DiaRios Diarios (or Daily River Diaries): March 2004

Monday, March 29, 2004

The Place I Want to Wake Up To

If I knew that it existed, I would wake up to a place where the population greeted everyone with a kiss on the cheek along with a smile and salutation. It would be a society where everyone danced to express their contentment and worked together to fix the things that brought about discontenment.

It would be a city near the beach, the mountains, and the desert, with hardly any pollution because everyone would be able to walk, ride bikes, take public transportation, or use solar-energized cars. It would be a place where people all stayed on the right side of the escalator so that those who are in a hurry would be able to continue walking on the left side.

It would be a culture where familiars would eat together and talk instead of playing video games or watching television all the time. People would play sports or read in their spare time.

It would be a world where people respected cultural and idealogical differences, and a place where individual development is prized more than technological advancement.

In this place, people would work hard but still have time to enjoy relationships, natural beauty, and time by themselves. They would be able to be satisfied more easily, and not feel the pressure of having to get new material objects to be happy or impress others.

This would be my ideal place to live. If only I could find a place like it in this physical world, because right now it only exists in my mind...

Bush Haiku

This is a short poem made up entirely of actual quotations
from George W. Bush. These have been arranged, only for
aesthetic purposes, by Washington Post writer, Richard
Thompson. A wonderful haiku like this is too good not to
share.

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet
Become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being
And the fish can coexist.

Families is where our nation finds hope,
Where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!

Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!

(Pass this on. Help cure mad cowboy disease.)

Friday, March 26, 2004

This Weekend and My Camera

So I have finally charged my digital camera (hey, I am on Latin America time- give me a break) which means that I will be able to start posting pictures online. I am sure I will come back from this weekend with a lot of pictures- I will be going to a small town outside of Santiago in order to help build a house for a family (kind of like Habitat for Humanity). All my bags are packed and I am almost ready to go, I am just waiting for some laundry to finish. I am bringing my school work with me, but we will see if any of that gets done....

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Underestimation

Yeah, I thought I had one hundred pages to read- if only I were that lucky. It is really like three hundred. Oh, the life of a student...

The Gym

So I joined a gym on Sunday- it cost 75,000 pesos (roughly $130). I have already met a few people- one of them was the instructor for my kickboxing class (which kicked my butt, by the way). After the class, he massaged and cracked the back of one of the other students- it reminded me of how much I would give to be able to sit on the massage chair that mom and dad have at home!!

Anyways, as I was leaving, the intsructor, Doug, came up to me me and told me that I have bad posture (thanks, I knew that) and asked if I wanted my back cracked, too. I said ok, and although it was kind of strange laying on the floor in the middle of the gym, it was the best feeling ever! He said that if I keep coming to class, he will crack my back for me everytime- what motivation for going to the gym! So I will get in shape, lose weight, and get a massage all in one!

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Homework

Man, homework sucks. Every since school started, I have had soo much reading to do. I already have my first two quizzes next week! In my lierature class, I have...oh, about one hundred pages to read. But the worst part about it is that I have to look up in the dictionary every other word because I don´t know it. (Which is good in some respects, because I am increasing my vocabulary, but bad because it takes FOREVER!) Plus, we are studying symbolism, which makes it even more difficult. And the technical pieces that I have to read are so heavy, I can only handle reading a few pages at a time...

The 80´s

I don´t know if I have talked about this subject yet- but the 80´s are alive and well here in Chile. The girls dress like I did when I was seven. I am not kidding. We´re talking polka dot skirts with leggings and one earring with a side ponytail. It is out of hand.

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Marcha por La Paz (March for Peace)

Today I participated in a demonstration against the war and supporting peace (along with many other people all around the world). There was probably about 5000-6000 people of all ages- from a few months old to people who needed canes to walk. It has been a year since war was declared, and from the Chilean point of view- "Bush es fascista, es el terrorista" (Bush is a fascist and he is the terrorist). I have been here in Santiago for almost two months now, and almost every Chilean I know agrees with this. I have talked to a lot of people and only one (yes, ONE) person has agreed with the attack on Iraq.

So the march was peaceful, the press was there, along with many parties. What surprised me was the Palestinian prescence. Aparently, Chile has the largest Palestinian population outside of Palestine- about 300,000. There were many chants comparing Bush to Ariel Sharon, alleging responsibility for many deaths and war crimes.

