adelante huevones!

there is not one thing about this that is not bittersweet. nor is there anything that i can say about it that is not cliche. the thing about cliches is, well, theyre oversaid because a lot of the time they are true. i may have thought that this entire experience was an emotional montaña rusa (rollercoaster), but that was nothing compared to the utter polorization of my current emotional state. how does one say goodbye to an entire chunk of thier life, to people they may never see again? additionally, how does one do it without alienating people on the other side? yeah.

but así es la vida, and aa flight 940 scl -> dfw takes off at 9:40 pm. after connecting, i land at dtw at 2:11 pm tomorrow. that means for 16 hours and 31 minutes i will be in no man´s land. its kind of like the space between when they stamp your passport leaving a country and when the next window stamps it as having entered theirs. i suppose, then, that dallas will be the ultimate purgatory (although generally texas is more like hell). neither here nor there.

whatever

please rub in all your sunscreen before being ignorant

so, marissa, anna and i have just returned to stgo from an incredible trip to peru and bolivia. more specifically, cusco,peru then aguas calientes, peru, machu picchu, puno,peru and copacabana, bolivia which are both on lake titicaca, and lastly la paz, bolivia´s de facto capital (it has two). while perhaps not profoundly changing me, the trip did a great deal to open my eyes as well as re-whet my appetite for travel. while there are scarcely words for the things that i have seen and done (and probably not even enough pictures), i can manage to summon up a few phrases about one of the inevitable evils of travel: tourists.

throughout the duration of my semester in chile i have perferred to designate myself as a traveler and not a tourist. perhaps i am flattering myself. it is altogether possible that the distinction exists solely in my head and allows me to think i am better than others. if this is the case so be it. it does not change my opinions on the subject.

on our trip we undoubtedly did touristy things. one can not go to machu picchu and not be a tourist, and one can not go to peru without stopping at machu picchu. i think theres a law. or there should be. we also paid tour groups to take us to other ruins, most notably sacshayhunan (pronounced something like ´sexy woman´, which made marissa giggle more than saying lake titicaca). while at these sites i resented the presence of other tourists in my photographs and blocking my views, i was just as guilty as they. there is a reason that descendants of the incans knew of but did not disclose the whereabouts of the sacred machu picchu site. it took an american, hiram bingham to ´discover´ the ruins, with the help of a very young boy he bribed into taking him there. the people knew exactly what would happen, and, surprise, surprise, it did. now the children and grandchildren of those who kept its location a secret are serving as guides for the masses of foriengers that flock to oogle its unquestionably amazing presence. perhaps he took a liking to us because we were at least struggling through the tour with our spanish, but our guide was honest with us. he told us about how his grandfather was hurt by the treatment of the sacred site. he also claimed that there is another ruined city as yet ´undiscovered´ that puts machu picchu to shame, but that the people who know are trying much harder to protect it. while my curiosity peaked, i let go of the thought that perhaps we could go there. a driver in cusco had similar sentiments. he spoke of how his children do not know a cusco without tourists, how their entire lives they will likely be serving the tourist culture, either through a tour group or a specially geared business or restaurant.

these mild stirrings of disgust came to a head when we visited the floating islands of the uros people in lake titicaca from puno. the uros people fled to the water to escape extinction at the hands of the ayamami (im sure thats spelled wrong) people. they built rafts out of the reeds that grew in the lake, which eventually expanded into entire dwellings. there exist houses on these islands built of reeds that people still live in. but why? the fear of the ayamami has long since disappeared, indeed there is so much mixing between the groups that they have essentially merged into one. these days the uros continue to add reeds to keep their islands afloat as a tourist spectacle. they are always dressed in ´´traditional´´ garb and a visit to the islands is little more than a disturbing caricature of their former selves. there is not a day where tourists do not visit. there is not a child that does not pose politely for a photo and then demand money. their entire life is a business, no better than having your picture taken with mickey mouse. they take people on short rides in ´typical´ reed boats for 5 peruvian soles while they themselves get around in outboard motorboats. im not quite sure what i expected when we went out to these islands, but the three of us stood in shocked revulsion as the other tourists behaved as though they were at a circus, chasing chickens, entering houses, and generally treating the residents like novelties, which, for a price, they were happy to be.

so what does tourism do to a native culture other than exploit what is ´different´ for a few photographs?

question to ponder. ill be home in 2 days. think about it.

greetings from cusco

im in peru right now, therefore this is going to be super-short...basically as long as it takes anna and marissa to finish what they are doing. we have been in cusco about a day and a half now, and are leaving tomorrow morning at 545 to go to macchu piccu. im definitely very excited, although cusco is a city i would love to spend more time in...aside from the fact that i have a new and legitimate fear of the vehicles in the street. yesterday i witnessed one hit a pedestrian. it was strange because they picked him up and put him into the car that hit him and sped off. now, i know the dangers of projecting american opinions onto other cultures, but i dont think that was the best idea. anyway, i hope hes ok. i am, however, being extremely extremely careful around these narrow cobblestoned streets. perhaps too much, but thats ok with me. other than that, we are just hobknobbing around this hip yet traditional city. i absolutely love it. many more stories to come, as i will be home in 11 days (i know, i cant believe it either).

