Confessions of a Traveler

Thanksgiving 09

2009-11-29T05:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a group of friends and I celebrated Thanksgiving on the "rooftop" of my building (that has a room and a grill that residents can use). Each person brought a different dish, so we certainly had enough food!

The menu consisted of:

-turkey drumsticks (I wasnt able to get the frozen whole one in time)
-grilled chicken
-chorizo stuffing
-cornbread and honey
-mashed potatoes w/vegetarian gravy (that I made from scratch!)
-green bean casserole (french onions made by my friend!)
-broccoli casserole
-deviled eggs
-cucumber and avocado salad
-corn salad
-tomato salad
-roasted vegetables

-and for dessert: free-form strawberry pie, spiced pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting (sans pumpkin since I couldnt find it), chocolate walnut oatmeal cookies, and chocolate cake).

my "pumpkin" spice cake with cream cheese frosting

-and, of course, lots of wine and apple juice (no cider available)

It certainly was different to eat these type of "heavy" dishes in almost-summer weather. Those are types of food you want to eat when its cold out, not when you're getting sunburned!

Francisco and me

The view from the balcony - towards the city Viña del Mar (north side of the bay)

view of Valparaiso (south side of the bay where the port is)

Today is my boyfriend Francisco's dad's birthday, so last night they invited me to go out to dinner with them at a nice Italian-seafood restaurant one hill over from Placeres (the hill is called Esperanza - "Hope"; the restaurant is Portofino). We had a really delicious seafood meal pretty late at night (we got there at 9 pm); the restaurant had a live pianist and it overlooks the bay which was beautiful since it was twilight when we got there. Needless to say, I went to bed with a very satisfied belly.

Francisco's dad Pancho, Francisco, and Francisco's mom Lucia

Lucia and Francisco's brothers, Joaquin (17) and Tomas (20)

Legality

2009-11-24T04:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I was finally able to go to the Registro Civil (registry office?) and complete all the paperwork for my Chilean ID card!

First, I had to apply for my temporary residence visa, for which I needed a work contract (from my former employer). That was finally ready at the end of October, and I applied in September.

Second, I had to go to the International Police Station and register my visa.

Third, I had to go to the Registry Office and they took my picture for my ID.

Registro Civil, Valparaiso

Finally, I will pick up my ID on Dec. 7th, which shouldn´t take long at all.

A long process, so I´m glad it´s finally over! Now that I will have my ID I can actually get a bank account.

Also, I started taking some photos of around Valparaiso for a project I am working on (well two actually). One is to take current photos of various locations that I have old photos for (that I bought on the street in Viña). The other is to take as many photos of as many churches here that I can.

La Matriz, oldest church in Valparaiso

Left: 2009, Right: 1900. Plaza Sotomayor, Valparaiso

Plaza Sotomayor, Valparaiso

random building

Halloween

2009-11-01T07:17:00.001-08:00

This Friday I had my first ever Halloween party. Given that we were in Chile, costumes were optional - which means only 3 friends and I were dressed up! Halloween is not a very big deal in Chile; most people think you have to be something scary, like a ghost, a witch, a vampire, etc. Also, there is not a variety of Halloween candy, and *mostly* small children dress up, but I did see a couple of young adults too. It's just not part of the Chilean culture.

Another interesting note is that my 3 friends came as the seasons, although they were missing Fall. However, all Chileans thought that Spring was Fall, because Emily was wearing rain boots and had an umbrella and apparently Spring is not associated with rain, but Fall is.

Some of the best costume pictures (of me, hehe) were taken by Winter (Caitlin) and Spring (Emily), so I will post those as soon as I can copy them off Facebook.

I made Dirt, my favorite childhood dessert ever!!! It was delicious and a big hit.

Eyeball devilled eggs with blue and red food coloring.

Winter (Caitlin), Summer (Javier, Emily's boyfriend), and Spring (Emily).

Sebastian's "costume" (!???).

Lydia wearing Sebastian's costume.

Michelle wearing Sebastian's costume. (hahahaha, weren't you in the US warned against sharing masks because of germs???!!!)

New employment!

2009-11-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

So, I have a new job. I first applied for this job at the beginning of September, and after a test, an interview and more questions via telephone, I was finally offered the job a few weeks ago. The company is Evalueserve, and basically it provides research and analysis on various industries and companies around the world to their clients who make investments based on this analysis. My specific job is to edit these documents; since they are written in English by non-native speakers, we have to make sure the format and grammar and everything are correct.

