FOTOS

So I had to make another Picasa account cause I filled the other one up. I know I should probably take that as a hint that I have too many pictures and should delete some. And I tried but could only bring myself to delete about 100 blurry ones. So I just made another account :-) So if you just click on the pics below it will take you to my new picasa page. And my other one is still there with a few new pictures so you can still see those. I am trying to work really hard and do my paper cause I'm trying to finish it for tomorrow. WHAT! Writing this blog is how I'm rewarding myself for finishing the first part I needed to finish. That's pretty sad. Haha. Ah. The papers coming along well but I am getting a little stir crazy from writing so much every day. But it's almost over and I think it'll be pretty cool. But for now I leave you with a photo essay of me making sopapillas with my Mapuche family :-)

From ISP

Making the dough

From ISP

The finished sopapilla- in a heart shape of course

From ISP

Eating my heart out- haha

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family! I miss you all so much and today definitely made me pretty homesick. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here but I wanted to share my traditions with my family here so I made some turkey breasts and mashed potatoes and home-made bread (my Mapuche mom's recipe!) and a salad. And then we all said grace together and went around and said what we were thankful for. My mom said "quiero dar gracias por mi familia linda incluyendo la Kim. Ella es una persona muy especial y nos apoya mucho y da mucha alegria a nuestra hogar" "I want to give thanks for my beautiful family including Kim. She is a very special person and supports us a lot and brings a lot of happiness in our home." So cute. So it was not quite like being at home, but it was still a very special day. So here is my list of things I am grateful for here in Chile and back home.

Things I am Grateful for in Chile:
- My awesome Santiago family: Macarena, Fabian, Martin y Vicente. They are a great family and treat me like a daughter.
- My amazing Mapuche family: Clorinda, Octavio, Damaris, Jemi, y Pato. They have taught me so many things and their faith and compassion is truly inspiring.
- My incredible Argentina family: Macarena y Fermin (and Rocco). They are an awesome couple and I had so much fun with them.
- The opportunity to be here
- All the amazing people in the program with me and the staff. They have all helped make this experience incredible
- Skype, email, and facebook so I can talk to all the people I love back home.
- Living in a really cool city for 3 months
- Being able to travel to Buenos Aires, Valpo, and Chapod
- The friendliness of Chileans
- Giving kisses on the cheek to say hello
- Eating bread all the time
- Finally knowing my way around the city
- Yogenfruz
- Seeing the Andes mountains every day
- Learning spanish... or rather chilean cause its practically another language. But i love it. Ya po.
- Chilean sounds. These people make so many distinct sounds, and I can't stop immitating them
- Once
- Chilenitos- best desert here
- How it feels like home after only 3 months

Things I'm Thankful for back Home (aka things I miss like crazy)
- My amazing real family: Although I love my families here they are the best
- My wonderful pololo (pololo is chilean for boyfriend): He is the best there is and loves and supports me very much.
- My dogs: Nicky and Moogie
- My friends: I've got the best and I miss them all so much
- My home
- Pizza
- Salad with vegetables and dressing and not just lettuce with lemon
- Sour Patch kids and sweedish fish
- Dad's pasta
- Mom's banana bread
- My bed
- Fires in the fire place
- The fall
- Naps on the couch
- Stonehill
- Living with my friends
- CT and MA

Happy Thanksgiving and Lots of Love!
Kim

Chillin' in Chile

Hey Everyone!
So although this post is called Chillin' in Chile, that is kind of the opposite of what I'm doing. A more accurate title would be "Workin' my little bum off to write a 30 page paper in Spanish...in Chile" But I thought this title was much more clever and I won't be here that much longer so I had to use it. Actually I will be home in exactly 3 weeks from yesterday. And the program ends in exactly 2 weeks. Its so weird that its so close to being over! I can't believe it. Craziness! And I think I am definitely ready to be home now. With all this work and Thanksgiving tomorrow I am definitely feeling a little homesick. And I'm having trouble not procrastinating but that's nothing new. haha.

But back to working my bum off. Yeah, it's been crazy doing this whole ISP thing but awesome. Two weeks ago I went back to the Special ed school Edmundo de Amisis to observe and do interview there and then all last week I was visiting schools in Temuco. So far I have gone to 4 schools and done tons of interviews. Its really exhausting and nerve-racking to go to the schools but it has definitely been challenging but very interesting. And so far, for the most part I have been impressed with the level of special education inclusion here. There is definitely a lack of economic resources and they could use a lot more teachers, but for the most part I think the attitude of inclusion is there and the teachers are all super compassionate towards there students. They have also been really open to having me in the classrooms and interested in what I'm doing in their school. I was even able to help give lunch to some of the students with more severe problems.
Alexis



It was also amazing to be able so spend another week with my Mapuche family and with Sophie too who is also doing her project in Temuco. I felt like I got even closer with my family and had a blast while I was there. My madre taught me how to make her bread and Sopapillas and Empanadas. And of course Sophie and I had a blast making the sopapillas into the shape of hearts, Chile, and the US. Haha. But I feel like I miss my Mapuche family already. My siblings are so fun and I feel like I now have all these inside jokes with them and I really felt part of their family. Its really sad to leave them but I hope someday they can visit the US. They will always hold a special place in my heart. My Mapuche Family

Making bread


Its good to be back in Santiago though too. I gave my family the game Pass the Pigs so that is going to be fun to play with them. I also feel super close to my two hermano's here. So its going to be so sad to leave them in two weeks. I can't believe its almost over ah! I have so many mixed feelings about it too. AH.

But in the mean time I'm going to keep truckin' on my ISP paper. I've got 10 pages written so that's definitely a good start.

Peace and Love,
Kimi

Chapod de nuevo

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to update that I'm in Temuco and Chapod for the next week or so. I'll be living with my Mapuche family who I love so I'm super excited. I'll be working on my ISP in the city and in Chapod the town. I'll try to update if I get to an internet cafe but I don't have internet in my house (or a shower). I hope to learn a whole lot about special education in the next week so it should be interesting.
Love,
Kimche (means wise spirit in Mapundungun and my family calls me that now. haha. irony)

Chau Buenos Aires!

Hola from back home in Santiago!
I had a great finish to my trip to Buenos Aires. We went to a bunch more schools this week too. On Tuesday we went to a technical high school that had a preschool within it because 15% of the students are parents. We also went to an elementary school that is 80% immigrants. Both were very interesting to see. The elementary school had a great Freirean philosophy but the classroom was chaos. I have no idea how the kids learn anything because there was not one point where all the children were seated and not screaming. The teacher could only really help students individually cause whenever she would try to help the whole class, there would be too much talking to hear what was going on. So while the teacher was helping on student the other 30 kids were running around or struggling to do their work. They can to us for help and we helped as much as we could but it was evident that there were a lot of issues for these kids. But one funny/horrifying thing about this classroom was that there was a letter written on a big piece of paper on the wall above the blackboard. The letter read:

Queridos Chicos,
Pedimos disculpas por haber prendido fuego el tacho y haber roto las cortinas.
Les prometemos cuidas mas el aula que campartimos.
-Los Alumnos de 1o 2da

Which means:
Dear Kids,
We ask forgiveness for having set the wastebasket on fire and having broken the curtains.
We promise to take better care of the classroom we share.
-The students of 1st grade room 2

Yup... that about sums it up. I almost died laughing at the thought of first graders setting a trash can on fire and breaking the curtains. I have images of a crazy riot with 6 year olds. How did they get matches first of all? Second of all, where was the teacher when they set fire to the classroom? Its kinda funny and also kinda scary.
We also went to another secondary school in the city and the kids there were super friendly and outgoing it was a lot of fun.