loading photos takes bloody forever

so, without further ado, the photos as promised of the paro (strike). again, photos are not edited, as color values are shot on this monitor. i can not wait to get my hands on photoshop again.

here sheltered u catolica kids march around campus with signs

and have a sit-in. i have video footage of them chanting and such. its actually pretty cool despite the fact that i think they had no concept of what was really going on.

some of the signs out in front of campus. if you look closely, you can see the jesus statue in the distance embracing all those who enter campus (behind the word geo). i find that ironic, but maybe im the only one.

meanwhile, in front of the u de chile, this was going on. water being shot out of crazy tanks at the masses assembled there in protest. they had stopped tear-gassing because of bad press.

tank like thing. shoots water at great speeds. is scary.

high school students boarded up inside their school watching the chaos.

dave´s ear...and colin´s cigarette...and me, in case you forget what i look like.

wordplay

so...i am in love with little black girls. seriously, lets break it down... negro = black; negra = black, feminine; -ita = little, feminine; negrita = little cookies that i buy and eat almost every day, aka, little black girls, and damn are they good. phrases like ´´i just ate a little black girl´´ and ´´i absolutely have to get my hands on a little black girl´´ are a part of my daily life here in chile, and, strangely enough, in spanish they have no racist or sexual connotation. this troubles me. also troubling? i once had lunch with a chilean family i didnt know. it was a volunteer program to introduce foreigners to chilean culture. i enjoyed it well enough until the mother made the comment ´´you used to never see black people in santiago, now they are everywhere!´´ aside from the obvious nationalistic righteousness of the phrase, the kicker of it was that, other than one african american student in my program from u of m, i find myself surprised to see more than 3 black people in any given week. and asian or indian people? forget it. everywhere? really? i think you might be exaggerating a bit. what chile is severly lacking is diversity.

granted, for a long time chile had more people fleeing its borders than knocking down its doors trying to get in. a dictatorship does that to you. however, it is a strange feeling to realize that we are the diversity. many people have little, if any, experience with strangers that look differently than they do. i am aware that i look like a foreigner a majority of the time, but it is more my mannerisms and american self-important attitude than my outward appearance. there exist chileans that are whiter, blonder, more freckled or european looking than i am. however, there are little, if any, african chileans.

conversations with the girl on my program have made my respect for her skyrocket. she has been taught her entire american life that she doesnt have to deal with discrimination and prejudice, and yet, for the past four months she has had no other option but to swallow it. all of us get stared at here, its the machismo thing, and yes, its annoying, but for her it is different. at times she is more of a sexual object, at times feared, lusted after, looked down upon, cursed. given the choice, ill stick with wolf whistles and obnoxious ´´que liiiiiiiinda´´ catcalls any day. i do not pretend to understand her experience. not surprisingly, given the strong and optimistic person that she is, she has adopted an amazing attitude. children, for whom it may be their first and only experience with a person of a different race, deserve kind treatment. no one will be served by creating new stereotypes. youths, who need to know better, should be taught. adults, who should know better...well, theres no protection for them.

i initially struggled with the obligation of being a representative of my country and culture. the american stereotypes of fast food and george bush are tough to combat. people dont understand that we are not a people homogeneous in our beliefs or actions, nor do many believe that life in the us is not like the movies. however difficult that may have been for me, it is nothing compared to having to represent an entire race of people, many belonging to cultures she has never seen nor experienced. i am in awe of her inner strength.

and so, while i do love negritas, i would love them more with a different name (in this case a rose by another name would smell sweeter). many chileans (not all, of course) have a long way to go in understanding and appreciating other cultures.

and dont even get me started on the chilean name for a mcdonald´s happy meal.

chile que he vivido

im sorry to all the non-spanish speakers who read this...which is probably everyone. i was recently charged with summarizing my experiences in chile. below you will find the paper that resulted, a bit cheesy, but at the same time true. i would translate it, but im pretty tired now. instead you will probably find something similar (in english, i promise) but with less cheese in a few days or so. also, more pictures will follow from the strikes, the desert, and perhaps my mountian excursion. that is, provided that i can snag them from others, as my digital camera was recently stolen, but that also is a story for another day (and not even a good one).

