountain, Espana with its many colored tiles, Chile with benches decorated for the different regions, and a few others—all with statues of important people. One plaza by the church where we went to Mass had a wooden slide. A child had left notes on it saying that you WOULD fall if you tried to go down…so of course we tried and it was actually really fun and no one got splinters. The trip to Mendoza was full of lots of little quirky, random experiences like that, but those are what made the trip so fun and unique.

Our last night there was also a night to remember. The night we arrived, we checked e-mail and saw that our hostel had said that there was space only for the first night or two…thanks for telling us sooner! We made sure to inquire about our third night every chance we got to make sure we’d have enough time to find another hostel…but I’m pretty sure Gaston just wanted to avoid the whole situation. At any rate, it was our last day there and we returned from our dinner around 12:30…to find that we did not have a room that night. Gaston apologized a lot and said we could sleep on the floor of the lobby—for free. We ended up sleeping in what we called the “fish bowl,” which was the middle room with the TV and couch that was surrounded by glass walls. We didn’t really mind much, especially since we got a free night so ended up paying $12 USD for 3 nights there, and were all able to laugh at it. So great to travel with such an easygoing group! My host parents were not at all surprised…Que fresos los argentinos!

The bus ride back was really long, too, as was customs. We kind of ran into trouble with Andria’s unfinished wood artisan craft and Jess accidentally sort-of kicking the police dog…but we made it back to Vina just fine.

Overall impression: Although we ran into a lot of little frustrations this trip, we had a blast. I would not change any of it!

You know you’re in Argentina when…
1) You get kissing noises from your admirers on the street, rather than the whistle and car honks (or, the car horns that sound like whistles) of Chile.
2) No one has coin money—a minimarket even had a sign that read “No hay moneda—de verdad” (We don’t have coins, it’s true). As an econ minor, I have to wonder how much they have in circulation.
3) The “ll” is pronounced with a “j” sound, which I think is really pretty.
4) You can also hear the Italian influence in people’s speech. However, my host mom says she does not like the way they talk at all...
5) No one respects the stoplights and pedestrian crossings—ten cuidado!
6) The unibrow is not uncommon. However, Argentinian men are known for being “mas hermoso” than the Chileans…if they were, I don’t know where they were hiding.

I'll have to attach pictures later...we're heading out for Chiloe tonight, so I'm a little pressed for time!

Santiago

Realized that I have completely failed on updating my blog recently, but that’s only because I’ve been so busy! Here’s a quick tour through Santiago…

The weekend after Fiestas Patrias, the program scheduled a trip to Santiago that related a lot to the Ethics Seminar about Justice and Impunity in Latin America (real uplifting stuff). In Chile’s case, Pinochet was a controversial military dictator…very generally speaking, he was popular with the elite for his economics and anti-Marxist attitudes…and unpopular with the lower classes for the same reasons. During his anti-Marxist crusade, many people were tortured, killed, or “disappeared,” and the Chilean government still has not completely acknowledged what happened…there is definitely a lack of reconciliation. The places we went were:
1) La Vicaria de Solidaridad—Catholic organization that has compiled archives about the people who were taken and disappeared under Pinochet’s regime.
2) La Villa Grimauldi—Current site of a park for peace that commemorates the victims. The really creepy thing about this place is that it used to be the site of a torture and detention center. The building was destroyed but the foundation still exists, and is what the park’s landscape is designed around. The victims’ families wanted to turn such a horrible place into something beautiful that works to bring about awareness and reconciliation. However, I felt it was incredibly eerie to think about the atrocities that happened there…playing classical music loudly to cover up the sounds of people being tortured. I felt unsettled and actually could not wait to get out of the place, despite the fact that it was now a park.
3) La Fundacion Pinochet—We wanted to get the other perspective and see why people supported, and continue to justify, Pinochet. The Pinochet Foundation is located in Pinochet’s old office from where he worked as a “Senator for Life.” After he lost the plebiscite and would no longer be president, he used his remaining time in power to put mechanisms in place to protect the military and himself—including giving himself the title “Senator for Life.” The speaker at the Foundation buttered us up first with coffee and cookies, then proceeded to talk about why the military should not be held responsible for following orders, and that everybody does bad things. We toured Pinochet’s office, and saw cases upon cases of medals (many of which he probably awarded himself) as well as his throne in front of this tiny TV in his study. Special, special man.
4) El Cementerio General—Toured a big cemetery that housed the graves of several past presidents—including Balmaceda (the first person to commit suicide who was permitted to be buried there) and Allende (the Socialist president who was overthrown by Pinochet). Very interesting to see a cemetery in a different country. There were rows upon rows of very intricate family sepulchers…almost like little chapels—extremely beautiful. Another area had literally a wall where coffins are kept for a certain amount of time for the families to raise enough money to construct a sepulcher…but after enough time passes, the bodies are transferred to a general grave site. There was also a poorer part of the cemetery—rows upon rows of metal crosses. These graves were decorated with soccer jerseys and flags, toys, windmills—it had almost a cheerful atmosphere. It was interesting to think about how two cultures approach death. But really, it was not as morbid as it sounds. We also saw families of victims gathered at the cemetery…clearly, there is still pain and uncertainty after all this time.