On Thursday evening we had out goodbye dinner with all of the families at a restaurant and the five of us that took the tango class did a dance that our teachers had choreographed. It was a blast and people loved it.

From Buenos Aires

My Argentinian Family

From Buenos Aires

The Tango Dancers

Overall, I had a great experience in Buenos Aires: I struggled a lot with public transportation, danced a lot of tango, stayed up super late, ate a lot of delicious ice cream, had an Argentinian boy fall in love with me (Rocco the dog, don't worry Justin), and saw a lot of the beautiful city. It really was awesome but I found myself super excited to go home to Santiago. On Friday night when I got home from the airport, my family and I all watched Noche en el Museo 2. I fell asleep in my parents bed watching the movie next to my two little brothers who also fell asleep. I guess you could say that I feel comfortable and at home in my house now.

I also can't believe that the Independent Study Project period has started. Its super overwhelming to think about but also really exciting. I will be in Chapod living with my Mapuche family in a week, which I am also excited for. But I am also really missing home and Justin a lot too. Its weird to feel so at home in Santiago, Chapod and in the States and to miss all of them at once. My family has gotten significantly larger since coming to Latin America.

Paz y Amor,
Kim

Buenos Aires, Uraguay and Tango

Hola! Como Andan?
So much has happened in the last week in Buenos Aires. I am having an awesome time and I am exhausted from all the stuff I have done. We've had a bunch of seminars about the education system. It has been really interesting to compare Argentina to what we've learned in Chile. One of the biggest problem here is retention in secondary school. School is mandatory here from 5 years old through secondary school. But secondary school was only made mandatory in 2003 so there are still a lot of people who drop out.We also took a trip to The University de Buenos Aires to learn about Educacion Superior. In all of UBA there are 300,000 students, that's a little bit more than the 2,000 at Stonehill.
We also had the opportunity to talk with Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo. This is a group of women who lost children during the dictatorship. They work to bring justice to their lost children. Every Thursday since the 70s they march around the Plaza de Mayo. This thursday we got to join them to march for their 1661st protest. It is amazing to see these women who are now all in their 90s still fighting for their disapeared children. Their symbol is the white hankerchief that they all wear when the march. On it it says "aparicion con vida de los desaparecidos" which means "Living appearance of the disappeared.

From Buenos Aires

La Marcha

From Buenos Aires

So cute

From Buenos Aires

The hankerchiefs

From Buenos Aires

Me marching with las madres

Also, this week I started taking Tango classes! Tracy's host sister and her boyfriend are tango dancers and so they made a class just for us. We've met 4 times and have our last class on Wednesday. It has been so amazing. We showed up on the first day to the adress they gave us, and we found out that we are dancing on the roof terrace of the appartment building. It was very surreal to be learning the Tango on a beautiful rooftop in Argentina. And they are really good teachers, I feel like I know enough now to be able to improve. Obviously we are not at an amazingly high level but I am definitely able to dance the tango somewhat. Its a lot of fun to learn and is such a cool dance.

From Buenos Aires

Tango with Matias, my teacher, on the roof

From Buenos Aires

The teachers

So I am kind of in love with the tango and my abuela here said that one thing I need to do is go to a professional tango show. So on Saturday night, Sophie and I went to Taconeando, a tango show/restaurant. It was a really cute small little place with only really two rows of tables so we had a really great view. The show was a mix of instrumental and vocal tango music and dancers. They were all amazingly talented. The coolest part though was at the end of the show, the dancers came out into the audience to get partners. I said no at first but he kept insisting so I got to go up on stage and dance the tango! It was crazy but really fun. I even felt like I a little bit knew what I was doing. haha. The pictures are not so great cuz we were moving all around but o well, at least I have proof.

From Buenos Aires

My favorite tango couple- also I do not yet dance the tango like this, my tango is a little more tame haha

From Buenos Aires

Me onstage!

From Buenos Aires

After the tango show we went out to Plaza Serano and met up with a bunch of people. We stayed out until 4am which is way past my bedtime but Argentinians stay out super late. It was a lot of fun.

Also, on Saturday before I went to the tango show, a group of five of us went to Uruguay...like the country. It was crazy going to a different country for the day but it is only an hour away by bus so it was a great day trip. We took a tour around the little town of Colonia and then had lunch at a farm. At this farm is also the largest collection of pencils in the world. There are 8,500 pencils. Haha it was really funny to be be in another country to see the largest pencil collection in the world. The town was adorable and very quaint. I had a blast and it was totally worth the trip. And I counted and Uruguay is now the 9th country I've been to. Cool!

From Buenos Aires

From Buenos Aires

From Buenos Aires

This is a street that legend says if you walk down, up, and back down thinking about someone, you will end up with that person. So of course we all had to do it!

So on Sunday, I stayed in the country and met up with some people to go to the Ferias- the artisan market places. I bought a really cute dress and some gifts for people. The shopping in Buenos Aires is really good in general. I bought a really cute pair of leather sandals for about $20.

Today, we turned in our proposals for our ISP and I met with Roberto and my idea has been approved. Which is very excited but also very scary cause I actually have to do it now. My topic is Comparing Inclusive Education for Students with Special needs in Temuco, rural Temuco and Santiago. I think it is going be very challenging to go to all the schools I want to but also really interesting to see what I learn. For those of you who don't know, ISP stands for Independent Study Project. After this week we have four weeks on our own to research, interview, and observe the topic of our choice. I'm excited to do special education cause not many people have researched that and I think there is a lot to research about it. So after our meetings this morning we went to a former concentration camp suring the time of the dictatorship. It was really crazy to see the things that the people went through. They were kept in boxes the size of a coffin with sacks over their heads. They could only use the bathroom once a day and were not allowed to speak to one another. They were given numbers instead of their names and they could be called any day to be tortured. Many were brought in a plane and dumped into the ocean. Its unbelievable that stuff like that went on not that long ago. One of the saddest things I think is that if a woman was pregnant in the camp, she would have her baby and then after a couple days the baby would be taken away and given to another family. There were 500 babies total taken away and today, with the children now in their 30s, only about 100 know their true identity as the child of a detenido-desparecido.

This week we have a lot more school visits. We had once last week at a school for people who had left school for a year or more and were coming back to finish their schooling. We're going to two tomorrow and one is a school for pregnant women and mothers. Its going to be super interesting to talk to the girls there. I can't believe there are only a few more days left in Buenos Aires and then we start our ISP. Its going by so fast!
Besitos, Kim

Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

Hola from Buenos Aires,
So we left Santiago on Friday (at 4:50am no big deal) and flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am having a great time already and I think that our two weeks here are going to be really great. The city is so different from Santiago and really feels and looks a lot like Europe.

From Buenos Aires

From Buenos Aires

On Friday, we went out to lunch at the Cafe de los Madres de Mayo and came back to the hotel for orientation. We found out who we would be living with and how the Subte (subway) works and about the basics of the political and education systems here. There are a lot of differences from Chile and it sounds from the presentation that the education system here is really good. I will be interested to see what the perspective is from inside the schools we visit. After orientation we had an amazing dinner at a really nice restaurant. We had a giant mozerella stick, tons of bread, and Tracy and I split salad and a steak and pesto ravioli. They were all so good. The pesto made me think of being home and eating NeeNees homemade pesto. For dessert we had amazing fresh fruit salad. I was so full.