Hace cuatro meses que llegué en Santiago de Chile. Eso tiempo ha sido lo más rápido y lo más lento en mi vida. A veces la cosa que quería más era mi familia o algo familiar de mi vida allá. A la misma vez, no estoy lista a salir de ese país. Todavía existe demasiada cosas que quiero hacer. No siento bien preparada a resumir mis experiencias porque las no han terminado. Solo hace algunos meses que he sentido acostumbrada y cómoda en chile. He empezado tener mejores amigos en Chile aparte de mis amigos del programa. De repente, es tiempo a prepararme a salir. No sé como eso pasa…pero también las cosas que me pasaron han sido increíbles.
La cosa la más importante a mi el la conocimiento de nueva gente. He conocido personas muy distintas, de mi universidad, de mi país, de mi mundo. He tratado cada persona como una nueva oportunidad. Cada persona tiene perspectivos diferentes, historias diferentes. También cada persona me ha enseñado algo sobre Chile, el mundo, o mi misma. Por ejemplo, mi mamá chilena, Paty, me enseña algo cada día. Ella siempre está hablando de la cultura chilena, de su día, de lo que está ocurriendo. Ella me explicó mucho sobre el paro y noticias. Además, me da el amor y afección que me extraño.
Otro aspecto importante es que he estado en Chile durante cosas muy importantes en la historia del país. Yo la vi a la nueva presidenta Michele Bachelet en su primera charla con la gente de Santiago. Estuve en La Moneda durante su primero discurso. El hecho que pudiera ver ese evento monumental me importaba mucho. Estoy feliz que Chile votara una mujer quien es socialista, agnóstica y separada de su esposo a ser su líder. No creo que los estados unidos puedan hacer lo mismo, no ahora. Por todo de su machismo, eso me parecía bastante tolerante.
También, estaba aquí durante del paro estudiantil. Fui a Alameda durante las protestas. Me parecía que los estudiantes no tuvieran ni un plan ni organización. Solo miré a niños tirando piedras a los caballeros. Creo que eso no va a ayudar su meta. La lastima es que están pidiendo más igualdad dentro de la sistema educativa, pero es probable que los caballeros sean caballeros porque no recibían una buena educación. No sabían donde dirigir su frustración y entonces todos sufrían. Estoy de acuerdo con lo que piden los estudiantes, solo esperaba que ellos lo pidieran en una manera mejor, sin violencia.
He viajado mucho dentro del país, pero no bastante. Siempre es una pregunta de dinero, y nunca hay bastante dinero por todo quiero hacer. Estuve en Viña de Mar, Valparaíso, Puerto Varas, Valdivia, Niebla, Villarrica, Pucón, San Pedro de Atacama, Batuco, y por supuesto Santiago. Tenía la oportunidad a viajar en Argentina, a Buenos Aires y Mendoza, y Colonia de Sacramento en Uruguay también. Como dije, he viajado mucho, pero quedan muchos lugares donde quiero ir. Me encantan las diferencias dentro las cuidades, los partes pobres y los partes ricos, los hermosos y los feos. La distinción es importante.
También, he encantado ver los paisajes del país. En el sur, estaba lloviendo y estábamos mojados pero en el norte estaba lo más seca que he estado en mi vida. Toda de mi piel estaba pelando. La región de los lagos era tan verde en contrasto con el desierto de Atacama donde era colores de tierra y sol. No existía nada más. Y siempre a mi me encanta la playa del mar. Los sonidos de las ondas del mar me hacían dormir suavemente y los olores de la sal me fascinaron.
Una cosa que no me gusta es el machismo. Soy una mujer muy independiente y el tratamiento de los hombres me hace sentir un poco rara. Nunca he tenido miedo, pero a mi no me gusta sentir como toda la gente me está mirando. Tampoco no quiero recibir gritas en las calles. Solo quiero ser mi mismo y que nadie me moleste. Sería feliz a caminar en las calles de Ann Arbor y sin la atención de cada hombre en la región. Di cuenta que las gritas solo ocurre cuando no hay un hombre conmigo. Por eso, los hombres de los estados unidos no entienden la gravedad de la situación. He caminado la misma calle con y sin un hombre dentro de cinco minutos y tenía dos experiencias distintas. Yo hablé con un amigo chileno sobre eso cuando el gritó a una mujer en la calle frente de mi. Fue una conversación muy interesante porque estábamos venidos de dos sistemas culturales diferentes. Yo sé que el machismo es una parte de la cultura chilena, pero no sé porque las mujeres acá toleran el tratamiento así.
Cada día en Chile ha sido una sorpresa. A veces yo paro y pienso de lo que estoy haciendo en esa momento. Antes de llegué, no pudiera adivinar lo que iba a hacer. Fui ´parapenting´ desde un montaña en Argentina, ´sandboarding´ en la arena de la valle de la muerte, anduve en una caballo al lado de un lago durante el atardecer, pero, lo más importante a mi, comuniqué con gente en una idioma que no es mío durante cuatro meses. Ha estado difícil, pero cada día es mejor, y eso es que digo a mi misma “cada día mejor”, como la frase de Ñuñoa, mi comuna. Es un poco tonto, pero me ayuda a pensar en eso. Cuando yo pienso de mi nivel de castellano cuando llegué, me hace orgullosa y me da la confianza seguir.
Sé que es cliché, pero no existen palabras que pueden explicar bastante mis experiencias acá. Por eso, estoy feliz que mis padres pudieran visitarme. Ahora Chile es una parte importante de mi vida. Es difícil a explicarla a personas quienes no han visto Chile. Casi toda de la gente en mi vida nunca podría entender la realidad de mi vida acá, lo que hago cada día, los sonidos que oyó cuando camino en las calles, el color de mi casa, mi voz cuando hablo en castellano. No entenderían la montaña rusa que ha sido mi vida, mis emociones. No cantidad ni calidad de fotos o cuentos va a funcionar como estar en Chile conmigo. Chile, y Santiago en específico, van a tener una parte de mi corazón siempre. He encontrado mi misma acá. He descubierto mi camino, creo. Nada va a cambiar eso.

social explosion

we are on strike.