I am really excited to start this new job! I already went in and was introduced to everyone, and on Monday I start officially. The job pays nicely and includes pension and health insurance. The hours are a little difficult - since it's an international company and they want to run 24 hours a day, my shift is from 1.30 pm to 11.30 pm (that's when the offices in China and India are sleeping). But there is a transport van so it's not that bad.

I will keep you updated on this big change in my life!

Renting bicycles

2009-11-01T07:01:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago my friend Michelle and I wanted to go for a bike ride. She has a bike but I had to rent one. Our other friend Joselyn (who is the secretary for the institute I worked at) told us she rented a bike once at Muelle Baron and then biked all the way to Reñaca, which is a beach town a little north of Valparaiso. So I went there one Sunday afternoon and rented the bike, and met Michelle in Viña del Mar (where she lives) and we biked up to Reñaca. We only had 3 hours until I had to return the bike, and it takes about an hour to bike from Muelle Baron to Reñaca, so unfortunately I didn't have any time to stop and take pictures along the way. But I did take some pictures in Reñaca.

When we got there we went to the little bar/restaurant where Alvaro, Michelle's boyfriend, works on the weekends, and we got some free drinks! (yum) And then it was back to Muelle Baron.

Oh, and Michelle google mapped our bike trek, apparently from Viña del Mar to Reñaca it's about 8 kilometers one way, which means we biked 16 kilometers! And from Muelle Baron to Viña del Mar, it's 5.3 kilometers, so in total I biked 26.6 kilometers in one day!! Hopefully I can buy a pretty cheap bike and go biking to various beach towns on the weekend.

And the day before we walked from Michelle's house to Reñaca so that's an extra 8 km!

Flower symbol of Reñaca... made out of flowers, but it's a bird (dove, I think).

PDA is very common in Chile...

Mil Tambores festival

2009-11-01T06:31:00.000-08:00

About a month ago (sorry for the lapse in reporting) Valparaíso celebrated the Mil Tambores festival. I'm afraid to say I don't actually know what the festival is all about, but it means "a thousand drums" so that is basically the theme. There are lots of dance and drum groups involved in a big parade, and the weekend's events also include various performances and workshops. There is also a group of people who have their bodies painted, traditionally these are naked people, but others also just go topless or in underwear/bikinis. You might remember that I had my body painted for Mil Tambores a few years ago, with jeans and a bikini top. Pictures below.

The starting point of the parade, Plaza Echaurren (the oldest plaza in Valparaiso).

My friend Michelle (from Washington) and her boyfriend Alvaro. This was a lifelong dream of hers to be painted!!

A dance group ... these are the traditional outfits, dances, and music of the indigenous people of northern Chile.

A cerro is a hill, Valparaiso has many and each one has a name, its sort of like sectors of the city. Anyway, Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion are two popular ones... they are more European, artsy, bohemian type of places, with lots of art and little indie cafes and bars. Pablo Neruda's house called La Sebastiana is located there.

Pictures of me two years ago when I participated as a painted body. Front and back.

El Dieciocho

2009-09-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in previous posts, the 18th and 19th of September are national holidays in Chile. Everyone celebrates practically all month long! So, on the 17th I travelled to Santiago to stay with my boyfriend and his family. Santiago is the largest city in Chile, with a population of almost 8 million, and it's also the capital. There are about 15 million inhabitants in Chile, so, as you can see, most of them live in Santiago. There are many buses that travel daily between Santiago and Valparaíso, which only takes 1.5 hours.

When I arrived, we went straight to a barbecue at his friend's house (it was already 10 pm when I got there). The next day, Francisco's family (his mom, dad, and two brothers) had another barbecue. We basically ate all day on the back patio by their pool; luckily the weather was very sunny and warm, although in the morning it was cloudy. We ate chorizo with bread rolls (see picture below), and some other meat (since I'm only a meat-eater once a year, I really don't know what the names are for all the meat), along with salad and a Chilean salsa called pebre.

On Saturday, the 19th, we got up early to drive to Rancagua, which is about 45 min to an hour south from Francisco's house in Santiago. It is in the 6th Region: there are 15 Regions, which are like states. Valparaiso is in the 5th Region that is also named Valparaiso. The dictatorship changed the names of the regions to numbers, and then they were changed back, so now they are known by both name and number. The 6th Region is O'Higgins, which is one of the famous liberators, and Santiago is in the Metropolitan Region, which basically only contains Santiago and the metro area.

Francisco was born in Rancagua, and his parents are from there. So we met up with his aunt and cousin and then all of us drove out to some remote location in the mountains to have yet another barbecue (we arrived at almost exactly noon). The camp was near a small mining town called Coya, and the camp was actually an abandoned mining town that was owned by Gringos. I met all of Francisco's family from his dad's side, and a few from his mom's side: his grandmother, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.