Saturday we were brought around the city for a tour and we got to stop at some really cool markets and went to the Casa Rosada (pink House) which is like their white house. In the afternoon we got to meet our families. I am living with a really young couple. They are 26 and have only been married two years. I'm the first student they've hosted so I was a little nervous. But they are so nice and really chill. My dad, Farin is in the military and my mom is a psychologist. They also have a 4 month old Bulldog puppy name Roco. He is nuts and loves me and makes so makes so many pig noises and farts a lot. But he is really fun. As I am writing this he is biting me and if I ignore him he starts to bite my computer and jump up, but he is too fat to make it onto the couch...oh no whe clawed way up onto the couch and is sitting on my lap. He is quite fat and crazy. My fam says that he doesn't usually act this crazy and that he's in love with me. haha. I also don't think he's supposed to be on the couch and my padres think I taught him. ooops. lol. Saturday night we met up with my abuela and tio, my padre's mom and brother who is my age.

From Buenos Aires

From Buenos Aires

Today we went for a drive around the city so I don't get as lost tomorrow. There are tons of cool parks, museams, and markets to go to in the city so I think i'll be very busy this week. Then we watch the big Argentinian Rivalry game. I feel asleep. There is something about Sunday afternoon sports that does that to me. But it was just like watching sports with Justin cause I would be woken up suddenly when my dad would start screaming and jumping when something big happened in the game.

Also, its weird to keep refering them to as my padres cuz they are so young. Its weird cause I still feel like I have to be very polite and formal but they are so close to me in age that it kinda feels like I am hanging out at a friends apartment. So its a little weird but really cool. And I think they like me too so in a few days I think we'll all be a little more comfortable.

Also, the Argentinian accent is going to take a little getting used to. Instead of the "y" sound (as in yo) (which is used a lot in Spanish) they use the voiced "sh" sound (its time for a little nerdy phonetics talk) like the "s" in the word treasure. Its very hard to understand them and they have trouble understanding if I don't use the voiced "sh" sound. I said the word "ayer" which means yesterday and they just stared at me and corrected myself to say it "asher" and then they understood. I'm sure I'll get used to it pretty quick though, I just hope I don't keep talking like that when I get back to Chile. I think my Santaigo family will disown me.
That's all for now. Hopefully I can stay up on my entries while I'm here. Chau!

My Reflection on Billingual Education in Chapod

Hey Everyone,
This is my reflection I wrote about bilingual education, or rather the lack thereof, in Chapod. Here is the original in spanish followed by a summary in English. I thought it would be cool to see the kind of stuff I am writing for my classes and to see the academic side of my experiences.

La Educación “Bilingüe” en Chapod
Antes de llegar en Chapod, Roberto nos dijo que para algunos de los Mapuches, el castellano iba a ser la segunda idioma. Pensé que íbamos a tener muchos problemas con comunicación. Y entonces me sorprendió cuando me dí cuenta de que las familias no solamente hablaban castellano, castellano es el primero idioma en la casa. Mis padres hablaban Mapudungun pero hablaban el castellano fluentamente y los hijos no hablaban Mapudungun. También, encontré que todo el servicio en la iglesia era en el castellano. Todo eso me sorprendió. Pensé que Mapudungun era un parte grande de la cultura Mapuche, pero me había dado cuenta de, en realidad, ellos no usan el Mapudungun.
Durante la semana, aprendí mucho más sobre educación bilingüe. Antes, cuando estábamos estudiando educación bilingüe para el seminario de Universidad Alberto Hurtado, pensaba que esto es aprendizaje en dos idiomas: la mitad en castellano, y la mitad en Mapudungun. Pero, la educación “bilingüe” que vimos en el colegio municipal de Chapod era aprendizaje en castellano con Mapudungun como un idioma extranjero. Los niños en el colegio y mis hermanos sabían decir algunos colores y animales y algunas frases típicas en Mapudungun. Pero esto no es suficiente para comunicar. Ellos están aprendiendo Mapudungun como yo estaba aprendiendo castellano en escuela básica. Mapudungun me parecía un idioma extranjera en vez del lenguaje materna. Y esto significa que cuando sus padres se mueran, también se morirá Mapudungun.
Les pregunté a mis padres porque no les enseñaron Mapudungun a sus hijos. La respuesta me puso tristes y me sorprendió. Me dijeron que no les enseñaron Mapudungun porque no es necesario. En los colegios, solamente hablan castellano y todos en la ciudad hablan castellano, y por esto, no era necesario. No era necesario continuar el idioma de las Mapuches.
Quiero ser fonóloga, y por esto, me interesa mucho el desarrollo de lenguaje y aprendizaje de un idioma. He tomado algunas clases sobre estos temas y mis conocimientos de esto han afectado mi opinión sobre la educación “bilingüe” en Chapod. He aprendido que como guaguas, podemos aprender idiomas rápidamente y fácilmente. No tenemos que aprender en un libro y estudiar las formas de los verbos o los irregulares porque aprendemos através de lo que oímos. También, aprendemos muy rápidamente como guagua. Como adultos es mucho más difícil aprender un idioma porque no usamos la misma parte del cerebro. Estudias han mostrado que guaguas usan un parte completamente diferente para aprender su idioma materna que usan adultos para aprender un idioma extranjero. Por eso, también es muy fácil para infantes para distinguir entre dos idiomas. Ellos pueden oír dos idiomas y aunque al principio hay una poquita confusión, pueden aprender dos idiomas como los idiomas maternos.
Por todo eso, pienso que no es solamente posible sino también mejor para los Mapuches para enseñar Mapudungun a sus hijos. También es importante usarlo en los colegios porque es mucho más facil aprender como niños que como adultos. Y si los colegios usen más Mapudungun en los aulas, quizás los padres lo enseñarán en las casas.
Esta semana pasada he pensado mucho en las preguntas de ¿Qué es la cultura? Y ¿Cuales partes deberían mantener los Mapuches? Estas preguntas son muy difíciles y sin una respuesta concreta. Pero, pienso que lenguaje es un parte muy importante de cada cultura. Por supuesto, cada cultura cambia y se hace más moderna. Y por supuesto una cultura tiene que cambiar para sobrevivir. Pero, con todo esto, el idioma es un aspecto que no puede empeorar su situación. Los Mapuches modernos vivan en casas en vez de rukas porque son más cómodos y practicables. Los Mapuches modernas tienen tecnología y televisión para conectar con el mundo afuera. Todos estos cambios son para mejorar la situación de los Mapuches. Pero, la pérdida del Mapudungun no ayuda nada. Si ellos no usaran castellano, esto sería problemática. Pero ellos pueden enseñar los dos idiomas a sus hijos y alumnos. Lenguaje es un parte tan importante a una cultura. Lenguaje representa comunicación y tradición y sería triste ver la desaparición de Mapudungun con la próxima generación de Mapuches.

Summary
Coming into this trip I was expecting Spanish to be the second language of the Mapuches and Mapudungun to be the first language. I soon realized that everyone spoke Spanish and only the parents even knew how to speak Mapundungun.
Throughout the week I learned a lot more about the bilingual education in Chapod. Basically, the school taught Mapudungun but more as a foreign language than as a native language. The kids learn colors and animals but not enough of the language to be able to communicate. In other words, Mapudungun is going to end when their parents die.
I asked my Mapuche parents why they didn't teach Mapudungun to their children and they replied that it is not necesary. The schools only use spanish and everyone in the town and city speaks spanish so there is no use for Mapudungun.
In my speech and Language classes, I have studied language development and langugae learning. One thing I learned is that studies have shown that it is a lot easier for babies to learn language becuase they use an entirely different part of their brain than adults. Becuase of this they can learn languages through what they hear. Furthermore, they can differenciate between two different languages.
Because of this, I think it is not only possible but better for both castellano and Mapudungun to be spoken at home and in the classroom. Lanugage is a very important part of culture. And while it is necesary for cultures to adapt and modernize, holding onto an indigenous language as well as modern spanish is not harming anything. Language represents communication and tradition and it would be sad to see the loss of the Mapuche Language.