for the past week or so there has been rumblings of trouble emerging from the high school level. as early as last friday, schools were gated and gates barred with stacked chairs and desks to prevent entry, the outsides of the buildings covered with signs decrying the government. The high schoolers are protesting the costs of national college entry exams, student transportation, and, most importantly, the localization of public schooling. during the pinochet regime public schools were shifted from the control of the national government to that of the municipalities. this has resulted in a gross distribution of resources much like we see in the district system of the united states. quite obviously, there are regions that are funding their schools adequately, and there are those that are vastly underfunded. for the past two months i have been volunteering in one such school, and i can assert that the situations are awful: 40-50 kids to one teacher at the first grade level, minimal discipline, hardly any resources...the kids are lucky if they do manage to learn. so, the high schoolers are calling attention to the broken promises that the past few governments have made to them by boarding up their facilities and taking to the streets. private high schools also joined the fight, saying that regardless of their own financial situation, more equal education should be available to all.

tuesday, the pontificia universidad catolica de chile took to their markers and drawing paper, uniting with the highschoolers in a show of solidarity and bringing the university to a screeching halt. since then, protests, marches, songs, posters, (as well as grills with hot dogs and burgers) have been in high supply while classes have not. since each individual department votes daily to decide if they will continue to support the strike some classes have gone on, albiet with suspiciously low numbers. each campus (i have classes on three of the four) has its own distinct way of participating with the strike. san joaquin, the largest campus, has been home to several loud marches throughout the campus, as crowds move from one location to the next shouting and singing. campus oriente, home to both music and art schools among others, has a hippie-love approach, and the posters adorning the gates and walls here are certianly the most appealing. casa central, closer to downtown santiago, has gated up all of its entrances but one and posted aproximately 564849 security guards around it. there has been scattered violence in the downtown area, including random and senseless burning of objects that has lead to unnecessary teargassing and the detainment of about 700 people (hey, sounds like michigan state).

the government, ministry of education, and student organization representatives met yesterday. the students will continue to strike until an agreement is reached, expected some time friday.

The most impressive part of all of this to me is that people, the entire country in fact, are actually paying attention to a bunch of high schoolers. i cant imagine this taking place in the united states, not only because i dont see high schoolers uniting on a national level (or even a state level) for a common cause, but also because no one would pay attention to them even if they did. our country is too apathetic. also, the rich people just wouldnt want to share the educational resources of their trust fund babies with the rest of the country.

i find it fascinating to be here during all of this, although when the metro conductior tells everyone to shut the windows of the train so that tear gas does not get in i do feel a bit strange.

ps. its june! where did my life go?

history lesson

once upon a time, say september 11 (ironic?) 1973, a man named Augusto Pinochet stormed the chilean government, killing existing president Salvador (also ironic) Allende and taking power of the country. with the ´´help´´ of the united states government, of course. what followed was 17 years of dictatorship at the hands of pinochet, in which over 27,000 members of the liberal youth opposition were kidnapped, tortured, and usually killed, although many of the bodies were never seen again. there are many chileans who will debate the horrors of this time with you, especially members of the upper class who benefited from the economic gains of the time. there are also many who choose to believe that the human rights abuses never occurred.

recently the members of the michigan-wisconsin program were treated to a tour headed by a former prisoner of the regime. before-hand, some students familiar with more conservative chileans were warned about the ´´brainwashing´´ they were about to recieve. we were taken to one of the earliest detention centers, where our guide described, sometimes with too much detail, the atrocities that had happened to him and others at the center. afterwards, we went to the santiago general cemetery, where lie the bodies of over 6.5 million people, including salvador allende.

the trip to the cemetery was quite interesting, as the richer family tombs, ornately carved and impressively expensive, gave way to smaller, simpler structures. these bled into plots of land covered with flowers, and then those less cared for, and finally ´´rentable´´ and common graves. the contrast between the economically distinct sectors was breathtaking, as is the chilean relationship with the dead. the cemetery was full of people caring for tombs and graves, hanging out by the family site.

although at some points i felt as though the tour might have been a bit over the top (as a frequent tour guide, i cynically doubted the legitimacy of his tears), it is impossible, for me at least, to ignore the reality of the dictatorship. people left their houses each day not knowing if they were going to disappear during the day. and it wasnt that long ago. the contrast between that time and now is incredible, but this world is a crazy crazy place

rented graves mean they move your body to the common grave after your family stops paying

mouth open, gaping, like a tourist in new york

the mountians of which i have spoken so highly have been on a gradual retreat over the past month and a half. it started slowly, where the crevaces were no longer distinguishable and the colors began to fade. then the smog began to eat entire peaks. recently, the outline has completely disappeared into the clouds of lung cancer producing particles. however, last night it rained, bringing said particles plummeting towards the earth, and ever since i have been unable to tear my eyes away from the east. the mountians have re-appeared in all their infinate glory. moreover, in the time since i last saw them, the tops have been dipped in a vanilla coating of snow. nothing takes my breath away like rediscovering the beauty of something i havent seen in a long time. its absence faded the memory, made me forget, but the remembering is almost painful. how could i forget?

