Notes from Chile

1. Chile is so diverse that you can visit everything: the desert, glaciers, valleys with vineyards, volcanoes, mountains, and even the ocean.
2. Chileans eat BREAD for every meal of the day. It is no wonder they are the 2nd greatest consumers of bread!
3. Along with bread, tea is a staple in the Chilean house. They don’t have dinner, but “Once” (or Tecito) instead that consists of bread with a variety of toppings (meat, cheese, avocado, paté. marmalade, etc…) and tea.
4. They do not have central heating like we do in the States, instead they use electric heaters called “estufas”.
5. A lot of people do not own cars and instead use public transportation.
6. The metro here is the cleanest metro I have EVER been on, including the metro station.
7. Ice cream here is really gelato, and the best ever. It is super cheap compared to the gelato in the states. 900$ pesos for a giant scoop=about 1.50$
8. Chileans talk SUPER fast and the lingo is unlike any Spanish you’ll ever learn in a textbook.
9. Chilean slang is called “Chilenismos” (words or phrases they’ve created). *This has made learning Spanish here far more difficult than I expected.
10. They put mayonnaise on everything, although the mayo here tastes different and perhaps, less fattening.
11. You always know when there is a Chilean soccer game on. The yelling and screaming echoes through the neighborhoods.
12. The division of classes is clearly evident, especially between Valparaiso and Viña.
13. Stray dogs outnumber the people on the streets. Sometimes they travel in large packs or try to start fights with other stray dogs. Beware and try not to step in the dog poop.
14. Parties don’t begin before midnight and don’t end until after the sunrises. And Chileans don’t just party on Friday and Saturday nights.
15. American influence can be seen everywhere.
16. Chileans identity themselves as Catholic, but its likely they are non-practicing Catholics.
17. Jumbo is the fancy Wal-mart of Chile, unfortunately.
18. Aside from Jumbo, you must go to special stores to buy all your products. The panadería for bread, carcinería for meat, pastelería for pastries and cakes, La Feria for fresh fruits and vegetables and more.
19. Chileans LOVE television and they watch all of the same television shows. (only another American influence)
20. Refrigeration is not the same concept as it is in the States. Eggs and milk can be found on the dry shelves in the supermarket.
21. Blonde-haired girls are prized here. The men in the streets will let you know. And most times it’s unflattering.
22. You should always tip the bagger at the supermarket. It’s likely they are not receiving a wage and most times its very young boys.
23. There are a lot of young couples with babies, since birth control and condoms are not as readily available as in the States. Abortion is not an option.
24. Rush hour is from 7pm to 8pm here.
25. It’s normal to see couples making out in the streets or parks.
26. The public education here is really bad. It seems as though most of the time the students aren’t even in school due to teachers striking and protesting.
27. Chileans are conscious about preserving water and electricity, but unfortunately could care less about throwing their trash on the ground.
28. In order to get hot water, they must light the “califant” in the house.
29. When out to eat, it’s acceptable to take a long time and you must ask for the bill when you’re ready to pay. This is because eating is a very social event here.
30. Time doesn’t exist here. Everyone’s always “running late”. Expect to wait for everything.

Smoking: It kills.

"In Chile, tobacco kills 16,000 people a year. The next could be you."

"Tobacco Kills. If you want to live, quit smoking." (*These quotes are issued by the Chilean Government and the Ministry of Health)

I’m not a fan of smoking. In all honesty, I think it’s disgusting. Of all the pollutants that we are exposed to in this world, why would one choose to put MORE into their body? I won’t rant about how much I dislike smoking, but it’s still something I don’t understand.

One of the first things I noticed about Chileans is that so many of them smoke! It’s uncommon NOT to smoke here and for this reason, I’ve become more accustomed to people smoking and being places where there are no rules against such behavior. I still choke when the lady sitting next to me on the bus smells like an ashtray or the smoke from the person in front of me blows into my face, suffocating me on the street. But, it’s a cultural difference that I have had to get used to. What amuses me about smoking here though is that the cigarette packages have this awful image of a man portraying the possible results from smoking. Not to mention all of the writing informing people of the health affects. My friend and I had to laugh the other day when we discovered that our university store/cafeteria doesn’t sell Tylenol of any sort, but certainly provides cigarettes for purchasing. Only food and cigs.