As educational and interesting as these places were, I am going to be honest and say that between all these activities, it was rather an emotionally-draining couple of days. Thank goodness for the other activities for distraction.

1) La Plaza and Catedral—Big central plazas are trademarks of Spanish colonialism…and always colorful and cheerful. I also LOVE going into cathedrals, and this one was absolutely magnificent. High vaulted ceilings, statues of saints, incredibly details…basically the hallmarks of any great Cathedral.
2) La Moneda—Literally, coin currency. It used to be a money-minting factory but because of the famous architect who designed it (so famous I recall his name, even—think he was the same one to design the Cathedral, though) it was turned into the Presidential Palace. There are guards out front like at Buckingham Palace…though these ones were not as hardcore.
3) La Chascona—one of Pablo Neruda’s houses. Very interesting architecture, modeled after a ship, so it was extremely cool. Besides that, I am in love with Pabs’ poetry. He lived there with his mistress, Matilde. She had this crazy hair, hence the name “la chascona,” which translates to “disheveled” but in an endearing way. When the guide was explaining the name, he kept looking at my hair like he wasn’t sure whether or not he should point me out as an example.
4) El Barrio Bellavista—Good place to buy artisan crafts and eat food. We found a leftist café and had a fabulous lunch—murals on the wall, pictures of Che, almost felt like I was back in Olympia. The place was called La Casa en el Aire (the House in the Sky), based off of a poem. We decided that anything with “aire” in it is a good thing. Our list? The song Manos al Aire by Nelly Furtado, Pomaire, Buenos Aires, and the café.
5) Los Vikingos—Best Viking-themed restaurant ever. A group of about 10 of us went for dinner on Friday night…the decorations were crazy, and everything was covered in animal skins…including the table and the ceiling. Some of the servers wore Viking hats. It was great. But the best part was the bathroom. Each stall was like a dungeon chamber, with handcuffs hanging from the ceiling which you pulled to flush the toilet. Classy.

Overall impression: Meh. I’m glad we went because Santiago’s the capital city and is important for historic reasons, but I found it to be a city without much of a personality. However, that might just be because of the types of places that we visited…I feel like I didn’t get to see all that Santiago has to offer…perhaps we’ll return again for a weekend to see the un-educational side of the city. So many places to go!

Fiestas Patrias: Come, bebe y baila cueca

So you’re a gringo and you want to know, what are Fiestas Patrias?

My extended host family

Brief Description and Oversimplified History:
Fiestas Patrias are celebrated on September 18 and 19…but the party starts the evening of the 17 and ends on the 20. The 18 (el Dieciocho) commemorates the first junta formed in 1810 in Chile during Spain’s colonial rule. Spain was experiencing problems with Napoleon and so a local government formed, giving Chile autonomy but not independence (which didn’t happen until February 12, 1818). Why September? Spring in this hemisphere starts the 21st so Fiestas Patrias is also a celebration of the end of winter. The 19 is Armed Forces Day, which is a big deal here, and there’s a 3 hour parade in Santiago.

How does one disfrutar (enjoy) this national holiday?
In a nutshell: drink a lot, eat even more, and dance cueca.

So now you’re thinking, “I’d love to get in on this Fiestas Patrias thing…but I’m from the USA and don’t know what to do.”

That is where I come in. Celebrating Fiestas Patrias is not a difficult concept. Here’s a brief how-to guide, featuring the staple food, drinks, and activities. With my guidance, you’ll be enjoying Fiestas Patrias in no time.

Eat, Drink, and Dance Cueca: Your How-To Guide to Fiestas Patrias

FOOD
This is perhaps the most important aspect, so pay close attention.