We played a game called Rayuela, where you throw weights into a dirt mound and try to get it closest to the string in the center. Other than that, we ate, rested, and just enjoyed each other's company. Needless to say, we didn't arrive back in Santiago until around 10:30 pm. On Sunday we got up early and returned to Valparaiso, and now everything is back to normal!

The view on the way to Rancagua and the camp:One of the many orchards that we saw on the way

The abandoned house that we used that was undoubtedly made by gringos, you can tell from the window styling (Francisco's uncle pointed that out to me, haha!):
Chorizo and bread:

Francisco's mom and dad
Chatting after lunch:

Playing Rayuela:This is where you throw the weights, the goal is to hit the string in the middle

From the left: Pablo (cousin), Tomas (brother-age 20), Joaquin (brother-age 15/16?), Francisco (age 24)

The sunset on the way back to Rancagua:

Fiesta Costumbrista

2009-09-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went to the Fiesta Costumbrista sponsored by the Municipality of Casablanca. Despite the fact that it sounds like a costume party, it actually means "customs/traditions", so really it was a celebration of Chilean costums.

Casablanca is located about 30 minutes away (in a colectivo) en route to Santiago. Its population is about 23,000, so it is a fairly small town. I had been there once before when I went with a few others to present Youth For Understanding's (YFU) exchange programs at the local high school. To arrive in Casablanca, you only need to go the bus terminal in Valparaiso and take a bus there, which costs 900 pesos. Or, you can find yellow colectivos on an adjacent street that will take you for 1,000 pesos. (A colectivo is a shared taxi that has predetermined routes).

The Fiesta Costumbrista was actually not in Casablanca, as we learned when we arrived there. It was in Quepilcho, which is about 10 min from Casablanca; we had to travel a dirt road to get there. I'm not sure how many people live there, but it must be very, very small because we didn't even see any sort of town structures. Actually, I think it probably belongs to the Municipality of Casablanca. Unfortunately, the only free bus service that was provided by Casablanca had left earlier in the morning, and would only return at 6 pm that day. So, my three friends and I talked to our colectivo driver, who agreed to take us there for only 5,000 pesos (the taxi wanted to charge us 6).

The Fiesta had about five booths of local venders selling yarn made from real wool and knitted products, flowers and plants, rabbits, and local wine. There was also lots of food available, like empanadas (sort of like calzones), anticuchos (like shish kabobs with only meat), bread rolls, and (I think) other food like fried fish. A rather large ramada was constructed near the food, where people sat at tables to enjoy their food and drinks. "Rama" means tree branch, so the name is derived from the fact that the roof of the construction used to be made from tree branches. Nowadays tree branches are just tied to it for decoration. Below is a picture of the ramada.

The cueca is also typical for such a celebration (see video below). It's Chile's national dance that everyone learns in gym class in high school. A live band was playing, while what looked like professional dancers in traditional outfits and also non-professional attendees were dancing the cueca. It's supposed to be a rooster that is chasing the hen - he keeps pursuing her, and she keeps running away.

There was also a sort of petting zoo with goats (and adorable babies!), pigs (uh, swine flu anyone?), cows, and chickens. And several times throughout the day the music was interrupted to host games for the children, like who can eat an apple that is hanging on a string the fastest, or whose kite can fly the highest (kite-flying is HUGE here). Needless to say, it was a very family- and community-oriented event (when we got there we ran into several German students and one Colombian, and we were the only foreigners!).

Absence

2009-09-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

So now that it has been another year since I've posted something about my life, I decided to start writing again. I have to admit that I became pretty busy last summer, and quite frankly, Nebraska is not a very exciting place to write about. I mean, who could possibly be interested in snowstorms and tornados?

Now I am back in Chile, this time as an English teacher. I am teaching professional adults who work at the Chilean Congress, the local energy company Chilquinta, and the port logistics company TPS. They are secretaries, engineers, lawyers, and analysts - no elected politicians yet!

I am noticing aspects of Chilean daily life that I have never noticed before. Or maybe my perspective has simply changed. But since I already am sharing my experiences with many of you, I thought that it would be a good idea to simply write about these experiences here for you to keep up with me. I promise I will at least attempt to write one new post every week!

This week promises to be filled with lots of things to write about, given that it is the Chilean Independence Day! It is September 18th, but the 19th is also a holiday for the armed forces (as far as I understand it). This year is especially exciting, because it inaugurates the bicentennial celebrations. The actual bicentennial is in 2010, but everyone will celebrate it all year long!