Now I need to research the percentage of Chileans with lung cancer…

La Serena for Semana Santa

La Serena: April 9-12

This last weekend my friend Nicole and I traveled by bus for 6 hours (normally 4 hrs in your own car) to La Serena, in the northern part of Chile. We planned the trip on a whim since we had another 4-day weekend for Semana Santa (Easter holiday). We traveled overnight Wednesday night to arrive bright and early Thursday morning in La Serena. The first day we wandered around La Serena and visited “Parque Japones” (Japanese Park), a beautiful Japanese-styled park. The second day we went on an excursion to Isla Damas (Isla=Island, Damas=Women). We had to first travel by van through the valley and into some desert land to reach the coast (Punto Choros). Through the desert land we traveled at high speeds on dirt, one-way road (like two-tracking or something-I thought we were going to die several different times). It was hard to imagine that we were going to an island, when there wasn’t a drop of water in sight. We got to see some wild guanacos though! They’re kind of like llamas, I guess. But our tour guide told us “to look out for the guanacos” because if we see the guanacos, then we will get to see dolphins. I wasn’t sure (and still have no clue) how guanacos are related to dolphins but apparently, every time he has seen guanacos, he was able to see the dolphins in the ocean. Well, once we climbed into our little engine boat and headed out to sea, sure enough, we saw dolphins! They were jumping out of the water right next to our boat! It was so cool to see, as there are only 3-colonies of bottled-nosed dolphins left in the world and one colony is right here in Chile! We explored the ocean in our little engine boat looking for dolphins, sea lions, penguins, and different types of birds. It was so beautiful and we were able to see so much sea life. Eventually we made it to Isla Damas, where we were able to wander or relax for a little bit. The island is inhabitable by people and serves more or less as a tourist destination for these small day-excursions (although there were people camping in tents there! There is no food or water there though). You can swim or just walk around there. There wasn’t much to see, but the beautiful view.

The next day we scheduled another excursion (they were so easy and cheap and included a meal). Since La Serena is in the Valle de Elqui (Elqui Valley), we found it necessary to see the valley somehow. We traveled in another small touring van through the valley, where we frequently pulled over to look at the different crops that were grown throughout the valley. Making our way further north into the mountains, we visited a dam that they had created there as a source of irrigation for the crops. We also visited the small town of Vicuña, a museum/school house where Gabriela Mistrel (famous poet & activist) went to school, Pisco Elqui (a small town where the grapes for Pisco are grown. Pisco=popular/famous alcoholic drink of Chile), a Pisco distillery (where the Pisco is made & over 100 yrs old!), and then to a restaurant where all the food was cooked by sunlight! (←very cool & delicious!) In the evening when it got really dark, we went to an observatory called "Mamalluca". There in the north, the sky is so clear at night that you can practically see every star in the sky! It was absolutely amazing and we were able to look through telescopes to see the stars and galaxies even closer. We also got to see the moon (so close we could see the craters on the moon) and the planet Saturn! It was almost surreal and the whole experience felt like a dream.

I’m still amazed at how much we did and saw in three days. It was an awesome Semana Santa holiday =)

ConCón, Horcón, Zapallar and Roca Oceánica

April 4, 2009: Beach Excursion!

Yesterday I went on a beach excursion with my program. All of the places were just a little north of where I live in Viña del Mar. We first went to ConCón, where we climbed sand dunes and burned our feet in the sand doing so. It was worth it once we reached the top as the view was spectacular! Traveling by bus, we then visited the small town of fisherman and artisans, Horcón. Here we had only (I felt) a minimal amount of time to scarf down some fried seafood and cheese empanadas (I had a shrimp & cheese-best empanada yet!) and to explore the beautiful beach where the fresh fish are caught. After being herded back to our bus (typical routine with a 50+ gringo invasion), we were off to Zapallar. At Zappallar we had two hours to lay on the beach and it was glorious. Zapallar was nearly the equivalency of Hollywood or Beverly Hills, with giant houses that overlooked the beach owned by the wealthy. We forgot for a while that we were in Chile… After Zapallar, we headed back towards Viña. We stopped off at Roca Oceánica near Reñaca. We were able to see the sun set as we stood on the giant cliffs of rocks that overlooked the ocean. Oh, what a beautiful day it was!
*You can click on the picture to see it in a better quality*
Sand Dunes

Hórcon fishing Village

Zapallar Beach

Roca Oceánica

Roca Oceánica

¡CHI-CHI-CHI LE-LE-LE VIVA CHILE!