Two of my nieces, nephew, and me

Remember: VEGETARIANISM HAS NO PLACE IN FIESTAS PATRIAS.

The key component is CARNE (meat) and lots of it.
You had a wide variety to choose from:
Choripan: If chorizo=sausage and pan=bread, then choripan=small sausage (more flavorful than a bratwurst) in a toasted bun.
Anticucho: kabob with roasted meat and onions.
Carne asado: usually beef, roasted over a grill
Empanada de pino: Chile’s specialty, a pocket of dough filled with beef, onions, olives, and half a hard-boiled egg. Empanadas are eaten all throughout the year and the fillings can be different, but pino is the MUST for Fiestas Patrias.


DRINK
Second in importance only to food…but only because drinking on an empty stomach is a must NOT.

Helpful hint: The more you eat, the more you can drink without ending up “curada” like Tia Monica pole-dancing on the trellis.

Word to my mother: No te preocupes, although drinking is definitely an expected cultural aspect of Fiestas Patrias (especially since I am not a minor here), I promise that I did not overdo drinking.

Chicha: Fermented fruit, so it is sweet and tastes a lot like cider. Most popular drink of Fiestas Patrias, and served almost exclusively during this time of the year. It’s origins can actually be traced back to the indigenous people living in Chile.
Cola de mono: Literally, “monkey’s tail.” Mama taught me how to make it, and now I will pass on this knowledge to you. First you boil water with cinnamon and cloves, and then add sugar and stir. Add some instant coffee powder, stir, and then let cool. Pour the mixture into another pot with milk and add aguardiente (the alcohol—very strong stuff) to taste. Store in old Pisco bottles and chill. I have two words for you, QUE RICO.
Terremoto: Piña (pineapple) ice cream, a couple shots of rum, and white wine. The name translates to “earthquake”…and it is DEFINITELY an earthquake. Probably my least favorite Fiestas Patrias drink…though with much more ice cream, I think it has potential.
Canelito: Perhaps my favorite, but the one I know the least about. All I know is that it’s not too strong and has an aftertaste like a spearmint spice drop (which I adore).

Your non-alcoholic options at any asado are, as per usual, orange Fanta or agua con gas (carbonated water).


ACTIVITIES:
Eating and drinking are the primary activities, but here are some enjoyable supplementary options:

Cueca: Chile’s national dance, but you really only see it during Fiestas Patrias. Basically, it is a dance of the “conquest.” The man pursues the woman, who must play hard to get. Both have little hankies that they wave around. The steps are pretty simple, 3-step patterns in a half-moon circle. My host parents danced it for me in the living room—pretty much the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Mama and I then went over to Claudia’s apartment in the next building to teach me the steps and drink some cola de mono.

Asado: Basically, a barbeque. The rule? Attend as many as possible. I went to 3…one with the students from the program, the big family asado, and my niece’s friend’s asado. The family asado is the most important. We went to a town called Los Andes (located, curiously, in the foothills of the Andes Mountains). Someone in the family has a tiny house in the country there, so we all went to for a family asado. It was a really nice family day especially since my host family has accepted me like a member of their family. Even still, it was a little bittersweet because it reminded me of my own big family gatherings.

Ramada: The base of the word, “rama,” means “branch.” Ramadas in the past were little houses constructed with branches where people would have asados. Now, the word refers to what is basically a fair--booths (many of which are constructed with branches) selling typical food and drinks, artisan crafts, and games. If you are not at an asado with friends and family, then you better be at a ramada. Everyone goes, including the gringos, which is apparently newsworthy. A group of us students went together and ended up getting interviewed by the local new station.

You may have noticed trend by now—except for Cueca, all the activities have to do with food. Clearly, people gain weight during Fiestas Patrias. How much? There was a wide range of estimates, but the most common was 5-6 pounds.
To avoid said weight gain, us gringos went to La Campana, a national park, on Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous; neither words nor pictures can quite do it justice. We hiked all day—the trail had very much of an incline so we really got a work-out. On the way down, we saw two huge tarantulas…actually very cool to see them in the South American wilderness.

After hiking, we had a completo to complete our Fiestas Patrias experience. I thought a completo sounded disgusting, but since it’s definitely an indispensible part of Chilean culture, I knew I had to try it at some point. And what better time than when I was absolutely starving and anything sounded good?
Completo: A hot dog in a toasted bun, topped with literally a mountain of tomatoes, palta (avocado), and covered with more mayonesa (it’s a cognate, I’m not going to hold your hand and translate on this one) than you ever need to eat in your life. You can get two sizes, normal or gigante. I have no idea how anyone could eat a gigante because completos are extremely messy…which means a perro vago (street dog) will follow you around to lick up the tomato-palta trail that any true completo will inevitably leave behind.