There are so many activities available for these special days called Fiestas Patrias. You can visit a ramada or fonda, eat typical food like anticuchos, empanadas, and sopaipillas, drink typical alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks such as mote con huesillo, pisco, and chicha, and dance the traditional Chilean dance of which there are many variations, la cueca. Don't know yet what this all means? Stay tuned to find out more!

I'm now a Workin Gal

2008-06-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share a picture my fellow intern snapped yesterday at work.

So you know I AM working and not making this up. I mean, just look at my computer screen - I am busy doing important stuff.

Also, has anyone else seen a pigeon this fat before???

Rats Galore!

2008-06-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

So this is something I think is really disgusting: Washington, DC, is home to many a rodent.

So far I have only seen mice. But MICE. Not in creepy sewers and alleys, but on sidewalks, in the park, and in trash cans. (And apparently also in my basement).

That is gross!

I just keep thinking about how diseases are spread by rodents... like the Black Plague that lead to the dark ages!! (or maybe not, my history is a bit rusty).

It makes me wonder if this is a problem in Denver. We've had mice, but in our kitchen pantry, mostly because food is not very well kept and is enticing food for them. The solution was to set up mice traps and store food properly. The end.

Does Denver have mice? I don't really remember ever having seen a mice or heard of mice being abundant in the city. I think (correct me if I'm wrong on this, folks) that rather than take our trash to the edge of the sidewalk every morning so that the garbage collectors can pick it up, we use dumpsters. Even if you live in a house in the downtown area, I think trash is usually left in the alley behind the house. I mean, have you ever walked around in downtown Denver and noticed that there were trash cans on the edge of the streets, waiting for trash collectors to come by? I haven't.

I think this is part of a larger sanitation problem... (the sewage runs into the Potomac; more on that at a different point in time - well, when I get the chance to snap a picture)....

Well Hello, Mr. Bush

2008-06-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

The first pic is the White House. In the third picture, the building behind the statue (you can see the top of it) is where I work. In between the two is Lafayette Park. Thus, I literally work across the street from the White House. I spend my lunch hour in this park reading.

My Housing Situation

2008-06-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

For those who may not know, I am participating in an internship program at The Washington Center. They hooked me up with the internship. In addition, I am taking a course called Trade-Based Growth every Monday evening for a couple of hours, and with the other students/interns in my program (NAFTA/Americas Leaders Honors Program) am able to attend various speakers. We don't work Mondays so that we can have tons of speakers. More on that later.

Anyway, the housing they offered was kinda crappy. I would have to share a room in a two bedroom apartment (so 4 people), and all of the buildings were kind of outside of town. And for all that, it was pricey. So I looked on CraigsList and found a place to stay in Georgetown, which is one of the nicer areas of DC, and also my room is cheaper than TWC housing. I share the room, but my roommate is on summer vacation... meaning she is hardly ever here. She has been gone on trips every weekend since we moved in, works in the BioChem lab at Georgetown Univ. during the day (well I am gone during the day anyway), and stays with her boyfriend a lot... ANYWAY, there are 7 people in this house of 5 bedrooms. I just wanted to put up some pics...

UPDATE

2008-06-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, So I know I haven't written in probly almost a year. A lot has happened, but also not a whole lot.

Now I am on another adventure. I am currently in Washington, D.C. until August, when I will go to Chile for 10 days. I have an internship at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the International Divison in the Western Hemisphere department at the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America. It's definitely a mouthful.

So far I am loving it. I am busy, but not too busy. And everyone is super nice. The office I am in also houses the U.S.-Brazil Business Council, so Portuguese is always spoken around me. I have also picked up a few phrases: "Bom Dia," "Boa Tarde," "Boa Noite," and "Tudo bem." Hopefully I will learn more.

There is also a lot to do in Washington in the summer. I have been to several book forums at the Hudson Institute and the French Embassy, gone to several concerts on the Mall, and been to the various farmer's markets. Next week I am going to another book forum at the American Enterprise Institute (with Jagdish Bhagwati; I have read a lot of his publications and am really excited/honored to meet him), and have a tour of the Capitol with one of Senator Allard's (R-CO) staffers. The various people I have met include those who work at the World Bank and the OAS.

One Wednesday Vice President Dick Cheney was in my building for a Board Meeting. The next day Henry Kissinger, USTR Susan Schwab, and others attended an event at my work, and I was an arm's length away from them because I volunteered to help out. Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an off-the-record briefing by the Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon about their recent trip to Colombia and Central America.

This summer promises to be very exciting!!

Apartment

2007-12-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

My apartment is all nice and organized now so I thought I´d upload some pictures. I have a virtual tour of it but it´s a little too large; I managed to upload the picture to my Facebook account and it´s public so if you´d like to see it click here.

