Update Numero 6

I think this one is Late September, into October.


I probably should be writing my essay or my doing my economics homework right now, but I am pretty frustrated that I can’t find the information I need right now; thus it is email update time. I definitely don’t have as much adventurous things to write about but I will do my best to captivate your interest…

I’ll start with the most “fome” (Chilean slang for boring) news. I’ve been very busy conducting research for my internship at Consumer’s International. My supervisor’s name is Luis and he speaks really slow Spanish for me, and throws in a lot of English terms (which have to do with the UN and international community, so they would probably be employed in English anyways). Every week I go into the office Luis is drinking bright pink tea and wearing one of those wool tribal sweaters. My research lately has been comparing and mapping similarities between the work of NGO’s and UN bodies over consumer sustainability and sustainable development (how consumers and producers create and use products that contribute to sustaining the environment), but I’m supposed to start researching street food vending and different Latin American nations legislation regarding to street food vendors. I get little assignments every week, and Luis always says my trabajo is super. I think he’s not that critical of my Spanish writing skills.

Yesterday was a very long day. Our study center forced a mandatory event on us, which turned out to be the most I’ve ever learned of Chilean history. A man named Pedro spoke to us for about 2 hours in the morning about Villa Grimaldi, a torture camp that ran from 1974-1978, the years of the Pinochet- coup take over. He explained the different stages of interrogation, including electric shock, stretch tables, nail and teeth extraction, confinement in very limited space, and finally, head dunking in a barrel of decomposed waste. The women in the camp were also repeatedly raped. Pedro finally confided in us that he and his wife had been through the camp before the US granted his family political asylum. In 1974, Pedro had just graduated as a law student from the University of Chile, and was very much involved in the Socialist movement and therefore a military target. For all of you that don’t know Chilean history, Pinochet and the Military took over the Allende Government on September 11th, 1973, and thousands of people were murdered, tortured or had “disappeared.” I think I very much trivialized that account, but it was a very emotional day. After the lecture, we took a bus to Villa Grimaldi, which is now “el parque de paz” or Park of Peace. We climbed the water tower, which, during the Pinochet regime, had been converted into a torture chamber full of small little rooms, which the women were forced into. After the park, we headed over to the National Cemetery. I have never seen such a place. As you enter the park there is a giant marble wall filled of names people that had disappeared during the Pinochet take over. We also passed by the Allende Tomb, which is a huge graceful granite statute stretching up into the sky. We learned that the cemetery is a symbol of the social compartmentalization of Chile. The ornate 2 story tombs gradually find their way to small humble rusted crosses which names are so decrepit you can’t even read them. After the fieldtrip I rushed home to get ready for a birthday “asado” (Chilean Barbecue) with the college and career age group from my Church.

Chilean Barbecues are awesome because the meat in South America is just so darn tender, juicy, and all-together delicious. We ate choripan (which is chorizo eaten like a hot dog, and traditionally eaten first), ensalada, and more and more meat. My church is really awesome. I think I will miss it most when I leave Chile. It was late when we decided to go home. The Chileans decided that they wanted to at least drive us to the Metro stop, which was about to close in 10 minutes. So we piled into the car. However, some of them decided to play a joke and insist that we were not allowed to squish 4 people into the back seat (don’t worry mom, the metro stop was not that far away), so they convinced us that the smallest person had to get into the trunk. I of course was the smallest, and reluctantly sat down in the little Volkswagen hatchback’s trunk. Then the Chileans all broke into a chorus of laughter. We are all obviously the victims of Chilean jokes a lot of the time. Because of their very necessary joke, we missed the last metro, but its ok, because they drove way close to where we all live, and I just took a taxi home.

Ok just a few more things, since this email is getting pretty long… I am currently in a Modern Dance class at La Catolica, and obviously the only student with an extensive background in dance. We practice twice a week for almost 3 hours at a time. My class is going to perform in October and at the end of November. Our piece is about a Chilote fisherman that is lost at sea. All the girls are the birds and the waves, and the one boy is the sailor. Everyone in the class calls me the ayudante (the TA), because they all try to go behind me and very frequently ask me questions. Its kind of fun. I think this class is where I have the most Chilean friends apart from church. Anyhow, I am always sore because of the class and attempting to run with my friend Krystal a couple days each week.

Oh one last thing. I got to eat Korean Barbecue and Boba last week in our one block of Asian food. The Boba place is actually a Chinese Market, and pretty much the only boba in all of Chile. We are the closest thing they have to regular customers. The Korean food was awesome, and definitely the spiciest type of food I can find in Chile. I think I really miss spicy food.

Ok that’s all for now. Next letter will probably be about my weekend. From Friday to Sunday I am going to be volunteering in southern Santiago (aka, the poorest sector) building houses or something like that. I’m kind of scared because I will be in a group of about 8 people who will all be Chileans, thus speaking Spanish the whole time. My American friends are going to be going to, but in different groups. I’m very excited as well, because I think this is the part of Chile I came here to see. So look forward to that. Miss you all!