Outside of the United States, there is an obvious strong movement against the "imperialist north" and it is very interesting to be able to see news from all around the world, especially from Spain after the recent bombings and elections. The news is broadcasted directly from Spain and I am receiving everything from primary sources, rather than the US press which has to translate. Even more interesting was the interview that I watched with Fidel Castro (which would never even be on US television) in which he spoke on the imperialist US (of course) and about how Aznar has misled his people.

Right now, I am watching the news clips of all the demonstrations for peace that took place all over the world today- in Seoul, Rome, Tokyo, Sydney, San Francisco, but I didn´t see me in Santiago....darn.

Friday, March 19, 2004

La Semana Novata

So it is tradition here to have bunch of welcoming activities during one week for all of the new students (at my university there are 5,000). Last Saturday, there was a party in one of the clubs, and yesterday, there was a party on the beach that I went to. We had to pay 2500 pesos for the bus there and back- it was about an hour and a half ride. We spent the whole day on the beach and it was a beautiful day.

I guess that normally, the beach that we went to is usually pretty quiet, but not with a few thousand people there. There was music playing all day and a few BBQs- much better than going to class. Plus, I met some pretty cool people. I was beat by the time I came home, since the night before I had gone out for St. Patty´s day. I slept almost twelve hours last night!

Some Things That I REALLY Miss
1. Smoke-free environments (they smoke in shopping malls, restaurants, buses, you name it)
2. Free public restrooms (at the beach I had to pay 150 pesos for some toilet paper and entrance into a dirty bathroom)
3. Cottage cheese (they have just about every other kind of cheese but this. But they do have really good fresh goat cheese almost everywhere, so that kind of makes up for it)
4. Reno´s clean air (the smog is horrendous here- worse than San Bernardino)
5. My family and friends (duh- that one doesn´t need to be explained)

The Lady I Live With

Ok, she is a litte on the paranoid side. She is afraid to keep the window open because she swears that someone is going to come in, despite the fact that there are iron bars on the outside of the window. And we figured out that we can only have hot or cold water- there is no in between. So she won´t shower because the water is too hot and she is afraid it is going to burn her. And our apartment is right at the entrance of the building, so whenever anyone enters, she usually has to check to see who it is. She doesn´t get out much because she is afraid that someone is going to assault her because Santiago is ¨dangerous¨. So I have been trying to talk some sense into her, but it isn´t that easy.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Happy St. Pattys Day

I am off to celebrate the 17th gringo-style at an Irish pub. Happy Anniversary mom and dad!!!! I will say a toast for you guys! Thanks for getting together and having me and then giving me such great opportunities in my life. I love you both and appreciate everything you have done for me, although sometimes I dont express it. Hope you celebrate this day today and tomorrow and the next and next year, and so on. Ciao!

Saint P's Day- Gaby, Natalia, and I

Monday, March 15, 2004

My Place

So I moved in and am getting settled. I have to buy a bedspread and sheets, but other than that, the place is furnished. Oh, and a shower curtain. But I am having fun shopping around. Santiago has some great department stores with anything and everything that you could possibly want. It isn´t like third-world dirt road- it is a huge city with millions of people and millions of choices. Not a bad place to be, except for the smog of course.

Homework
I have about thirty pages of homework to read. I tried to start, but it is super heavy. I need a better dictionary but am too cheap to buy a good one, because they are like fifty bucks. There is a library by my house- maybe I should go study there. They have to have a good dictionary.

Mapuche
Mapuche is the indigenous culture in Chile. I just bought a book on their spiritual beliefs, which seem very interesting, although I have only leafed through the book. When I know a little more, I will share with you.

First Community Project
I am planning on going with a club from school to build houses in the south. It will be the last weekend in March. I am not sure which pueblo, but I know it is a pretty big event. There are usually about 400 students (from my college only) that go and are split up among four or five towns. It should be a great activity. I´ll keep you updated on that too.

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Ooops

So since the time of the year is actually fall, I gain an hour of dancing and having fun (fall back, spring forward- you know). Cool.

I am at Omar's house right now. We should be leaving shortly to meet a bunch of friends in a neighborhood called Bellavista. I am sure it will be good times.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Last Chance

So this is my last chance to use the Internet for free at home. My bags are half packed and I will probably call the taxi to come pick me up in about an hour. Man, I have a lot of stuff. But my move shouldn´t be too bad. I have tomorrow and Monday to get everything together in my new place. and I get to start buying my own groceries and eating on my own schedule- woo hoo! That means I don´t have to eat dinner at 9:00 every night.