I´m still getting the hang of planning out my grocery store trips as I have to walk home (a good almost 10 min walk, mostly uphill). I live alone, but have two bedrooms, so all the stuff I´ve accumulated this year is spread out between the two, and they went ahead and put in four beds because they know my family´s coming to visit soon. The only part of my apartment where the sun enters is the balcony which is good because that´s where I´m supposed to dry my clothes. The walls are pretty thin and so I am glad I didn´t live here during the winter; the apartment has a beach-cabin-like feel to it.

the stairs leading to my front door; you can see the giant gate that encloses the house from the street

the rest of the house that was divided into apartments

the living room and front door

the kitchen

the eating area in the same area as the kitchen

the bedroom I don´t use

the bathroom where I take showers in the room I don´t use

the balcony where I dry my clothes

my bedroom

the bathroom in my bedroom

News

2007-12-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

So I have about 3 more drafts saved on here, just like little post-it notes reminding me of what I wanted to write about in my moments of non-illumination (I have some of the best thoughts when high on caffeine). But I wanted to break that route just for a moment because I have some news: I moved out of my pension on Saturday and into my vey own apartment by myself in Chile.

Basically, I just wanted to upload a picture and video, just to spice things up a bit.

From February until December I have been living on Cerro Placeres. Cerro means hill so I basically lived on a hill called Placeres; you see, the province of Valparaíso is situated on the coastal mountain range of Chile. There is also a city of Valparaíso, and a city of Viña del Mar, which are two cities that have grown into one metro area, but which are very different from each other. Placeres is situated on Avenida España, which is the main road that travels from Valparaíso to Viña del Mar, and is in a good location between both places (although it is technically part of the city of Valparaíso).

The house in Placeres:
when you first enter the house

the front hallway looking towards the front door

the dining room

the living room

the backyard

Christina´s room

my room

the patio

my old room

I have moved to Cerro San Juan de Dios, which is a different hill in Valparaíso, and the main road is called San Juan de Dios. I live more downtown now, which is great because it´s closer to all the bars and clubs and my friends, but not so great because it there is more danger. But the real downtown is on the city plan, not in the hills.

Valparaíso was founded as a port city. There is a strong presence of all different types of cultures here, mainly because of the immigrants that the shipping business brought to the city. There are many clubs that have been founded to celebrate these cultures: a Peruvian International Cuisine Club, the Arabic Club, there´s a Spanish one and an Italian one too, and each have different events to celebrate. Most of the firestations here are run by volunteers, and they are also associated with different cultures; for example there´s a German firestation not too far from my new apartment.

Viña del Mar used to be land owned by one person: the head of the Vergara family. Back then this area was a vacation spot for many people from Santiago; the Vergara family built a huge house which is almost like a castle back in the 1800s, it is now a museum and a large public park (the Quinta Vergara). Well this Vergara man decided to make houses for all of his family members and so he began to construct a city, complete with roads named after other family members. Each house he constructed was very grand and elegant and some even resemble castles (well they are what I think are castles / palaces). He even built his own dock to be able to import all the building materials. So this is why Viña is so organized and well-planned; because it was.

Province of Valparaíso

old map of the bay

the 8 is pretty much the division between Valpo and Viña
(You can see how organized Viña looks compared to Valparaíso)

Your mom

2007-11-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

Languages are fascinating to me. Precisely because language is a cultural expression; many times the way sentences, grammar or vocab is structured reflects certain aspects of a culture. For example, well actually I can´t think of any examples right now. But it is true that language reflects culture, especially when it comes to sayings.

One thing I have realized that is very interesting is that the words "mom" and "dad" in Spanish aren´t names as they are in English, unless you are speaking directly to your mom or dad. Otherwise they are always referred to as "my mom" or "my dad".

You may be thinking "but that´s the same in English" right? However, I spent a weekend with my friend and her family in Talca in September, and it happened to be her mother´s birthday. My friend Loreto, her sister and I all went shopping for a gift. And between the two sisters their mom was always referred to as "my mom", even though it´s the same mom. It´d be like saying to my little sister Kay "hey, look what I bought for my mom´s birthday" instead of "hey, look what I bought for Mom´s birthday".

I also spend a lot of time around my boyfriend Francisco and his brother Tomás, who live together in an apartment a few blocks down from the pension. And between the two of them their parents are always referred to, in Spanish, as "my mom" or "my dad", exactly like it was when I was with Loreto in Talca, which leads me to make the assumption that my hypothesis holds true for most Chilean families.