on being sane

more often than not, i look around me wonder what chain of events has lead my life to this point. quite often i can not figure it out, although i guess sometimes i dont really want to. good, bad, frustrating, exhilarating, its all there, but in a different language in a place that i never fathomed i would live. tonight, encouraged by our second collective meal after a drought of not eating together for quite awhile, illana and paty got into another one of their rousing debates, tonight about grammar. i could watch those two go at it for hours, although there are times that i do have to leave the room because the sight of them bringing eachother to extreme points of confusion and frustration is just too entertaining to take any longer. they have quite a rapport going on a good day, illana reprimanding paty for eating things that arent healthy, paty getting after illana about eating breakfast. tonight, they danced eachother into circles trying to figure out the correct conjugation of preterit verbs, which did not end when illana left to take a shower. i came back to the conversation to find illana, in a towel and dripping wet, listening to paty read a definition out of the dictionary and then yelling ´´i won´´ with the grammar mistake they had just been discussing. between the two of them, i wonder about the sanity of this household. así es la vida

ali to chile: ITS NOT COLD

so apparently the arrival of april signified the beginning of a colder season, one which i have yet to experience. instinctively, chileans have begun leaving their houses in jackets, scarves, gloves, hats and boots at the same time as i wear my sandals, skirts and tanktops. the best part about this habit is the way people ask me, ´´arent you cold´´ ´´cold, no, arent you hot?´´. the looks i get are also pretty awesome. i guess this has been the warmest year in quite some time, maybe im in for a shock or something, but i still say that even the coldest nights here (as the nights have actually gotten colder) can not compare to walking to class in a michigan january. these people only think theyre cold. to be fair, it has gotten colder at night, but barely enough to justify a coat.

the time i jumped off a mountain with a man strapped to my back and somehow managed to survive (or, a trip that would have given my mom a heartattack)

ok, so maybe it was more like he jumped off the mountain with me strapped to him and i didnt kill us both, but either way, were were on a mountain, and then we werent, and it was crazy. spent last weekend in mendoza, argentina. it was a great trip, although short. we went there by riding through the andes, and there were definitely times i thought the bus was going to fall off the side of the road. it was like we were a toy car set winding up one side of these mtns and then down the other. it was great. we also went on a wine-champagne-olive oil tour, i am now a connesiur (i dont need to spell french words too, ok?) of fine wine. we also took mate, a very traditional south american tea that is really strong and is drunk (drank? my english is getting worse as my spanish gets better) in a teeny tiny cup that you refill after every sip. it was not that tasty, but is considered an honor to be invited to share it with others. so consider me honored. what else? made some argentine friends and laughed with them as costumed partygoers climbed the stairs past us. they are creative with costumes, must be becuase they dont waste them on something like halloween. and then, also, we did jump off the mtn. it was indescrible, and so i wont try. but my guy was proud of me for not throwing up, as i guess a lot of people do. we didnt sleep a whole lot, something about argentines being nocturnal or whatnot, but it was a lot of crazy fun. we tried to get them to move the bus, but it didnt work out

me on top of the mtn we jumped off

guy, parachute, mtn.

my feet, the world very far below me. theres trees on those hills.

me above the world. i wouldnt be looking like such an idiot if the wind hadnt blown my face into that position.

the adventures of change man and madame ceviche

my parents in the plaza de armas

although images are worth more than words (say, perhaps, a thousand), the photos posted here can not begin to describe the debauchery had in a single week in this country with my parents.

a bottle of chilean wine on the day of their arrival quickly turned into piscolas in the hotel room, which led to a hangover in my 6pm class.

my city looking beautiful in the afternoon sun. my mother, of course, declined to climb to the top of cerro santa lucia. a bit too high.

the sunset in viña del mar, castle in the distance

my mother, looking beautiful and enjoying her favorite time of day, my dad using shadows to add to the mystique of his new persona.

¿donde esta la biblioteca? or -- life with the olsens--

so, the olsens were here on their magical mystery tour which, alas, has come to an end. although at times it seemed like a scene out of Lost in Translation, i think all in all it went pretty well. my mother fell in love with ceviche, a way of preparing fish, which she confused with cerveza, the spanish word for beer. needless to say, she got a lot of strange looks. my dad got chilean driving experience in our rented car while giving my mom and i whiplash. he also grew quite fond of the word despues, but often forgot what it meant (after, later), which lead to a lot of random confusion. they also had a lively incident with an atm machine that involved taking out 8, 20, 80 and 200 dollars in each of four attempts in a span of 5 minutes. we laughed a lot. i think the best part of it all was having them see my life here(and of course, seeing them), as though if people that are a large part of my life there see my life here, it will somehow make it more real. a lot of the time i feel as though i am living in this world that isnt quite real life, but it is the life that im living nonetheless. almost as though now the existance of this life is more valid now. i dont know. pictures to follow.

ba baby

so, somehow between an exam and a birthday party and a friend moving to london so ill never ever see him again the week passed by without my noticing. crazy how that happens. (ps. did you know it was april? yeah, me either). so here are the photos i promised like forever ago. enjoy. (above is a view of the andes from the airplane.) there is still a whole bunch of grafitti everywhere, much of which is a result of the economic crash in 2001 that still provides the intense exchange rate. tango show!

illana on a moped in colonia, uruguay.

me on the empty but beautiful beach in uruguay

leaving at sunrise

¿wheres the beef?

