Just Smile and Nod

Festival del as Artes 2012

2012-02-02T00:45:00.001-03:00

This past weekend was the "Festival de las Artes" that I had promoted in a past post. This festival seems to be the evolution of what used to be called "Carnivales Culturales," without the massive parade and concerts. Although these two aspects are definitely missed, this festival does include a ton of interesting and varied events. This year I had my schedule mapped out well ahead of time. In some cases I was very pleased with what I saw, though others were not quite as I had hoped.

One of the things I felt a little let down with were the "Invasion Callejera" events. There were 6 of them on the schedule, however what I didn't realize that instead of six completely separate events, this was six chapters of the same piece, Ser. There were some great costumes, dances, etc.. however the first episode was in a location (in the median of Avenida Argentina) where it was difficult to hear when cars and micros passed, blocking the audience's view and eating up the dialogue. Though visually appealing, I was not especially drawn into the story. By the end of the second event, it had a weird, dream-sequence vibe, though I wasn't drawn in enough to keep attending the other chapters given that the visual part wasn't changing much. I would have preferred to see a variety of artists and talents that normally form part of the scope of the Invasion Callejera events.

Really neat bicycles as part of the Invasion Callejera piece, SER.

Actors in SER perform in the middle of Avenida Argentina on Friday.

A definite highlight of the weekend was the show "Transeuntes" by a Chilean company, Balance, from Santiago. I have, surprisingly, never seen or heard of this group before, but their show was fantastic! It was a modern, city-themed, aerial acrobatic and dance performance. Although they had a projected screen of metro-scenes and city life, the show took place on Muelle Baron with the whole city as a backdrop.

Aro/Lira in Transeuntes.

Tela/Aerial Silks in Transeuntes.

In the hills there were many events as well. If I had a toddler, I would have been more than impressed with an adorable performance of Repunzle. Since I don't have a toddler, I myself sat in the middle of the carpet laid out on the floor to get a good view among all the screaming kids. It was still good.

I was very excited to see the "Best clown acts from the UPA Chalupa Festival," however in the end I felt like I was expecting more than what I saw. They did indeed get a few laughs out of me even so.

One of the cutest acts they presented was of a marionette Condorito who selected a young girl to dance cueca with him. The dancing Condorito was absolutely adorable, however the little girl froze on stage and another girl came up to replace her. When the second girl took the handkercheif out of her hand, the first girl started bawling. It was a difficult not to laugh at the whole situation.

Condorito dancing with the enthusiastic replacement dancer chosen from the audience.

The first girl chosen to dance with Condorito froze on stage and burst into tears when she was replaced.

I think the Teatromuseo del Titere y el Payaso does some really wonderful things. Something always neat to see are the giant puppets. They had two parades during this festival. I only went to one, but there was an incredibly low turnout. It was also weird to see many busses taking tours of the hills, with tourists smashed up against the window to see these wonderful creations, and the tour operators wouldn't slow down or stop to let them really have a look. Can you imagine just passing by something like this in a foreign country and not getting a chance to take a picture??

Freaking awesome.

Parade of giants.

I was also pumped to go to a cinema event where they were showing Mysteries of Lisbon, however I had a lot of things to do and the movie is about a million hours long, so I couldn't fit it in.

Santa Letters 2011

2012-01-20T15:15:00.003-03:00

Once again I’m back with Christmas tales! As I’ve discussed every time, I feel a little uncomfortable about sharing this but I’m such a big fan of the program that I do anyway. This year, I felt a range of feelings when dropping off Christmas gifts as part of the Correos Chile "Letters to Santa" program. Some moments were incredibly moving, others disappointing, some even dangerous. Many of the families this year had members who were facing hardships or illness beyond what I could ever imagine, and furthermore, without many resources or help. Getting to the houses, some of which were located in neighborhoods like “la Copa” and “Montedonico,” proved challenging as the houses are not marked well, and its considered dangerous, especially for someone who has no business being there (ej. me.) The collectivo drivers were worried about dropping us off at some of the locations even in broad daylight, and at night it was much worse. There was one crucial moment where we were sure we were getting led into a trap and saw no way out. However, we found all the houses this year, and for the most part it was a success.

Getting to one of the houses.

How it works:

For those unfamiliar, letters to the north pole get set out in a box each Christmas at the post office and anybody can read the letters and decide to play Santa and fulfill the Christmas wishes for the family in the letter they choose. The letters may be written by children, on behalf of them, or sometimes by adults. When we deliver the gifts we try to be careful and say "Santa was so busy he needed help delivering some things,” just in case.

Many people are skeptical of doing this because they have heard of "scams." The news has shown images of people writing dozens of letters and filling up their entire house with new electrodomestic devices.

Its understandable that some are skeptical, but sifting through sifting through the box, others were obsessively criticizing the requests and handwriting, “Look at this cursive! There is no way a 2 year old writes this clearly. Que sinverguenza! (shameless) This is a scam!” Of course parents help kids write their letters, just because the handwriting is legible does not mean that the intent is dishonest! Most kids, especially ones who don't realize the nature of this charity, shoot for the stars in their wishes- wanting a Play Station is only natural, it does not mean that is the standard of gift they are used to. Adults also have needs and wishes and may see this as one of the only ways they might help make them come true, that is not necessarily a negative thing.

But yes, I admit, certain things may happen that we may not consider fair. Some kids' letters might not get picked, others may indeed be able to afford a decent Christmas without receiving help, and many people do write more than one letter. Correos Chile was making an effort in 2011 to number and cross check the letters to avoid duplicate gifts to the same house. This effort was well-meaning, though I highly suggest they use a computer to catalogue next year. There were lots of letters falling through the cracks.

Personally, over the past few years I have had almost entirely rewarding experiences. Every letter I have chosen has turned out to be at least seemingly truthful, and every recipient very thankful. Honestly, in almost every case, once I got there I felt somewhat regretful that I didn't have more to give. It has been very eye-opening for me in terms of understanding many things about hardship and Chilean society.

This year we selected six letters, and accompanied a friend on her Santa visit too. Of those 7 total, we know for sure that three of them also received gifts or food from someone else as well, because they had either sent more than one letter or multiple children's letters from the same family had slipped by unnoticed. But also, 5 of 7 had one or more family member with mental or physical illness or disability, usually meaning medical bills, extra costs, inability to work, and often times the need for a caregiver.

I went to drop things off over the week before Christmas. There was house we had a real hard time finding. We knew it was best not to go so late, way after dark, but did anyway. The collectivo driver had a really hard time finding the block we were looking for and drove around, stopping to ask multiple times. He was very concerned that we'd be obvious outsiders walking around this area. Eventually we just had to get out and start walking, though we were approached by a young man very weary of our presence. He insisted we tell him who we were looking for, and wanted us to follow him down an alley to lead us there. Our gut instinct told us not to follow him, but he started to get mad and insist. Pretty soon we gave in, and to both of our surprise, he actually took us to the right place. We were going to the house of a young mother whose husband was in jail for theft and she was unable to work because she couldn’t leave the child with sick, alcoholic family members. All she wanted was Christmas dinner. When we finally got there, we didn't get to meet them, it turned out the child had suffered a bad accident that day and they were in the hospital.

The ocean looked so massive from here. We're with a man who first helped us try to locate the house on the street, and still lost an hour later, we coincidentally ended up at his house asking his son to help us. When we told him what we were doing he was so intrigued he came with.

The very first letter I selected was written by a child whose parents were in jail. We had such a hard time finding the house, walking around the area for hours. We even called the family multiple times and they claimed they were coming to meet us at a centralized spot but they never showed up. Finally we found the place dipping down over the side of a quebrada with the most AMAZING ocean view. Apparently the grandma had surgery that day and was sending the grandkids to go find us, but they were afraid because they thought their neighborhood was dangerous so they never left the front steps. We brought gifts and a Christmas dinner, though we felt terrible because we brought a soccer ball for the letter writer, who I thought was a young boy, but it turned out it was a girl with a boy’s name!! Luckily I had a little lotion set with some candy that I could give her, but when she opened it she was obviously disappointed.

The letter that reached me the most was of a girl older than myself that had many serious diseases. She has been bedridden her whole life. Her mother wrote on her behalf asking for diapers and food to stock up the pantry, and a doll that she could give to her 3 year old niece that helped take care of her. This visit was emotionally hard for me to do, as the girl asked us to sit and visit with her on her bed. I could not imagine a life like that, furthermore her father is expected to die soon and the mother cannot work because her care requires 24/7 attention.

One of the most thought-provoking things about visiting this girl was that she would not believe that I wasn’t Chilean. She laughed it off as a joke first then told us to stop lying when she was told I was from the U.S. I wasn’t sure what this means, but I wonder if she has never met a foreigner before, and possibly doesn’t have enough interaction with people to notice that I am different from the rest. She seemed confused when I asked her if she noticed that I spoke funny with an accent. In the end I felt terrible because when we got back home I realized I had forgotten to give her the doll for her niece. Its sitting in my living room. I’m contemplating going back with it, though it would feel a little awkward.

The view from a path we followed. In the distance under the bridge you can see where a truck carrying wine fell off the side of the Camino de la Polvora. Neighbors claim that many people jumped down there to recover as many bottles as they can, while a group of people sat around in the wreck having a drink.

Accompanying my friend to drop off her gifts was one of the most rewarding moments of playing Santa this year. I was a little nervous about this because its her first Christmas in Chile and I wanted it to feel worth it to her and be a good experience. It was beyond what I could’ve expected. The letter was written by a little toddler that lived with her grandmother. The grandmother was actually quite young, and was taking care of many grandchildren and her baby daughter as well, as the mother of the kids had drug problems. When they came to meet us, the toddler ran as fast as she could with arms wide open to give me friend a hug and and spent the whole afternoon in her arms, giving her big sloppy, sticky, candy-cane kisses. It was adorable. They took us back to their house, which they were building in a toma (land taken over and claimed by a group of people), and the kids were so incredibly excited by the gifts. They had been writing every year but this year was the first time they’d been chosen. Some of the brothers and sisters had been chosen as well. The grandma made a really sad comment, however, saying that she wanted to help out with drug rehabilitation but it didn't work out because more people want to keep using drugs than recover.

Capoeira/A great investment

2012-01-19T23:57:00.004-03:00

Capoeira is an art form that incorporates elements of fight, dance, acrobatics, music, and history, among others. Its roots are in Brazil, where it is believed slaves taken by the Portuguese from Africa used some of the movements in resistance against their oppressors. Over the centuries, capoeira has developed into an inclusive art form practiced all over the world as a form of self-expression, physical training, martial art, spiritual experience, etc...

Before this was about the best I could hope for: well-timed, unobstructed, with the full subject in the shot.

I have been taking capoeira photos for years. Most of them are just fine, as I'm mostly focused on just capturing the photo at the right moment. However, in terms of composition I actually prefer to have the full body in the picture. Because of the way capoeira is normally played, I would always get someone in the way of my shot because there are people standing around the players in a circle (called a roda), or to avoid this, I would have to crouch down practically between someone's legs and it became a struggle to get both players in a shot. I would miss many of the impressive moves as players came so close to me they were out of frame.

Anyway, I finally got a lens to solve this problem, and I've really happy about it because to me it feels it captures the whole essence of the roda a lot better. Its easy to get the players, the musicians, those watching, etc... the whole event.

Now... See??? Players, musicians, singers... ATMOSPHERE! yayy

Well, I'm please at least. Except for the ugly sky and grass this day that made me want them B&W.

The only drawback is that the distortion from the viewfinder is so mind-boggling that its only a matter of time before I get kicked in the head, completely unaware that I'm so close to the action.

Quick trip to Antofagasta

2012-01-18T23:56:00.004-03:00

One of the most notable events in my life this past year was getting sent to Antofagasta. I probably otherwise would've never considered going, and didn't expect much because in general people don't speak too highly of the city; I'm not really sure why that is. It wasn't so bad, though it was more expensive and I definitely wouldn't trade it for Valparaiso.

Since I didn't really have a choice in the matter I was just glad to be able to go on a little trip and get to see something new. It didn't hurt that one of my boyfriend's best friends was living there at the time so I had someone to show me around, and I also got to meet many other people, including a few other young and interesting foreigners, while I was there.

La portada. It's pretty, though I don't get the hype.

I surprisingly liked Antofagasta. It felt like Valparaiso a lot in terms of the layout, especially at night, though the plan was actually much bigger. It took quite a while to get from one end to the other.

I loved the cool buildings in Antofagasta.
The ones in the city center had such amazing colors, windows, and decorations.

Look at the gorgeous materials used here!

Most interesting find, at the museum house in the train yard, was this old poster of mug shots.

Check out the hilarious nicknames.

All aboard!

Awesome murals on this building play eye and mind tricks on you.

Of course we stopped by the Huanchaca ruins, where they used to process silver extracted in Bolivia. The state of the ruins was surprising to me given that this site only shut down around the turn of the century, houses on my street were built then and they look nothing like this!

Probably the best part of the entire trip was that, for the first time in my life* I got to stay alone in a nice hotel. I normally stay in hostals when I travel, and I am usually with other people. This time, however, I found myself with a brand new hotel room with two huge beds, a flatscreen TV, a nice view, and an elegant bathroom full of marble and a futuristic, pressurized shower!! Nothing like the little drip of fixed-temperature water I get in Valparaiso!

Staying in such a nice place, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I literally ditched out on the bars to take the worlds longest shower and watch TV. And, between you and me, I may or may not have spent a while jumping back and forth between the beds.

*The real first time I stayed in a hotel room by myself was horrifying. I had booked the room in Sao Paulo online in order to take a taxi straight there from the airport. However, the hotel turned out not to be, well... geared towards backpackers, or, tourists at all. Long story short, I didn't get much sleep on top of the beach towel I set on top of the comforter in my wall-to-wall-mirrored room off a dark alley. Good times!

There's no place like home

2012-01-17T20:57:00.002-03:00

One of my best guy friends got married a few months ago and I was lucky enough to get that time off to go back to the US for the wedding in Philadelphia. I have never been there before, though I loved the vibe of downtown - it reminded me a lot of Minneapolis in the summer, though with even more weird random people wandering around. Everybody was quite friendly.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and I was really happy to be exploring a new city with so many friends. Despite it being an out of town wedding, over a dozen of my best friends also flew out, along with many other acquaintances and relatives of the groom that I have met over the years. Staying in a fancy hotel with everyone for the weekend was incredibly entertaining.

The highlight of the wedding itself was actually during the ceremony. The groom had selected two best men, both of them also good friends of mine. One of them just has the type of personality that seems perfect for the job- he's completely on top of the challenge and responsibilities of being a best man. The other, well... doesn't necessarily emit that vibe, and was the butt of many jokes in the time leading up to the wedding. People were constantly teasing him... "just don't screw it up!" It may have been a jinx.
During the wedding everything was going fine until the priest instructed the best men to hand over the rings to the groom. The church was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

... So it was really easy to hear the ring drop.

All of the wedding guests tried not to giggle as the best men, groom, and priest scrambled to get the ring back and continue with the ceremony. In retrospect, I think everyone saw it coming. The bride laughed it off as well, and later during the reception, he poked fun at himself for what happened before delivering an incredibly touching and heartfelt toast.

I had so much trouble expressing this to him, and of course I'm sure it just sounded like one more person trying to console him after an embarrassing moment, but I thought that little unexpected mistake added so much character and humor to the event that it made it really special. His response was even funnier, as he said that the sound of the ring hitting the church floor was actually a relief considering that he was starting to freak out when he opened the ring box and saw nothing inside!

For the rest of my trip I just hung around Minnesota, running, biking, kayaking, boating on Lake Minnetonka, and hitting up all the restaurants I could. Chipotle probably saw a spike in their sales for the weeks I was back. I also tore through bags of candy corn and Andes mints cookie monster style, washing them down with all the wonderful drinks and juices that you just cant get in Chile.

It was great to get to see my parents, sister, grandma and other friends and relatives. Though it's not entirely true, it's always strange to have the feeling that almost no time has passed and so little has changed. I feel like my life back in Minnesota merely goes on "pause" every time I'm away.

Oh, and there is no better way to appreciate Minnesota than hitting up the State Fair. There is nothing that is beyond frying on a stick!

Giant slide at the State Fair. I'm racing some friends. You can hardly see me as I'm currently in last place. They cheated.

Mall of America never ceases to impress me with its size. Its huge! So are the decorations.
I don't really like beer, but how many friends do you think I could invite over for a drink with this?

OH YES! Cupcake from a place very close to my heart... and stomach. And my all-time favorite, A&W Cream Soda.

I'm not too patriotic in the traditional sense, but this gas station sure is!

I <3 Minnesota

Mango waffles to die for. Victor's 1959 Cafe. Go there.

Mil Tambores por la Educacion

2012-01-16T23:11:00.001-03:00

As everyone knows, 2011 was a big year for protests about the educational system in Chile. In August, a parade was held in support of the students' movement with the intention of joining the community together to support the movement in peaceful protest and gain some media exposure. The name was called "Mil Tambores por la Educacion," modeled off (but not itself) the tradition of the yearly Mil Tambores parade which takes place later in the spring (2011, 2010, 2009, 2008). However, while still comprised of many drumming groups and artists of all types, the main focus was the educational cause, and a large percentage of parade participants could be see carrying, wearing something that expressed support for the students' movement or disapproval of the current government and educational system.