I guess it doesn´t really mean anything culturally, it was just really interesting. Another interesting fact is that many words that have to do with the kitchen, cooking or cleaning are feminine objects: la lavadora (the washing machine), la lavavajilla (dishwasher), la aspiradora (vacuum), la plancha (iron), la tetera (teapot), etc. Which could be nothing, but could also reflect the strong machismo presence in Latin culture.

XOXO

2007-11-24T11:06:00.000-08:00

I have been watching a lot of tv lately, especially now that I´m on summer vacation (yay!), and I, being avidly interested in, well, fashion (I like to sew), have started watching "Project Runway". And that´s when I realized how latin-ized I have become.

In the first episode everyone gets to know each other. All the contestants, from NYC I believe, come together to share an apartment. Well I caught myself expecting them to greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, and I was actually startled when they shook hands instead.

When I first came to Chile I knew everyone kisses cheeks; I have been kissing my Mexican family´s cheeks my whole life. Nevertheless it took some getting used to. Now shaking hands seems like a very awkward and impersonal thing to do. I find that I like kissing.

If you attempt to shake hands with someone when you first meet them here or simply don´t kiss them on the cheek, people will think you are rude, and maybe even cold (the stereotype here is that North Americans are cold people, while latins are warm and friendly). Sometimes, kissing can be awkward: if I walk into a room full of people, do I kiss them all, even when I only know some of them, because they are friends of my friends? Or do I wait to be introduced? (I think the latter is the norm). Also, when men greet each other, they don´t kiss but rather shake hands (it´s more manly). The kiss greeting, as you can see, has its own set of norms and unwritten rules in itself, and I probably still don´t know all of them.

In all, I really like kissing people instead of shaking their hand. I love the fact that people are so warm, communitary, and familiar (in the family sense of the word) here. And I hope to take it with me when I return; I think it´s one of those positive characteristics of a culture that should be retained and shared. Actually, I have been trying to introduce the kiss greeting into the North American culture since I studied in Germany back in 03 (they kiss there too, but once on each cheek). Alas, it never caught on (except for among high-class elegant types, and thank God those aren´t my friends).

Christmas in July?

2007-11-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Today I packed away my winter clothes and said goodbye to all those long-sleeve shirts, thick sweaters and wool socks. Yep, it is finally my favorite time of year: spring/ summer.

Is there something wrong with this picture? With Thanksgiving just a couple weeks behind us and Christmas looming in the future, shouldn´t I be hauling out the warm winter clothes instead of packing them away?

Funny thing about the southern hemisphere: seasons are reversed. Which means Christmas in summer (and my birthday too!).

It´s a strange feeling to be expecting Christmas when it´s so warm out. Or when I spend my afternoons building my tan at the beach. Where´s my white Christmas? Do roasted chestnuts go well with fresh fruit? What about Santa, and all his little reindeer?

You really have no idea how much the "traditional" image of Christmas is built around the weather until something like this happens. How can the American poster-perfect Christmas be exported under these circumstances? I´m sure marketing will come up with something. And do people from Miami feel as betrayed by consumerism as I do? Maybe my shock comes from living in Colorado for the past thirteen years. (Kristina is right though - while in Miami it´s still winter even though it´s warm out, we´ve already had winter in Chile).

This sudden unforeseen twist in my holiday spirit has left me a little worried; I haven´t even started thinking about Christmas presents! But I definitely will enjoy the beach on my birthday this year, with my celebration under the wide open stars.

What a riot

2007-11-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

On Monday after my daily measurement of laziness, I hopped on a micro (the public transportation bus) to go to the gym. In August I had signed up for a membership; there are literally hundreds of gyms around here, but I´ve grown fond of this one because of its laidback nonjudgmental environment. I suspect that it´s really a large house with spinning bikes in one room, cardio machines and weights in another, and a living-room-turned-aerobics-classroom. They even do an evaluation of you before they create a personalized workout routine that changes every month.

So anyway it took a little bit longer to get there Monday because of some traffic about a block away from the gym. All I could see were riot-controlling-swat-team-looking police officers (called special forces) directing traffic to a detour. And as the micro turned onto the next street, I looked out the window and saw what seemed to be some sort of bonfire in the middle of the street.

At that point I was basically forced to get off the micro and walk the last few blocks to the gym. You see, there is a large public hospital on the same block, and it´s a sort of lower class hospital where they will basically attend you for free but the quality isn´t as high as, say, going to a private clinic would be (healthcare here is basically 98% privatized, which makes it oh-so-very expensive for many people). All I could tell was that some people had decided to what it looked like take over the hospital; they had put on surgeon masks, set up a barricade, and were throwing rocks at the cops. I guess I had arrived after the party because it seemed like they had everything pretty much under control by that point.