If you follow these simple instructions, you too can experience the glory that is Fiestas Patrias. Not only that, but you will come into contact with your inner Chilean, who is ready and waiting to eat, drink, and dance cueca.

Viva Chile!

Note the stairs in the background

Can't get all the pictures where I want them--sorry!





Example of Valpo graffiti art




This past week has been my most enjoyable in Chile. Although I didn’t go more than 2 hours outside of Vina, we had a lot of adventures…

Wednesday:
The history prof, Rodrigo Moreno, took us to Valparaiso, a port city right next to Vina. The city has a rather tragic history—it was a bustling port in the 1800s, but a huge earthquake in 1906 virtually destroyed the city, and it is still feeling the aftershocks today. We met in Plaza Sotomayor in front of the impressive Armada and monument to Arturo Prat (a marine who died rather than surrender in la Guerra del Pacifico: Chile versus Peru and Bolivia). Rodrigo told us that the Plaza is basically the dividing line between the poor and wealthier side of Valpo…the difference is really felt.




Monumento de Arturo Prat




Armada




One of Valpo’s most noticeable characteristics is the variety of color. Many of the houses up in the “little Europe” district are painted in brilliant tones of blue, green, yellow, and even purple or pink. Rodrigo explained that since many marines from other countries were stationed in Valpo, the colors allowed them to tell from a distance which house was theirs so they could see their wives waving from the balconies.
Almost all the walls in Valparaiso are covered in murals or graffiti—some are really impressive and others are disturbing to say the least (picture maniacal rabbit men). It is truly an experience to walk through the city. When Jess, Alex, Lori, and I went to Valpo to get inspiration for our art papers, we left our own mark. All we had was a pen, but we drew stick figures labeled with our names and USA. Normally I would feel bad drawing on a wall, but it was already covered with graffiti, the pen will wash off when it rains, and it is part of experiencing Valpo in all its fallen glory. (see picture second from top)

Overall, I love studying the history of Chile while I’m here—I can see it all around me. The streets I walk every day are named after people from Chilean history, and as I learn, I’m able to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. For instance, I live on Agua Santa, which means Holy Water, and a shortcut I take home is called Von Schroeder, who was a doctor who promoted the therapeutic baths in Vina—connections!

After the tour, a group of 8 of the girls rode the bus home together…but got off on the wrong stop…a very wrong stop. Everyone knew but the first girl who got off, and we were not about to abandon her. Instead of getting back on a bus, because we had time to kill, we decided to try to walk home. It was a long way and at some points we had no idea where we were, but it was so much fun and quite the adventure. A one-eyed dog followed us the entire way from Valpo to Vina. We ended up cutting through some neighborhoods and started a “Twilight Bark” from 101 Dalmatians. Seriously EVERY SINGLE house we walked by had a dog, and each one of these dogs felt impelled to bark at us, and even throw itself against the fence. As soon as we would pass one, we’d see another. It was ridiculous…seriously went on for 10 minutes. At this point, we were really lost and Katie asked for directions—we ended up taking some stairs behind a neighborhood (stairs that Sarah said reminded her of the Great Wall of China) that led to a little playground and finally to Lori’s house. (see picture at top)

From there, we walked to Entremasas (literally, between dough) for empanadas. Entremasas has amazing empanadas, and almost too many combinations to pick between…including manjar queso (dulce de leche and cheese). We stopped at a chocolateria after for the most amazing chocolate/frambuesa (raspberry) cake I have ever eaten. At that point, the futbol game between Chile and Brazil was about to start, so we walked to Hollywood, a local bar, to watch it. Chile’s chances were not very good because Brazil is the #2 (and, depending on who you talk to, arguably the #1) team in the world. Moreover, it was played on Brazil’s field, and Chile had never scored a goal on Brazil’s field in a regulation game…ever. Not unsurprisingly, Chile ended up losing the game…but scored 2 goals, making Chilean futbol history. After each goal, the bar went absolutely wild— “Chi chi chi le le le, viva Chile!” I LOVE watching futbol here, and cannot wait to go to the Chile versus Ecuador game in Santiago in October.