I didn't participate in this parade even though several groups I'm involved with did, because I actually had a commitment to... dance at a halftime show. (I bet at least 10 of my readers just spit out a drink or choked). Yes, really.

So I quickly scoped out the parade, camera in hand, before I had to go get ready. However, opposite of everything I've ever experienced in Chile, they were running more than an hour ahead of schedule and I missed my event all together. Go figure.... Anyway, here go the photos:

People hung out windows and balconies banging pots and pans in support. This form of protest is called "cacerolazo."

The Escuela de Samba de Valparaiso leads the parade. Can't have "Mil Tambores" without the tambores!

A float uses President Piñera's hilarious gaffe "Marepoto" (instead of Maremoto=tsunami, he said marepoto, poto=butt) in their message about the poor quality of the educational system.

An artist shows of his skills with the contact ball.

Supporters painted their bodies with designs and political messages following the Mil Tambores tradition.

A girl spins some flags, known as "swing".

Masked individuals support a message for safe and legal abortion on their underwear. After this the crowd got mooned with a message about the quality of education in Chile.

Hundreds of students and others supporting their cause followed with homemade signs.

Saint Peter's Day Procession/Fiesta de San Pedro

2012-01-16T21:53:00.002-03:00

El dia de San Pedro, patron saint of the fishermen, is June 29th, though it is celebrated in different ports along Chile every year on various days. In Valparaiso, fisherman honor the saint, asking him to protect them and their success for the upcoming year, by carrying out a procession of small boats along the coast following a statue of St. Peter. The boats dock at one of the piers and carry the statue along a path through the city and up towards one of the historic churches. In this procession there are a number of cultural groups which dance and play music along the way, wearing masks and various types of colorful traditional or celebratory costumes.

I don't have any particularly interesting commentary from this year's festival, though I will leave you with a number of photos to show off some of their beautiful and interesting clothing.

Noches Luminosas 2011

2012-01-16T16:00:00.003-03:00

This year a friend who lives in Cerro Concepcion let me know about a great event going on in Cerro Alegre and Concepcion. The idea was to incourage people to go out to local venues in the evening and take a stroll around the hills. Many of the shops and restaurants in these two hills offered special deals and decorated their windows and storefronts with displays and other light-up creations.

I thought the idea behind the weekend was great, however there wasn't enough creativity and participation in terms of decorations. Although one restaurant, which I wish I remembered the name of to give them credit, surpassed expectations by having musicians and performances on the balcony and in front of the store, bringing an especially lively vibe to the area.

My favorite storefront decorations

Sharing this one for of my love for bicycles and Epif, even if they did just raise their prices...

I hope next year's Noches Luminosas surpasses 2011's event and my expectations as well.

Back from the dead...

2012-01-16T15:13:00.007-03:00

Perhaps you have noticed my absence (perhaps not), but I haven't been updating much this past year. This has been due to a) life and b) my anti-SEO motive as I wanted a chance to review and clean up the site because I didn't really want any conflicts with work. Now, summer has come and I'm finally getting around to a number of things I've been putting off, including publishing all my back-entries of cultural events I've been saving for a few months. I think from now on, my blog will be geared more towards these events because they're really what I enjoy the most about living here and I've always enjoyed sharing my snapshots with the community.

One thing I typically haven't shared too much on here is my personal life and hobbies, which I tend to either downplay or not give its fair share on here. That may or may not change.

I will be updating the overdue posts over the next day or so, please forgive the blog spam and my failure to officially invite you to attend. I am also sorry I didn't photograph this year's Festival Teatro Container or Invasion Callejera, without a doubt one of my favorite Valparaiso festivals, run by Tuga, an acquaintance and hilariously talented mime (mentioned previously). Oops, last year I photographed but didn't post!

Tuga in the Plaza Victoria, December 2010.

An artistic home base for the 2011 Festival Teatro Container in the plaza Sotomayor.

In exchange, please accept my recommendation for the upcoming Festival de las Artes, the festival which seems to have replaced Carnivales Culturales. It'll take place the weekend of January 27th. Be sure to check out the program if you wish to attend the performances and expositions.

P.S. I am very sorry to perhaps be stepping on the toes (content) of other bloggers' posts, I honestly haven't kept up well recently. If and when I do post about something you've covered leave the link in the comments so people can get back to your post as well!

The Netflix letdown...

2012-01-15T02:51:00.005-03:00

It was true, after my last post Netflix started getting in the news because they were going to, and did, start operating in Chile for online viewing. I prefer to stream rather than download, and I had other adequate movie-watching ways available and convenient until recently. Then today I got lured back into Netflix when I saw somewhere online that Police, Adjective, a movie I'd been trying to find, was on Netflix.

So I clicked over, and it turns out Netflix is, first of all, reasonably enough priced that I would consider subscribing, and more importantly, letting you do a one-month free trial!

Unfortunately, my old queue was not saved, but I spent a while getting used to the new (queue-less?) site and ranking all my preferences and favorite movies so that it would give me some good suggestions. However, when I was finally ready to get down to movie-watching, it turned out Police, Adjective was not on Netflix after all.... and neither were 66 of the 70 movies on my "to-see" list!! I do have a taste in movies skewed towards independent films, though not all 66 titles were obscure names.... in fact some of them were big names from the 2008 Oscars, etc.. stuff sufficiently heard-of and old-enough to have gotten them in the system by now.

Looks like with my new Netflix account, I won't be bored ~~ever again.~~ until Tuesday.

(Edit: I totally forgot to include this, but when I tried to watch one of my four available movies... the website kept making me install, reinstall, and re-reinstall some driver and I never got the online viewing to work anyway. Summary of my experience: TOTAL FAIL)

La quema del Judas 2011

2011-05-01T13:36:00.011-03:00

Last Sunday I went back to Cerro El Litre to watch the Quema del Judas. Last year I went to the parade and the following event and really liked it. I would have liked to go somewhere else this time for a change in scenery, but I was running late and didn't know if I would make it anywhere else in time. Perhaps next year if I am in Valparaiso, I will check out the events in the Plaza Waddington or Parque Italia. Anyway, last year I explained the burning of Judas in more in detail (with photos) the tradition of collecting coins, putting them in an effigy of Judas, and burning him until all the coins fall and children collect them. This year I took a sequence of photos that more adequately show the process.

Although its very interesting, especially for someone who didn't grow up knowing about this tradition, personally I find it a little uncomfortable. (Aside from the obvious uneasy feeling which may come watching the portrayal of torching a human,) It's another one of many activities in Chile where I feel people really don't take much precaution to prevent accidents or keep their children from harm. Judas went swinging back and forth on a cable, launching flaming appendages towards the crowd while dripping lighter fluid and chunks of scorching hot material down among small children below as they tried to pick up the coins.

Well anyway, here are the photos, click to enlarge:

I miss you, Netflix

2011-04-24T01:24:00.004-03:00

I just spent two hours trying to stream something, anything, I found remotely interesting, yet all I got was a couple dozen popups, probably a new virus or two, and an unwanted radio player download. When I finally found a soundless Megavideo version of "Cyrus", I was almost desperate enough to try to lipread for 1.5 hours!

I'm a little bit depressed that I cant get Netflix in Chile. Last time I lived in the US, having Netflix was one of the best parts. Between having the 2 rentals and the online streaming, I was set.

But its not really the ease and delivery service that I appreciated most... it was the website. I liked the ease of browsing through all the titles and seeing their synopsis, and having the ability to click to add it automatically to my queue. From the queue you could reorder the movies according to priority, and it would send the next one on your list automatically. Plus many of them allowed for online streaming. A good majority of video sites are now restricting based on country location, and Chile is usually on the block list.

Unfortunately, when I moved and had to close my Netflix account, I lost access to my list of movies! Now I have trouble figuring out which movies I would like to see, and usually end up with a list of movies that wont be available to me ...forever!!! (online or for rental- forget theaters, the movies I like most rarely make Chilean theaters). And when they finally are, well, I've long lost my list.

I'm sure there are other websites that do this type of thing. Maybe I should find one of those and see if I still have a Blockbuster account.... or an online streaming site that hosts less mainstream stuff. Orrrrr....Netflix could follow me to Valpo! ;-)

My House Sets on Fire 2 - The Sequel!!

2011-03-17T01:41:00.007-03:00

Because once is never enough...

Ugh, apparently.

So we're a couple doors down at my cuñados having tea and watching the first episode of Arrested Development, and I was getting frustrated because he was going to miss the story because there was a ton of distracting noise going on outside in the streets. Two seconds later there was a huge thump on the door, and someone screamed "your house is on fire!"

So we run outside to get out, but it wasn't the house we were in, but instead, MY house! The street was full of people staring at the house, and when I opened the door all I noticed is smoke. Thick smoke everywhere. And flames on the kitchen ceiling. It sparked just like when some idiot almost set the ascensor on fire with fireworks. My boyfriend and his brother started trying to put out the fire with water and get the gas tank away from the larger fire on the other side of the wall. Thank God I had stashed about 10 jugs of water last Friday, juuuust in case there actually was a tsunami! A neighbor had been hosing down the fire from over the top of our house for some time already. Soon the firemen charged in. They started spraying a bit of water, but then someone shouted that the fire was in the house below us so they all started to rush out, but then the firefighter outside yelled them back and started putting out the fire from the outside of our house, where the fire had actually started. One firefighter told us to collect our important documents, and I proceeded to stumble around for about 20 minutes in the smoke, unable to find my damn passport. And one of the cats. The one I could find was terrified enough for the both of them and all 18 lives together. When we finally found the other one, she scratched my boyfriend up pretty bad when we tried to get her our of the house. I went back to check on the fire a few times, of which I only really remember seeing them hack down part of our roof and get everything wet. Lots of random sketchy looking people kept coming into our house and the windows, either being really nosey or trying to steal things. It was really frustrating to have to try to protect our things from theft in the middle of all of our other worries.

Aside from everything smelling like a campfire (oh my gosh I cannot even grasp having to do so much laundry! everything reeks), we didn't really lose much of value besides all of our utility tubing, all Angel's really nice woodworking tools and a lot of other stored things that I cannot even remember. We also have to replace the siding and the roof of the kitchen, but I'm going to try to think of that as a positive thing, as I suspected the previous one of housing spiders. And a wall-to-wall mirror completely disappeared, however, as a tradeoff we now have a lot of super sparkly trash! Take that, copuchento neighbors!

God Bless the bomberos in Valparaiso. I couldn't have asked for more. They were quite friendly and nice as well.

With the sketchy randoms running through and all the commotion with the police and fire fighters, I didn't really feel it was the right time to take any photos, as you might understand (I will not deny it was one of the first things to come to mind, pathetic as it may seem). I tried to get some after shots but my boyfriend was pretty angry about the ration of "picture taking" to "assistance cleaning" so I hope you'll forgive me. However, as the title suggests, this is not the first time our house in Valpo has set on fire. Last time I took more pictures.

Roberto

2011-03-06T20:49:00.006-03:00

"jajja pareces una niñita," he commented Tuesday on my photo.

On Wednesday, Roberto died.

Death has never shaken me so hard. Its been a real struggle to stay composed, and I haven't been especially successful.

Roberto first became part of our social circle because he lived with a group of friends. Over time, he came to spend a lot of time in our house, as Angel taught him how to make instruments in the workshop, and Roberto hung around to practice cavaquinho with the band. Back when they were doing weekly shows, he was a regular and loved the energy. That's where I pointed him out a few years ago to one of my gringa friends. "If I could only put in a plug for one guy, it would be him." Despite my attempt, it wasn't until later that they officially became a couple, and we began to go to even more social events together.

Roberto died tragically in the South of Chile, where he went for some piece of mind after his girlfriend went back to the US. He stopped by the day before his trip, and the two of us talked for a while. He was lonely and missed her, but optimistic that somehow they'd find a way to be in the same place again. He had come to borrow a set of DVDs and materials to learn English, knowing it would be necessary in his future, and promised to bring them back soon. He told me about his motivations for going south, his intentions of going on to return to his studies, and his hope of figuring out logical way to be together with the person he loved.

Everything has been really hard for me. Of course its hard grasping that life can slip away so suddenly. And its unimaginable to think what its like for my friend to hear this news from afar and have nobody to help her cope. Its difficult not knowing how he died- if there was a struggle, if it was painful or peaceful. Its heart-wrenching watching a mother say her final goodbye. And its unlikely I'll ever understand how such a good person can be taken so soon. Most of all its hard to come to terms with the fact that someone I saw so frequently will never again stop by. I need to stop expecting to run into him on the street corner with a yoga mat or body board. It wont happen, but his voice is stuck in my head too. It's not haunting though, its quite friendly. I haven't done so yet, so when do I delete his number from my phone?

Throughout this all I couldn't help but dwell on something that frequently bothers me. This is unfortunately the 3rd person in my social circle who has passed away in Chile. And the hushed reactions, or lack of them, have extremely bothered me in the past. For the other two girls who died recently, since the initial notice of the accidents, I have never again heard anybody bring up their deaths, or memories of them, and there haven´t been any official video or words at events where their presence would be missed. Its illogical to think that nobody cares, but the reaction of people my age comes across as indifference, along the lines of "oh, that's too bad." Change of subject. Never brought up again.

I was quite bothered that I only knew 5 people at Roberto's funeral. The church was packed with relatives, community members, and people from different periods of his past, but I felt a large part of his current social circle was missing. To be honest, I don't know with certainty that my boyfriend would have gone if I had presented it as an option. Three of the roommates he'd been living with for years did not come. Two of them politely declined a ride without comment when I saw them the night before. I will admit I haven't gone to all of my older relative's funerals, but I feel like, being young and away from home, Roberto's family would have enjoyed to hear more about him from all the people he spent his time with, and it puzzled me that some of them weren't there.

I wonder if people my age don't feel ready or willing to deal with death. Especially if it is a death nobody saw coming, as the ones here have been. When I was younger in the US and someone died, everyone would desperately try to remember all the ways they were connected to the person who passed away. They wanted to feel part of a major event, even a sad one. In school, anybody who ever had a class with the person would feel the need to go to the funeral and tell everybody what they remember most about the person.

But perhaps we are at the stage where there is no desire to have been acquainted with someone who passed away, and we are starting to really contemplate the meaning of life and death. Maybe if we can avoid the need to internalize at all, it helps ease the transition to life without him. If this is so, I do feel it is only a phase. Sooner or later I think most people come to see these rituals as calming or necessary, even if just out of respect for those who will go on living without the person.

I feel like my post needed a picture of him, and since I carry around a camera as if it were an appendage, I have a lot of nice ones-mostly dancing, hugging... but this one seems to have a special something to it. I'll miss that smile.

Biejito Pasquero

2011-02-02T23:13:00.004-03:00

It was the morning of Christmas eve. There were only a few hours left before our bus left to go out of town to stay with my boyfriend's grandparents. We were running out of time, but I had already bought the remote control car requested in the letter, ("Bueno biejito pasquero, queria pedirte hargo muy especial para mi y mi familia...") Despite the rush, and the fact that that the phone number listed in the letter had been disconnected, it was not yet time to give up.

By that point, the letter was all crumpled up from being lugged around in various bags and pockets to ferias, shops, and other households during my Christmas spree, but it started out on crisp graph paper pulled from a home-made envalope with real colorful flowers fastened to the outside. Along the bottom, a crayon doodle of a young boy slept happily in his bed, alongside a fancy decorated Christmas tree, while four yellow reindeer pulled Santa and his large blue sack of presents through a floating dream bubble over his head.

My boyfriend doesn't have a lot of patience when things go wrong, so I was nervous to point out that I actually hadn't been able to contact the family, nor did I know quite exactly where they lived. I pretended everything would go smoothly as we bought veggies and meat for dinner for a family of 6. I pretended not to be confused or surprised as the "streets" on my sketch from google maps turned out to be small alleys and staircases. Carefully watching the numbers, I suddenly announced "We're here, I think." Then we just stood there. The house number didn't exist.

I was sure we were in the wrong place, as the houses didn't look like they would hold the family in the complicated situation described in the letter. But then a mailman emerged from a staircase that dipped behind and below the houses at street level. He said he wasn't aware of the people we were looking for, but to check it out ourselves. Down below was a dirt path lined with stay animals and 5 doors, including one with the number we were looking for. But the door was ancient and cracked, sealed with months or years of dirt on all sides. For some reason we knocked, as if someone was going to be inside to open the door after all this time. Of course nothing happened; no wonder the phone was disconnected. We just stood there, wondering what to do with the bags of food. As a last ditch effort, we knocked on the next door, to ask if they knew where we could find the family. The door opened a crack, and a skinny 11-year-old asked who we were. My boyfriend said we were looking for the family of the young boy who used to live next door because we received his letter to Viejito Pascuero. He said to hold on while he went to get his mother, and shut the door again. As soon as the door shut, we heard a small voice "caballero, caballero, down here!! I'm down here!!" My boyfriend crouched down to knee level, where one eyeball peered through a finger-sized hole in the door. The door opened again, and we stood back up and explained the story again to the mother. Before she responded, she told the boys to put some clothes on, the younger one was now hiding behind her in his underwear. "That was my son. Come in." It was the boy in the peep hole who had written the letter after all.