Recently in Chile there have been many talks about the public sector employees due to national politics; apparently they are unsatisfied of recent salary readjustments (they are readjusted every so often according to CPI levels - they want 12%, the gov´t is offering 4) and so have started protesting, demonstrating, and striking. That is why, for example, all the customs offices on the borders are closed and why many municipal buildings are also shut down. But often in Latin America they just get a little too excited.

Apparently Monday´s march began peacefully and culminated in small bonfires of car tires. But it´s an interesting part of Chilean culture: everytime there is something that needs to be done and the government isn´t perceived as being efficient, there is a protest. Last year there were almost 5,000 marching in one protest for education reforms, another hot topic in national politics (as you can tell, Chile is in need of some serious public sector reforms, especially in education and health).

This is a country where, for once, people actually care about politics because they recognize that it directly affects them, and where they aren´t afraid to point out deficiencies to their popularly elected government, even to the point of massive marches and nationwide strikes. These people are highly organized and aren´t satisfied, and they are effectively sending that message to politicians.

When did we (North Americnas) stop caring? And if we do, why aren´t we showing it? Why is it that our protests seem ineffective and is there something we CAN do that is (or are doing something else more effective)? Is this the difference between undeveloped and developed countries, or a cultural distinction?

It seems that for every one thing I learn here, I come up with a zillion questions and issues to ponder.

Come Hungry

2007-11-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

Chilean diet is hard to adjust to, at least for me.

When I first arrived, I thought, "Doesn´t seem like we´re eating typical Chilean dishes," thinking that we´d be eating traditional food at every meal. Over time, I realized that traditional food is associated with certain holidays, but that there is a "typical Chilean dish" served everyday.

The Chilean main diet, or what is typically referred to as something they "can´t do without" and is eaten all the time, consists of: bread, pasta, rice, and salt. This is the main part, but you can also add meat and avocado to that (the empanadas shown above are part of meals during festive holidays, otherwise they can be eaten anytime on the street; many students eat them for lunch or afternoon snacks).

typical bread that is an accompaniment, but also serves as a main part of the small evening meal called "once"

lentils, we ate them quite a lot

"pastel de choclo" or corn pie, typical traditional dish that we didn´t actually eat that often

example of an everyday dish: meat with potatoes

another example of an everyday dish: meat with rice

beans, dish we ate a lot, usually has some fettuccini in it

"papas duquesas" or duchess potatoes, an acompaniment to many dishes

avocado! our household eats about 8 lbs of these babies a week

Now, I was always taught that a good meal should have a medley of colors, because that usually means that you have a balanced diet. Seems to me that this typical Chilean diet is lacking color.

I for one am glad I am vegetarian; otherwise, I might never eat veggies. Trust me, I do not envy my housemates´ plates of rice, sausage and lentils, but I could definitely go for some nice, raw vegetables. You see, they can´t just cook you veggies, oh no, they have to be sauteed, or rather, bathed in oil and salt, mostly mixed in with potatoes or rice or in an omelette.

Over time, this type of diet has to effect your health. Most people gain weight (usually in the belly area); I, for one, lost almost 6 lbs in two weeks when I went home to the states in May (imagine how much I´ve gained now, it being November and all). But my problem has gotten worse : I suspect I have irritable bowel syndrome (self-diagnosed from webmd.com). Not only have I gained weight, I am almost constantly bloated, gassy, and suffer from chronic headaches and constipation, and am not ashamed to say it because apparently 9 out of every 10 Chilean women suffer from IBS (now that says something). Needless to say, cardiac arrest is Chile´s number one killer (even fairly young people, like my friends´ parents, have heart attacks here), while type II diabetes is number two.

I have tried everything, I swear. I exercise everyday. I drink about 4 liters of water daily. I have cut out the following items from my diet: bread, basically anything with large amounts of flour in it, like pasta; fatty foods, sweets or anything with lots of sugar (even artificial sweeteners and oil/ butter); gassy foods, like beans and cabbage (I can now add broccoli to that, just found that out yesterday); and alcohol and caffeine. I have also added certain things to my diet: that new bio-yogurt that´s supposed to keep you regular and lots of prunes. It has helped, some, but now I am pretty much desperate. And since some people don´t believe that I can diagnose myself with something off the internet, or suggest I may be allergic to something, or are worried that I eat too little, I have come to my last resort - yes, that´s right, this week I am going to see a gastroenterologist, or someone who specializes in digest.

So, who knows, maybe I´m crazy. All I know is I would give a lot of things to be able to have some nice, fluffy whole wheat bread sandwich with a huge, gourmet salad, and lots and lots of fruit.

