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.