Last Night

I went to a farewell party for a friend that I met here. She is from England- super cool girl. She has been in Chile for three months and is going to go to Australia for the next few months where she will take a cooking course (how jealous am I?) and look for work. So we all went to her godmother´s house last night for the best meal that I have had since I arrived- three different types of curry that would make your mouth water.

It was great food with great people in a great location- her godmother is the Consulate to Monaco so she has a huge house in the hills of Santiago with a killer view. Afterwards, we went out, and of course I got home around sunrise. I will be dead tired tomorrow too, because tonight the clocks jump forward and I lose a precious hour of sleep since it is the beginning of autumn.

Ok, ciao for now. I have to get back to packing.

Friday, March 12, 2004

So Much To Do, So Little Time...or the Chilean Philosophy- So Little Done in So Much Time

People here work from early in the mornming until late at night. And is is really interesting that no one really seems like they are getting anything done. I swear that people must take like an hour coffee break in the morning along with their two hour lunch, and that is the reason why so little gets done during the day.

Today, I went to an office on one of the campus´ at la Catolica (there are four campus´in the city) in order to get approved to take the course that I wanted to take on Chile and America in the 20th century. I arrived at about 2:00 but the lady told me that they were on their lunch break. I had to wait outside until 2:30 when they would finish. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited.

At about 3:00 they finally opened back up. And then I got to wait some more in orer to talk to the Director of the bachillerato program (here it is a little different- the students that aren´t sure what they want to study begin in the bachillerato program where they earn a two year degree in general studies. After that, they begin their licenciatura, or specific degree). After about ten minutes of waiting, the attendant went in the back and talked to the director. When he came back, he told me that I couldn´t take the course because it was full. So I had to change my schedule- again.

I finally decided on the intercultural health class, the literature class, the human rights and development class, and a class on the formation of the family (or something to that nature- I don´t really know because I haven´t been- it was the only class available in the time slot of the history class that I couldn´t take).

But that is how things go around here- you wait to wait to wait to get things done. And when they are done, they aren´t really done, because something will need to be changed. I kind of don´t mind, because I am already used to it and I know I should never be in a hurry to get things done. Everything seems to fall into place eventually anyways, so why stress myself out?

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Always Changing

Yeah, I am always changing my mind. I am no longer going to study to get that minor here at la Catolica because it wouldn´t permit me to take a class that will help me greatly in improving my Spanish and also because it wouldn´t permit me to take the business class (international economics) that I relaly wanted to take.

So I am taking a modern literature class, an international economics class, a human rights and moral conflicts class, a Spanish class, and a class about Chile and America in the 20th century. The best part about this schedule is that my classes are only from Tuesday through Thursday- not bad, huh? I won´t complain about my five day weekend...

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Strange

The next door neighbor is ALWAYS watering her lawn. I would say that about 95% of the time I pass by, she is outside watering. I am surprised she doesn´t have a pool in her front yard.

Dia de la Mujer

Yesterday was International Women´s Day, in case you were unaware. I went to a march in downtown Santiago to support this day. Historically, this demonstration starts off the year since it is when everyone returns from vacation. There were a few thousand people there- men and women, old and young. I went with Adrien, who is a total feminist and an active protestor in the United States.

It was pretty calm but it took us about an hour to march six or seven blocks since it was the busiest street in Santiago that we were marching on. All of the traffic had to be stopped. I bet it sucked to be in a car for an hour watching all of the protestors.

At the end, there was a band and various people who stood up and talked about the need for Chile and the rest of the world to continue the fight for women and to raise the standards politically, socially, and especially within working conditions.

It was interesting in the fact that since it was a demonstration, there was obvious poltical parties out in full force, including the Communist party. Even more interesting was that they were all young people in this party (about my age) and were passing out propaganda (well, everyone and anyone was passing out some sort of propaganda, whether it be a political party or info about women´s rights). And after reading the propaganda, I collected that they are more of a socialist party rather than communist, so I don´t yet understand why they had the Communist sign painted on their faces and on their banners. I need to investigate more...

First Day of School

Today, I went to classes and it is a very good thing that I don´t have any first-year classes because my day would have sucked. The old students have a tradition of pulling out any and every first year student out of their classes and hazing them. Today, during my International Economics class, they were hazing inside the business building.

Although I didn´t see it take place, I definitely heard all the screaming and shouting. And I definitely saw the aftermath. All the kids were painted on with blue paint, their hair was messed up, the guys only wore shorts, and they were all tied together. No one had shoes on. Apparently, they take everyone´s shoes and make them pay to get them back. The only good thing that comes out of this is that they pool all the money together in the end and pay for a big barbecue on campus. I should try to find out where so I can eat some free food....