As the door opened and we took a few steps inside, I was reminded of the Laura Ingles Wilder dugout house which I had visited many times as a kid. Their house showed a level of poverty I've never really seen with my own eyes. I felt strange, wanting to observe every detail yet not wanting to be caught doing so, and worried they would feel uncomfortable having me there. I immediately regretted not having brought more to give than we had. It was dark inside, but the walls were made of dirt with cardboard stapled to them. A small kitchen sat off to one side, with appliances so old I had never seen similar models. There was a small fake Christmas tree sitting on a shelf. It had a couple decorations and a string of lights, which the mother pointed out had been broken by the children. To the side was what appeared to be a closet, but we were told that the father was there resting, as he had spent the night in the hospital. The older boys weren't home.

Right behind the door was a filthy and lumpy bed where it was apparent many people sleep. The younger boy jumped back up on it, still in nothing more than whitie tighties, and shouted "I bet that bag is full of our presents!!! Isn't it?" Before waiting for an answer, he set off on a mission to prove to he'd been good this year. We were presented with report cards, craft projects, and notebooks filled with handwriting drills.

My boyfriend started asking what the kids like to do for fun. The older one liked soccer, and the younger one said he liked Playstation. My boyfriend said that its good to have some hobbies that are more active than playing Playstation. The little one paused to think about this, then responded "Like Nintendo!" The boy was only 6 years old, but he had the personality and street smarts of someone three times his age. From a shelf near the floor he pulled out a towel, taller than himself, and announced he was going to sell it at the street market for $1,000 pesos, so he could buy a Playstation. The older brother laughed, but nobody had the heart to mention he might come up short.

The mom was very humble, seemingly very happy we had brought some things for Christmas. There weren't any other presents sitting around. She let the boys indulge in their excitement to show off to the visitors, occasionally looking a little embarrassed of the things they came up with. My boyfriend showed them a few tricks he does, and I have never seen anything so adorable as the eagerness with which the boys wanted to learn the special handshake used by Tuga the mime; they were so proud to be in on something.

The younger boy asked if we had read his letter. I said yes, and asked if he really wrote it or if one of his older brothers helped. He said he decided what to write, but the dad had written the letter. Learning this, I felt bad, because one of the reasons that letter stood out to me was because of the all the misspelled words and poor grammar. He asked proudly if I liked the flowers, which were his idea.

Although we claimed we were just helping out Santa with the delivery, the boy said he already knew Santa isn't real. "Last week el Viejito Pascuero came to my school, but I told my whole class he wasn't real, because it was my uncle in the red suit!!"

"...He ruined it for the whole class," added the mom.

We handed over all the food to the mother, and gave the boy his car, though it was wrapped up and he was told not to open it til midnight. The letter hadn't mentioned any other gift ideas, nor the ages or gender of the siblings, but we felt especially compelled to do something else for the family, so we ended up giving away some of the gifts in my bag which were designated for other people. I knew the mom would love the thick flower patterned beach towel I was tempted to keep for myself, and when we handed him a light, round, present covered in colorful wrapping paper, the older brother gave us a content, knowing wink as my boyfriend said "you'll have to wait til midnight to find out what this one is!"

Suddenly my heart sank, as I realized I had forgotten one of the batteries needed for the remote control car, and even if the family had the money to buy one (which I highly doubted), there wouldn't be any place open at the hour they unwrap the gifts. Its only expected that a kid must try out a new toy immediately!

We said our goodbyes and left the house, now extremely behind schedule for our trip. But I couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment of having screwed up about the battery. We checked all the neighborhood stores, but nobody had the right one. On the way home, we passed a supermarket that would have the battery and I impulsively decided we had to get it and head back. It cost about $2,500 pesos! After we climbed back up the hill and dropped it off with the older boy, I felt much better.

I kind of hope we see them again.

Since then I have questioned a lot the balance between doing good for helping others, and doing good to make yourself feel good. I know that both elements come into play, and I think thats fine. It will always be that way, and it doesn't have to be a negative aspect of doing good deeds. My feelings were affirmed when I saw the Friends rerun where Joey challenges Phoebe to find a single selfless good deed, and I decided to again write again about my experience, even if its slightly exploitative in nature, because I do feel that this is something I want to remember and share.

Mystery solved

2011-01-24T16:27:00.003-03:00

A few weeks ago I had to go across Valparaiso to pick something up. It was a calm, quiet, cloudy afternoon. There weren't many people on the streets at all. Considering that, there were an unusually large number of people... dressed like cats.

When I saw the first couple people, I noticed the ears and thought it must be some new pokemon trend or something. But from the bus window I then saw a few more average looking Chileans in their 20s sporting the ears, whiskers, and one girl in an entire cat body suit, sitting on the side of the road. On my way back, I walked, passing by another girl with nothing unusual besides a black tail hanging down her back, and later reaching my house, a large 30 year old bearded man with a perky cat ear headband.

And that was the end of the weird day when random people were dressed like cats.

Until this picture popped up on my facebook newsfeed.

A "Fan Day" event at Huevo. Everything matched, cloudy day, all the cat people...
I probably would've checked it out if I had any idea what was going on.

Correos Chile

2010-12-24T02:10:00.004-03:00

Every year Correos Chile puts out boxes of “Dear Santa” letters that the public can sift through, choose, and later send or drop off the items requested to the sender.

Two years ago my boyfriend, his friend Luis, and I sponsored a letter from a young girl. It turned out really well.

This year the two of us sponsored 5 letters, and Luis 2 more.

I feel conflicted about whether to write about this again because I feel in some way its might be rude to write about the personal lives of these other people, or some might question whether my motivations are to make myself feel good rather than purely to help someone else. But, while I think the former is worth it for the positive light and exposure to the issue, the latter might not be entirely untrue. While I can insist that my main intention is focused on the receiver, I won’t deny that it’s been a really positive personal experience for me as well. After all, the personalized aspect of the process is why I chose to participate this way instead of anonymously dropping off a giftwrapped box in a bin somewhere.

I actually would prefer to just keep quiet to avoid my conflicting feelings all together, but I feel like this campaign isn’t very well known and is seen in such a negative light sometimes that it deserves the positive exposure, even if its just within my small friend group. Actually, everybody I have actually told my experience about in person has reacted by relaying news features that portray the campaign as a failure this year, highlighting all the scams and cheating that have been discovered within it. Those exist too, I even noticed specific examples when I was selecting letters. But I think that overall honest letters and positive experiences highly outweigh and outnumber the negative.

So far I’ve been to 3 of the houses, but I want to write about it now.

The first letter I chose was written by a lady a few years older than I am. She works selling food and crafts on the street, where she was given a big ticket for lacking a permit. When you don’t pay those (as many wont, because giving someone a ticket for illegally selling stuff on the street its almost a Catch-22 situation if you think about it) the police try to take you in to jail, again something that could be troubling for a single mother of 3. Anyway she wrote a very sweet and humble letter asking Santa to keep her kids in mind and maybe help out with Christmas dinner and some expensive dietary needs of the toddler. She seemed a little embarrassed that we came to her house, and had obviously put in a huge effort to get the place clean before we got there. She was very thankful for the dinner ingredients we put together, and the oldest boy did his best to keep his cool as he set the little gifts under three, but it was hard not to notice the huge smile that kept escaping.

The second letter we chose because it was simple, straightforward but cute, and close enough to the first address that we might as well combine the trips. Without the dad around, and after a huge and ridiculous sequence events leading to his mother’s near-death experience and injuries, there weren’t going to be Christmas presents this year…. Unless, of course, the young boy took matters into his own hands! When we called to say we were on our way with a gift, the mom was very confused, as she had no idea that her son had even written a letter to Santa. They invited us in for tea, and we chatted til 1am. The boy sat and quietly stared at the package which did indeed contain the remote control car he asked for, but he wont know that until Christmas. Overall, he seemed most pleased that the letter program had worked, and that his mom was proud of him for having thought of and executed his own idea to participate in this program.

The third letter was “written by” a 2 year old boy, which my boyfriend at first found suspicious. Given that, obviously, parents help out on these things, it didn’t put me off and I was drawn to the very practical wishes for diapers, milk and Christmas dinner. There were many numbers at the bottom of the page, and between today and yesterday I felt like I ended up talking to half the extended family! Luis was supposed to come with me to drop off the stuff, but in the end that didn’t work out and I didn’t want the trip carrying heavy stuff, a backpack full of potatoes didn’t help, to be in waste so I just went myself. The street was out of the way and really hard to find, and when I finally found it with the help of a little grandpa and a man sitting in the street by the remnants of a bonfire, I was about 1,800 house numbers away! Luckily the numbering system was disorganized and I didn’t have to go far at all. But I was somewhere I didn’t feel very comfortable, being led through meter-wide path winding between metal roofing materials. I finally got to the house and first saw the 2 year old, who was very frightened to see me. The mother was very young, a little embarrassed to have me there and especially surprised to see a foreigner. She told me about their struggles and their other baby son who had died. Then she asked me lots of questions about why I’d choose to live in Chile, and how and why we decided to bring things to people who wrote the letters. The little boy dug right into my bag and pulled out his diapers, though was too timid to talk to me until later when I gave him his own gift. He suddenly got a HUGE smile (frequently interrupted by shoving a dinosaur appendage in his mouth) and wanted nothing more than to smile at me from then on. When I left, he yelled something approximating “Chau…” and then started to cry. He didn't want me to leave!

As far as we could see, with these letters, everything written was true. These families either needed or would really enjoy having the gifts they wrote about. I don't think its necessary that the family should be exptremely poor or desperate. But its important that the public, who generally only sees a single negative angle of the program through news sources, realizes in a large number of cases, the gifts are, at the very least, a very nice contribution to the family's celebration, and they are well received by very appreciative people.

There are good endings too.

What the cat dragged in...

2010-12-20T19:45:00.004-03:00

Look at that TAIL!

This is why you always carry a camera. You never know when you will fulfill a life goal.

p.s. Thank God this is not my cat, as mine tend to prance in and wake me up to show off their prey

Strategic droppings and probability

2010-12-08T23:46:00.002-03:00

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the micro thinking about a moment in my childhood when a bird pooped in my little sister's hair. I wondered what the chances of that happening are and figured someday or another it might happen to me.

The scene:
One week later, 7am, street corner, waiting for the bus, dressed nicely for an important day. Super clean and nice looking hair.

You can only guess what's coming. And let me just tell you that it came out of NOWHERE and it was a LOT. Seriously, quantity: MASSIVE.

On the top of my head, sliding down my hair, all over my clothes, all over my hands. It took me a good second or two to realize what happened, and when I did my reaction was to laugh out loud. The event and my reaction caused many car and taxi drivers waiting at the red light to look at me with double the "crazy gringa" glances, with a little extra touch of "man, that sucks". There was way too much mess to clean up with some tissues, so I went back home to wash my hair and clothes. I don't think my boss believed my excuse for being so late.

This afternoon I was suntanning on a friend's gorgeous patio, telling her about the whole ordeal and pondering the chances of this happening, when I feel a drop of water on my chin. I wiped it off, only to realize that, yet again, it had happened, though thankfully this time it was apparently a much smaller bird.

So... What are the chances??

Gross. But my coworkers say I should have a large sum of money coming my way. Make that double.

The most popular day of my life

2010-11-02T21:07:00.004-03:00

I never use my stat counter much. In fact, I only set it up to see if people googled weird stuff and came upon me. They do, sometimes. I am apparently a good source for everything from gringa food to linguistics to visas to river rats.

And sometimes they even google intelligent stuff and find me.

Once in a while, I find other interesting things out, for example, nobody from my home state reads my blog. Eheeemmm the blog I set up so people from home could see what I'm up to. Mission failed?

However, after a monthlong recess, I posted again. When I saw my stat counter I was worried a religious site picked up my Jesus photo, which I posted just for kicks, not because I actually wanted to get in the middle of something. But it turned out to be unrelated. My sudden popularity was actually resulting from a link to a picture of Rayita.

But hey, I finally got some Minnesotans to stop by!

Quotation marks are for quotes

2010-10-31T12:59:00.004-03:00

I know I've been away for a while, as I've been working on a couple big projects, but I'm back, and a direct quote from Jesus sounds like a way to start back up.

Sounds like something Jesus would say, but... did he?

Mil Tambores 2010

2010-10-03T23:59:00.006-04:00

This weekend was the Carnaval Mil Tambores, possibly my favorite Valparaiso events. Its pretty late and I've done nothing but celebrate, party, and do presentations and workshops for 3 days now so I dont have much time or energy to write about details, but to make up for it I included a set of photos that show some of the variety of groups that participated in the 2nd parade, which took place this morning.

On Friday there was a HUGE parade on Avenida Alemania, but I was participating in the parade with a group so I couldnt take photos at all. It was a gorgeous day and a great parade. However, at night things in the plan turned violent and people broke lots of stuff, including many windows to stores, all of the recycling and garbage containers, and even ripped out the new stoplights they put in. The news said there was around 20 million pesos worth of damage (crazy video that must've been taken before I walked by, as that area was super trashed and smelled like tear gas until at least the next afternoon). Its a shame, especially since the focus of the event is about being more conscious, friendly to the environment, etc...

batucada

speeches, music and dance on behalf of the Mapuches

capoeira

micros stuck in the middle of the parade

unicycle, swing (and what was most appropriately advertised as "ribbon dancer" throughout my childhood), dance, etc...

a mime I met in Chillan this summer

samba dancers with neat costumes

Here is my post from Mil Tambores 2009, where I went as a clown and could therefore carry along my camera. They did not have as much focus this year on the bands, nor any shows in Caleta Membrillo, which was good in my opinion, though obviously it didn't do much to put a damper on the alcohol consumption and partying.

Calling for Help

2010-09-20T18:57:00.004-04:00

Three weeks ago we couldn't get ahold of the police when we were having a terrible noise problem with some neighbors. Luckily it was not a real emergency, just a sleep and convenience problem. And I wont even get into my fears of the Chilean medical system in this post, but you´ll pick up on them as you read on.

I don´t remember if I posted a long while back about the time someone tried to break into our house and the police hung up on my boyfriend and then never showed up. It was a terrifying experience and I confirmed my lack of confidence in the police (which started with another story from an English student of mine who found a dead or almost dead man and called the police unsuccessfully for over a half hour. They never answered and my student left him there because he was afraid the system would screw him over and assume he was involved in the death). The story sparked me to get the direct line and cell phone of the police assigned to my section of the city, just to find out it didn't help any when I needed to use it.

In the U.S. I considered the phone a sort of life line for when you are in danger. You hear stories of people who call for help when they are in danger and someone comes to the rescue in minutes. Luckily the person who tried to break in just moved on to try the neighbor's house, and my boyfriend scared him away with a bat. This is not the rescue I´d prefer to rely on.

Obviously, I am terrified of needing to call for help. Both because it means something bad is happening, and because I'm worried about how much I can rely on this.

Unfortunately, this weekend has escalated my fears.

Long long story short, we went a few hours North for the week because my boyfriend and his friends put on a circus show. They each have various arts they specialize in, including many different types of acrobatics, clowns, magic, and other traditional aspects of the circus. During the day they teach classes, and in the afternoon and evenings they put on shows for audiences. I am always slightly nervous because, although they all know what they are doing very well, they don't have the money to invest in or transport a lot of things that might be nice or safe to have. I worry.

This weekend something absolutely frightening happened to a friend from the South. One of the guys fell from the trapeze, really hard, and hit the ground directly with his head. His neck appeared to crunch sideways, and there was a loud thud. The fall was terrifying to watch, and I almost threw up having from nausea having seen it, and I still am really traumatized about the whole event. Hey stayed down on the ground, though conscious and with movement in all parts of his body, though he had neck and back pain and trouble breathing.

Someone in the audience called an ambulance immediately. Although it was potentially a very serious injury, we didn't think it was a matter of life or death or a race against the clock. And, WOW, THANK GOD it wasn't because the ambulance arrived no sooner than about 2 hours later. TWO hours as our friend passed through various stages of pain and trouble breathing, lying cold on the ground. The police came in the meantime but had no idea whatsoever to do and basically took down his personal information then watched from a distance.

When the ambulance got there (other patients waiting on board) they ended up taking him to one of the nearest hospitals, which wasn't very near at all. They got there and decided to transfer him to a bigger hospital, though they wouldn´t let him take anything at all with him. So off he went again, this time alone, wearing his circus presentation outfit, without money or even a phone.

From then on we didn't know anything until recently. But apparently he was repeatedly moved around to different random places, poked an prodded in ways that didn't feel great, somewhat examined, and then shoved out on the streets in the early morning because the hospital needed the bed.

Yes, after severe head trauma, he was kicked out of the hospital freezing cold, in another city wearing his circus presentation pants, without even real shoes, wearing a black plastic bag with arm holes to keep warm, without a phone or any money.

Obviously, I'm a little terrified of having to deal with any major health or safety issues, and this weekend was probably a particularly bad one in terms of saturation of the need for emergency care. Even though I now have a pretty nice healthcare plan with access to some of the better clinics and things, it may or may not change my access to them, the time I can get there, etc. Who knows if I'll even be able to make choices? For example, when you are in public transportation accidents, you are often initially sent through the crowded public healthcare facilities anyway. Or like this weekend, even a willingness to pay a high price probably couldn't have gotten him safely to a hospital without a gurney and space to carry him on it.

Thank God he could leave walking; the worst of it appears to be various chipped teeth and a lot of pain. He asked for money on the streets until he got enough for a phone call and a bus ride, making it back to the place he rents in Valpo only to remember the rest of us were out of town with his keys.

The only advice I can think of: Stay healthy, make good choices, be safe and aware. Tattoo the important contact numbers on your forehead and I guess, never ever wear your "laundry day" underwear, just in case you get dumped on the street wearing nothing but that.