Peace and Love,
Kim

Mari Mari Lagmen!

Temuco
So Sunday I got back from one of the most amazing weeks of my life. We spent the last seven days in Chapod, a rural village near the city of Temuco. This is part of Mapuche territory, one of the indigenous groups of southern chile. We lived with a Mapuche family and spent the week learning about their culture and sharing with them. It was nine hours away by bus so we arrived early Sunday morning. The week was full of stuff so I'm going to go through each day so I don't forget anything.

Sunday
So we arrived very early sunday morning and were brought to the Escuela Municipal de Chapod. We had learned a greeting in Mapundungun: Mari Mari Lamgen. So we were able to greet the families with a Mapuche greeting. We were then introduced to our families, two SIT students per family. We then went with our families for the rest of the day to get to know each other and the area. I was paired with Tracy from the program and our family was amazing. Our mom and dad were and older couple. They had three daughters and a son. The oldest daughter is married and has a daughter, Belen, and had her own student living with her in a house down the road (the only boy Geoff lived with them). She teached 1st and 2nd grade at the public school in town. The two middle kids, Gemi and Damaris, are both studying psycopedagogoia (psychology) in Temuco but come home for the weekend. And the youngest son, Patricio or Pato/Patito for short, is thirteen and goes to school at the municiple school in the town. We found out later that Pato was adopted when he was 18 months old. Lioda, the oldest daughter was doing her teaching practicum when she met Pato as a baby. He had no parents and was in a really rough situation so her parents took them in as their own son. He is one of the coolest and nicest 13 year old boys I have ever met. He was super polite and very mature, asking us questions about university and life in the US. He is also super funny and loves goofing around with us.

From Temuco 2

From Temuco 2

The family is poor and lives in a small house made out of plywood. They have a wood stove and running water from an elevated bucket outside. But there is no hot water. There is a toilet in an outhouse but it connected to the side of the house. The house was very humble but it felt cozy and like home.

After we had a delicious breakfast of bread and jam and tea, we went with the family to the Evangelical church for sunday services. There were 8 SIT kids so the pastor welcomed us all and had us come tot he front to introduce ourselves. The music was very fun and lively and they had the words projected onto a screen so we could sing along. After church we went home and rested for a bit. We ate more bread with jam and some fresh eggs for dinner. Our family has sheep and chickens. And that afternoon while we were looking at the sheep, the family dog, Glot, came and attacked a lamb and tried to eat it. The family came out to stop it though before he could kill it and it was able to walk away with an injured leg.

At night we played cards and talked with the family. They were all very nice and loved exchanging stories. I was super excited to notice a difference in my level of spanish. I remember meeting my Santiago family and for a few weeks struggling to communicate stories about my life but here I noticed that it came a lot more naturally and I could talk candidly with my Mapuche family. I think I needed a change in scenery and pace to really notice how much I have improved. So that's super exciting!

The oldest daughter and her family and Geoff came over at night for dinner. It was cool to see such a big family together. Pretty much everyone in the town is interrelated somehow and family is very important to the Mapuche people. Its also cool to see families living so close in community. My family in the US is very spread out across the country in the northeast and Georgia and California so it was neat to have the entire family within walking distance.

Monday
Monday morning we got up really early and were driven to Lago Budi. This is now a tourist center but is a beautiful salt water lake that connects to the ocean. There are also two rukas set up there. Rukas are the traditional Mapuche house that are made out of would supports with palms covering it. Inside there was a fire going and breakfast set up for us. After, we brought our chairs outside and had our seminars outside looking at the lake. The first seminar was about Mapuche philosophy. We learned that 75% of Mapuches are protestant but there is a Mapuche religion that some still hold on to. Mapuche literally means "men of the earth" so we learned about the connectedness with the land and the spiritual side of the Mapuche people. I found this talk fascinating and a little sad that these beliefs were slowly being lost. We also learned about the history of the Mapuche people. Don Juan Pinecura gave the seminars, he is the director of the Temuco program for SIT.

From Temuco

Me at the ruka

We had a traditional Mapuche lunch and then had another seminar about Mapuches and tourism in a ruka. A lot of Mapuche people have begun to use tourism to their advantage to make money and educate people about their culture. Part of me agrees that it is a good idea for them to use tourism but another part of me feels like they are not really preserving their culture but are just putting on a show to make money.


That night Tracy and I showed our family pictures or our family and friends. They also showed us baby pictures and we got to hear a lot about their life. This was a really special night because we got to share so many stories.

Also, Monday was Justin's B-day and I was able to call him for a few minutes. It was expensive to call so we had to keep it short but it was great to wish him a happy 21st bday.


Tuesday
We spent Tuesday at the municipal school of Chapod. This school is only made up of about 30 kids in about 5 classrooms. Kinder and prekinder, 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, and 7th and 8th. Susie, Ana, and I were together in the 1st and 2nd grade classroom in the morning to observe. The main focus of the week was intercultural and bilingual education so we were supposed to observe how this theme was addressed in the classroom. I was surprised to find that although they were learning a little bit of Mapudungun and about Mapuche culture, it was being taught as a foreign language rather than a native language. I went into this week thinking that Mapudungun was the main language and castellano was only a second language. But I was suprised to find that only my parents spoke Mapudungun but the kids did not. And in the school they were learning colors and animals in Mapudungun but were not able to communicate in the language.

We had recess and lunch with the kids and we started a big game of boys vs girls in basketball. It was a blast to play with the kids and it made it better that the girls won. In the afternoon we got to teach an English class in our classrooms. Since we had little kids we sang a bunch of English songs with them. We let them all pick very American names for the class, like Allison, Kate, and Dan. We first did body parts and sang "head shoulders, knees, and toes" and then played hokey pokey and then If you're happy and you know it. But we did that song in Spanglish to make it easier "Si tienes muchas ganas clap your hands". The kids had a lot of fun with the songs and dances. Then we did the Happy Birthday song. And finally we did animals with Old McDonald. But there are a lot of English words in that song, so we improvised and ended up writing Spanish lyrics. It turned out pretty well "todos tenemos animales e-i-e-i-o. Tenemos un pig/cow/dog e-i-e-i-o. Dice oink/moo/guau." and so on. ANd yes guau guau is the sound a dog makes in spanish (pronounced wow wow). It was a lot of fun and quite the adventure to make the songs into spanglish. And I hope the kids learned a little bit of English too. They also taught us some dances and songs that they like to sing in class.

From Temuco

After school, we had a lesson in Mapudungun. I was super excited to learn a little bit but found the language to be really difficult. It was very hard to learn a language that is not germanic or latin based. Also it was a crazy experience to learn another language in Spanish. We learned greetings, numbers, and family members. Its very interesting because the names for family members are different for maternal and paternal sides. For example, an aunt on your mom's side is Nukentu, while an aunt on your dad's side is Palu.

