Street Art & Ex-Carcel in Valparaíso

In my Chilean Culture class we have been learning about the street art/graffiti that decorates (while conveying a message) the streets and buildings throughout Valparaíso. We had the opportunity to listen to Charquipunk, a well-known graffiti-artist here in Valparaíso, talk about his art and the history of graffiti in Chile. Then, on Thursday (May 14) we took a field trip to the Ex-Carcel that has been turned into a place where artists are free to express themselves all over the walls, displaying different murals. The Ex-Carcel is an old prison in Valpo where prisoners were jailed for many years. Here we met an ex-prisoner, who now works at the Ex-Carcel as a volunteer sharing his experience. His story was very interesting since he had been imprisoned for 13 years and at one point he had escaped. He described how him and 11 guys dug a giant hole that took 5 months to dig. He had escaped through the hole and was free for 3 months until they found him. I thought it was really neat to be given a tour by an ex-prisoner and to understand the experiences there through his own account.

To see the work of Charquipunk click here.

And to see photos that I took at the Ex-Carcel, visit my photo website.

May 8, 2009 Santiago Excursion: Dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet

Chile has an interesting history, but most notably a horrifying past between the years of 1973 and 1990. During this time period, Chile was ruled under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and tens of thousands of people were tortured and even killed. Many people were imprisoned and detained in the National Stadium in Santiago, as well as sent to concentration camps where they had “disappeared” (people do not know what happened to them). Most of Pinochet’s victims were accused “communists” or “socialists”, including professors, doctors, priests, students and activists. It is believed that over 3,000 people were killed in Chile during Pinochet’s regime and of course, thousands more were affected in some way. And the worst part... This would NOT have been possible without the support of the CIA and President Richard Nixon. Yes, that is right, the United States supported Pinochet and his human rights violations.

I didn’t know anything about this before I started learning about Chile. It is almost surreal to me as these events were not that long ago. I would need to write an entire essay with complete research to fully explain the history of Chile during this time period. As part of our program (ISA) we have had “charlas” or lectures/discussions over the Dictatorship of Pinochet presented by a history Professor here, in order to give us a better understanding of Chile’s past. Then, Friday, May 8, we took a trip to Santiago to visit a few different places including:

Archivo de Vicaría de la Solidaridad – Documentation & Archives of the Vicarage for Solidarity, including documents and information of what happened in different written forms.

Fundación Solidaridad – Here we had tea with the lady who headed this great organization that works with women in poverty. The women create different crafts by hand and then sell them in the fair trade store there, as well as ship to other fair trade stores in other countries.

Cementario General – The General Cemetery AKA “City of the Dead”, and it was just that. More tombstones than I have ever seen. Here there was a memorial with crosses representing the Disappeared during Pinochet’s regime.

Centro de Detención “Villa Grimaldi” – Here was the detention camp where people were detained and tortured illegally. Many people were executed here, as well. It is now a memorial park to remember the victims.

*Pictures of these places can be found on my photo website.

If you have 20 minutes to spare, this Youtube video helps to briefly describe what happened... here.

What season is it?

As it is getting warm there, it is getting colder here! When I first got here, the weather was beautiful with lots of sunshine and warmth. It was perfect after months of snow in Michigan. I was hoping this beautiful weather would remain throughout my entire stay here in Chile, but the last couple weeks have felt more like Michigan’s fall season. It’s currently May and mind is confused. It doesn’t know what to think as I walk through crunchy leaves, when the month of May is associated with sun and flowers. The weather here varies from day to day and even between Valpo and Viña. One day it is sunny and warm. The next day it is cold, cloudy and rainy. On these days, I look forward to the summer time of warmth and sun that I will return to.

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