Feed a stray, get a fine

2010-09-09T17:42:00.010-04:00

That's right. Valparaiso has implemented a new plan this week where feeding or sheltering stray animals is cause for a 1-5 UTM fine!!! (Each UTM is around 35,000CLP or USD $70.00...and you could get up to 5x that!). My feelings are mixed.

Valparaiso's strays are iconic.

Though I do agree we have a stray animal problem.

The problem is undenyable: overpopulation of stray dogs in the city center. Every visitor I've ever hosted in Valparaiso has been amazed by the quantity of dogs running around the center of town. But they are also taken aback by the fact that the dogs are friendly and appear well-fed. Despite my personal bad luck, very few dogs are dangerous or aggressive, and while they will happily scarf down any food offered, its more from the spirit of being a dog than from lack of food- the majority are not starving, or thin at all. They don't have rabies and relatively few have noticeable diseases.

One of the very few occations where I've seen sickly strays in Valparaiso's plan.

5 Dogs mingling with humans in the Plaza Victoria

This is why I'm weary of the plan detailed here. As far as I've read the plan consists of collecting stray dogs and taking them to a kennel, where their owners can claim them and pay a fine. People feeding and sheltering stray dogs will also get a fine. One HUGE aspect which is underrepresented in what happens to the unclaimed dogs, and how this will reduce the population of stray dogs in the long run. The kennel is already known for being overpopulated, so I cant imagine they're going to shove in hundreds or thousands of additional stray dogs to happily live out the rest of their lives there. This particular article doesn't even mention the issue of sterilization

The plan also fails to include (or the article...to mention) any sort of public education campaign about responsible pet ownership, animal adoption, animal population control (I'll let Andrea tell you about that), etc... Are these not the KEY TO CHANGED BEHAVIORS???

At the University here we learned how a large percentage of the stray dog population consisted of dogs who had owners who either let them run free all day or threw them out on the streets after the adorable puppy stage. Many who look like strays in fact still "belong to" someone, or something of the sort, and do get food and (hopefully) some love from them. Many other people provide food and leftovers for the strays that hang around their house, sometimes even taking them to the vet or assisting in emergencies.

Someone helps out a stray mother

Potato Face!

2010-09-07T12:10:00.006-04:00

Once again, I've been days with a high fever and cold with body aches so bad I could hardly move. I'm not sure what's going on that I am getting sick over and over again but its starting to worry me.

Last night I went to bed with a fever of 102. I don't remember much of anything but I woke up talking about this dream where my boyfriend put potatoes all over my face, which is something typically done in Chile when one has a fever. I thought it was one of my feverish hallucinations, but apparently it really happened. As I got out of bed I felt almost normal, so I picked up the thermometer and a minute later it was beeping with a solid 98.6.

Neat.

Edit: False alarm. I have a fever again

Books

2010-09-01T21:57:00.004-04:00

I love to read.

But yesterday I bought my first book in Chile. I have been warned since I got here that books are expensive, and have avoided making purchases here because of that. Even used books at the feria are expensive.

It didn't matter though. I was at the book store and I had to buy this one book. It cost around $22,000 CLP. Thats kinda a lot of money for a book, and I considered not buying it, but I went ahead anyway cuz I had my reasons...

When I got home I checked online just for giggles. How much would it have cost to buy online and ship the book to Chile? $12 US.

Ouch.

(edit: to get books shipped to Chile for free check out http://www.bookdepository.com/ though it may take a few weeks and some patience).

You've been selected!!

2010-08-14T20:15:00.005-04:00

I was asked this week to evaluate a business deal. I don't usually do much in the line of consulting but luckily this one didn't take any real training: I know a good deal when I see it!!!

Irony

2010-08-12T01:30:00.004-04:00

Today at the store I ran into another gringa that recently got to Chile. I know who she is because she is living with a family I know. We checked out together and started walking home in Valparaiso; it was no sooner than when I completed the phrase,

"Everybody says the men in Chile are real gentlemen,..."

... when some man on the street gave my backside a big squeeze.

Do as I do...

2010-08-04T01:21:00.003-04:00

I wonder how my older cat Daisy really regards the newer kitten... as a sister? ...as an adopted child? ...a roommate? ... a true intruder? hahaha

Rayita is going to be full grown soon, and she's been trying to do everything just like her role model. They follow one another around, teasing one another. Daisy has all the ideas first, then Rayita will try to copy the same thing afterwards. Bad habbits included. She even learned the same trick way to open the bathroom door. If one does it, the other must too. Rayita is still desperately trying to figure out how to get outside and how to climb on the kitchen table, because, unlike Daisy, she hasn't figured out how to get around us yet.

I think Daisy is flattered to have a little mini-me to lead around.

Can you believe she was ever once so small?

Lasting effects of a false alarm...

2010-07-31T19:53:00.004-04:00

I thought I was OK, but as time goes on I realize it might have affected me more than I expected...

At the end of February, Chile experienced an 8.8 Earthquake. I spent the entire 3 or so minutes of the earthquake being bounced about in my bed, unable and unwanting to actually get out of bed. And while I spent the rest of the night in a trembling, uneasy state (partially because of lack of electricity/communication and expected chaos), overall I was not too freaked out and I still found all the aftershocks just as amusing as I always found the temblors. (My original earthquake post about my experience).

I had never really expected an earthquake to happen, and the reality of it wasn't as bad, in my situation, as it could've been. My old wooden house shook around but stayed up; the dishes rattled but only the glasses broke; my bookshelf disassembled itself but never collapsed.

But a week later, during the presidential inauguration, I was in registro Civil when I felt at least two pretty big aftershocks (7.0), big enough to be considered somewhat significant earthquakes themselves. The hanging signs which provide organization to the otherwise confusing building of government services were swaying back and forth, and people sitting in silence were moved to talk with the person sitting next to them. Soon after, as I was finally called to the front of the line, the police entered the building and rushed behind the counter. I was the first advised there could be a tsunami on its way and I should literally run to higher ground. I was the first in the building to get up, so it was easy to get to the door. I entered the chaotic mass of people in the business distrit and we tried to climb up a passage stairway from ground level near the ocean to a higher spot up the hill. "Climb" is a simplified way of describing what was actually a frantic scramble: People were pushing, shoving, crying, falling, and also helping one another. Its really impossible for me to even describe the emotions felt by myself or anyone around me, being at sea level when you suspect a wave might suddenly take out everything around you and kill the majority of people in its way. How soon would it come? Would those behind us trample us down? If I got up high enough, would I see those below me get washed away? Is there time to help others make it up? Is there even time enough to be civil? I handled it pretty calmly compared to many, but it was beyond a doubt the most stressful moment of my life to date. I realized out of all the news I'd read about tsunamis over the years, the geology class I sat through, the movies I'd watched... I've never actually imagined what being in that situation would be like. (Read my full recount I posted the afternoon of the evacuation, with pictures.)

Of course, as we all know by now, a tsunami never came that day.

In Chile for a while talked a lot about the recent catastrophic events, asking "Where were you when it happened?" to everyone until the commotion died down again. And since then, I haven't really thought or worried much about another catastrophe at all.

But unfortunately that doesn't mean that I don't dream about it. There have been multiple nights in the past few months where I have woken up, panting and trembling, barely aware that through all my efforts to get out of reach of another tsunami, my body was safe in bed. There have been dreams where I am desperate to climb up a mountain, where I leave meals uneaten at a beachside restaurant, when tropical vacations in Hawaii turn bad, and where kayak trips turn catastrophic. But there have also been numerous realistic nightmares, reliving and reinventing escapes through the hills of Valparaiso. Some are more realistic in which I frantically try to call my boyfriend on my cellphone despite tied up lines, rushing past known shops and acquaintances, and also less realistic escapes, for instance the recurring dream where I discover the Cerro Concepcion dragon pit amid my rush to safety. The most common type of tsunami dream is actually the one where I struggle to find the balance between my safety and my obsession with getting a good photograph, which usually culminates with a stressful fumble over getting the giant wave in focus as I realize I might not be as out-of-reach as I thought.

I sure don't get much sleep those nights, but when day comes, I don't keep water-wings in my purse nor my eyes glued to the sea as I pass by the oceanside many times a day. What I do wonder, however, is how much the stress and emotions of that day actually affected me. I'd be inclined to admit its more than I thought.

Growth is inevitable

2010-07-30T21:57:00.003-04:00

but sometimes they bring their kitten habbits right with them.

More familiarization with healthcare

2010-07-30T01:54:00.004-04:00

Tuesday afternoon I knew it wasn't going to end well when I reread the same line of a story out loud a few times in a row before a student jumped in and corrected me. My cheeks were burning up and I was lacking ability to concentrate. I knew I'd get in a good nap that night and hopefully a real illness wouldn't develop at all.

A coworker spent a few minutes lecturing me that, just as she had warned me, warming my cold fingers in front of a plastic space heating fan would make me sick. Damn, warm air? I figure its a miracle I don't drop dead everytime I blowdry my hair.

I barely made it home before the real heavy sickness set in. I've spent the past two and a half days incredibly sick to my stomach and dipping in and out of a 103.5 fever.

Being this sick is debilitating. Laying in bed so long makes my bones ache, rolling over churns my stomach, standing up makes me woozy, walking gives a headache. And that's just moaning about the little stuff... imagine me trying to sort out my healthcare! (When you're so sick you can't go to work, you still have to get up out of bed and get to the doctor so he gives you an excuse note, and by default, make a sidestop to your healthcare provider's office along the way).

I was too sick to make it far from home, and I didn't have the energy to look for the healthcare folder which might have some information on centers or doctors covered under my plan so I searched the internet forever. Then I called and asked. Despite the billions mentioned when I signed my plan, the lady on the phone had two suggestions, of those I understood one. I called that clinica and they suggested I come in next week! (Yes, thank you, that'd be really convenient...if I survive the wait!), so I walked tortoise-paced to the closest doctor I knew of planning to pay out of pocket. They told me to come back the next day and that they're supported by my plan anyway, so I went and got a bono slip proving I'd made my copayment (along with a Doc list for next time) and shuffled home. Well, I tried to take a collectivo, but after being robbed of my spot many times in a row (because, you know, being at the front of the line doesn't always guarantee you much in Chile), I gave up and climbed. It was a struggle.

Today, after pushing snooze for two hours, I finally got up and made it to the doctor...where I waited another 2 hours to be seen. I did get to see a questionable Mega daytime show on the topic "Is it ok to make fun of people for their defects and nationality?" Defects and nationality paired together there sound ridiculous enough to me, though its actually a decent topic. Fever or not, daytime TV gives me a headache regardless and I preferred to stare at the hole in my shoe rather than the show's content. My boyfriend loooves one of the groups they question, though, Atletas de la Risa.

Speaking of nationality, doctors also get stuck not seeing beyond the foreignness and mine kept talking about adverse affects to my travel immunizations. I suppose its a good thing to rule out, but its also nice to consider I caught something entirely unrelated to my foreignness.... considering I haven't had immunizations in at least a few years.

Lesson I've learned: bureaucracy makes sickness twice as terrible.

P.s. Thrice as terrible, fyi, is cable television providing long periods of time where the most interesting programming I can find is SNAKES ON A PLANE. Seriously?

Domino bad luck

2010-07-13T23:44:00.004-04:00

10pm last night I was walking alone on Avenida Alemania. Nobody was around.

Well, nobody was around until suddenly I got the hunch that somebody was RIGHT behind me. While continuing to walk, I turned around quickly. Despite having known in my gut that there was a man only half a pace behind me, finding him there immensely surprised me. I only looked at him for a fourth of a second, enough to verify there was someone in my personal space, yet hardly enough to identify any traits more specific than "male."

Anyway, seeing him there startled me so much that I instantly looked away, apparently setting my eyes on a huge white husky dog in the street. I must have looked so frightened or angry or something, perhaps a natural reaction of getting ready to defend myself against whatever this man had in mind, that when I looked at the dog, he jumped up in fright, bolted right at me and bit me in the back of the leg!!!

The man had backed off as the dog came at me, and both man and dog kinda ran off quietly in opposite directions. I was left alone again, completely shocked and nervous about the pain I felt from the bite. Not because it hurt so bad I couldn't walk, but because I was nervous there was blood all over my pants, which I quite like, and I'd have to make a decision about going through with the rabies shots or not (this is, after all, my 4th encounter of this sort with dogs in Chile).

No blood. It hurt like hell, yet oddly I just have small blue bruises where each one of the dog's teeth dug into my leg- the skin wasn't even broken!

* For the record, despite the large, relatievly uncontrolled stray dog population, there hasn't been a case of a human getting rabies from a dog in Chile in almost 40 years. Medical professionals in the US have told me its still worth the precaution if you are attacked by a dog that might have rabies, but that really they considered it just that, nothing more than a precaution. Anybody seen Quarantine?

Cerro Alegre Shoved Aground

2010-07-06T19:12:00.005-04:00

This morning I left my house and immediately noticed the wind. The realization that I've never really noticed wind while walking near my house hit me suddenly. Its strange how much time can go by before you notice something so simple. Even though it was very gently misting, I felt nostalgic for Minnesota fall. The wind, and Valparaiso in general, doesn't really have a strong oceany smell to differentiate the air from my memories of Minnesota.

It was raining, sprinkling or pouring on and off during the day, with large gusts of wind hitting up against the windows. The sky went back and forth from grey to pink, finally letting in a bit of sun and a giant rainbow in the late afternoon.

I sat at my desk in the office all day, cozy and dry. But the electricity must have flickered on and off around 10 or 15 times, something I'm used to because of the lighting back home (well, with lightning it usually just goes off and stays that way). I must admit I felt a little uneasy that the weather was getting so bad that I'd get trapped away from home, because coworkers were reporting that the roads were so terrible, flooded with trees and downed stoplights, that traveling would take double or triple the time.

Luckily I got a ride with someone half way, and spent the rest of my way staring out at the uneasy ocean. I have never seen such big waves along the normally calm Viña del Mar and Valparaiso shores! The waves reached the top of the pier sometimes. But in Valparaiso I stopped watching out the window, because the whole shoreline is cut off from view. Then suddenly, when we hit a stoplight, I felt mist from the water. Everybody looked over together to see a huge cargo boat that appeared to be almost on the shore, hopping up onto the metro line. A huge wave suddenly came over the top of the boat, and I accidentally let out a "GUAU" (jk, hahah "WOW!), thinking the water might almost come down on us, and a number of passengers looked at me. I took the bus to the bellavista stop where I used a huge walking bridge to climb up and get a view...

and a scurried picture, trying to catch those huge waves!

It seems this boat was the main victim of today's storm.

South America and non-personal impressions

2010-07-04T21:40:00.007-04:00

I believe pretty much everywhere I have been, close relationships have the potential to be very similar in nature. I think even if, at first glance, the people or culture seems to be upside-down and inside-out from our own, we would find those closest to you essentially the same at heart. Relationships between casual friends, coworkers, and acqaintances have more potential to differ depending on culture. But I think interactions between people that don't yet know each other, and the progress between first meeting someone to bringing it to another level is something that contributes to one of the first impressions we get of a country and culture. This is the impression we get as a tourist or a newcomer- the impression we get before having friends or a boyfriend (and his immensly extended family) to show us around and lead us towards meeting the right people.

Essentially, when I'm traveling, the answers to questions along the lines of the following help me form a basic opinion of society in a non-personal sense:

How do people interact with each other on the streets, does there seem to be common courtesy?

How willing are people to engage in conversation or small talk, is doing errands around town purely robotic or will you likely exhange smiles or comments with the people you interact with?

Are interactions with people you meet or deal with while getting around generally positive, negative or neutral?

Ok, so its not like I travel around with a little survey and checklist, evaluating places by these exact questions, but they give an idea you can probably understand or relate to about the type of interaction we observe and participate in before we really have any good reason or ties to make a more profound one. Perhaps this impression is one of society overall that will stay with us, or perhaps more time and connections will modify the way we see the culture. Overall, I found almost all South American countries I have been to (almost all of them) to fare quite well on overall non-personal impressions.

Actually, the only one I've been to that didn't at all was Bolivia. Every Bolivian I know is extremely nice, and I even have extended relatives that have been living in Bolivia for a long time and report back a great image, but traveling there and experiencing society without any personal ties was a different story. And, though I did get the impression people somewhat stuck to themselves in public, the negative energy did not seem to be so much overall, but rather towards foreigners. I know, as an American, I shouldn't expect much otherwise. We haven't exactly been the most favorable influence to their economy. But my roommates were English and Greek and expressed similar vibes. I also experienced a lot of name calling, at me, with profanity. One anecdote that humorously exemplified my time in Bolivia (spread out over 4 cities), was when I asked a man for directions to a museum and he said "see that building?" While I turned my head to look where he was pointing, he ran away.

(edit: friends traveling around the same time reported similar feelings, however those having visited more recently had much more neutral or positive interactions. And again, to restate: everybody I know personally from Bolivia is awesome... so I do strongly believe my experience was time-sensitive, and possibly illustrative of the difference between being an anonymous outsider vs. having a personal connection).

For Chile, my take on society in a non-personal sense has stayed fairly true to my initial impression. I've written about various aspects of Chile in a non-personal sense over the years on this blog. Without considering any personal connections or familiar faces, interactions tend to be rather neutral, possibly skewed negative, with limited possibility for conversation or small talk. In public, everyone is usually concerned mostly for themselves and this can even come at the expense of others.