Thursday:
Pamela and her son Benjamin were visiting from the South, but between her and my busy schedules, we’d hardly gotten a chance to spend any time together. Thursday became our family day. We went to Pica de Martin to eat mariscos (seafood…notably shellfish). Normally, I am not a fan of mariscos, but I do not care how much you think you hate shellfish, you would love this restaurant. I had a huge bowl of chupe, which is a marisco-queso dish—mine had camarones and loco (still have no idea what is it other than some type of shellfish). Basically, you’ve got your mariscos absolutely doused in this delectably cheesy sauce. Absolutely incredible.
After lunch, Pamela and I walked along San Martin near the beach and then stopped at Bravissimo for ice cream sundaes. The rest of the day we just hung out with family because Pamela left that night. It was a laid-back day and definitely something I needed since I’d been spending so much time outside the house.

Friday:
Seeing as how we were going on a day trip to Pomaire and leaving at 10 in the morning on Saturday, a lot of us wanted to stay in. So, we had a Girls’ (plus Alex) Movie Night at Andria’s. Before meeting up at her house, we walked to Jumbo to buy food. Jumbo is an experience all its own. It is like Fred Meyer on steroids…it is not the size of a store, but is more on par with an airport.

After being awed by Jumbo, we ate massive quantities of food (including the universally-craved frozen pizza—we are all beginning to realize how much we LOVE the US of A) watched 27 Dresses and part of the Little Mermaid (including sing-a-long numbers) at Andria’s. We made our own little oasis of North American culture in the midst of Chile to celebrate our 4th week here.

Saturday:
Day trip to Pomaire, which is a little town a couple hours away, known exclusively for its pottery and traditional Chilean meals. We all love Vina, but were definitely ready to leave the city for a day. The bus ride took longer than anticipated (which is normal in Chile)…but also because the bus drivers did not seem to know where we were going…at each of the toll booths they had to ask for directions. Gotta love Chile.
We got a chance to walk through streets full of venders selling pottery for almost nothing—I spend less than $3 on a Pomaire mug, teapot, and salsa bowl. And it’s quality stuff, too. Everyone was ready to outfit their apartments next semester with cookware until it occurred to us that it’d be impossible to get it all back to the States.
While most of the day was just wandering through the town, we did have a few planned activities. We were served the most massive meal I have ever had the privilege to eat. First course was empanadas and chica (fermented fruit drink served only around the time of Fiestas Patrias). Second course, the servers brought out 6 huge tubs o’carne called parilladas. Each pot had over a dozen pieces of meat in it—steak (bistec), pork, chicken, sausage (chorizo)…I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much meat in one day. Jess, Andria, Alex, and I were working on one together…by the end of the meal, we figured Alex ate about 8 pieces of meat.

After lunch, we went to a pottery studio where we got to work with greda (clay). There was an instructor, but he was really grumpy and no one really listened to him, but went about making our own sculptures with the enthusiasm of kindergarteners. We even got to try out the potter’s wheel!

That night, almost everyone met up to eat at a restaurant close to the sea and then we checked out the casino. It was really expensive, so we pulled some strings and got free passes to the discoteque Goose. Always a good time when the whole group gets together.

Sunday:
Another relaxing day with family. Mama and I went to Miriam’s for lunch and then watched a movie with her and her girls. It was called Heroes, but it was the movie Push. Maria Fernanda insisted on putting on the English subtitles “just in case.” Afterwards, Mama and I walked back home (a fairly long way) and had once together…good host mother/daughter bonding time for sure.

Had to take a break for lunch. I think I ate a bowl of raw fish with onions, lemon juice, and cilantro. Plus a salad with some type of shellfish that was most definitely NOT hiding in a sea of queso. Just kept telling myself “Don’t look, don’t think, it’s just meat like any other.” It’s not bad if you don’t think about it.

