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.