the beef, i tell you, is in argentina. i have never been a steak lover, but i was told it was a must-try in argentina. wow am i glad i did. i ordered it the first night and then proceeded to order it 3 out of the four following nights. amazingly tender and flavorful and juicy. wow. however, my beef is with the internet, which once again ate an entire long entry that i wrote all about our trip to buenos aires and uruguay. entonces, you are only goign to get a brief outline and a bunch of photos. sorry. -people in buenos aires are absolutely beautiful, fashion, posture, and physically also. i have never checked out so many women in my life (although i definitely checked out more men) -less mullets (yay) -tango show filled with all the sensuality and tension that one would expect -trip to colonia, uruguay that included renting and riding mopeds around town, as well as an absolutely beautiful, empty beach. quite possibly my favorite city so far. -illana´s war wound from her unruly moped -the most beautiful dance club i have ever seen, on the water, with a view of the city, modeled after the sydney opera house. -argentine men who are even more foreward than chilean men (if thats possible). actual conversation ´´are you sleeping alone tonight?´´ ´´yes´´. tries to kiss me. ´´sorry im not interested´´ tries to kiss me. (in chile the tounge definitely comes before the kiss, but at least it comes after the conversation) -boca juniors soccer game, in which the entire stadium was dancing and singing for the entire time, especially after we won with a beautiful goal in the last two minutes. -a ton of shopping (great exchange rate, although i feel badly for enjoying their economic struggles), sightseeing, and general debauchery (argentines party even later than chileans. clubs are open until 7am as opposed to our 4 or 5).

the madres march...these women are still protesting the kidnapping and murder of their children during the dictatorship years ago. they meet every thursday at 3 or so outside the capitol buildings and walk in circles around the plaza de mayo. very sad.

ok actually, the rest of the photos are going to be posted a bit later...its taking too long and i have an exam to study for. but theres a lot. get fired up.

more toasted heads please

so, i dont even like red wine. or, i didnt. (i also didnt like avocado or sausage or cilantro, but thats not as interesting a story). but, being in chile, i feel its appropriate to sample the products and support the local economy. namely, the fine bottles (ok, so i buy the cheap ones, but hey, im on a fixed budget) of red wine (or white) created in my own backyard, or thereabouts. we recently went on a trip to viña concha y toro, the largest wine exporting vineyard in chile. beautiful, delicious. what else has happened in the past week? the first outing for my montañismo class. pretty fun, its a class about climbing mountians. in chile. awesome. also went up cerro san cristobol with my friend ricardo. beautiful views of santiago and rode in a cable car between a few mountians. what else? i actually participated in class this week. it was one of my proudest moments. knowing enough of what was going on to actually have the nerve to say something was really cool, especially because the prof understood me (kindof). yay for making progress. not a whole lot else is going on. leaving wednesday for buenos aires. loving me some carrie g. all not goign to daily elections and such. missing pizza and chocolate chip cookies. rockin out in chile.

voy a morir (im going to die)

lets get one thing straight: chile is a dangerous place. on more than one occasion, i have seen my short life flash before my eyes. i have other times considered myself to be in immediate danger. actually, im surprised ive made it this long, ive lived here what... a month? i suppose the key word in that sentence is lived, as in, im still alive. im pretty damn proud of that fact. now you might be thinking, jeez, whats going on in chile thats got ali so riled up...is it political unrest? unsavory characters? bird flu? alas, no, my friends. its the ground. i have noticed that in this country that there exists a very different perception of liability. and that idea can be honed in upon by simply walking down the street, sidewalk, hallway, etc, of any given location. remember being young and delighted by the perfect combination of polished hardwood floors, new socks, and velocity that would propel you from one end of a room to the other? yeah, chileans love that shit. but they love it in high heels (or sneakers, or flipflops), and they love it in the metro stations (and the discos, and the street). ill be walking along, minding my own business, and BAM! pulled groin muscle. its like walking on ice...but hotter...and alllllllllll the time. also, theyre tricky with those sidewalks. like, they look nice, all tiled or whatnot, but tread carefully my friend, because that stone that looks so normal, all lying in the grout like stones do, is actually a black hole. oh my god where did my foot go??? yeah. these chileans are tricky. i find myself looking around for the candid camera, but i think theyve hidden it pretty well. and then, if the sidewalks dont kill you, the micros probably will. those tin cans masquerading as buses dont take no crap from nobody. dont even think about trying to flag one down...theyll drive close enough to the sidewalk for you to think theyre going to pick you up, pound on the gas, and take off your raised arm. its a clean tear, doesnt hurt much, but man, try and keep yourself from slipping with your balance all thrown off like that. actually, chileans just dont have time for stupid people. can you believe that their coffee cups dont say ´´contents may be hot´´? its like they think you should know that or something. tricky. anyway, bought some tickets to argentina today. thats about it, just me, chilling, in a country full of mullets.

