Niñas on Strike

My usual 7 hour workday at the high school got cut short today by another strike by the niñas. It´s amazing how the daily life here is dictated by strikes and protests that can pretty much occur any day or time. Several times i have headed to the high school or classes at the university, waited around for a little while, then finally asked someone what is going on just to find out that the students, or the teachers, or both are protesting something and class is canceled. It really a common sight and the most often employed political tool to demonstrate discontent with the chilean system and it really does seem to stall everyday life quite effectively. Today, high school students from all regions of chile are protesting to get better resources into the classroom and increase benefits such as student bus passes. However, the protests vary depending on the region. In Santiago, the students tend to be much more politicized and have strikes more often that constantly bring the chilean police in riot gear. In La serena, as the name implies, things are much more low key and tranquil and most students just sat in a park together or went back to their homes. Depending on what they are fighting for, educational strikes usually tend to be relatively peaceful (other than a school classroom chair thrown here or there). Student strikes however get a bad name from the few students who use the strikes as opportunities to create public damage and harm, which only adds fuel to the fire.


photos taken from el mercurio in santiago, not anything like the strike in la serena, the girls in my high school are quite different in their protests

Valparaiso

famous ascensores on the hills of valpo

The past weekend i traveled to Valparaiso and had an incredible time exploring this fascinating city. My friend emily and I trucked out on a good ol´ 6.5 hour bus ride down to valpo and viña for the long weekend and it really was one of my favorite weekends i´ve had in chile. The weekend was full of activity. We went to a chilean national team soccer game against peru in a packed stadium with hundreds of chilean flags, and cheers (chi chi chi le le le, ¡viva chile!), and far more patriotism than i saw during all of the independence week. The game was insane (a far cry from the slightly pathetic La Serena team) with whole families screaming profanity at the peruvian player´s mothers and people hanging off trees to see the game. In the end, chile won this very heated rivalry 3-1. This weekend there was also a festival of the mil tambores (thousand drums). At night, the festival took place at a former prison of the dictator pinochet, and it was a striking contrast to see such incredible drumming and happiness in such a morbid and creepy place. The bathrooms were even located in former jails cells and the night was bizarre and emotional. Apparently there are many cultural events that take place at the ex-carcél, and it is a very interesting way to deal with the difficult political memory that chile still struggles with.

We also traveled to Pablo Neruda´s Isla Negra hideaway. It really was an enchanting spot and it was so easy to see the natural inspiration that he drew from this place. He was a self-described collector of little things (it works better in spanish) and his house is filled with hundreds of beautiful and bizarre objects he has collected from his travels. He has everything from ancient compasses, to butterflies, to a collection of mast-heads taken from old ships. I have been reading his poetry while down here and it was great to connect so many things. He was a quirky, brilliant man and Isla Negra really inspired me. It really made me want to reflect and write poetry, except for that whole being able to write poetry thing.

incredible colors fill the valpo hillside






















A mosaic from the open sky museum. Which is a outdoor walking exposition of murals on the sides of buildings.









A little advice from the hills of valparaiso "Turn off the TV, live your life!"














Pablo Neruda´s house in Valparaiso, La Sebastiana. Interesting and architecturally intriguing, but not as quirky or fun as Isla Negra.
A Sand artist creation on the beaches of Viña del Mar, the sister city of Valparaiso. Viña felt a little too much like florida for me and the beaches cpuldn´t compare to the beaches of La Serena











My friend Cate and I in a ascensor. Friends from elementary schools, it was incredibly fun and crazy to meet up with her in Valpo where she is studying. They have a saying here, life is a handkerchief, i still don´t exactly get it but its supposed to be the equivalent to its a small world.

The absolutely stunning view of valparaiso from the window of another girl in our program´s host family´s house. It just isn´t fair.

Dieciocho, Fiestas Patrias, Chilean Independence

The fiestas patrias really were a sight to see here in La Serena, and throughout all of chile. For you chilean history buffs out there, the 18th (dieciocho) of september marks of the anniversary of the first independent chilean junta, or council, in 1810. Starting about two weeks before the 18th in La Serena, all of the colectivos and taxis were decorated with streamers and chilean flags. Every house put up their own chilean flag (I later found out there is a fine if you don´t, but i liked to pretend that everyone did it just because). In La Serena, the celebrations last an entire week (most cities only got monday and tuesday) and everyone was out of school and out creating havoc. One highlight of a typical celebration was when I went to a "fonda." A fonda is a large tented dance party with my chilean friend and was dragged onto the dancefloor by his sufficiently inebriated aunts to learn cultural chilean dances until four in the morning. Here are some photos of the week´s festivities, with all of the meat and wine, and chilean flags, and hoards of people, and more meat, and more wine.

Here is a foto of my chilean family celebrating the dieciocho in our small, concrete backyard. In the photo is my two chilean parents Norma and Edgardo (with the little cousins, Ignacio "Nacho" and Francisco), my brother Fernando and his polola (girlfriend), and my sister María (who lives in nearby coquimbo).

Here are my two Chilean parents, Norma and Edgardo showing me the in and outs of the chilean cultural dances.

Here we are getting the barbeque ready for the unimaginable amount of meat that we cooked that day.

After the meal, Francisco, Ignacio, and I played with some bubbles, because nothing says chilean independence like some burbujas.

Edgardo and Igna.

La Serena and coquimbo alway enjoy what they call the largest party in chile, the Pampilla. It is on a hillside in coquimbo where thousands of people camp out (up to two weeks in advance) to get a spot around the music and activities that go on here. The celebration slightly resembled a mix between fourth of july bbq, flea market, and refugee camp all mixed into one.

Drummer man and little drummer boy confer before their impressive presentation.

In the corral, there are rodeos and typical chilean games. Here, children chase after roosters thrown into the fray.

The skies during the entire fiestas patrias were full of kites. At the pampilla, it was amazzing to see hundreds of kites dancing in the sky to the music.

I went to the pampilla with my midd friend, Emily, and two Germans who we have met from classes, Biggi and Jackie. Don´t worry you don´t need to say it, we know we all look so chilean, it must be the blond hair.

Fiestas Patrias we also filled with an extroadinary amount of the chilean national dance, Cueca.

Valle del Encanto

During our long Independence week celebration, i went with my familia chilena to visit the Valle del Encanto. It is a small region near the city of Ovalle about an hour north of la serena. The valley is full of petroglyphs and markings left by the El Molle people, who were one of the earliest groups in chile. The petroglyphs were really incredible, especially one called "The Martian," which maybe its just me but seems pretty dead on, with antenna and a spaceship flying above its right shoulder. Creepy, i know. There were also bizarre smooth holes cut into the ground that were used for sharpening or storage which stood out starkly in the landscape.

Arquitectura Chilena

Here i am going to post some of my favorite architectural photos that i have taken down here in chile.

This Whole Blog thing

My first foray into the scary world of blogs, I will try to post whatever and whenever i can about life abroad in La Serena, Chile. Get ready, this is gonna be good.