April 1-National Soccer Game

The soccer game was awesome. We traveled to Santiago to see Chile play against Uruguay at their national stadium. Our seats were great and were able to see all the action from all angles. I’ve never seen such high-spirited people at a soccer game and go as crazy as the Chileans do! Although, soccer here is the equivalency to football in the US, security was unbelievable. The entire stadium except a sliver was completely red filled with Chilean attire and spirit. It was unbelievable, but so much fun!

And the things they would yell to the opposing team… I’m not even going to repeat them here, but let me tell you, it was definitely a cultural experience. I enjoyed being there among the thousands of Chileans, yelling and cheering for our team. It was a great time and I imagined how the game was for those who were not there… the yelling and cussing echoing through the neighborhoods. Oh how I love Chile!

Few more favorite photos of Perú

...since I have hundreds to share...

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu deserves it’s own post. The hundreds of photos I took while in Perú and at Machu Picchu do not portray the beauty that I witnessed with my own eyes. I can’t even find the words to describe how gorgeous and mystifying Macchu Picchu was. The beauty was unbelievable and to comprehend that people, the Incan’s, had created such a place so high in the Andes Mountains was surreal. All I can say is you have to go there!

We arrived to the park bright and early to ensure our entrance into the park. Due to my illness the day before and money, we didn’t do the hike up the mountain that everyone talks about. Instead we did hike to the Sun gate first (for those of you who know what I’m talking about). It was really foggy in the morning and one point started raining. However, the clouds would clear for a few seconds and we would quickly try to snap photos of the sights. By the time we were done with our hike to the Sun gate, the fog had cleared and we were able to see everything!! The sun came out and it was unbelievable.

As I mentioned before, we traveled from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (town where Machu Picchu is) by train on Monday, March 23. We left early in the morning from Santiago and arrived in Aguas Calientes around noon. It was a 4-hour train ride as the train had to continuously change directions in order to change tracks and gain momentum to climb into the mountains. I really enjoyed the train ride (until I started throwing up) as it was an opportunity to see the true life of Peruvians in the countryside and in the mountains and the poverty that exists within Perú. As a foreigner and tourist, it was hard to see the people and their lives. To think that we were traveling on a train that runs through their neighborhoods everyday, blaring its horn, disturbing their daily activities (going to school or work-must wait till train completely passes through and while they are trying to sleep) and that they have probably never or could ever travel by to see one of the most beautiful places in the world. One of the Seven Wonders of the World. Since I was able to travel as a tourist and had the privilege to see Machu Picchu in all its beauty, the next time I go back to Perú I would like to go with a different motive. I’d like to go back as a volunteer to do social work there.

Beautiful Perú!

Perú: March 20-27, 2009

My trip to Perú was amazing! I went with three of my friends from ISA and we didn’t really have a plan, other than the fact that we all knew we going to visit Machu Picchu one of the days that we were there. We had made hostel reservations prior to departing but as far as any plans, we just left with a Southern American travel guide and decided we’d talk to people to see what and how to do things and if that didn’t work we’d have our travel book. On Friday we had to take a bus from Valparáiso to Santiago, where we would then spend the night in the airport as our plane departed Saturday morning at 6am. The Santiago airport and how we got there is another story. Nonetheless, we made it to Perú in the early afternoon and spent the afternoon wandering around Cuzco. Other than the two days we spent in Aguas Calientes and visiting Machu Picchu, we spent our time wandering around Cuzco. Cuzco was touristy and filled with backpackers, but it was also filled with culture and plenty of different places to visit. We visited several Artesian Markets and local restaurants and markets.

I absolutely loved Perú and would love to go back again someday. It is very different from Chile in many different aspects. It is not modernized to the extent that Chile is and is actually quite poor. In fact, everything there was ridiculously cheap. At one restaurant, we each paid 10 sol for a full course meal, which is equivalent to a little more than 3$. The economy of Perú is heavily reliant on tourism and that was quite evident as we walked through the streets, people would ask you to come to their restaurant or shop and try to give you a deal. It was really interesting! Peruvians there were always very friendly with us and willing to help whenever we asked. It helped that we spoke Spanish as they were more appreciative we could speak THEIR language instead of them struggling to speak English. We met a bunch of different people throughout the trip. The great thing about traveling is everyone is outgoing and excited to meet you. They want to know where you’re from and where you are going. It truly is a great spirit and never once did we feel scared or unsafe (of course we were smart about what we were doing so that helped too).