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.