However, (thankfully!), my take on society in a personal sense is immensely different, and much more positive. To me, Chile in a personal sense is much more friendly and caring, people are not selfish in the slightest, and courtesy is the expectation. While there are still barriers to break down in terms of making close friendships, people you have connections to will generally open up and treat you in a very positive way.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking about first impressions of a society actually has its roots, again, in the World Cup. Strange how soccer meddles its way into just about everything these days, no? As I've documented over the past few weeks, I was first rooting for Chile and the US (Either way, I win!) Then, I was in it for Brazil. I have a lot of ties with Brazilian people and activities here, and having them win would be quite fun for me. In the end, Brazil got kicked out of the tournament right before a big "Brazilian night" event, which naturally, was still immensely enjoyed for the party it was.

But one of yesterday's games was Paraguay vs. Spain. I knew since Paraguay started going forward in the tournament that they'd be one of the teams I'd like to go on. It wasn't much to do with the whole "underdog" thing, but rather that I have an extremely positive opinion of Paraguay. When I traveled to Paraguay I didn't have many expectations. It is a country often overlooked, without too many internationally famous sights or attractions. However, when I got there, I was extremely pleased. People on the streets would stop and chat in a way that wasn't creepy, when I entered a store the employees were eager to help and share stories, and everyone was full of smiles. I remember one time a man in a plaza invited us to have dinner with his family, a restaurant employee explained every single traditional food on the menu without the slightest annoyance, and a large percentage of mall customers went outside to laugh and play in the hail together. My time in Paraguay didn't have any particularly notable experiences, but all of the little things just traveling around added up to make a great impression. So Paraguay going to the World Cup?

Hell yeah, I was for that.

Plus, they were the only team left in the tournament that I have actually been to see play live. But, unfortunately, they lost. And now I am unsure who to root for. I know its not Germany, despite significant ancestry, for no real reason other than I haven't been there and don't feel much connection to the team. I have set foot in the other 3 countries, but only spent considerable time in Spain. However, I think to some level I want Uruguay to win. I'm not sure why. Perhaps its still my heart rooting for the South American continent.

edit: thats right SA, you can get me to root for your teams but not to buy into your 5 continent convention

Chorrillana

2010-06-29T22:10:00.007-04:00

Not having second thoughts about being vegetarian....

Cholesterol Death served in a dish with a little Chilean flag on top!

Chorrillanas, which consist of fried eggs, beef and onion served over a pile of french fries, are heaven for anybody with the munchies.

Although the chorrillana at J. Cruz is the original and most famous, this nicely presented one came from Mastodonte on Esmeralda. I personally never eat the dish, not even the fries which are usually so soggy from sitting in a pool of grease and drippy onion and egg water. However this was one of the best presented one's I've seen, so I took a picture.

(Edit: I get reasonable blog traffic for google searches for "chorrillana" so I added a snapshot of the locations and addresses of these two restaurants in case somebody's trying to get there.
J. Cruz, which feels like a little hole in the wall resaurant, is located in an alley off Condell street. Mastodonte has a large entrance and almost appears to be a themed restaurant. It is only a few blocks away on the same street, though the name changes from Condell to Esmeralda.)

Qualified!

2010-06-25T19:20:00.006-04:00

People are still celebrating in the streets 4 hours after Chile... lost! Its not the outcome of the game, of course, that provoked the celebration, but rather the outcome of the first round... as, despite today's loss, Chile has qualified to move on to the quarter finals!

But lets back up to this morning, long before riot police stationed at the Plaza Viña to control this afternoons crowd....

Today a boy yelled that it wasn't fair that I was making him study English today because he wanted to watch the Chile vs. Spain game. The game still wasn't going to start for a few hours so he'd get to see it anyway, so I told him to stop complaining.

He yelled: "Its not fair! And its all because the United States sucks at soccer and you're never going to make it further. None of you care about soccer. Plus, all girls hate soccer and they don't understand it!"

Is that so? From what I hear, people in Chile seem to think so. Its true professional soccer isn't to the U.S. what football is to the rest of the world. But, its not true that nobody cares about it. And its less true that people in the U.S. aren't into soccer at all. Soccer is a HUGE sport in the US as far as playing it. From what I've observed, it almost seems like more youth in Minnesota play soccer (and play it more) than here in Valparaiso. More people seem to be involved in organized school and private teams, and practice and compete more intensively than they do here. Also because of the city layout and protective parents, I see kids playing in the streets much less here.

But soccer culture IS much different in the U.S. Abby posted a really interesting NYT article about soccer culture in other countries vs. the U.S. It explained The U.S. follows a "pay to play" system, where most players financially backing and managing their own way through teams during early years, with the most talented ones continuing on to play for the University while they get higher education. In the rest of the world a professional player might see no need to get a higher education; in many places, there exist various systems of early recruitment, training, and sponsorship, or those without those options might train on the streets and escape into football stardom.

Its true there are many differences. Regardless, there are many people that do love soccer, and more that will support the team in the World Cup purely for reasons of patriotism. Most of the U.S. doesn't expect to win, and many couldn't be bothered to do more than read the headlines announcing the outcomes, but as a video passed along through Marmo and Kyle shows... there were also quite a few people that were just as into the games as everyone in Chile. (Without the gear! Nobody sells stuff on the street in the majority of the U.S., so you'll notice most sports fans aren't decked out in mass produced silly-hats and other soccer paraphernalia.)

So back to the kid... I told him that 1) it wasn't unfair at all. Being asked to do something that doesn't interfere with his chance to see the game makes his argument irrelevant, and 2) he was being rude and making unfair judgments himself because 3) not all people from the US are indifferent to soccer and 4) that goes for girls too.

Young kids will rarely take back their words in a tense moment but some little recognition of the possibility my words were true seemed to come over him. He looked at me and asked, "do you like football?" I smirked and said "I've been playing longer that you've been alive."

He smiled at my comment, said sorry, waited the obligatory awkward few seconds after an apology where a kid stubbornly avoids eye contact and pouts about having given in.... and then asked to get out early anyway.

"It's still a 'no'." I said.

Stuff Gringos Look For

2010-06-21T20:57:00.005-04:00

It happened to all of us. We got to Chile, decided to try and cook something special, and couldn't find any of the ingredients. The other day I got to thinking about some of the little gringo treasures that can be found around town, and some of the products that most commonly drive a new gringo in Chile nuts searching for them. I haven't found everything I've looked for, and my search gets easier as Jumbo and Lider expand their imported sections, but hopefully sooner or later everything will reach us here near the bottom of the earth! That means you, cream soda, I'm waiiiiiting for you!

Look no further!!! You can find it in Chile:

Cranberry Juice - Jumbo sells cranberry juice in a box in the juice section. When its in stock, they have light and regular. Certain pharmacies will also sell concentrate for about $6,000 for 1/2 liter.

Cranberries - Whole berries are hard to find, most Chileans have probably never tried cranberries, and call them arándanos (same word for blueberries). Dried cranberries can be found at Jumbo. I've been told you can order them from frutconcept or lavandacasadete, though I've never tried it.

Soy Milk - Its in a box with the juices, Ades brand.

Root Beer - Jumbo sporadically sells A&W Root Beer or Stars and Stripes brand. Most Chileans have never tried root beer floats so grabbing a few cans of root beer can mean a fun introduction.

Buttermilk - put a tablespoon of vinegar in with a cup of room temperature milk and let it sit a few minutes.

Maple Syrup - There is a somewhat cheaper alternative called miel de palma (similar process to maple syrup but from a palm tree, I consider it fairly tasty, though different. You can buy it in a jar or can in the same aisle as honey.) Its hardly a match for the real stuff though, real maple syrup is TASTY! But its expensive in Chile. The large Jumbos and Liders do have imported maple syrups in nice glass bottles for a hefty price. I remember seeing a bottle once for $6,000, which seemed like a lot, but in perspective, maple syrup isn't cheap in the U.S. either. Understandably, my family made it for a while and it was a pain of a process!

If you want to have a waffle party without going broke and can manage not to be too much of a snob about it, I recommend using a jug of the fake stuff (made in Colombia!) that can be purchased at a small nuts and canned goods shop in the center of Viña del Mar on Ecuador street, between calle Valparaiso and Arlegui. It reasonably imitates the flavor without making me as nauseous as Aunt Jemima. Its got a green label, costs around $2,000 pesos, and you´re going to have to invent 15 ways of pronouncing maple before the staff figures out what you want (hint: try MOP-lay)
Jumbo also typically sells "SYRUP" in the winter, which is a very cheap imitation maple syrup similar to the one described above.

Bagels - In Viña I would recommend BagelMania, above the Santa Isabel between 9 and 10 Norte with 1 Poniente. The bagels aren't overpriced, and they even have homemade cream cheese and other favorites like lox bagel sandwiches. You might also try ordering from the owner of Barlovento Artesana Cafe (3 Norte 980, between calle Quillota and 2 Oriente).

Peanut Butter - Can be found at most major grocery stores for a fairly expensive price considering the itty bitty jar. Or, hold out until Lider stocks up on the Safeway brand, which is considerably cheaper. In Valparaiso near the corner of Avenida Argentina and Errazuriz there is a little shop which makes its own peanut butter. It's not cheap, but its decent and fresh.

Corn Starch - Try Jumbo

Cheesecake - Yeah, every cafe sells cheesecake here but I'm gonna go out on a limb (er... solid plank, there is no convincing me otherwise) and say most of them are pretty terrible and pricy imitations that taste like fluffy air with the slight smell of cheese. They LOOK tasty, especially with those blueberry or manjar sauces they always cover them in, but mark my words, whatever they give you will not live up to the name "cheesecake."

A few places I´ve heard that have hit the mark are Barlovento Artesana Cafe (3 Norte 980, between calle Quillota and 2 Oriente. I can vouch for this cheesecake), a place in the little mall in Reñaca, TPuro, Tartas y Tortas, and Galletaria Laura and Emporio la Rosa in Santiago. Also, some people like the Gatsby´s cheesecake though I´ve never had the guts to try it.

Lider now sells frozen cheesecakes, which are good but not to-die-for. Sometimes Lider will carry a cheesecake mix in a box where you need to just add milk... and honestly it's damn tasty and cheap. Stock up.

Molasses - Melt a block of chancaca over low heat with a bit of water.

Dr. Pepper - Jumbo, occasionally

Brown sugar - sometimes Jumbo, Lider or an independent tostaduria will have a variety of azucar moreno or azucar rubia that looks like what you need for your recipe. If not, in Valparaiso on calle Chacabuco behind the bus terminal, you´ll find what you need in one of various stores you will initially think are just bulk dog food.

Tofu - can be found in Santiago in some of the Patronato Asian markets . In Valparaiso, last I heard there is someone who makes it and does a drop off at Govinda´s Hare Krishna restaurant on Wednesdays.

Baking Powder - often incorporated in flour, otherwise it can be purchased separate and is usually one of various brands with English packaging, therefore called... "baking powder!" One jar I see often is red and yellow and says ROYAL.

Baking soda - bicarbonato, found everywhere but with the spices. Or, you could try it my way, have your mom ship you a box of Arm and Hammer with the funky multi-use picture labeling, and scare your suegros into think you're putting cleaning supplies into the mix.

Celery Salt - Im not from the South and have no idea what this is about, but a friend was excited to find this at Jumbo.

Tahini - Jumbo has it. Its with the curry sauces, and frequently sold out. Sesame paste (which is sweet) is NOT usually an acceptable alternative. However, peanut butter could be, if you're trying to make hummus.

Hot cocoa mix - Good Value brand at Lider is a bargain at around $2,000 for a 20 ounce jar WITH mini marshmallows.

Pecans - Lider and Unimarc

Chocolate chips - Jumbo and Lider. You're probably better off buying chocolate at a baking goods/decoration store and chopping it up into small pieces. In Valparaiso there are some of these stores around the bus terminal on Guillermo Rawson.

Candy - Twix, M&Ms, Milky Way and Snickers are making their way slowly to cash registers. Other than that, if Jumbo doesn't have it in the candy aisle, there's a store called Price Shopper close to Portal La Dehesa in Santiago which is famed to be full of gringo candies and cereals. Good Value peanut butter cups can be found sometimes at the Lider near the Vina mall. Benzi the pet supplies stores also carry lots of American candy bars.

BBQ Sauce - Santa Isabel, Lider, and Jumbo sometimes import a decent one.

Marshmallows - Most major grocery stores, in the candy isle. Beware of really cheap brands and marshmallow-looking treats that taste like black licorice.

Pumpkin - around Halloween you´ll have to make runs to various Liders, Jumbos, and local markets to see if you can find anything orange or just have to settle for a squash. I've never seen canned pumpkin, but you can buy a slice at a mini market and pop it into the microwave or oven until it caramelizes and approximates what you´ll need for your recipe, or boil chunks of pumpkin until they are soft enough to mash with a fork and drain.

Baking tools, appliances, and things you might just want to bring along from Gringolandia:

Tampons - line your suitcases with them. They cost an arm and a leg here! (On the contrary, buy birth control over the counter here to save some cash.)

Pepto Bismol - I haven't found the brand name, but I've received alternative recommendations for Gaviscon, Antiax from Lab Saval, or Phillips...none of which I'm convinced are quite comparable.

Advil and Tylenol - my personal advice is... stash up before you come! You can find alternative pills here in Chile, however, even with the same active ingredients, not all the compounds are the same and (psychosomatic or not) I don´t feel they work as well for my body. Chileans I know who travel often stock up on their trips so there must be something that draws certain people to the American brands. Paracetamol is the Chilean version of Tylenol, by the way, with acetaminophen as the active ingredient.

Waffle Irons - In Chile you'll often see panqueques (what I'd call crepes, as they're super thin), but most people have never tried thick pancakes or waffles. You can sometimes find a waffle iron in the baking section of stores like Jumbo.

Oven thermometer - Your Chilean gas oven is bound to require modifications to your baking directions. An oven thermometer will save you a lot of time, guessing, and burnt cookies. You can probably find the thermometers somewhere in a baking store or the baking section of a large store.

Measuring cups, spoons, or any obscure baking supply - specialty stores usually have what you´re looking for, and Casa & Ideas probably has much of what you seek too, but some things might be cheaper and easier to just drag along from Target back home. At times I've come across United States style measuring cups at random spots in Chile, but bringing a set along might be an easy fix. Many people in Chile tend to use normal spoons, small stirring spoons, and cups to estimate ingredients. Then again, I wouldn't guess that most Chilean baking recipes are as complex or adventurous as the one you may be intending to use, so try that at your own risk.

Food Substitutes for when you can't find exactly what you're looking for:

Cook's Thesaurus - absolutely amazing

Ninja Turtles would like this post

2010-06-20T19:46:00.007-04:00

(haha, ...realized I should probably apologize to any tourists who get to this page googling "Viña del Mar beach"... this is the wrong spot)

I saw this really interesting video about men who work to clear out objects and other tasks inside the Mexico City Sewage system. It looks absolutely disgusting, but its National Geographic so its still manageable to watch.

Unfortunately, this video actually reminded me of a (only slightly less revolting) personal experience. A few years ago I was a volunteer for a project cleaning up the Potomac river in Washington D.C. The Potomac river isn't exactly the Mexican sewage system, but it was close enough... that river was revolting!

One small fraction of the junk we pulled out.

The entire bank of the river was full of needles and random trash, though as a volunteer I opted for the team that actually got in the water, mostly digging up and hauling out household objects and other things that shouldn't be there. I remember working on pulling out not only numerous old tires and plastic objects, but shopping carts, motorcycles, newspaper stands, and dead animals. I've seen people all over the world trying to slyly toss their litter on the ground, but I couldn't imagine the massive effort people must have gone through to get these major appliances into the river!

Getting ready to dive in! (Kidding, I, far right, only got in as deep as the tall waders. The thought of accidentally falling in or letting the "water" get inside the waders had me quite nervous though. It felt really diseased.)

When I first got to Chile a number of people warned me not to swim in the water, though it wasn't because of their warnings, as much as the cold, that I never went in until this fall. I often went (and still go) to the beach in Viña del Mar, which looks pretty nice and actually does not appear too dirty besides the crowds of men who use Muelle Vergara as a bathroom. What I did not piece together for quite a while was that all of the people who had warned me about the beach were quite a bit older and were probably remembering the beach in its condition from earlier days. Not so long ago (I forgot to write down when but well within the lifetime of my middle adged students... maybe within a decade or two ago?), before the new system in Viña and Valparaiso, apparently sometimes the coast would be literally strewn with raw sewage. Some of my older English students would tell me about going to the coast only to find themselves wading around, or sitting on a beach, strewn with it.

While raw sewage on the beach did not particularly interest me, learning about the sewage and storm-water system began to. I later had, among my adult students, someone who's job was to inspect the underground tunnels (stories about giant cats and guarens and encounters with people who make made these tunnels home in the summer, such as under Avenida Argentina- last summer you could easily see into uncovered sections during repairs), someone who worked at the outlet of the tunnels where they reach the ocean (stories about the crazy stuff people dare to toss into the tunnels like entire couches, and the unfortunate cases where dead bodies would show up at the tunnel exit), and an engineer who works with the tunneling to the offshore location (now about 3 miles off the coast of Laguna Verde, efficient enough and far enough away that there aren't any surprises on the beach). Makes for interesting classes, at least!

(Reusing wood from a bed frame someone tossed ... among other junk polluting the shore.)