Monday:
Seeing as how history was canceled on Monday due to a conference the prof had to attend, Jess and I decided to explore Reñaca. It was basically all my favorite things in one day.
Reñaca is part of Viña and is where all the best beaches are found. The weather is still a little chilly (spring begins the 21st) but we wanted to go just the same. After walking through the town a little, we came upon Don Homero’s, a grocery store where we bought a couple manjar cookies and two types of fruit we had been curious about but had yet to try—pepino (which also means cucumber) and chirimoya. We walked down to the beach to eat the fruit and watch the waves. The pepino tasted like cantaloupe and the chirimoya was really sweet but the outside was prickly and it was full of seeds. Conclusion: Good experience, but we prefer what the US has to offer.
Word was out that the lobos del mar (literally, wolves of the sea aka sea lions) were in Reñaca, so Jess and I went in search of them. They were all chilling on a giant rock a little ways offshore, but we could still see and hear them. Spent a while sitting on a wall eating our manjar cookies (give me chocolate chip any day) and watching the lobos. Most of them were just lazing around on the rock and every once in awhile would raise their heads and speak lobo to each other, but we did see a few flop onto the rock (which was quite an incline for them—a particularly fat one gave up and plopped back into the sea). At the end of our time with the lobos, we felt very connected to them and became excellent translators of the lobo language.
Didn’t take much thinking to decide to stay to watch the sunset. We bought some empanadas de choclo y queso (corn and cheese) and sat on the beach, thoroughly taking in the sunset (which was a little cloudy but still gorgeous) and the waves. We even saw some of our lobo friends swimming in the distance.
Jess noticed some people with Bravissimo cups, so of course we had to go in search of that. We’d both been wanting to try Baño de Chocolate (two flavors dipped in a chocolate bath), and decided that Reñaca was the occasion to do so. I believe this was the point when we decided that heaven must be a lot like Reñaca. In fact, we saw Jesus there—a statue on a rock offshore. A seagull landed on His head as we were looked on (but WWJD? He’d let the seagull be).
Even the bus ride back from Reñaca was cool—a guy jumped on at one stop with his drum and started performing, and he was pretty talented. With the playa (beach), lobos, empanadas, Bravissimo, sunset, and una muy amiga (very close friend), it deserves a place in the running for the Best Day Ever.

I wanted to get all of this down because tomorrow evening begins Fiestas Patrias, Chile’s patriotic festival. It commemorates the establishment of the first junta, but is not the actual independence day. The following weekend the group goes to Santiago, and then begins October, my whirlwind travel month (Buenos Aires, South to visit Pamela, futbol game in Santiago, Chiloe, and Mendoza). Basically, I am going to have a ton to write about but not much time to do it in. Will keep you updated as much as possible, but life is going to be even busier than usual—can’t wait! Time is going by so quickly, but honestly I don’t mind because I feel like I’m taking advantage of everything, have no regrets, and am thoroughly enjoying many new experiences! Of course I miss everyone, but know that I’ll see you in what feels like no time at all.

Chao, un besito!

Una mezcla

As an ex-English major and student of the 5-point paragraph, I feel like all of my blogs need to have some sort of theme. However, there are a lot of random anecdotes or thoughts that don’t quite fit any one topic, so here is my mixed-bag blog…so good-bye formal rules of writing, hello William Faulkner.

Chile is great. I love the food, I love the ocean, I love my family. But there are a few things that I do not love. One of those is street dogs, and the other is powdered coffee.
There are stray dogs everywhere. Usually they don’t do anything except follow you around. Alex has a theory about this: they are used to being treated well (even fed) by Americans, so when they hear English spoken, they follow. Thank you, Pavlov. Again, usually there aren’t any problems, but I’ve discovered a new shortcut to school; only problem is, there’s a very vocal street dog. He came up to me barking…and I was not about the challenge him. Was just getting ready to turn around when this old guy sticks his head out the window and tells me that the dog “Es muy carinoso.” The dog’s loving? And I can pass for Chilean. Did end up walking down the street, but feared for my life the entire time.

The street dogs can be entertaining, though…one time as we were sitting tranquilly at a table outside Café Enjoy, these two guys come running by, all red in the face and looking absolutely petrified, and a dog is running alongside them, barking the whole time. This whole motley group just runs on by, and all of the sudden one guy picks up a napkin dispenser and chucks it (at the dog, I think). Now, there are several interpretations of this event, and we were never actually sure who was chasing who…I thought the dog was going after the guys, but Jess thought that one guy was chasing the other and the dog was along for the ride.

Also, I miss real coffee, from Kokopelli Café or O’Connell’s especially. I brought coffee (thanks, Kim!) with me as a gift to my host family, but they only use it for special occasions or like as dessert because it’s so good. Most of the time, we have powdered coffee…and it is not the same. A Starbucks just opened up Friday…and all of us gringos were there. I was all ready to get my drip coffee with hazelnut…but they didn’t have any the first day. Today was miraculous, though--Mama brewed some of the Olympia Coffee Roasters blend after dessert…I was seriously on Cloud 9.