After all this long day, we met up with Patito and his friends afterschool and had a big soccer game. A lot of the people from the village came out to play with us and it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday
In the morning we met at Don Raul's house, the director of the school and my family's cousin. We met with all the kids of the school to help begin the construction of a ruka. It has been 70 years since a ruka was built in this community. They hope to have it finished by March of next year and have the SIT group help start it every semester. So next year 2 new rukas will be built. This construction also represents to continuation of the Mapuche culture because most Mapuche kids don't know how to build a ruka so while we were sharing in the culture, the adults are passing on the knowledge and culture to the next generation so that they can continue building rukas. It was a really moving thing to experience and be a part of. It was also really cool to learn about how the ruka must be built in relation to the sun. We worked all morning digging up dirt and moving to form the floor of the ruka. We then all enjoyed delicious sopa outside for lunch.

From Temuco

From Temuco

That afternoon we all gathered together on the soccer field to learn how to play Palin, the sport of the Mapuche. It is very similar to hockey but is played on a very small field. Eight players from each team line the field facing each other. The two in the center have a face off with the pelota ( a small, hard, wood ball). Everyone has a stick that is curved at the bottom and carved to be a little flatter on the side. The object is to get the ball to pass over the other teams end line. But if the ball is pushed out the side, it was to be brought back to the middle for a face off. I had a blast playing and it turns out I am pretty good at it too (haha who knew). But it is a very dangerous game. The ball is super hard and flies up in the air a lot when people smack their sticks against it. The ball just missed my face a couple of times. Also the field is very small and everyone has sticks so the ends were flying everywhere and it was very easy to get smacked in the shins with a stick. I was all bruised afterward but it was really fun and cool to learn another part of Mapuche culture. And of course afterward we played another big game of soccer. It was cool to play cause little 6 year old play and then really old grandpas play too. And they are all really good. Its amazing to see how much Futbol is a part of their culture and their life.

Thursday
We got in the bus again and traveled to Chol Chol another Mapuche town. We went to the Liceo Tecnica de Chol Chol, a technical, Catholic high school. We had two seminars given by the director of the school about the school and its philosophy as well as the politics of education. Both were very interesting and it was cool to see a school very different from the municipal school in Chapod. This school was very focused on intercultural education and is 90% Mapuche. Laura, Jackie, Sophie, and I got to visit a 2nd year creative writing class. A lot of times when we are put in classrooms, the conversations are really awkward and the students don't really show interest in us. But here, the students had tons of questions and seemed really excited to talk to us. There were 40 kids in the class os it was very overwhelming. But they were all really cool and wanted to be asked questions too. They told us that everyone had a lot of pride for their school and that they felt very fortunate to be there. And the only thing that they said they would change would be the uniforms. Then one of the girls read us her story.

As an important aside, I have learned that Chileans love chants. For the first few weeks I would notice that all of the sudden my family would start chanting something all together and then they would stop before I could figure out what was going on. I thought I was crazy until I learned in my spanish class that chanting is a very Chilean thing. What they do is make the chant in the form of a request using "que + the subjunctive of the verb" Now the subjunctive is one of the hardest things about spanish in my opinion because we don't really use it in English and it has a whole different conjugation. But Chileans love to use this chanting in the subjunctive. For example "que lo abra, que lo abra" is what they always chant when people get presents. Literally it means "that you open it" So once I learned that this chant thing is not just my family but a chilean thing, I have taken to chanting at random times too. It turns out that if you use the subjunctive correctly you can get your way a lot of times. One day in spanish we chanted "que no tengamos tarea" "that we don't have homework" and it worked. But anyways, I have been using it a lot when hanging out with my SIT friends. But my proudest moment came when we were in front of the creative writing class and they wanted one student to read her story to us, so I started the chant "que lo lea" and it caught on and everyone joined in. I was ecstatic that I had started a real chant and that is worked cause the girl read her story.

But I digress... Anyway, after the school we went to another ruka for a traditional Mapuche meal. Afterward, we took rides in the ox pulled wagon and went and explored the river nearby. It was a gorgeous day and it was a beautiful setting.

Next, we headed into the city of Temuco and had the afternoon free to explore the city and the artisan market. I was able to get a lot of gifts for family and friends. I also bought myself a pretty silver and lapilazuli bracelet (this blue stone is only found in Chile and one other country) and a red wool sweater. Both are hand-made by Mapuche so they are really cool to have and also look really nice too. I was informed by the owner of the sweater store that the red color of my sweater was perfect for my skin because I am so "blankita", basically super white. In case I didn't know already. Thanks...

Friday
In the morning we went to Don Juan's house and went into his ruka for our wrap-up seminar. We each gave a 5 minute presentation on a theme that we had explored during the week. I talked about bilingual education and how Mapudungun is being lost. I am getting more and more comfortable speaking spanish in front of a big group and although I had written notes for my presentation, I ended up just talking (yay). It was very interesting to hear all the different perspectives on the week. A lot of people talked about what does culture mean and what parts should be preserved. Sophie had a really good talk about the Machismo culture of the Mapuches and how much wome and girls are discriminated against (the boys were only selected to help plot out the ruka and only boys were asked to teach us Palin). It was a good way to wrap up the week. After we had a great lunch of finger foods made by Frank the assistant director who is a chef. Everything was amazing. That afternoon we of course played soccer with the people of the town again. And after we went with Pato and his friend to a waterfall and a river half an hour away. It was really beautiful and a great afternoon skipping rocks and relaxing by the river.

From Temuco 2

That night we went to Geoff's house to celebrate his birthday with him and his family. It was so sweet of them to through him a barbecue and I really felt at home among our big family. Afterward, we met the SIT group outside of the school to celebrate together. But there are no lights so we were just sitting in the dark in a circle outside of the school in the middle of no where just talking. It was so weird and unreal but really fun.

Saturday
We met at the school at 11 for a big Asado (bbq) with all of the families. Pato and four of his friends Ruli, Javier, Gustavo, and Pipe are in a musical group that plays Andean music. They have a cd that is professionally done and they are all very talented. The group played for us and we sang some songs together too. We all played basketball and knockout and cards until the food was ready. We had huge chunks of pork and beef and delicious salads. Afterward we played some more basketball and then had the finaly soccer tournament. My team lost in penalty kicks.

From Temuco 2

We went back to our house and went for a final walk around the campo with Patito. He showed us how to pick this mushroom like fruit that we had tried the day before. I ended up climbing up a fence with a giant stick to poke the fruit until they came raining down on my head. I also found a huge one and we picked it and brought it back for the family. Their land is so beautiful and it was so nice to take a final walk around. And although Patito stepped in a huge puddle and soaked his feet, he kept saying how he didn't want us to go. I felt really sad to be leaving and was surprised how attached I had become after only a week.

From Temuco 2

We had our last dinner together and I gave them one of my hand made thank you cards. Inside I explained that I wanted to thank them for everything. I told them I had learned a lot about Mapuche culture but they had shown me the most important part of Mapuche culture: family. They presented us with little key hooks to remember them by.

I also took that time to ask them if it would be ok with them if I returned in November for my independen study project. They said absolutely and Patito made me promise. It felt amazing to be part of the family after only one week. That night as we were saying goodbye to our families, I couldn't help but cry a little to leave them. I feel so lucky that I am going to have the opportunity to go back and I feel now that I left part of my heart in Chapod. I have never met such amazing people nor have I ever fallen in love with a place so quickly.

I talked to Frank the assistant director about doing my ISP there. I explained that I want to do something with special education, or language schools, or speech pathology. He told me he has 5 friends studying special education at a University, his mom teaches at a language school in Temuco, and his sister is a speech pathologist. He told me to email him and he will set me up. So I will have tons of contacts when I go back. I want to compare the special education system in temuco vs santiago so I will probably go back for a week or so. But I am extatic that there seems to be so much for me to research and that my family is waiting for me. My mom told me that we're going to go swimming in the river and have a picnic when I come back. I can't wait.