move over mary sue

there was a time when wendy woods ruled our lives. a sight of that braided, or feathered, mullet woman could send us into a tizzy and leave us to analyze the interaction for days. the glamour of bmw, or fmw, faded as we left the security of couzens and found there was a bigger fish to idolize, mary sue. mary sue earned a place above our fireplace, where we could gaze upon her smiling face as we contemplated the female greatness we ourselves were capable of. we love us some mary sue. i love me some mary sue. however, i feel that her prominence in my life may be over. im sorry mary sue, but you have been replaced by michele bachelet. Chile has a presidenta. I have been caught up in all of the festivities surrounding the changing of the president for the past few days, an exciting event even for someone who is little affected by it. first of all, not only is she a woman, but she is also a single woman (well, separated), and an agnostic. i respect the chilean people for their openmindedness. her position also allows me to forgive all of the relentless cat-calls and whistles i receive. the machismo in this country, it seems, is only on the surface. michele bachelet was inaugrated saturday at the national congress in valpariso, and i went to la moneda in downtown santiago to hear her address her capital city for the first time. it was a political celebration like i have never seen, flags and banners, confetti (challas again), music, chants that everyone seemed to know but illana and i, and an entry parade. interestingly, there was no protesting at all, whatsoever. the people love her. she addressed the people evita style, from a balcony in la moneda. we also returned to that area on sunday for an all day concert in her honor. there was constant music on two stages with artists from chile, bolivia, brazil, peru and argentina. she also spoke at the end of the night. it has been amazingly cool to get to see all of this stuff as it has been happening, first hand. the mood of the city has been jubilant. it was also really interesting to see the votes of confidence in her from leaders of other american nations. im especially impressed by the presidente of peru, alejandro toledo, who was asked about her abilities as the first woman president in south america. he said, its not a question of gender, but ability, and she is more than capable. and, as if there were still any doubts about her ability to stand up to the precedent set by those female marvels bmw or mary sue, ´´vive, b-chet´´ sounds so good rolling off the tounges of a couple hundred thousand chileans.

system failure

I never thought i would say this, but i miss wolverine access. that horrible computer system that singlehandedly ruins my registration experience each semester at michigan does not hold a candle to the complete and utter wild goose chase that is registering at la PUC. my week of registration (thats right, week) went sort of like this:

i decided which courses i thought i was going to take based on their names only, as there is no courseguide of any kind, anywhere. generally freshmen and foreigners attend the 1st week of class during their registration process, as a kind of taste test of classes, so thankfully i was not already locked into the misguided decisions i had made. for instance, in reading the title poetas latinos, i got fired up to attend a class on latinamerican poetry. WRONG! poetry yes, in latin. that was great. the prof starts talking and im thinking, ´´wow, that really doesnt sound like spanish´´. yep, latin. so, the supposedly simple task of finding classes to take here is considerably more difficult.

then, theres this whole process of actually registering. rather than doing it neatly (comparatively) on a snazzy program like wolverine access, one must physically go to the office of every department for each different course to get a signature of approval. this is no small task. the offices are on different campuses, separated usually by about 45 minutes of commute, and are often not on the same campus as the class you are trying to register for. also, there is no way to know before going to the office if the class you want is closed already, which it probably is. and, when you can register, other than the signature that i have on my paper, the only way that they know im in the class is by writing my name down in a spiral notebook. i dont mean to knock the organizational skills of others, but i feel like they should at least be typing it in somewhere....

so basically, i think im registered in some classes that look pretty cool, although i wouldnt be surprised to realize in july that i was never actually registered in them.

another cultural system that i can just not wrap my mind around? soccer tickets. i mean, this is south america, they love soccer. illana and i went to the national stadium where they hold games to buy tickets. wow. so we said, hey, we want tickets to a soccer game, can we see the schedule so we can pick one to go to? seller guy shakes his head. there are no schedules. interesting, we think. ok, when are the games? guy shrugs. he doesnt know. does anyone know? not really. ok, we say, we want tickets to any game, between any teams, at any point between now and july. anything. the guy shakes his head. no? apparently thats not how it works. eventually guy makes a phone call and writes down on a post-it when there might possibly be games. how are they not sure? because, for instance, on march 12 there is supposed to be a game at 5pm and an oasis concert at 6pm. one of them isnt going to happen. same for almost every weekend, and since i know that people have already bought tickets for oasis, im pretty sure the game is the one getting the boot. guy stars games that are more likely to happen, but still isnt sure. additionally, even if they were, by some fluke of nature, going to happen, we wouldnt be able to buy tickets there. despite the games supposedly being held there, tickets are sold on the other side of the city.

needless to say, we still have no tickets.

and dont even get me started on registering my visa.

loving chile, but lost in red tape.

teaching chileans to whistle, one city at a time

so i just wrote about a mile of info about our trip through the south. puerto varas, valdivia, niebla, villarica, pucon... horseback riding, volcanos, hotsprings, vans not falling off mountains, challas, noche valdiviano, ´gastronomical events´, huge plates of meat, free pisco, fresh blackberries, alpacas, and a whole lot more, but it got lost into the black void of technology. entonces, you all must settle for photos.

side note on photos, the screen on the computer ive been using has absolutely horrible color values and no way to let me adjust it, so i have no clue what these images look like in real life. they are all very dark on my screen. dont judge. the photo editor in me is crying.

the lake off puerto varas, as well as the volcán osorno in the distance. puerto varas was my favorite town on the trip. although pucón is supposed to be awesome, we were only there when it was raining and didnt even get to glimpse the infamous volcán villarica, let alone climb it. when we return there ill give an updated opinion.

