Update Numero 7 from Mid-October

Hi everyone! I hope everybody is healthy and happy. Here is update number 7! Oh yeah, the material I have to write about is slightly inconsistent, so tell me if you think I should switch to a blog format instead of these bimonthly updates, please ☺

This weekend was way cool. It was probably the most fun and the most I’ve learned in Chile out of the 4 months that I’ve been here (almost 4 months). There is so much to write about, I probably won’t even scratch the surface.
Friday to Sunday, I went with the La Cátolica’s (my university) student federation to one of the more poor sectors of Santiago to work on houses for families for which the mayor had picked. Before leaving, I was just expecting this weekend to be full of work, but it turned out to be so much more.
First of all, I was incredibly surprised by the number of students that dedicated their weekends to this cause. There were well over 200 students split up between 3 sites around Santiago. My site, Puente Alto, was comprised of 3 teams, 2 staying at the Maipo Elementary School. Before we left, everyone went to misa (mass) on campus, and they had a little ceremony pumping everyone up. We headed out on a short bus ride to Puente Alto and I met up with my team (equipo AZUL!) and then my comunidad, (family group) made up of 3 other girls and 2 guys. For our first meal we had some very cheap noodles and a bug juice type beverage. The weekend’s theme was “18 de Septiembre”, therefore the first team activity (red against blue) was a Cueca contest, decided by a scream vote. We introduced ourselves in a big circle. Out of about 60 people, I was the only foreigner.
Saturday was the first workday. We all got into the back of some pickup trucks and headed out to the site. Our comunidad’s house was basically a shack with a tin roof, unstable floors and cardboard-thin walls. Our mission for that weekend was to build a ceiling (a barrier between the tin roof and the rest of the room). Our materials arrived late, so our comunidad sat around discussing things, mostly relationships and religion. Chileans absolutely love talking about relationships, I think 70% percent of their conversations have to do with relationships, and your relationship status is one of the first 3 questions they will ask you upon meeting you. We worked until about 5 that day. I nailed boards to the frame and measured and cut wood, with an electric saw! We paused so everyone could watch the Chile vs. Argentina soccer game. We set up a TV outside, and everyone huddled around to watch the slightly depressing match. I got bored after Argentina was ahead by 2 goals, so I played some soccer games with some little kids in the street. They were the first Chileans to get my name right. The next day the two little boys ran up to me and gave me hugs. After the soccer game, we went back to the school and played a whole bunch of games.
The interesting thing about Chilean games, or at least the ones I played, is that they have a very guy-girl slant. For example, instead of a regular game of fruit salad, the person in the middle sits on the opposite sex’s lap, asks them if they like them, and if the answer is yes, everyone has to switch spots, and if no, the person gives a reason such as (its because you wear glasses). Another game we played was a version of musical chairs, except the boys were the chairs, and the girls had to cling to them like koalas. (Title: Koalas musicales). We also played a relay race, in which my team won. The last game was “corre y canta”, where they had to run up and grab the mic and sing the song with all correct words. Chileans love reggaton. They also knew the words to songs I didn’t even know in English! I was so surprised they all knew the words to various Backstreet Boys and Spice Girl songs. Afterwards we danced until about 3 am, having to wake up at 7am the next day to work. I taught some people the Roger Rabbit. They thought that was cool.
Oh, also that day, the mayor of Puente Alto came to talk to us. That was rad. The Chileans told me he was one of the more conservative mayors “almost too conservative”, but he was incredibly passionate talking about the trials of all the people in the area, and what it meant to give back to them. Apparently he had won a few awards for the social work he had done for the community.
The second day we worked a lot more. Our jefe (boss) for our house, Don Ramón was awesome. He was this older man in his 60s, but gives up a lot of weekends to help better these impoverished families. He had fun listening to my Spanish. We finished a little early, so I played an all girl soccer game. They boys watched and cheered. It was so fun. They cheered for me calling me “norteamerica!”
On the last day we had a reflection with our comunidad. I really am happy that I was surrounded and immersed by these people, and was able to get to know them so closely. I didn’t even feel like a language barrier existed. I told my group how cool it was that so many people dedicate their weekends to helping people, without complaining, smiles on their faces and eyes full of compassion. Its funny because the ones that were volunteering were all from the highest classes of Chilean society, yet knew that it was their responsibility to share the resources that they had. They were also very reassuring of my Spanish and my “personalidad”. To anyone planning on studying abroad, I would recommend getting involved in something like this. Force yourself to be outgoing if you aren’t already. Get out of the tourist box and see the world in a different way. I learned so much this weekend and made so many new friends. I totally see Chilean students in a different light, now seeing their compassion and liveliness.
Ok, so yeah that weekend was awesome. I also went to the Incubus concert last week. That was a lot of fun. They sound so good live. The Chileans at that concert also knew all the words in English, even though most don’t know how to speak English.