This week was truly unforgettable and I could talk forever about it. I don't know how to fully explain it but when you experience something that amazing, it is truly life changing. I know I am about as far as you get from an Indigenous chilean, but I really feel that part of me is with the Mapuche people.

Cajon De Maipo

This weekend, six girls from the program and I went to Cajon de Maipo, a tiny town about an hour outside of Santiago. The town is right in the mountains so it was gorgeous there. After a huge struggle trying to get there, we arrived at our cottage late Friday night. It was called La bella dormiente, the sleeping beauty. We were all kind of half expecting it to be really sketchy and weird cause it was pretty cheap and we were in the middle of no where, but the little cottage was adorable, clean, and very homey. There was a bedroom with a double bed, a loft area with three beds, a kitchen, and a dinning room connected to the living area. We had a cute little fireplace too. It reminded me a lot of vacationing in Maine. The first night we just hung out by the fire and talked a lot. It was cool to get to know everybody better and just relax and stay in for the night.

From Cajon de Maipo

Our Cottage

The next morning we got up and all made breakfast together. We had scrambled eggs with cheese and pepper, oranges, apples, and bananas, and bread with strawberry jam that Sophie had made with her host mom. It was really fun to cook and share a family breakfast. That afternoon we walked down the road to a tourist place that has rafting, zip lines, and horseback riding. We all got horses and set out with two guides for a two hour trip. My horse was named oveja (ear) because one of his ears was misshapen and awkward. He was a really good horse, although he kept trying to stop for a snack. I was expecting a path that went up the mountain gradually and easily, but was surprised to find that a lot of the path was just straight up a very steep mountain. Also, the path was only about three feet wide and there were tons of small rocks that the horse tripped over. But it was fine- just a little bit horrifying.

Although we were all pretty concerned about the trail or lack of trail that we were on, the views we saw were unbelievable. As we got higher and higher we could see more and more. We were surrounded by mountains on all sides. Some were snow-capped and others were covered in cactuses while others were completely tree-covered. There were little waterfalls on the sides of the mountain and an amazing river that ran around the base of the mountain. I took tons of pictures but it was nearly impossible to look through the lens while riding so a third of them are just blurs of nothing. Half way through the trip, we stopped at the top of the mountain. There was a giant cannon and crazy rocks all around.

From Cajon de Maipo

From Cajon de Maipo

The trip down was ever crazier that going up. We had to lean way back on the horse to keep from falling forward. My horse kept slipping on the rocks and we would fall a couple feet before he caught himself again. It was so scary. But again we saw some amazing views so it was really fun. Afterwards, we stopped at this really weird fairytale themed cafe that was owned by two young guys. It was really creepy and weird but they had amazing hot chocolate.

That evening, we made dinner all together and had a huge feast of lemon pasta and chicken and salad. We hung out and played games until really late. We left the next morning after our breakfast.

It was really a great weekend spent with friends. It was fun getting to know some of the girls better and great to just spend the weekend relaxing, away from city life. And I know I say this in every post but I saw some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Sunday evening was Jackie's birthday so we all went out to the Mexican restaurant Como Agua para Chocolate. What a great weekend. And only one more week of classes before we leave for Temuco! Its crazy how time flies here, this was basically our last weekend all together in Santiago. Crazy.
Love, Kim

Valparaiso

Hey everyone!
So this past weekend we went to Valparaiso. I had been sick for a week or so before (which is why I haven't posted in a while) but I got better just in time to go. It was cool to be in a city so different from Santiago. Valpo is right next to the water and is basically one giant hill. There are tons of stairs and crazy steep hills. There are tons of buildings but no really bigs ones so there are just miles of tiny colorful houses and buildings. Another big thing in Valpo is the murals. There are amazing, colorful murals everywhere on the walls. Some are incredibly detailed and they make the city so beautiful.

From Valpo

So when we got there we went to the Liceo Tecnico Femenino de Valparaiso. It's an all girls technical high school. They have five focuses: Child care, elderly care, cooking, sewing, and graphic design. We were able to see classrooms from most of these focuses and talk with the girls. It was an interesting school to observe because of the technical focus. The issue is that the skills they are learning are for work that does not earn much money. IE The child care focus is not studying to be a teacher but a teacher's aid in a preschool. At this same time it is better for the girls to be learning something practical rather than nothing at all. But there really is not support for kids who want to go further than just graduation. We had many interesting conversations around this issue.

After our time at the school we went to a tiny little restaurant to have Chorillana. We got one plate for every three people...and by plate i mean platter. Chorillana is basically french fries with fried onions and egg and beef. So basically the best thing ever. Jeff, Sophie and I ate the entire thing. It was amazing. After that we talked with two men from the Teacher's College of Chile. This group is a volunteer group of teachers who work to make change in the education system in Chile. It was really interesting to talk to hear their perspectives. They basically said that everything about the education system is pretty crappy though. We had the rest of the night off so we explored around Vina del Mar which is the town over from Valpo where we were staying.

From Valpo

Chorillana

On Saturday we traveled to a rural village on the outskirts of Valpo. This was an awesome experience for all of us. This school was very poor, had very little resources, only about 50 students, but the school really was inspirational. It was a Saturday so there were no classes but a teacher and a few students came to talk to us anyway. The teacher, Edda, was super simpatica. The school consisted of about four rectangular buildings with a classroom in each. The kindergarten and pre-K students were together, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shared another classroom, and 4th,5th, and 6th were in another building. There was another on-room building for extra-help and Speech therapy. But children with problems would not stay in the extra-help room, instead they were integrated into the regular classrooms and go to the extra-help room every once and a while. I found it amazing that such a small and poor school had such forward thinking about integration and special services. A lot of schools here seem to put students with learning issues in their own classroom. But this school definitely works to put all students in the least restrictive environment.

From Valpo

Another thing we loved about this school was the garden the students have at the school. Each first grader has their own plot and are taught how to care for the garden and have the responsibility to care for it. There is also a lemon orchard and a hot house and paltas (avacados). This was such a cool thing to have a school. It can teach so much about science and nature, it teaches responsibility, and is something practical the kids can use in real life. The school was so hospitable to us and gave us bebidas and galletas (soda and cookies) at the end. It was also amazing that the kids were willing to come in on a Saturday. The students genuinely loved their school and it definitely seemed to be a diamond in the rough for them.

After the rural school we headed back into Valpo and had the rest of the day free so we went to lunch at a seafood restaurant right on the beach. Valpo is know for its Mariscos (seafood) so we had to try it. I got fried fish that was amazing and everyone loved the seafood cauldron. It was an awesome meal. Then we went for a walk on beach which was gorgeous. The city raps around the ocean so it was awesome to see the whole city of Valpo and the ocean. We had gorgeous weather too and we were able to take our shoes off and feel the sand. Then we went to Pablo Neruda's Valparaiso home which was even more amazing than his home in Algorrobo that we visited during orientation. The view from his window was amazing.

From Valpo

From Valpo

This trip to Valparaiso showed me a lot about the education system in Chile. There are a lot of issues in almost every part of the Education system. It was also a beautiful city to see with the beach, colorful houses, murals, and hills. And I took tons of pictures as usual so be sure to check them out.
Amor y Paz,
Kim

El Fin de Semana Increíble:

Ok so this was the craziest weekend of my life. On Saturday I woke up early and was on my way to go skiing in the Cordillera (means Range- its what they use to refer to the mountains). I almost missed the bus (was five minutes late but didn't have a phone to find the bus stop- a giant struggle) seven of us from the SIT group were on our way to the Andes. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the mountains but we spent the next 40 minutes getting up them. We drove on really windy roads through giant hills that were covered in cacti and shrubs. The road had just opened after a major mudslide that week (don't tell my mom), and we could see where the mud had slid down the mountain. Around every corner we could see more and more of the snow capped mountains. Then for the last half an hour we went back and forth around hair pin turns up the side of this mountain. It was horrifying but also amazing as the view got better as we got higher. By the way, we stopped counting the number of 180 degree turns we took when we got to 30. Eeks.