Last week, I got on a kick of pretending I didn’t speak English. The thing is, you can spot a gringo from a mile away here…but sometimes we get tired of people approaching us and speaking in English. Jess, Lori, Alex, and I were wandering around Valpo discussing what other language we could pretend to speak and actually maybe get away with, and settled on German. Not more than a few minutes later, this guy comes over and asks me if I speak English…without thinking, I say “Spreken ze deutsch” (which clearly I do not—have no idea how to spell it). I was so surprised when the words left my mouth—I was not planning on actually doing it, but because we’d just talked about it, that was the only phrase I could think of. The beautiful thing was, the guy left us alone, despite the fact that Jess told me it was the worst German accent she’s heard. Thrilled with this success, when some British creeper (he stood—but did not dance—right next to us, and he and his friend would try taking pictures with us every once in a while—with no pretension of subtlety) in the club tried talking to me in English and asked me if I was from the States, I just shrugged, looked confused, and kept responding, “Que??” (What?) He looked really frustrated but it was really rather entertaining for me.

Overall, my sentiment right now is that I am completely spoiled in Chile—life is really good and I’m loving it. I am incredibly blessed to be experiencing all of this. I’ve gotten to do a lot of really cool things, have eaten some amazing food, and have developed some great friendships really quickly. A group of us had an American Binge night on Friday, commemorating our 4th week here (yes, it’s been over a month!) and as I looked around the room, I realized that I did not know most of the people very well (and some not at all) before I left, and yet we all act as if we’ve been friends for so long. The group is wonderful overall, and for the most part, everyone really gets along and takes care of each other. I’ve also been fortunate with my family. Octavio has been visiting Pamela in the South, so Mama Cecilia and I have had a lot of one-on-one time lately, which has been really great. She told me yesterday that I’m like one of the family now, which means a lot to me.

Well, it’s getting late, so I should turn in for the night. This past week has been my favorite week in Vina so far, and I’ll have to recount the highlights soon. But for now, Buenas noches! Chao (most people don’t spell it “ciao” here), un besito!

Current soundtrack to mi vida Chilena: Manos al Aire--Nelly Furtado. Escuchala (listen to it)

Mi vida tipica en Chile

So far, I’ve blogged about all of my major adventures here, which I think has led to the misperception that every day in Chile is a trip to the Andes. Contrary to popular belief, I do study here :) So what does my typical week look like?

I have class every day of the week, but usually only one or two a day, they are always over by 12:15. I have history of Chile, Ethics Seminar (a St. Ben’s/St. John’s requirement), Art and Identity of Latin America, and Linguistics. In addition, I will have service learning on Wednesday mornings and either Tuesday or Thursday afternoons. Not a very demanding schedule most of the time, and for the most part, I’m enjoying my classes.

Even though it is at 8am on Friday, art is by far my favorite class, thanks to Jorge Salomo. He is hilarious and not only does he get us free tickets to Teatro Municipal, but he’s very easy to understand (partly due to the fact that he acts out our lessons half the time…makes for an interesting experience when we discuss venusillas, which are amulets that honor motherhood). He combines art with history, culture, and even linguistics (actually, we learn more linguistics in his class than our actual linguistics class…more on that later), so his classes are extremely interesting and help us to understand Latin American identity in more than just art. The class’s favorite lesson so far was when he explained that the large carved heads made by the Olmecs in Mexico and on Easter Island were meant to scare away potential invaders because from a distance, they looked like giants with the body hidden. An interesting idea made even more so by his acting out seeing a giant head and then running away. Never a boring day with Jorge.

My history prof is laid-back and really nice. He’s planning on taking us on several field trips--for instance, tomorrow we’re going to Valparaiso for a few hours on a guided tour. I’m excited because I’ve wandered around Valpo a few times with friends, but feel like I don’t know everything that the city has to offer. The Ethics Seminar is taught by Eleonora, my program director. While the class is in English, its topic is justice and impunity in the different dictatorships in Latin America—so the articles we read are extremely interesting to me. It’s also nice to have a class in English because I feel like I can understand and express complex ideas much more easily…and I’m a nerd, so that’s a must. Finally, linguistics. Not gonna lie, I was excited to take linguistics because language is so interesting to me. However…so far it’s just been a communication class because we’ve discussed models of communication. Don’t get me wrong, I love Comm (it’s my major after all), but it’s like an intro level comm class…not only that, but we’ve drawn the same diagram countless times in our notes…we’re all ready to move on but she’s got a million powerpoint slides about the SAME TOPIC...and we have this class at 8am for almost 3 hours (but only once a week…thank goodness). We’ll see what next Thursday brings, though. At any rate, the professor herself is very interesting...think Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter. She has bright reddish/purple hair, and is VERY passionate about what she’s teaching. She is also very passionate about color coordination. The first day of class she wore all purple. Second class was orange day, and third was leopard print. Her nails always match her outfit. We have to wonder if she does her nails every day, or if she picks one color a week and sticks with it.