Monday, March 08, 2004

I Am Not Making This Up- This Really Happened

Last night, Aimee, one of the Rotary Scholars, had all of us Rotary scholars over to her apartment for the evening. She lives in a very nice apartment on a street called Antonio Bellet in an area called Providencia- it is about three blocks from the Metro and close to many restaraunts and pubs, a grocery store, and a fruit and vegetable market.

Us at Aimee's VDay party

Well on my way there, I got a little lost (as usual) because I turned off of the Alameda (the main street in Santiago) one street too early. I walked about fifty meters down the street and was looking around to see if I recognized anything when a little old lady asked me if I was heading in the direction to the end of the street. I told her that I was actually looking for a different street but I was going in that direction. She asked for help with her groceries (she had two bags) and of course, I said yes.

So I walked her about four or five blocks to another little side street where she said she lived. During the walk, she told me that she had just moved there two days before and she was just getting situated- and she wanted to rent out a room. Can you believe it?

So to make a long story short, I spent about forty minutes talking to this lady in her apartment (which is tiny but I loved it the moment I saw it because it has colorful walls) and I am going to live with her. I will move in this Saturday.

Lesson Learned-
The next time you see a little old lady who needs help with her groceries- help her. She may be able to help you too.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

La Vega

Today, I went with my host mom and dad to the vega, where you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables. It was so cheap- a kilo of avocadoes for 300 pesos- about 50 cents! I loved it. I need to find a place to live so I can start shopping there for my own groceries...

Saturday, March 06, 2004

99 Years of Rotary

Last night, I went to a celebration for the 99th birthday of Rotary. It was at a place called Las Brujas and it was with with Las Brujas (una bruja is a witch, but also a nickname for the wives of Rotarians). I gathered that it is a tradition to do this every year to bring together the wives of Rotarians. It was a dinner celebration that, besides the fact that it lasted four hours (from 9-1 am), was pretty cool.

The night began with a recap of Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, and emphasized how much his wife, Jean Thompson, worked with him to build up Rotary to what it is today. The youngest Rotarian I have ever met (92 years) said a speech about the two of them that he had memorized. Later the District Governor spoke and inducted a new club into Rotary- the youngest club I have ever seen (really- the average age was about 28). He also spoke of the need for clubs like this because it gives new life and a support base for Rotary to grow.

All of us scholars were introduced (there are seven of us in Santiago- all of them are pretty cool, I might add) but we didn´t have to do or say anything. I didn´t get a chance to meet the young Rotarians but Adrien got the adress where they meet. Hoprfully we will get to go to one of their meetings soon.

At the celebration

So the night ended at one, but really that was when it began. We went to the house that Peter (a Rotary scholar) is staying at- it was Peter and the six of us girl scholars rockin up to his house which was full already of a bunch of Chilean guys. Not a bad mix.... We stayed there until 6 am. It was fun, obviously.

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Finishing a Day That Started Badly (And Needing to Listen to My Instincts)

So after the school incident (read blog below) I had some more bad luck...

I was invited to dinner with Adrien and some friends of her friend. They had dinner reservations at "a really good restaurant" at 8:30. I had agreed to go sometime last week but when we were leaving her apartment, I was thinking that I just shouldn´t go because I would have to borrow money from her (since I had walked out of the house with barely any plata (money)) and I should just go home and eat dinner for free. I didn´t even know the people and really had no reason to go. But then again, I didn´t really have anything else to do....so I went.

But before going, we had to go take the Metro to go meet most of the friends at their hostel (one was already with us- he had met us at her apartment). So that cost 310 pesos. Of course when we arrived, they weren´t ready so we had to wait. We had to take the Metro in order to get to the restaurant- another 310 pesos, plus we got there late.

Everyone ordered pisco sours (the drink of Chile) but I didn´t feel like drinking something so acidic, so I asked for suggestions from the waiter. He told me that their was a drink that was very good and tried to describe it to me. It sounded good, so I tried it )price- 1500). The first sip was ok, but then every sip got worse and worse, but I drank it because I was so thirsty.

The waiter ended up being a retard. The girl sitting next to me asked about a chicken dish with vegetables and he said that the pollo con tausi was good. So I ordered it, especially because it was one of the lower-priced options (3500). It sucked. It was like ten tiny pieces of chicken in a bad sauce which was a cross between oriental and thai. And the vegetables? Tiny slivers of onion, which I don´t even like. Definitely not what I was expecting.