So maybe it is time for me to come home. Or at least move out, where I can have complete control of what I eat.

Shiver me timbers!

2007-11-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

After almost a month of gently reminding (maybe more like almost-bugging) him, Francisco has finally renewed his subscription to Norton Antivirus.

Not.

The conversation more or less went like this:
"You finally renewed your subscription!"
"Whaaaa no wayyy! I downloaded it."

Pirating has become somewhat big these days. In fact, Chileans download everything off the internet, from AutoCAD to Desperate Housewives. And this isn´t just a young-adult trend; even my professors are pirates.

Is this insanely popular in the US too, and did I just not notice? Is this a trend that became popular during these months in Chile, but is also worldwide? Or is this a perfect example of how globalization, and its resulting technologization (I didn´t make that word up), has affected chilean culture?

All I know is, although going against my moral and economic instincts (is morality an instinct??), not having to pay for something that usually has a price of a couple hundred dollars is pretty sweet.

Yes!

2007-08-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

zip codes do exist in Chile! You have no idea how many times I have been asked after giving someone my chilean mailing address, "but Sigrid, whats the zip code." The answer has always been, "Well I dont think there is one." And none of the Chileans I asked knew either.

However, Chile does have zip codes! Each zip code consists of 7 numbers, the first 3 refer to the district and the next 4 refer to "un frente de manzana" which doesnt make sense to me because "manzana" means apple and Francisco doesnt seem to understand it either (or so he says). But each zip code includes approximately 20 addresses.

You can find all chilean zip codes at this website:
http://www.correos.cl/codigo_postal/index.php

Just in case you were wondering, mine is: 2390275

¿Dónde está el baño?

2007-08-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

is probably one of the first phrases you´ll learn in any new language. It´s useful, too, especially seeing as how this one phrase reflects a grander idea, one that links all humans, all over the world: anatomy. Yes, everyone must use the bathroom.

So it makes sense that my first real post should be about using the bathroom in a different country.

First, it is important to remember that Chile is yet underdeveloped, meaning, in short, that the plumbing is poor. I could probably jump to the conclusion that all of Latin America has underdeveloped plumbing, because although I have only visited 16% (soon to be 20% when I visit Perú this weekend) of Latin America I have encountered the same phenomenon wherever I go. And what this basically means is: don´t flush toilet paper. Rather, there is a small wastebasket next to virtually every toilet you will ever encounter in Latin America. This rule applies in every case, except, that is, if you don´t find a wastebasket next to your toilet. Yes, while rare it does occur that newer buildings have newer plumbing. For example, the international airport toilet in Santiago (which also flushes automatically) is not accompanied by a wastebasket. However, I have friends who live in brand new apartment buildings and they still use it. Old habits die hard I guess.
Second, when you walk into a public bathroom you will find that instead of placing toilet paper dispensers inside each stall there is a giant one attached to the wall that serves the whole bathroom. When you first arrive you tend to forget this and realize you don´t have toilet paper in the exact moment you need it. Which leads to number three...

Since public bathrooms have public toilet paper dispensers which are replaced probably once or twice a day, you may often find yourself in a situation with no toilet paper. Which is why I always carry a pocket size of tissue paper with me wherever I go. They always come in handy.

------------------------------------

...And six hrs later I am walking down the street and some guy stops and takes a piss on the sidewalk! I mean, I know it´s dark and there aren´t much people out but man talk about different culture...I´ve also seen people do this in Guatemala and in Chile a while back but it still always surprises me. And don´t worry, he was on the other side of the street from me!

Umm...

2007-08-14T13:11:00.001-07:00

...I´m not the kind of person who writes, "Today I woke up at 10:30. I got dressed, went downstairs, and ate oatmeal for breakfast. Then I went to my history of modern Chile class. Then I came home and ate lunch. It was soup. It was really good." So if you´re looking to read about my minute-by-minute life in Chile, you´ll be disappointed. I´m the kind of person who likes to make cultural observations. I´m not an anthropologist but fortunately I have the habit of noting quirky little things that makes a culture, thanks to the wonderful Dr. Joachim Wunderlich, for whom I had to keep a daily journal on German cultural observations as I traveled around Europe in 2006. So if you are interested in knowing why I love it here so much, this is just the place for you! And I´m obviously very excited to share it with you...

Unfortunately I started this page after my second semester in Chile began. So while many things I would have written about now seem normal, I´ll try my best to pick up on them again and relate it back to you. But don´t worry, as I return to the states and perhaps travel more (even if only within the country) I´ll continue to write about cultural differences, just to make life more interesting.