The Chile program offers the option of service learning, and almost everyone in the group is taking advantage of that. I’m helping teach at an English Immersion school called Saint Peter’s. Can’t yet say what my schedule there is, because it has literally changed every week; I have not helped the same class twice. They have two weeks of vacation, so hopefully within that timeframe, I’ll finally get a schedule. (Quick anecdote for Mom—the director asked Lori if she was sunburned because her face was pink, but Lori said that her face is always pink…in response, the director said, “Oh, your face is always pink” then she turns to me and says, “And your face is always pale.” Then she walked away.) At the volunteer breakfast they had for us the day before vacation, we watched the students perform traditional dances, which was super cute, and I talked to a couple teachers and came up with a tentative schedule. If that all works out, I’ll be helping with 1st and 2nd grade math and field hockey (which I loved in PE, but have no clue about the actual rules). I’m actually pretty excited about this, because not only are the 1st and 2nd graders extremely adorable, but I’ll also get more practice with Spanish (since the school is English immersion, the upper grades only speak English). But the best part of working with them is being showered with hugs, besitos (little kisses), drawings, and being called “Mees Angela.” I have to say, I really miss hugs here. You kiss people on the cheek (even Salomo when he greets us at theater events—super weird), but that’s it.

I have to admit, at first I was really frustrated with my changing schedule at St. Peter’s, and in a larger sense, the lack of schedules here. I’ve discovered that while I love spontaneous adventures, when it comes to things I’m required to do, I like to know when, where, and what I should prepare. Americans in general are really schedule-oriented, but here, people arrive late (which is normal—my history prof says that to make sure someone arrives at the appointed time, you need to say “hora inglesa” (English time)). At first, I thought I’d be working with upper level English classes and was brainstorming activities to do and getting excited about that, and I thought I’d be doing volleyball, which I’ve played before and love recreationally…and then it all changed. The day this all occurred was just an all-around frustrating day for a bunch of people in the group…the newness of Chile had worn off, and we were discovering that there are things here that we’re not so fond of, and missing our American ways of life. So we vented to each other and went out for ice cream…and things have been fine overall since then! We’re learning that planned events are always subject to change, but that things turn out just fine—asi es la vida (such is life). Definitely hoping Chile will help me become a more flexible person.

Mornings are pretty busy between classes and service learning. I walk to and from school, and basically everywhere I can (coming back home is uphill…VERY uphill…I better have some amazing legs after all this). Most afternoons after lunch with my host parents, I end up walking down to the Centro to do homework or hang out with friends at Café Enjoy or Bravissimo, which are close to the beach. After the sun sets, I head home for once, homework, watching movies with my “nephew” in the program, and getting caught up on blogging, Skyping, or e-mailing. Usually a few people will meet up to go to Valparaiso, the beach, or explore some part of Vina on an afternoon. Wednesday nights, a group usually meets up to eat dinner or grab dessert and then hang out at Café Journal, the gringo bar. Fridays and Saturdays are also days to hang out in the afternoon and then go out to a discoteque (dance club). It’s always more fun when the group goes together. This past weekend was a girl from our group’s birthday, and she had the idea that all the girls dress up in crazy leggings. Mine were bright green zebra-striped, and I bought a layered black tank with slashes in it…I looked like a hunted zebra. Interestingly enough, Sarah got the exact same outfit without planning it…we laughed pretty hard when we saw each other and had a great time being twins. Everyone met up at Hollywood and watched the futbol game and then went out dancing—ended up being a great weekend.

Sundays are lazy days, for Mass and homework. One girl says her family calls them “fomingo” (fome=boring + Domingo=Sunday). I am definitely enjoying the balance between new adventures, relaxing, studying, hanging out, spending time with family, and going out.
The girls that I generally meet up with and I were discussing how we finally, in our first month here, feel like we’ve adjusted to living in Chile. Now that we feel comfortable, we’re beginning to plan weekend trips to Argentina and other cities. I love Vina del Mar, but feel like I’ve seen and experienced most of it, so am ready to explore other parts of Chile and South America!