I still don't have a perfect picture of how the sewage and storm-water system works here but I have gathered that the garbage contributed by people causes major problems at times. Even during heavy rains it is obvious that the water collection system in the streets struggles to function because of the large quantity of objects people have tossed there because they were too lazy to find a dumpster.

Not that again!

2010-06-17T23:07:00.007-04:00

In theory, I know buying those pirated DVDs being sold on the street is wrong. I don't do it myself. Half the time it's a scam and when its not, the quality is so terrible you're left confused or giggling at multiple points in the movie where suddenly the color scheme changes and the audio switches into French. But I will admit, the increasing availability of these illegal DVDs is starting to revolutionize my long distance bus riding experience! Cheap versions of the newest releases can now be enjoyed when traveling from city to city, as long as you don't mind some terrible dubbing or the occasional silhouette as the man in front of the the guy recording the video in back of the theater gets up to buy popcorn. In my opinion, its a small price to pay if it means I wont be suffering through Fast and the Furious, and the dozens of cloned sequels that'll spawn from it, for the rest of my life.

Until recently, movie options were limited. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you either have a car or never travel. Just try and tell me you haven't had to sit through each of the following movies at least twice:

Transporter
Fast and the Furious
Cellular
Gladiator
Ironman
Transformers
Enemy of the State
White Chicks
Little Man

Am I right or am I right? Riding a South American bus can really suck. Between this, gross "no solids" bathrooms lacking toilet paper, constant beeping as the gas-pedal-happy driver repeatedly exceeds 100 km, and (as my boyfriend dubbed it) "the human experiment" they do on you all night while vacillating extreme cold and heat from those darn heaters, bus riding can be such a dreaded experience. Where are all those busses I hear about where you get to play organized bingo?

Basically, if your job is to pick out a movie for a South American bus ride, I've deducted this simple recipe:

Genre: Action, especially races against time, or the occasional outlier comedy involving black midgets and/or cross dressers.
Actors: Your options are pretty much limited to Vin Diesel, Russel Crowe, Jason Stathem, Will Smith, or Jodie Foster.
Plot: (if applicable) Your movie needs to involve bad guys, and your plot revolves around nothing more than escaping our outthinking them. Car racing, gory fights, outdated gadgets and crushing things are essential.
Language, sound, music, etc... irrelevant. Its unlikely the bus sound system will work well enough for anybody to really follow the dialogue anyway.
If all else fails, pick up yet another version of Classic Projects

I'd never thought twice about it...

2010-06-16T23:41:00.006-04:00

Thinking back on earlier discussions this year about how in Chile it is essential you cover your mouth when you yawn (something many people from the US don't do, or see a need to do as long as you don't have a ton of food in your mouth or something), and the fact that in Chile nobody bothers, or consciously decides, to say "salud" (functions as does "bless you") when someone sneezes... I realized that I'd never written down my thoughts on one related cultural difference: blowing your nose.

Is it just me, or is it actually pretty universal that the way people blow their nose in Chile is different than in the United States? I remember being surprised by it when I first got here, which makes me think that there must be something to it, but perhaps its another one of those things where I never really took notice until I started observing with confirmation bias.

Trying to put to words the way someone blows their nose was actually much harder than I thought. I even tried to see if someone had a youtube video of nose-blowing but quickly decided that wasn't my route...

In the end I came up with two very strange analogies. From what I remember, most poeple in the US will blow their nose in one huge expulse of air, almost like the "huuuuge push" motion doctors ask for on reality TV when someone has a baby.

However in Chile, people seem to prefer to blow their nose in series of really short bursts of air, where they cut the airflow off in short intervals. The best I can do to relate this is to make you think about the noise we stereotype native americans as making:

(Though thankfully, noseblowing is less of a high schrill than Peter squeeked out there... but you get the idea about the on-off airflow, right?)

Anyway, I'm not sure if its something cultural or something I only notice when I'm looking for it, as turned out with the yawn thing when my mom said we're supposed to be covering our mouths when we yawn in the US also, and most people are just lazy or oblivious to that piece of etiquette.

Vamos CHILE!

2010-06-16T08:23:00.003-04:00

Being in a soccer-obsessed country during the World cup is really something interesting.

Everyone is obsessed. For months people have been concerned with whether they will get time off work, or at least a chance to watch the games at work. People are selling thematic wigs, hats, flags, and jerseys on the streets. Even many commercials have revolved around soccer and winning a trip to South Africa. In the upcomming days and weeks TV programs of every type have been covering preparation for the games. My favorite was a cheesy Jay-walking ripoff where Chileans were asked to point out South Africa on a map, or tell the camera who was Nelson Mandela. My boyfriend has been telling everyone we see about this show two days ago where some black South African women commented on how cute they thought the Chileans were, and then the camera focused on the group of Chileans nearby and they were apparently a mixture of old, really pudgy, and hairy. One proceeded to practically make out with one of the women, then turn to the camera and send greetings home to his wife and family. Then the program put on some pop music and got the women to dance with the men, and apparently the clash of dance styles was pretty funny as the Chileans were marching around as if it were cumbia.

I was kind of giggling thinking back on the US. I know many people are really excited about the games, though I think there is probably a large quantity of people who root for a favorite team other than the US. However, as a friend mentioned yesterday, a large percentage of people are probably completely oblivious that a tournament is going on at all. The US is not, as a whole, soccer-obsessed. I doubt there are too many people wearing thematic clothing or jerseys around town, and when its game time, I can only imagine society in general proceeds as normal.

Here, at 7:30 am kickoff this morning, people were outside in the rain chanting and blowing foghorns. When Chile scored the first goal just after 8, my house started literally vibrating from neighbors jumping up and down, and out my window I heard not only cheers, honking, and my neighbor screaming bloody murder out the window, but fireworks. Fireworks?!? At 8am in the rain?

This is not exactly ideal for sleeping in on my sick day... but in the end it doesn't matter. I wouldn't dare sleep through the game myself. ;-) Less than half the game remaining and we're ahead... Vamosss Chile!

There's a monster in my chest

2010-06-16T01:10:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately, halfway through my vacation I got pretty sick, fever then cough, etc. It didn't keep me entirely from enjoying my time, but it did put a huge damper on energy levels, bedtimes, and how much everybody else hated being around me. A persistent cough does that when you are sharing a room.

Anyway, many reasons adding up, I didnt bother trying to get to a doctor until I tried to go back to work and realized I wasn't getting any better. Figuring out how to work my healthcare, and the medical system at clinics in general was a pain in itself, aside from the fever and mini-migraine I suffered from as I ended up lightly tiptoing a few dozen blocks in vain attempts to find a lung specialist that would see me that same day.

I finally got in at 7pm, and, of course after the obligatory chit-chat about the location, weather, and industries of Minnesota and how much I liked being in Chile, the doctor got about to listening to my breathing. It was terrifying... he'd say "breath in" and from my lungs would come this deep vibrating snore-like noise that sent me into a coughing fit.

Some sort of severe bronchitis, he said, dry your hair and don't go barefoot. Now it hurts to cough, and feels creepy on the inside. The antibiotics give me some weird nostalgic feeling from my childhood, I must've taken something similar at some point.

Anyway, my computer part finally came in, just in time to enjoy it on my sick leave. Finally some good timing so I can catch up on everything I've missed in the past month.

Yet again...

2010-06-03T18:35:00.002-04:00

I walked into Lider to see that all of the small carts were taken up. I even checked under all the registers, twice, but in the end decided to just go without, as a full sized cart would seem too much for my few purchases. But, as always, other things caught my eye and eventually I was walking through the produce section with my arms stacked with cheese, tortillas, granola, coffee mix, a costa milk bar (especially appealing because, unlike many other Chilean chocolates, this one tastes nothing like wax), jello mix, soy milk, and a Brazilian themed soccer mug, when I started to feel everything slip. First the cheese flew off the top and hit the ground with a big smacking noise. Then, probably in an attemp to reach out and grab it, I triggered a full avalanche of my groceries and everything started to fall off the top.

Thankfully, only half my groceries fell, and the glass mug was still in my hand. However, as I awkwardly tried to squat down to pick up my things without losing the remaining stuff in my arms, I suddenly became especially aware of the embarrasing moment that had just happened, and the fact that there were a whole bunch of people just watching me and waiting for me to get out of the way. This fact, combined with the one that I was really attempting to carry too many oddly shaped things in my arms, seemed to slow down the process even more, and I couldnt seem to get everything back up without losing an item in the process.

As it always seems to go, of course, nobody would step up and offer a helping hand. What makes it worse, is that if I were to go ahead and let out my natural reaction of a humble laugh or comment on my misfortune, everybody else would reply with a scowl or complete indifference. If nobody´s going to help, I almost wish they would react in at least some way!

Still alive

2010-06-01T13:17:00.003-04:00

My computer officially died while I was updating blogger about 10 days ago.

The good news is... in the end it wasn´t the computer, but rather just the power cord. The bad news is... my power cord is freaking expensive in Chile!!!! The power cables at the mall cost $70,000 pesos! I´m sure if I looked around I could probably find one at least a little bit cheaper, (really I was just looking for an excuse to window shop for boots) or maybe there even exists an imitation cord that will work, but in the end my computer is still under a protection plan and I sent away for a free replacement. That makes me happy, but for the meantime I have been quite computerless.

In other news... I´m also on vacation now, though I´ve hardly noticed because I´ve had to work 75% of my vacation days so far! This should be the last one though, from now on I entend to fully enjoy my (ugly rainy winter) vacation, possibly even by doing something fun with my Chilean tax refund, which I am quite excited about because, despite not earning much last year, the sudden deposit in my bank account still made my mind scream "free money!"

Now and Then, double take kittens

2010-05-15T23:02:00.005-04:00

Having a second little kitten has been so enjoyable to me. We rescued both of them as tiny month old balls of fur with eye infections, about a year apart. I love seeing them play together, and watching the little one's personality develop. She's quite friendly, and I find it hilarious that she starts to purr the exact second you touch her. One thing I never expected is that she is developing a personality quite similar to that of our other cat, Daisy. Rayita is starting to behave in a similar way, seek out the same exact spots and toys, and even enjoy or hate similar things or actions.

Skimming through photos, I found it really cute to realize how similar the two of them really were as kittens (and similarities in which things I find cute enough to capture a photo of, hahah! I'm obviously not too creative, as none of these were taken intentionally to reenact the original). It only goes to show, kittens will be kittens!

(What's weird is I'm sickly pale in the summer shot and normal looking in winter...)

(Can you tell which one is post-earthquake?)

(Nothing has changed)

(Daisy has tea on her nose from cleaning her eyes)

(Basking in the sun...)

(Hiding in various cases and bags is a popular kitten pastime)

(But nothing rivals the catnap)

(Brought home and kept in a little box in attempt to not get stepped on and/or infest the house with fleas)

(Stretch out and claw something)

(I look about the same)

It's supposed to be like that

2010-05-08T01:22:00.007-04:00

I really like to bake, and have actually worked as a baker and in a very creative pastry shop, and though I unfortunately have never had much to do with the decorating process, my experiences (and years of ginger bread house designing) have left me with enough skills to fare at least decent in the bread and pastry area.

Nevertheless, every time I make brownies my suegra nicely consoles me after once again she thinks my cake has failed to rise.

"They're supposed to be like that" is often not a very convincing argument.

So you can bet I was nervous about making red velvet cake, because often my baking does not go over with people who do not like flavor experimentation or change. Cream cheese frosting and bright red batter were sure to be either a strong hit or miss in a country where the majority of pastries have a striking similarity to white bread.

First our Brazilian guests showed up just in time for the taste testing. They always like my cooking and this went down no different. They loved the uniqueness and the rich creamy frosting and wanted to take home a recipe.

Then my boyfriend's family and our various Chilean friends started showing up. We cut the cake and handed out pieces. I sensed that in general people liked it, but verbally all I heard over and over again was various versions of the observation "its red."

"Yes, it is red," I replied all night. In the end, that was the idea, so maybe I should just take it as a compliment.

Banana Peel Shoes

2010-04-30T22:21:00.005-04:00

I'm the type of person that can't make a serious face if I try. Noticing that, one of my coworkers tried to give me a lesson once on doing the "evil eye," a lesson I failed, of course, as the furthest I get is a giggle and maybe a slight eyebrow twitch.

Anyway I have this pair of flats that have a sort of hard plastic sole. They work fine everywhere except gravel, on which they tend to skid. Unfortunately I figured this out through a process of trial and error... the error being multiple wipe-out mishaps of varying degrees of height, distance, and grace.

I'm stubborn, so of course when I finally came to terms with the fact that its the shoes and not just many clumsy cooincidences, I continued to wear them anyway. Until... walking down the road I live on, I pulled the most EPIC of tumbles, landing on my ass, scraping up my arms, and calling the attention of a handful of people nearby. Of course, as has happened nearly every single time something unfortunate happens to me in Chile, everybody stared and did nothing to help. I went to work dripping blood from my palms, and cursed the shoes, later throwing them in the closet for a few months.

But putting clothes in the closet for a long time eventually sparks my curiousity and doubt, figuring "it cant really be that bad, can it?" even though I know better deep down. So I ventured out on Saturday, wearing the same flats again, thinking about my major blooper as I passed down my street. But careful baby steps did nothing to lessen the magnitude of a complete reinactment of the origional fall, right at the exact same spot as before. It happened in slow motion, I swear. First my foot skidded foreward off the step and out from under me, extending higher into the air as my body followed, landing with a huge thud a few steps below.

After one second of shock used to realize I was alive and catch my breath, I burst out laughing, because, well... it was funny. And though I didn't land in any of Valparaiso's trademark canine landmines, the situaiton wasn't much better.

Then something entirely unexpected happened: Someone stopped and asked if I was OK. I was, so, again slightly dripping blood from a few points, I got up and continued on my way,this time smiling for the random act of kindness I have found to be so uncommon.

One size fits all....

2010-04-24T22:26:00.005-04:00

All what, gnomes???

When it comes to shopping, I hate being a giant in Chile.

Micros will be micros...

2010-04-22T19:59:00.004-04:00

Today it took me two and a half hours to get home from work on the bus.

The whole way home I was thankful for 3 things for sure:

1. At the last minute I decided to go to the bathroom before getting on the bus

2. Despite not waiting around for him, a coworker ended up on the same bus because I waited so long for one to pass that he caught up.

3. That I was not involved in whatever was holding up traffic.

I think about things like that last one often. Today was the biggest traffic jam I have experienced yet in Chile, and I have been stuck in more than my share. Traffic was backed up til the mall in Vina, and similarly far away from other angles. That doesn't sound too shocking without any context. Where was the accident? On Avenida España near the Industrial High School!!!

i.e. (for those unfamiliar with the Viña/Valpo layout) FAAARRRR AWAY

We basically went over a whole coastal mountain because traffic going towards Valparaiso on the oceanfront was shut completely down.

Though quite used to it, I am still uncomfortable with how dangerous public transportation is here. Although a little freaked out by crazy lane changing when I got here, my fear really established itself when I saw a micro had crashed into a neighbor´s house. Furthermore, the busses are often in bad condition, drivers are irresponsible, and the different busses compete for passengers. They race, they cut one another off, they pull close-call moves, etc... Last Sunday the driver of the bus I was on and the one next to us started playing a game of chicken, almost slamming into each others side until they started throwing things at each other through the window, then stopped in the middle of the road, got out of the busses, and began the physical threats...

These series of ridiculous events are not a unique experience and I, unfortunately, have racked up an archive of crazy micro stories.

The order of what I was most thankful for swapped around quite a bit after I saw the news article with photos on the accident, which happened just about exactly where a similar accident happened a year and a half ago.

Velas Sudamerica

2010-04-17T14:25:00.010-04:00

(Click to enlarge any photo)

This is definitely one of the most gorgeous sights and light displays I have seen in Valparaiso, as if the New Years fireworks and rolling mountainsides speckled with lights weren't enough to marvel at.

A few mornings ago at work I caught a glimpse of the Esmeralda on its way to the port. It looked quite beautiful, though it wasn't the first time I had seen the Esmeralda in the bay. The Esmeralda, along with about a dozen other sailing ships from around the world, arrived as part of a regatta going along the coast. The public was welcome to come see the boats up close.

(Above: Argentina's Libertad)

Some of you may remember that a friend of mine in the Chilean Navy spent half a year traveling on the Esmeralda. When he arrived in the Spring, for some mysterious and unfair reason, I was denied access to the pier (and only me, I didn't see one other person get turned away) when I went to welcome him upon his return to Chile. I never even got to see the boat from up close because there was a big structure blocking my view from the entrance to the pier.

This time, if one has enough patience to wait through a never-ending line, it was possible go up on the ship. And this time, that included me!!! The ship is gorgeous!

(I had the most ridiculous time trying to take pictures. Some didn't turn out the first time mostly because of lighting but there wasn't much time for a second chance. There were numerous times people would look at me trying to take a picture of something like a peephole, and they would stick their heads in front of the camera to see what I was looking at. My camera makes a loud click noise so I would take the picture anyway as a "hint, hint")

It was possible to climb on many of the ships, however it was late and there were so many people that I didn't want to go on all of them. I did take pictures from the front and sides though. Here are some of my favorites:

(Mexico's Cuauhtemoc was definitely one of the most elegant)

(Colombia's Gloria)

(Venezuela's Simon Bolivar)

(Portugal's Sagres)

(Uruguay's Miranda. +Shooting star, or just a smudge on the lens? haha)

(Looks like a pirate ship from the movies, right?)