Finally, we got to El Colorado ski resort and we could see the slopes. It was incredible. It took us forever to rent skiis and everything but soon enough we were off! I haven't been skiing since freshman year of high school so I was a little nervous to be back on the slopes. But It came back to me pretty fast. We went down a couple of green slopes first and then I was ready to get into the harder stuff. I didn't have snow pants or a snow jacket but I had worn all the layers that Auntie Robin had bought me plus more. I had on top: a cami, tank top, t-shirt, long sleave thermal, sweat shirt, fleece, and a rain coat. On the bottom I had: spandex, jeans, sweatpants, rain pants (Auntie robin said they would come in handy and she was right:-)) plus two pairs of wool socks, scarf, hat and gloves. I was expecting to be freezing cause I had been freezing walking around the city. But much to my pleasant surprise, it was gorgeous on top of the mountain. I ended up taking off a lot of my layers and my hat and gloves so I just had a long sleeve and my rain coat. It was awesome not to feel raw while I was skiing. We skiied for the rest of the morning and then went to the lodge for lunch. I had pasta and a crepe with Nutella (yum). And then we spent the rest of the afternoon skiing. The time flew buy so fast. I could have skiied for hours more but I think my muscles were happy I had to stop to go home.

From Skiing

I saw some of the most amazing views I have ever seen in my life. In New England I was used to skiing through the woods which is awesome and peaceful. But skiing the andes was a whole different experience. We were so high that there were no trees growing where we were. So it was weird at first but because of this, I was completely surrounded by mountains. It was humbling and a truly spiritual experience to see a view that magnificent. As I was skiing I was just looking out at the mountains and thinking "Oh my gosh those are the ANDES!!!" It was surreal. I kept having this memory of a retreat at stonehill where we were talking about our images of God. We were asked "do you see God more like the ocean, or like the mountains." I said the ocean. But all I could think about while I was skiing was that I would probably change my answer.

I also laughed an incredible amount on this trip. My friends that I went with were also having an amazing time and it was great to experience it together. They are truly amazing and fun people. I had a lot of struggles with chair lifts. The first struggle happened on the T-bar lift. I had never used one before and either had Jefe so naturally we went up together=bad idea. What you are supposed to do is catch the bar, put it behind your butts and wait for it to start pulling you. Well we didn't really know what we were doing so I'm standing there holding onto this bar, not sure what to do with it, when Jefe started to fall sideways...towards me. So we both fall down and keep getting struck by the t bars passing by. The guys working the lift grabbed my arm stuck the pole on my butt and we were off, holding on for dear life. We had no balance and almost fell the whole way up. Once we were approaching the top, we started to panic because we didn't know how to get off. In my attempts, I almost crashed into a snow wall because I couldn't get the pole off of my butt. I was laughing so hard I was crying. The next big struggle was with a regular ski lift. I went through a short cut to get to the three person lift and I was going to go up with Ana and Jefe. Ok so the way that the lift was set up was much like a horse race gate. Where each person has their own compartment to wait for the lift and when you can go, the gate swings open to let you out. I guess I was a little to far away or took too long getting through the gate because as I'm almost through it comes swinging shut...hard. So as my right leg is behind the bar but my left leg managed to get through. I thought... ow, but not a big deal, just a little embarrassing but I'll wait for the next lift when the gate opens again. But when the gate opened it took me with it because i was basically straddling it. I swung with the bar so I was basically facing backwards. The nice lift guys each grabbed one of my arms and literally dragged me into place and put me on a lift. I was practically peeing my pants I was so embarrassed and I was laughing so hard. Ana and Jefe were in front of me so I was glad someone could share in the glory that had just occurred. Meg and Tracy were behind me too so they saw too. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones who were amused though. I thought I was having a rough time with the lifts until I heard that my friend Jackie who had been snowboarding, fell every time she got on a T bar. But instead of fixing it, she literally got dragged up the mountain on her butt and had people stare at her. We were clearly the ridiculous Americans.


My favorite part of the whole trip was our last run. We did not have much time left and we had taking lifts all the way to the top. We decided to take our last run in on a new trail that went around the back of the mountain. It was the only trail back there and it was just a narrow path that wrapped around the whole mountain. I have never seen anything that incredible in my life. I felt like I was completely alone in the mountains. I literally got goosebumps or God-shivers as lauren and I like to call it. I took a video and pictures but they do not do the real thing justice.It was a perfect way to end one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.

From Skiing

This is the path that we took around the mountain

From Skiing

This was the view from the back of the mountain. 100x times more breathtaking in real life.

To continue the surreal experiences of the weekend, I went on Sunday to the annual human rights protest in Santiago Centro. We were warned by Roberto that people get arrested every year so that if we do go, then we should just observe. This was truely my intention as I made my way to the place where the march was supposed to start. I met Jackie there and we were walking to meet up with Alex, Laura and Laura's padres. First I saw the only two red heads in all of Chile: Laura and her padre, next I saw the homemade communist flag that Laura's dad was holding. Next thing I know, after meeting Laura's family, we were marching right into the middle of the communist party that was at the start of the line of protesters. There was flags and chanting and yelling- I was starting to get the picture that we would not be observing the protest.

From Protest

So there we were marching with the commies. It was actually really cool. It was amazing to see thousands of people who were reved up about human rights. There were carabineros (police guys) lining the roads we were walking on with helmets and bullet proof shields and giant tanks. But it was a very peaceful protest. Until....

So there we were walking along chanting "Chi chi chi, le le le. Partido Communista de Chile" and Alex and I had to go do a project for our Spanish class so we were going to leave and go to the metro stop that we were going to pass soon. We were almost there when we saw another group of SIT girls run by. I thought they were running because they were having such a good time. So Jackie and Alex ran to catch them to tell them to march with us. Alex came back but no Jackie. And people were starting to yell more but I didn't think anything was going on. Next thing I knew Laura's dad said "solamente agua" and I'm like "what where's the water?" And I turn around to see the crowd rushing toward me and one of the big tankers spraying what looked like water from a fire hose. And then my chest started to feel tight. I turn and look at Laura's dad and he just kept saying "tranquila, tranquila, no corras, adelante" to me "be calm be calm don't run keep going." As I am seeing everyone running at me. It wasn't water that the cops were spraying onto the crowd, it was tear gas. People kept running and it was starting to get a little scary. Laura's dad was keeping us calm but everyone around us was starting to panic. Laura started coughing and my chest was getting tighter and tighter. The crowd started to push and at that point we were up against one of the shoulder high metal barricades that lined the streets during the protest. People were running and pushing us. I was holding onto Alex's and Laura's hands for dear life. Her madre was shepherding us like a mom while her padre kept trying to keep us calm "tranquila tranquila" but then would turn and yell angrily at the cops. I had my head down and I remember looking up and seeing the tear gas as little specs in the air around us while I was shoved up against the fence. People were jumping over it and falling but there was no way I was going to get over that quickly. I remember being the most scared at that moment. I saw no way out of it and the gas was only getting closer. And just as I was feeling terrified, the metal fence was pushed down. All of us were able to step over it and get to a place away from the gas. I tried to cover up my mouth with my shirt but it didn't really do much. I nose stung really bad, my chest was tight and my throat hurt. At that point we were at the metro stop so we were able to get out of there. We soon met the other group of SIT girls with Jackie who had run not because they were having fun but because they saw the tear gas. Annick's mom immediately pored salt into our hands, made us like it and then squeezed lemon juice into our mouths. It was nasty but immediately stopped the burning in my throat. We had seen people carrying lemons earlier and had asked about them. We understood that they were for tear gas but like naive little gringas, thought it was a symbol for the overcoming of the tear gas that Pinochet used on the people. But it was not a symbol...
It was frustrating that the protest was so peaceful and really cool and that the police then had to make chaos and gas the crowed. I heard after that the anarchist in the back of the protest started throwing things but that is not grounds to gas the entire crowd. There was a 3 year old girl who was walking with her mom and dad right next to us for most of the march. As Annick's mom was squeezing lemon into my mouth she was murmuring "que democracia" "what democracy" She was clearly frustrated too that the peoples right to protest was being inhibited by the government. It was a very eye opening experience for me to be a part of a protest like that and to then experience being gassed. It made me sad that the government was trying to stop something like that. That is what democracy is all about. So I was glad to see that the march kept going and people were not stopped by the gas. Its cool to see that many people who are willing to put up with a lot to stand up for human rights and democracy.