alpaca? llama? who knows? i dont, but its still cool

i am, however, quite certian that those are horses, and thats us on them. this is definitely after our guide decided that a complete lack of riding skills made us qualified to run full speed across the hills with horses that spoke better spanish than we did. awesome.

no thats not snow, its challas, confetti, that gets thrown into the mouths of festival goers in Valdivia. we didnt know that until the next day, which explains why im still coughing them up.

the ocean from niebla, the smallest town we have been to so far. and by town, i mean ´town´. nice to catch a glimpse of life off the beaten path.

of course there are mountians more photos, but this is the best youre going to get at this point. and blame technology and the black hole of the internet for not getting a better update.

about as good for you as a pack a day habit

so, after a week in the smog-ridden santiago, we took to the hills, or more aptly, through them. this weekend was spent at the beautiful beautiful beach of viña del mar and in the happening city of valparaíso. and yes, while y´all are freezing your butts off, i currently can not sit on mine because it is pretty badly sunburned. but, hey, i think ive got the better end of the deal. we stayed in a hostel on a hill that had a rooftop patio that overlooked the harbor and the city, wow the views. we also hobnobbed with more mulletted chileans and an absolutely crazy finnish guy that spoke five languages. by a stroke of rough luck turned good, we got to see this random folklore dance recital in a small town nearby while waiting for our bus, and we still made it home before most of the other kids in the program.

i felt my first temblor, or mini earthquake, while lying on the beach. theyre pretty common in chile, but it was still a pretty cool/strange experience. its not the kind of thing that does any damage.

also tried my first mote con huesillas, a tea-like drink with re-hydrogenated peaches and oat like things in it. its super sweet, but really good. its kind of like the national drink here, and they sell it on all the street corners.

the chilean jungle and the island of gringolandia

i should really try and write about smaller chunks of time because looking back over like 3 or 4 days is just so overwhelming. there is definitely far to much that has happened to sufficiently explain anything. but anyway... I LOVE IT HERE!!!!! absolutely amazing. the perfect weather, my amazing ´mom´´ the kids in the program, the country, the city, the cheap access to public transportation, love it love it love it. we have been rolling like 20 gringos deep for a lot of the week because real classes havnt started yet so we havent really met chilean kids yet. that will come. for right now i am content to hang with the other expats because i know that we wont be like this forever, and they are all pretty cool. as i write this, a horse drawn buggy just drove down my street. havent seen that yet. anyway, we have kind of settled into this spanglish when we hang out together which is really funny, basically saying things with whichever phrase comes more naturally. i feel like ill be saying ´´que´´ for what for the rest of my life. another amazing thing- mullets. they are everywhere. its like a gallery of mullets of all sorts. there is also a wide range of faux-hawks and extended faux-hawks that we call fauxllets. other notable things in brief - illana, my housemate, is ´´superbien´´ pisco = amazing, as does buying a fifth of it for less that 4 bucks. chilean men are intense, and so is the machismo, which doesnt quite jive with my whole feminist side illana´s guy with his own bodyguard pools! the people that have pools are automatically my favorite. the heat of the day is too much without it. my language skills fluctuate with the time of day and my state of mind, but in general are better than i thought. i dont know what else, its great.

falling with style

i have arrived safely and lived through my first 36 hours in chile without incident. well, except for paty (my ´mom´)´s car not starting in the parking lot and needing a jump and then it starting to sound like the muffler was dragging along the cobblestone type streets halfway home. but other than that, it was great. the last bit of the flight was amazing, because out the window were absolutely breathtaking views of the andes. my god, i have never seen anything like them and let me tell you, they are something to write home about (haha, sorry). from where i live, by the plaza egaña in ñuñoa (i know i know, two ñs -- which definitely makes me sound stupid when trying to say it), i am about a 3 minute walk to the metro which makes the rest of the city really easy to access. we had our first class today, which was pretty cool, getting to meet everyone in the program. we are already making plans to go to the beach this weekend. by the way, its like the perfect climate down here...averaging about 75-80 degrees (except for in the subway) and without humidity. amazing. anyway, so we´re probably beaching it up this weekend. ill be sure to think about all of you freezing your butts off in mi (or wherever). my housemate is pretty cool too. shes been her for two weeks already so she knows all about how to use the bus system and how to go to the beach and stuff. a good friend to have. it also makes it easier when trying to understand paty, who´s spanish is very chilean, meaning that it is heavily accented and full atypical spanish words. i love it here already, but i do miss you guys a lot. its strange being so far away, speaking an entirely different language. sometimes i feel pretty glamorous and all bilingual and stuff (although im only sort of). although today we were hanging out in a large group after our orientation class and speaking english obnoxiously and i definitely felt like a stupid imperialist american. i guess that comes with the territory. te extraño mucho. photos to follow in the next few days i hope.

the akward (obligatory) first post

so, im not all about the group email thing while abroad because i feel like they wind up going to a lot of people who couldn't care less. hence, the blog. check it, dont check it, whichever. i know its horribly cliche, but its just easier, so now anyone who isnt interested can be uninterested without dealing with my emails. of course, i would also love emails from you that i will definitely respond to...individually. im not promising that this is going to be exciting or even interesting. more like those wrap sheets that some people insist on putting in christmas cards. at any rate, it will be a rough account of my life. im hoping to put photos up when i get any. right.