If you are in Valparaiso today, go check it out! Today is the last day and the line, though huge, was totally worth it.

Showing her the ropes

2010-04-10T22:15:00.006-04:00

(Odd color adjustments so you can actually see the dark kitten)

When we first brought home Rayita (Angel demanded his naming rights... for those who don't speak Spanish her name would mean something like "Stripey" and the first syllable is pronounced like rye the grain rather than ray the beam of light), Daisy hated her!

The house was a war zone, though entirely one sided; Rayita sat weak in a plastic box, quiet and oblivious to the older cat running in circles that would hiss, growl, bite and swat at anything that came near. For days, a low grumble that had us double checking to see if it were a tremor came from the depths of Daisy's throat. It was obvious an enemy had invaded her turf.

As the days went by, Daisy stopped acting crazy and would only freak out when in close contact with Rayita. She stopped biting Angel and I just because we had the smell of the little one. She even finally dared to get close enough to take a few swats at the little kitten, a scene which, though heart-wrenching to watch as Rayita is too small to defend herself, the veterinarian recommended. So we let things play through without human intervention.

But within the past few days Daisy has calmed down and started approaching Rayita. She has seemed to recognize that a tiny little kitten can't do much harm and needs to be taken care of. When Rayita goes to eat, instead of stealing her food, Daisy takes the opportunity to give Rayita a full cleaning and brushing of her fur. She also has began to playfully pin her new sister down and almost choke her with her arms in a position that almost looks like an adorable little cat-hug! Maybe soon they will get along just fine after all!!

A dream come true

2010-04-05T21:54:00.006-04:00

Saturday night my boyfriend and I went to a neat show with a bunch of really funny and talented performers. After the show there was a party, but as usual, I wasn't up for making it til dawn and I went home early around 2am to make pizza and watch Law and Order (SVU, of course). I conked out before my boyfriend even got home from the party, but he woke me up and asked if I'd come to the fleamarket with him the next morning, to which I said no and told him to let me sleep. [or so I was told]

That night I had a dream that we went to the fleamarket and at the end of the aisle there was a box with 4 little kittens. In my dream I hovered over the box, finally picking out a dark little kitty.

Early Sunday morning (so, noon) my boyfriend got up and was leaving the house when I asked "where are you going?" .... when he reminded me he was going to the fleamarket to buy hardware tools, my dream flashed through my head and I decided to trail along.

At the fleamarket when we got to the end of the row, I drug Angel over to the spot where the kittens were in my dream. There sat in a basket on the ground one lonely kitten. I asked how old it was, "2 months" said a mother and daughter in unison, and I willed myself away, reasoning we already had a cat, trying to ignore the omen I felt my dream had been.

We took only about two steps away when Angel goes "...why aren't we going to take it?" No thinking required, we retraced a few steps and said "OK!" But looking at the kitten more closely, I asked them "Its really 2 months old?" To which they insisted at first, then admitted "maybe a little younger" and eventually "Well, they were born on March 2, so I guess she's only a month old. There were 4 of them but someone adopted the other 3 before you got here." 4 kittens originally? I must've just overslept my cue to reenact my dream.

It disgusted me that these people were knowingly and deceptively trying to give away kittens too young to be away from the mother, claiming they were 2 months old and handing us a bag of huge hard pellet food which would've been near impossible for the kitten this little to ingest. I wanted to tell them to take her back home for a few weeks, but I knew they wouldn't. Anyway, I know I'll take good care of her and she'll probably be better off with me than some of the alternatives.

While I was dying to name her something related to the jungle, Angel has insisted on "Rayita" since the begining. So, Rayita it will be. I named the last one.

Without further ado... Meet Rayita. She's one month and 3 days old. She weighs 365 grams (12 oz) and speaks like a gremlin.

When we got home she took a nap, then I set her in this big mug to take a picture similar to the one everyone oogles at on the front of my notebook at work. (Yes, the professional look of my notebook has already been jabbed at.)

At night she could not be left alone. She meowed and meowed and devised ways to escape from various containers, boxes, clothes hampers, etc... When we finally let her have her way she climbed on the bed and slept all night on my neck. Its good someone finally got to sleep, because I sure didn't... I was so nervous I would roll over on her that I hardly got a nap in.

So much for the photoshoot, she fell asleep inside the mug!

The Burning of Judas

2010-04-04T21:42:00.008-04:00

Last year I posted about an Easter tradition I'd never witnessed. Since the link is down I will copy my description:

(Judas, obviously? A photo my boyfriend sent me that sparked my interest about the tradition)

Apparently there is a somewhat widespread Orthodox and Catholic ritual to burn an effigy of Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus. However, I'm not Catholic, and I had never heard of this tradition before coming here. (In Chile I've personally only heard "la quema de Judas," however, the internet tells me in many Spanish speaking countries [Venezuela, Ecuador...?] its called "la quema del judío" which means "the burning of the Jew"). In Chile young children try to gather as many coins as they can, sometimes through asking strangers on the street and other times their parents basically fork over the money. Then they put the coins inside a straw, clothed, near life-sized effigy of Judas. On Friday night they're supposed to hang him, and on Sunday they set him on fire. As he burns the money is released and falls (Judas' guts falling?) to the ground and children collect it and supposedly keep or spend it.

As I've never been able to see it for myself, this year I made it my goal to actually witness this tradition. I am always open to the idea that what I've imagined in my head is nothing like the real thing, and for this I must always verify. Luckily, a group of people in Valparaiso set up an event that included a small parade leading up to the spot where they would "burn Judas." What follows is a short photo sequence of what I saw.

Short description: The parade had live music on a float that resembled Valparaiso, and the participants had interesting costumes and each danced around with a stuffed Judas. Then they were loaded on a cart and the parade weaved towards a spot where Judas had been hung up in an intersection. (I wonder if that shirt was a cooincidence...). Then they torched Judas and everybody watched him burn for about 15 minutes as kids ran up and tried to grab the coins that fell down amidst flaming pieces of Judas being flung off as neighbors on their balconies shook the chains he hanged from. It was not a particularly safe event, in my opinion.

Archive Imports

2010-03-30T00:00:00.005-03:00

Just in case I'm giving a number of you a major case of Deja vu with my posting tonight... yes, you have seen those posts before. I am importing a somewhat select number of posts (and comments, untouched) over to this blog so that friends, family, and new readers can look back on some of my more memorable posts or writings and photos about important events.

So far, I've uploaded a number of topics:

Tsunami Evacuation - False alarm of a tsunami has the whole city scrambling for the hills

8.8 Earthquake - My account and photos of Valparaiso in the 2010 Earthquake

Circus Convention in Chillan - A crazy weekend of circus shows and workshops

Residence Visa Info - My account of stumbling through the permanent resident visa process

How Language affects thinking - Thoughts on language and articles

Carnaval Mil Tamblores 2009 - My participation in Valparaiso's popular carnaval

18th of September 2009 - Chile's most important holiday

On being Vegetarian - ...because the vegetarian option always includes ham

Cultural Heritage Day - photos around some of the heritage sites in Viña and Valparaiso

21st of May parade, - photos of the military in a special march

Street Performing in Chile - photos and videos of an interesting scene

Ex-Carcel - One of Valparaiso's major youth and cultural centers

Empanada recommendations

Chile's large river rats - i.e. Don't swim in Estero Marga Marga ;-)

When Angel's apartment building caught on fire - a major cultural shock event for me

Chile joins Earth Hour, 2010

2010-03-27T21:26:00.004-03:00

This year Chile became one of the 88 new countries to join the cause, "Earth Hour."

Earth Hour is about creating awareness about the harm we do to the natural environment and building a sustainable future. People, companies and cities around the globe turn off their lights for one hour, 8:30 to 9:30 pm local time to support the cause. Both this and last year I did hear word of the event here in Chile.

In my opinion, Chile is way behind the game on everything "green." Heck, I don't even have the option to recycle (unless you count the fact that the garbage men sift through the stuff I throw out). In general the city and its residents do not outwardly seem too concerned for the environment. Plastic bags are more popular than the goods that go in it (not kidding, sometimes someone will double bag your ONE item!), people litter everywhere, and any sort of message of environmental consciousness or activism is mostly unheard of. I'm sure there are some people concerned with these issues, but during the years I've been here the only times I've come in contact with the issues have been through other expats, and maybe a piece of graffiti or two.

So it was no surprise to me that to the naked eye, Earth Hour in Valparaiso looked like a huge flop.

A few weeks ago we did have a couple blackouts, however. So maybe some considered their dues already paid. In those events, the news reported 80% of Chile experienced what was almost a nationwide blackout due to grid damage from the earthquake that happened a month ago today. I was in the hills of Valparaiso at the time and took a video as well. This is what Earth Hour in Valparaiso should've looked like:

Growing out of my fins

2010-03-26T19:18:00.007-03:00

I'm from the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," Minnesota, named for the Dakota Souix word meaning "Cloudy water." I grew up doing water sports. Summers for me meant days at the various local beaches, swimming and diving lessons, water parks, fishing, wave pools, canoeing, and when I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend, boating, tubing, or spending a weekend at a cabin on the lake. I spent so much time around water that I even began training to become a lifeguard.

In my teen years I was lucky enough to go on a number of vacations that revolved around the beach and water activities. I snorkeled through coral reefs, went cliff jumping in Mexico, and bronzed my pasty Minnesotan skin on gorgeous ocean beaches.

Little did I ever imagine that moving to the Pacitic coast in Chile to live on the ocean for the first time in my life would mean the end to water-related activities for me! It only took one quick dip of my toes* to realize that the water here is FREEEEEEZING, and I was completely turned off. Living on the ocean meant little more than a physical limit in which directions I could travel. Pools and other water activities are not widely available except for those willing to pay a steep price.

Long story short, nearly 4 years later my boyfriend planned a secret you-don't-need-to-spend money-to-call-it-a-date activity, that he dropped hints about for days until last weekend I ended up walking up the coast just south of Valparaiso, confused and terrified about the fact that I had been ordered to bring a swimsuit. (Seriously, summer is over). Then at one point we climbed over the guard railing and walked the plank across an old disintegrated pier beam, and set our stuff down on the concrete block at the end.

Getting this far did nothing to calm the feeling of dread when he said "Now lets jump in!"

I refused.

I was already cold in my dry pants and sweatshirt. He seemed disappointed, and explained that he had picked this spot because the ocean was teal blue like in the pictures, and he wanted to swim out to a further cement support block protruding from the ocean and have me take a few pictures. I said go ahead, and let him do his thing (which consisted of jumping in, screaming bloody murder and getting back out, regaining confidence and then finally swimming out there). When he swam back and out of the water, I started to feel bad. Not only am I a huge wimp for avoiding the Chilean water like the plague, but he had gone through a lot of effort to plan this day and I was being a huge party-pooper.

So I got up, gave him the camera, climbed down near the water and (after only 15 minutes of quivering in fear and failed attempts)... JUMPED IN!!!! In the split second I hit the water, my years of fears were verified. I had flashbacks of those crazies jumping in a hole in the ice for the Polar Bear Plunge, and emerged instantly only to desperately want out, all the while trying to make my frozen, salt-water filled mouth squeal "ayudame, ayudame, ayudame!" Those key words requesting help were intended to remind my boyfriend of his promise to immediately come help me out of the water, since there was nowhere to grab on to the cement.... though apparently the sight was so pathetic and funny to him that he had decided to just stay up there, laughing and capturing the whole embarrassing scene on video...

*and stories of beach robberies and a couple nasty historical anecdotes about the previous state of the beach

Muuuuuah!

2010-03-25T01:15:00.006-03:00

My thoughts are on the tradition of doing besos in Chile are complicated. (besos are when you say hello or goodbye and you do a quick "kiss" on one cheek, almost always on the right cheek unless especially inconvenient or you are meeting my boyfriend's brother's girlfriend, who nearly planted me a big one on the lips this week because she insisted on going for the opposite cheek for no reason- awkward).

Anyway, besos took some getting used to, and there are still moments when I'd be much more content to just keep my personal space without offending anyone in the process. Not to mention I find it tedious and ridiculous in situations like a party, etc... and you're obligated to walk around robotically doing besos to dozens of people you hardly talked to.

One thing I find really interesting, however, is that I never personally observed many people doing besos in the US, yet on American TV programs and reality shows, its a fairly common sight. Is it a California thing? Is it a 30s thing? I can't quite figure out how my personal recollection and tv image two differ so much, and why one of them might be skewed slightly depending on where I lived, age, trend, etc... Many of my English students are shocked to hear that's not a traditional or necessary part of most greetings in the U.S. and say television makes it appear that it is indeed an American thing as well.

However, despite my moody opinion about the action, its a different story considering teaching toddlers the custom, when you have little munchkins giving you big slobbery smooches on your cheek - Absolutely adorable!

The Bane of my Existence

2010-03-24T00:26:00.006-03:00

As much as I'd love to blame my biggest frustration in Chile on stares, catcalls, or navigating through bureaucracy to collect stamps, my real answer is: FLEAS- Valparaiso is full of fleas.

My arms covered in bites!

I grew up constantly facing the bothers of insects- living on a lake was a breeding ground for mosquitos, while wasps and flies threatened my family's enjoyment of doing things outdoors. But there is nothing, and I mean nothing, I have experienced in my life that comes close to the annoyance, complete insanity I'm driven to, after being bitten by a flea. Unlike misquotes, scratching a flea bite cannot be avoided by pure willpower. About a full day after I'm bitten by a flea, the spot will turn red and sometimes puff up to about the size of a dime. A bite, scratched or not, will stay that way itching for a week or two. In fact, contrary to mosquitos, scratching seems to help rather than aggravate the bite. The only way I can come out of my misery sometimes is to just scratch a bite until it bleeds, because from that point on the itching will stop. And although that is not usually my intention, I often unknowingly do so while I am asleep. To make matters worse, there is never just one bite, most often there is a whole string of bites along my waist or ankle. There have been multiple times where I have counted over 100 bites at one time.

When I first started getting bites in Chile I was unsure what they were. I was living at my host family's house at the time, and they insisted they could not be flea bits as their house could not possibly have fleas. I went to a dermatologist to see what the problem was, however she never actually even looked at a bite, she just automatically told me I had flea bites, and prescribed some medicine because she said people from cold weather have a higher body temperature and are especially allergic to the bites, yet fleas are "uninterested in Chilean blood." (The meds turned out ot be a bottle of "dry skin lotion", as it said on the label in English. I'm not sure if this dermatologist was crazy, anyway, I mean how could she not even ask to see a bite? What if I had hives or chicken pox or something?!) Perhaps needless to say, the lotion didn't do anything at all except make me smell toxic. My host family went into cleaning and vacuuming frenzy, seemingly embarrassed that their house would appear to have fleas. But despite looking spotless with clean sheets daily, their efforts hardly did a thing to offset the number of bites I was getting.

On and off since then I have experienced the same phenomenon of dozens of bites on and off. 2 years ago when I arrived from the US, I was covered in bites already by the time we got to our hostel from the airport! I am obviously a complete magnet for these little dudes. During this whole time, my boyfriend (with whom I live, swap sweatshirts with, etc) has had a total of about 5 bites. To this day, I have very very rarely seen a flea where I am living. But I often spot them or feel them bite me when I am on the bus or collectivo- with no possibility of avoiding them. I even get bitten in the cleanest of places. Unfortunately, contrary to what most people would like to think, being bitten by fleas doesn't necessarily imply an uncleanly living space or that the person him/herself is crawing with the little buggers.

Understanding how fleas work makes it all the more disgusting to think about. The little pests are nearly unstoppable! According to the Frontline website, a flea can lay up to 50 eggs a day and 2,000 in a lifetime. Basically, if one mama flea ever sets foot in your house or on your pet, you are screwed forever, "One adult flea could lead to tens of thousands." The eggs lie dormant until they are somehow prompted to hatch, such as when people or pets walking near provide warmth or even carbon dioxide from their breath. Adult fleas must initially find food within a week, but after that can go for up to a year without. Fleas can cause a variety of diseases in animals and some could even be passed on to humans-fleas transferred the bubonic plague, and can transfer typhus fever and tapeworm. Think of this in terms of quantity: Wikipedia says "A flea population is unevenly distributed, with 50 percent eggs, 35 percent larvae, 10 percent pupae, and 5 percent adults." Eew.

The Frontline site had this nasty diagram of the life cycle that gave me shivers just reading it and thinking of how this matter must exist everywhere in this city full of stray animals.

Egg stage:

It's a good idea to check pets for fleas on a regular basis. It is especially important to check if your pets seem unusually nervous or grumpy, or if they're scratching more than seems natural.

The average life of the egg stage is 10 days.

Larval stage:

After hatching, the larvae find a dark place in your home and feed on flea feces. They grow, molt twice and spin cocoons where they grow into pupae.

The average life of the larval stage is 12 days.

Pupal stage:

Pupae spend 8-9 days in their cocoon growing to adulthood, then wait for signals that it is time to emerge.

The average life of the pupal stage is 4 - 5 months. Many pupae are present in the household before adults are seen.

Adult stage:

Adult fleas detect a host from inside their cocoons at which point they leave the cocoon, hop onto a host, find a mate and start the cycle again.

The average life of an adult flea is 50 days.