When the bill came, he charged us for wine that no one ordered and the drinks that everyone did order were priced at 2800! I asked him why and he said because he gave us ones that were bigger than normal. No one asked for bigger than normal, but he said he told us. He definitely didn´t tell me, and I ordered something way different than the rest. I was not happy. But I was speaking Spanish and didn´t know how to diplomatically argue. So we had to pay.

I should have just gone home and eaten a free dinner that I am sure would have been much better (my host mom cooks very well). Total cost- 6920 (including metro) plus tip= about 7300. Since one doolar equals about 580 pesos, that would be about $11.93, which is huge here. I can usually eat a great meal (drink included) for about 2000 pesos, roughly $3.50.

Oh and that is not all.

When I left to take the bus home (280 pesos), I got on on the wrong street and ended up going in the wrong direction. I had done this before and the bus just turned around started the loop over. Nope, not this time. At the end of the route, it stopped for the night. So I found myself in the ghetto past midnight.

I did have some luck though, because about 60 meters away was the bus station for another line that I was able to take back home. But I had to wait for the bus to come, get washed and re-fueled, and for the new bus driver to come. So after another 280 pesos and another 45 minutes, I arrived all the way on the other side of the city at about 1:15, with 30 pesos in my pocket and a debt to Adrien for a horrible dinner.

Lessons Learned:
1. I need to listen to my instincts.

2. I shouldn´t pay for dinner with people I don´t know when I have the option of a great dinner and good company at home.

3. I need to check to make sure the bus is going where I want it to go. (my host brother told me I was lucky becuase the same type of thing happened to some of his friends on different occasions and they were robbed when they got off the bus at the end of the route...but I only had 310 pesos on me at the time, so they wouldn´t have gotten much.)

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

School and Ambiguities

So I went to my orientation yesterday and was given a copy of the schedule of classes. They offer a minor that I am very interested here- it is called "Encuentro de Culturas" but "Cultural Crossroads" is probably an ok translation. Two classes that it requires are Intercultural Development as well as Chilean Anthropology (neither of which are even offered this semester). The other three classes I picked out of a group that are offered are Intercultural Health, Public Politics and Indeginous Legislation (not offered this semester either), and Confronting Poverty.

Today was supposed to be the first day of classes, so I went to the Itercultural Health class, but no one was there. I wasn´t sure what was up with that, so I decided to go to the office for international students. ´But it wasn´t on the same campus- it is in the Casa Central which is in the middle of the city. So went to the Casa and of course, by the time I arrived, the office was closed for lunch- for two hours!

Now I am sitting in a computer lab in the Casa because I have nothing else do do. I don´t want to go back to the other campus for the other class that I have today because I don´t want no one the be there again. I guess I will just wait here until the office opens again.

But it is all a little ambiguous- we don´t actually have to register for classes until the end of the month, but we are supposed to go to the classes to make sure that we like them. Which is cool, but people need to actually be there in order for me to decide.

A Place to Live-
I am still looking.

My Rotary Host Counselor-
I still don´t have one.

Chilean Friends-
None of them either. Hopefully that will change once classes start because I don´t want to be a loner forever. Ok, I am really not a loner now because I have met many Chileans and I am always with my family at night time. I guess a cell phone would probably help me too. I think that is next on my list of things to do.

Monday, March 01, 2004

Class Struggle

In Chile, there really aren´t many problems with race relations- here it is all about class relations- who is rich, who is poor, the ¨good¨ neighborhoods vs. the ¨bad¨ ones, etc. And everyone talks about everyone else who is ¨cuico¨(I don´t know if that is how it is spelled, but it means ¨snobby¨), but no one thinks that they themselves are.

For instance, Rene (Adrien´s roomate) talks about how my host family is cuico because they live in Las Condes, an nice, safe area but with high prices and people that tend to vote very conservatively. I would consider it middle class. But then middle-class people talk about others that live on the outskirts of town with larger houses and more property as being cuico. And last night, I went to dinner/mid-night snack (since it was mid-night when I was picked up) at a friend of a friend´s house who lived in Providencia, which is closer to the centro of Santiago but with more tall buildings and right night to El Golf, another ¨cuico¨area (or so I have been told).

Their house wasn´t a house, it was a whole floor of the building. The elevator literally left you at there entryway. It was beautiful. But during the dinner of take-out sushi, one of the friend´s of this friend was talking about a cuico wedding that she went to at Club Hipico, the horse race track here, and how cuico everyone was.

I wonder who the most cuico person is in Chile and if they call themselves or anyone else cuico?

DiaRios Diarios (or Daily River Diaries)