So that was my weekend. I'm not sure if this is real life.

11 de Septiembre 1973, 2001, y 2009

In the United States, September 11, 2001 is a day that will forever haunt our history. It was a day in which thousands were killed in a few instances and more were killed trying to rescue them. Until I came here, I had no idea that September 11 has sucha a significant and equally horrific meaning to Chile.

September 11, 1973 is the day of the military coup that began the horrific dictatorship of Pinochet. From that day forward for the next decade or so, thousands of people were killed and tortured under Pinochet, thousands more disapeared without a trace- leaving their loved ones hoping for their return, unable to let go and move on.

Living here on September 11 was an interesting experience. We were warned to stay home that night because people get violent. I didn't understand why there was so much violence- afterall, Pinochet is no longer in power, who are they angry at. Now I understand that, although Pinochet is gone, the pain of the loved ones of the killed and tortured remains.

There is still a great sense of sorrow about this day. A sense of betrayal, pain, despair, but also hope. A hope for justice for those who were killed and a hope for peace. The same hopes that we have as Americans in remembering 9/11. This understanding left me with a great feeling of solidarity with the Chilean people. September 11, 2001 and el 11 de Septiembre 1973 were both days of violence, despair, and grief, but on September 11, 2009, Chileans and Americans are unified by a sense of remembrance, hope, and solidarity.

Skiiing Pics

Skiing

New pics

There are new pics of mi casa and La Victoria on Picasa

Santiago

Ay Dios Mio

O my goodness. I have done so much since the last time I posted. I will try to keep it short though.
Ok, so on Friday we went to La Victoria which a pueblo muy pobre cerca de Santiago. The town began as a community where the homeless in Santiago would move to illegally. The people began fighting for the right to live there and not too long ago they town became theirs. However, the town is still very very poor and has a very big problem with drug trafficing. We had to get up to go very early because the only time they felt that is was safe for us to travel there was in the morning. Although this town is struggle it was a really fun trip. The town has a lot of character and the children and teachers that we met there were super simpaticos (super nice, chileans use the word super a lot). The town and the school reminded me a lot of my trip to Canto Grande, Peru. Both were very very poor areas but with people who were so happy. The staff at the school was explaining that about 1/4 of the students' parents have issues with drugs or are in jail because of drugs and another 1/4 have both parents working full time so that they are not able to be involved in the kids lives as much as they would like. Half of the kids' parents for whatever reason can not be active in their kids lives. This creates a cycle of poverty and drug use. Its so sad when an entire society is struggling so much. But the kids were so funny asking questions about the US. Do you know Michael Jackson? What is your national dance? (La cueca the national dance of chile is taught in all the schools). They traded pens with us and exchanged emails. We also went to Padre Andre's house and a Jardin Infantil (kindergarten).
That night a group of us explored Plaza Nunoa which is an area in my barrio (neighborhood) that has a lot of Pubs and restaurants and a lot of young people at night. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the group and with Karina and Gaba (our chilean friends, Karina was a translator for us duringn orientation and is a university student).
Saturday night was La Roja which is a big soccer game versus Venezuela. Its bigger than the superbowl in the US. I went to my friend Quiana's house to watch the game and I had trouble calling a cab because most taxi places were not running that night because of the game. Quiana's family was all over, there were like 15 people. I had a lot of fun and found myself getting into it. Chile tied Venezuela. Afterwards we sat around and had tea. It was fun to talk to another family about the trip and where I should travel too in Chile. They were curious about what American prejudices are towards Latin America. It was something I had not thought about since coming here. I told them that many americans think that Latin America is very dangerous and there is fighting in the streets. They sort of laughed it off but it was weird for me to think about what people think of this country that I have found to be so hospitable, welcoming and ameable. There are a lot of robbers and I do have to be careful about going anywhere alone at night but I wouldnt go alone at night somewhere in a lot of parts of the US. And Chile is certainly one of the safer of the Latin American countries which I am very glad about but even still... I mean if you think about it all that we ever hear about South America on the news is when something bad happens. No wonder so many americans think of it as a dangerous place. I am glad that so far my trip has disproved the prejudices many Americans have of Latin America.
Ok so remember when I said this was going to be short? I lied. Its long and I didnt even catch up to this point. Ugh. But i gotta go to bed soon. I'll try to catch up soon. Ah.
Con Carino,
Kim

Santiagoing it up

Hi,
So we just finished our first week of classes, yay. We only have class monday through thursday. Tomorrow we are going to La Victoria and an escuela municipal, public school in a very poor area. This week is ending a lot better than it started ha ha. Since monday's excurtion through Nunoa, I have not gotten lost! SO that is definitely a huge improvement. I am also starting to feel very comfortable with the city and much more settled. I feel like a student that studies in Chile rather than a confused, flustered, gringa tourist. I am a lot more confortable on the metro and as long as I can find a station, I can get myself home from anywhere in the city. Although I am comfortable using the metro, I am not always comfortable on the metro. In the mornings there are so many people on the trains that there is literally no room to more. When the doors open for me to get on it is wall to wall people and the only way to get on is to push my way through. Most of the time when the doors close I am literally hanging onto the side of the train trying to stay in. The doors usually close on me and my bag and eventually people shift enough for me to get myself in. Thank goodness that it is only that full for a couple of stops before people emty out of the trains. It is very stressful but because I am taller than almost everyone here, I can breath and do not get super claustrophobic. Most chileans are very short. There are some men that are taller than me but for the most part I tower above people. It does attract attention to be an alta gringa but it is useful on crowded subways. haha. Other than the crazy subway stop, my commute in the morning is pretty easy. It takes about an hour to get in. I walk for like 15 minutes, take the blue line to the red line to los heroes and then walk five minutes to class. And here are pictures of the view from my room. It freaks me out everytime I look outside. This is only a small part of the mountains. From certain spots in Santiago you can see a lot more of them. They are really breathtaking. The pictures do not do it justice.

So I am definitely settling into the routine of things here. And I am having an awesome time. I am still very overwhelmed by the amount of work we have, the city, and the language but it is getting better everyday.
Paz y amor,
Kim

PS This is from thursday but I didn't post it until today. We had an amazing time in La Victoria. I will share the pics and stories from today tomorrow. K bye.