I have searched HIGH and LOW for the miracle cure, without much luck. I spend $8,000 monthly to buy Frontline for my cat and I have tried obsessively cleaning, I have tried crazy repellants and itch-relieving creams and gels... All to observe only minor results (and smell like garlic until my boyfriend put his foot down on that experiment), which are hard to measure against the chance that the fleas simply weren't biting me for this period of time. They come in waves. I am open to any and all suggestions, no matter how crazy! This is what I've got so far:

To treat skin: benedryl, cortisone, Camomile lotion, Also a bath with TCP and bicarbonate of soda, calamine

To treat the house: I've heard recommendations of borax, permethrin spray, natural flea treatment made from boric acid, dusting with Diatomaceous earth, and even the hazardous home contraption of a lamp over a bowl of soapy water, Raid, Fleabuster, etc...

To prevent bites: Eat garlic, vitamin B, use Avon SKIN SO SOFT Original Bath Oil mosquoito and flea repellant, brewer's yeast in your food

To treat the cat, there is Frontline, Advantage, an imitation French brand, flea collars, ... I haven't personally found any to work that well. They definitely show a sharp decrease in the number of fleas but not necessarily the 100% they claim. Not to mention, these treatments are expensive.

Any ideas?

You found me!

2010-03-22T23:30:00.002-03:00

Sorry I couldn't put up a note somehow before I shut down, but blogger was not being flexible with what I wanted to do so I'm here starting over at a new URL. Sorry about any dead links I've caused in your archives and sidebars.

Aside from that news, I've been entirely drained recently, finding myself without the words or drive to post about everything I've been thinking about. Not to mention I've been spending all my free time doing undesirable tasks like reevaluating my healthcare options in Chile, and various other attempts to navigate through the paperwork and legalities of living in Chile.

Anyway, Welcome!

Tsunami Evacuation

2010-03-11T12:33:00.001-03:00

I didn't think I'd have to post about seismic activity anymore, and I also told Lucie I'd try not to post about my experience with breaucracy this morning. But its not gonna go down as I thought afterall.

This morning I took an administrative day. First I woke up early and waited outside the Intendencia to go to Extranjeria. Though there were other people going there as well, I was the first to make it into the office when they opened at 9. And by "opened" I mean I apparently snuck in before they shut the doors and had a 45 minute staff meeting as everyone else waited trapped outside. After a few minutes some jote intern that skipped the meeting came over and started hitting on me, asking me to tell him about myself and such. He did tell me that the Intendencia is set on large wheels below gound level that help it safely move during seismic activity, which must feel terrifying on floor 15! Eventually the meeting ended and all the employees came out and made fun of the weon hitting on me. I was called in and I came out to see the room FULL of other foreigners, including two friends. Then, I had to do various other beaucratic things that went more or less OK as well.

A few hours later, I went to Registro Civil, took a number and waited until I remembered I had to go to the international Police first. So I left, went across town, battling all the police and road blocks since everybody came to see the new president sworn in. I almost made it back before they called my number too! International Police is a pleasure every time.

Anyway, when I got back to Registro Civil I took a new number to sit down and wait. After a while, the earth started moving significantly. At first, I thought it was in my head and I was going to faint. Then when I realized it was another temblor, I thought it was kind of amusing. I love temblors. I just don't like when they get big, earthquakey and destructive. This one lasted a really really long time and I was nervous it would get worse. All the lights and signs are hanging in the building and they were swinging around for quite a long time. Another 15 minutes later, there was another one. Being in registro civil which is ground level of a building near the ocean, the temblor felt quite big, and I felt really connected to the earth. I again found it very interesting, calming... I kind of liked the feeling of the earth moving, as long as it wasn't distructive. But as it continued for what seemed like a very long time for a temblor, I got a little nervous that it might pick up intensity and send some of the overhanging lights shattering down above us. After the earthquake, my imagination has tended to run. (On preview: my imagination isnt the only thing that tends to run after an earthquake!)

Finally, they called my number.

I got to the booth and pulled out my papers. Again, I was missing a photocopy and the nice employee offered to make one for me. As he wandered off, I noticed that behind him there were police, one was walking back and forth quite quickly. Being the snoop I am, I tried to read his lips, which I understood quite clearly; " tsunami warning.... evacuation." What!

I waited a second until the employee rushed back over with my ID, handed it to me (I stupidly looked at him with a face of pity that, again, I wasn't going to finish the process). He looked at me like I was crazy before he told me "come back tomorrow," and advised me to bolt. I got out onto the street which is located only a block or so from the ocean, and it was pure PANIC. I was in the business district so there were people in suits running everywhere, accumulating people into the crowd as they went. Cars were honking horns and I could hear warning sirens in the background from police or fire trucks or something. A car had stalled and a couple people were trying to push it out of the way. From buildings everywhere more people were emerging, but we were all stuck at sea level with buildings blocking access to the hill. Everybody on my side of the street sprinted along the sidewalk until there was a passageway where dozens of flights of stairs led uphill to a lookout.

as we get higher up people begin looking down to see how high up they've climbed, make sure there is no water coming, and in general scope out the chaos.

Everybody was climbing as fast as they could, but many of the women in high heels were having trouble on the narrow steps, already in bad shape. People were trying to make phone calls as they climbed, but the phone lines were tied up. Every few steps people would look back as if they expected to see the water arriving at any minute. Many people were shouting to be calm and keep going so that the people further back could advance. People everywhere were bawling in pure hysteria. There were a few old people who had stopped, suffering from some sort or medical problem, asthma, or otherwise suffering from the harsh climb. Further up I saw a number of disabled people struggle to keep up with the crowd and get over obstacles.

I continued up until Avenida Alemania, the winding street that goes along halfway up the hill (mountain), and walked sideways, over an hour until I reached my street and headed down towards my house, where everybody was still outside waiting for the O.K. to return to their activities.

everybody looking down from high ground

the water looks normal

It was seriously one of the most chaotic, traumatic experiences of my life. For me it was much worse than the earthquake itself 2 weeks ago.

I really hope nobody complains about it being a false alarm. I noticed people have very poorly educated concepts of how earthquakes and tsunamis, and their precautionary measures, work. I'm glad they evacuated the city even though it turned out to be nothing, because in the end its better that then the doing nothing and having the tsunami turn out to be something real.

5 COMMENTS:

Natalie said...: We'd finally got into see the visa lady when it happened! 15th floor, much fun. And then the second on our way down the stairs. Total chaos when we got out onto the street. Like you, we ended up on Concepcion. Headed home before the tsunami alert was lifted. Quite a scary micro ride!

Cool photos, I wish I'd had my camera with me!; MARCH 11, 2010 6:11 PM
Dana Elizabeth said...: I was in salinas and got evacuated up to the naval hospital with everyone else in the navy and then was stranded there two hours because alert after alter kept coming. They had naval police at the exits waiting to arrest whoever tried to go back down to sea level. INTENSE!! My poor students stood in formation for like three hours. I guess they will have to get used to that! After all that I was really hoping to see some sort of biggish wave...maybe not anything destructive but something. I am glad that people reacted quickly and were serious about it. You never know when a small alert will become the big tsunami!; MARCH 12, 2010 8:36 AM
Lou said...: Wow...how scary! Hysteria and big crowds is not good. I just can't believe how many aftershocks you guys are getting! I read it's been over 200 now? I thought aftershocks generally lasted for a few days after the quake, but now weeks!; MARCH 12, 2010 9:45 AM
sarabeck said...: Sorry. First to have to deal with bureaucracy then to have to do that!
My boyfriend had a hard time calling his family because of the phone lines being busy. I talked to him most of the day. It was stressful.

Oh, this is my new blog.; MARCH 13, 2010 9:18 PM
lydia said...: ugh what an aweful day. i wonder why they made you leave, natalie, supposedly they were saying anybody above the 4th floor on a building is safe. though i would prefer to be somewhere where the bottom of my building wouldnt get hit either.

i heard we had over 200 aftershocks just after a few days... i wonder how many its been by now! i havent felt any since thursday; MARCH 14, 2010 11:54 AM

Who needs walls?

2010-02-28T23:16:00.001-03:00

My boyfriend's brother has come to live with us for now because of earthquake damage to his apartment, until he either finds a new house or decides he wants to move back into the old one after they fix it. We are trying to convince him not to move back into the old one, because after taking a look at it, its very obviously unsafe.
This is the same apartment I mentioned that set fire while Angel and I were in it a few years ago. I really think that the events, and resulting water and structural damage, have really done the place in and it would be best not to chance it for when the next test comes along.

We arrived at his apartment to pick up some clothes, and of course first noticed how filthy it was. There were crumbles of the walls and ceiling everywhere! Not to mention all the furniture was on its side. The far side of the apartment has three bedrooms lined up evenly, each with a window heading out back to a light shaft area. The wall that stretches through the entire back wall of all three windows had been almost entirely detached from the rest of the house. Knowing how people try to cut corners here, there is NO WAY that the owners would responsably fix a huge structural problem like this. Most likely they would just put "pasta muro" (wall paste? whats that stuff called in English, where you can cover up holes from nails and chips on the wall?) on and call it good as new.

Here's a couple pictures from each room. One room also has crazy floorboards that bounce now.

6 COMMENTS:

Marmo said...: Me alegra saber que estás bien y no les pasó nada. Nuestro departamento en Santiago se sacudió como un cascabel, pero asombrosamente no tuvo daños.; MARCH 1, 2010 8:30 AM
Natalie said...: Oh my goodness, those cracks don't look good at all. Surely they'll condemn the building?

Polyfiller, I think is the word you want for the stuff that fills in cracks. It doesn't bear thinking about...; MARCH 1, 2010 9:12 AM
Sara said...: Def don't move back into that until some serious repairs have been made. Thanks for posting that Lydia. We have been worried about friends and L.'s family in Valpo. Everyone is okay, but we didn't know that at first.; MARCH 1, 2010 12:48 PM
dregonzrob said...: Is it pollyfiller or plaster? Anyway, either one, it won't do the job needed. That place is SO UNSAFE!!

I hope he opts to find a new one ...; MARCH 1, 2010 1:38 PM
lydia said...: i think my house is old enough that its already an expert at wobbling around, handled it like a pro. though angel swore he thought the walls were going to fall and was trying to hold one up haha.

his brothers house is just not safe. were trying to convince him to move, which might be difficult in the moment, and one always hopes that the houseowner will provide some amazing solution...

they just told me his cousins house on the same street is worse. she also has to move; MARCH 1, 2010 2:24 PM
Mia said...: i just wanna convince my son in Santiago just to move back to safer ground - like back home to the good old USA and his mamas house.

But he's 24, newly married and a one month old son - not likely :(; MARCH 1, 2010 6:01 PM

My first Earthquake

2010-02-28T00:48:00.002-03:00

In June, I posted this:
" However, there are three natural disasters I feel terrified of and trapped by in Valparaiso: Attacking from below, the earthquake; from above, a landslide; and from the side and most frightening to me, the tsunami.
Sure these things may not be especially likely, in fact I took a geology course studying them at the university that ended a couple weeks before I indefinitely moved to Chile, but it didn't really calm my fears much.
Haha, poor professor...the only student not bored and/or asleep is ready to have a panic attack over the material.
But seriously... I'm doomed! I live in a crumbly house halfway up a steep hill on the coast! "

I knew I wasn't freaking out for nothing! My house is on the side of a steep hill, and it is far from new...

Last night I couldn't find my pjs and gave up and slept in my underwear. Everything else was out of my control, but this little tidbit was my major mistake in the whole ordeal. We were in bed sleeping when everything started to shake and the house was making the most terrifying noises. It lasted, what I calculated to be approximately, forever. I ended up staying in bed, where I felt relatively safe and out of harms way, partially because I think I was afraid we were going to have to run outside dressed as I was. When the ground finally stopped shaking, I felt like it took an eternity to gather things I thought I would need and we went outside. My neighbor was screaming bloody murder because she only has one arm and was shaking too much to get the gate open and she was trapped in an alley between tall buildings.

We must have stood in the doorway for a long time because my brothers boyfriend showed up at our door. He had been in a bar in the center when the earthquake hit. Everybody inside wanted out, as light fixtures were starting to fall and the place filled up with dust and dirt, and everybody outside wanted back in because the cables were breaking and sending sparks. We eventually went across the street to a friend's house and hung around outside until her boyfriend and roommates arrived with more stories of the flooding, collapsed buildings, rebellion and looting taking place in the center of Valparaiso.

We spent the night outside until the full moon disappeared. During the rest of the morning as we tried to make up for lost sleep (wearing more street-appropriate pjs), small quivers in the ground sent us bolting out of bed. Completely unsure of how big the earthquake really was (outside we had a discussion about if everybody thought it was even big enough to call an earthquake) I got up in the morning to try to figure out if I should still plan on doing the activities I had committed to for the day. But we had no electricity or internet, and I had no money on my phone to make calls. I also didn't have hardly any real money to make purchases because my first task of the day had been to go to the ATM, which obviously wasn't going to work without electricity.

Eventually my boyfriend woke up in the late afternoon and we went for a walk to scope out the city. Most of the flooding and debris had been cleaned up, but there were a few buildings and houses with a lot damage. I was surprised at how normal the city looked, and although everything was closed because we were without electricity, there were many people that seemed to be going about their normal business.

Being Valpo, we ended up running into many friends during the day just by chance, and everybody we know and have heard from is OK so far. However we weren't able to use the phones much all day so that doesn't say much. I wasn't even able to get a message through that I was OK to anybody in the US until 8 or 9pm. I'm sure they'd been freaking out all day. We recently got internet and electricity back shortly after midnight, nearly a full day after the earthquake. Now that we can finally see the news, it looks terrifying! It seems those in Santiago were lucky enough to have been connected all day.

[edit: I have learned that two friends who were traveling south in the area where the center of the earthquake was are missing. We're hoping it's only the result of poor communication]

~~The only bad news I've heard among friends so far has been structural.~~Apparently, the walls came down at a friend's house, the one with the amazing view I posted pictures from before.

Also, one disaster seems to have been enough for my boyfriends old place, where his brother and cousin still live. I posted about my experience when the building set on fire while we were in it almost 3 years ago, but apparently it wasn't able to stick it through this one, as the ceilings and walls were collapsing and my boyfriends brother's going to come live with us for now.

Here are some pictures I took from our walk in the city, which luckily represent the relatively few and far between, though they say there is a lot more damage to the inside of the houses.

8 COMMENTS:

Fned said...: WOW!! So glad you're ok! The pictures look quite impressive and even a little scary. I'm sorry about your BIL's place. I hope things get back to normal soon for y'all. Keep safe!

Fned.; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 8:07 AM
dregonzrob said...: Hi Lydia,
So glad you're ok... first earthquakes are scary enough ... but 8.8 magnitude for a first time is a NIGHTMARE. You didn't mention if anything major (structurally speaking) happened to your house ... I hope not!!
Hopefully things will return to "normal" relatively soon, at least in the cities up north ...; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 8:50 AM
lydia said...: I just learned that 2 friends traveling near concepcion are still missing, though I really hope its just because of poor communication.

Well keep in mind I took and posted pictures of the places with more damage, the majority of everything looks normal. They say many places have damage inside that you can't see though.

Our house is fine, surprisingly. It passed the test.
I think the earthquake did a number on my nerves, though.; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 9:53 AM
Lou said...: Glad to hear you[re okay! I hope your friends are okay too and that they are able to communicate with their families soon. It's horrible not being able to communicate with people at a time like this and not knowing if they're okay! My friend who lives in Canada, who also has a Chilean boyfriend, couldn't communicate with her pololo all day and he was travelling down South near the epicenter. She was an absolute wreak.

How are the houses in Valparaiso way up in the hills? I always imagined that if an earthquake were to hit, those things would fall apart in seconds since they all appear to be just hanging off cliffs and a lot are poorly built.; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 10:23 AM
Natalie said...: Glad you're OK.
Sorry to hear about your brother in law's house, and I really hope you hear from your friends soon.

All good here, although being on the 11th floor was scary, the building moved round quite a lot...

Vina seems to have come off fine, mostly glass and plaster damage, although there are a few condemned buildings on San Martin, older ones. It was pretty calm here yesterday, we even went to the market on the Marga-Marga to do our weekly shop. Didn't know what else to do...; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 10:36 AM
Mia said...: wow - yes, glad you're ok. I was just browsing blogs - my son lives in Santiago and they got power on last night. Scary!!!; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 1:18 PM
lydia said...: Lou that must be traumatizing. I wasn't able to talk to my parents until night time the day afterwards. My cell phone was working but I hadn't received a call so I figured they must either not be worried (maybe thinking I'd be far enough away to not be affected) or they just don't know theres been an earthquake. So my phone message was like
"hi mom, dad. Um... I dunno if you've seen it on the news or anything but there was an earthquake here. We're ok."
My parents said it was the most insane thing they've heard because they had been watching the news, trying to contact the embasy, getting phone calls from the most random people all day (sisters friend in switzerland, a church pastor that remembered i told him 3 years ago i was in chile). Something to laugh about now, i guess.

I haven't gone up the hills to check the situation out. I normally don't go too far up anyway because its not always a great place for a gringa with a camera. I'm assuming there are a number of houses with major problems. But its not like there has been an obvious landslide or anything.

Natalie thanks, glad to hear you were alright. i didnt have any money on my phone to contact anybody. i bet being on the 11th floor was freaky. well at least you know the apt passed the ultimate test!

Mia- glad he's ok. its been kinda crazy here!; FEBRUARY 28, 2010 3:30 PM
Annje said...: Glad to hear you are alright. The after-shocks must be a bit un-nerving!; MARCH 1, 2010 12:09 AM