Las Notas Del Sur

Slideshow!

2009-12-31T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a video slideshow of my year in Chile. It's in Hi-Def, so I'm posting the link instead of embedding the video. Enjoy!

(If YouTube takes this down because of music copyright issues I'll try to put it back up using another site. If you have problems viewing the video please check back again soon!)

The End of the World

2009-12-29T14:23:00.001-08:00

Here I am in Santiago, hanging out at my friend Shepard’s apartment and hours away from my first northbound flight. It feels a little weird to be back here after a few weeks of traveling at the bottom of the world, with nearly all of my foreigner friends already home for the holidays. Nonetheless it’s a beautiful summer day, and I’m enjoying every moment of sun while I still have the chance. It could be a hot minute before I see that thing again.

My trip to the south was incredible. I finally understand why 9 out of 10 Chileans prefer the south to the north. It’s vast, green and beautiful. Torres del Paine national park might be the most stunning place I’ve seen, with a breathtaking array of colors and vistas to offer. I felt like I was walking inside of a big impressionist painting the entire time.

In T.D.P. I met up with Holly and her friends Kate, Katie and Kyle. It was great to hike around in such a gorgeous place with such cool people. Finding myself in those situations is always something that I appreciate deeply. It was also crazy to think about how far south I was, especially at the beginning of the trip. With the exception of Ushuaia, Argentina (and, obviously, Antarctica), it’s difficult to get much farther south than “La Ultima Esperanza” (or “the last hope”), Chile’s last region and final frontier.

And for as beautiful as the locations I visited were, I realized pretty quickly into the trip that this one would be more about people than places. I met a lot of quality people, made a lot of friends and shared lots of quality moments. Chilling on a serene stone beach with Holly; sharing drinks (complimented with glacier ice) with a Chilean family at the edge of the Americas; making friends with a Michigan family and essentially being adopted by them for a few days; spending Christmas in Chiloé with my Easter Island buddies: these are all things that I’ll never forget.

So, here’s to great places and great people! These are some of my favorite photos.

1] Red flowers in Torres del Paine. I will forever associate these with that place. So, so beautiful.

2] A good shot of the Torres, iconic symbols of Chile --and nature itself-- that are recognized throughout the world.

3] Some berries just off of the trail. I would have eaten them, but, you know. I’ve read Into the Wild.

4] Holly and I at the Grand Lodge campground, shortly after a joyous reunion. Buena ondas!

5] Stunning clouds hanging over the lake, somewhere in the middle of the famous “W” hike.

6] Another colorful shot from the park.

7] A rather creative garbage can in Puerto Natales. Why can’t all of them look like that?

8] Some penguins, just kinda hanging out, outside of Punta Arenas.

9] This ice had been chipped off of Glacier Grey inside of Torres del Paine earlier that day. Not sure how kosher that decision was, but hey. It was the most memorable ice I’ve ever had in my glass.

10] This is the Austral brewery, where they make what I believe to be the second best beer in Chile. The first: Kuntsmann in Valdivia.

11] Yours truly with Kyle, Kate and Katie. It was really easy to remember those guys names, and hanging out with them in Punta Arenas was a good time.

12] One of the funnier bad English translations I’ve seen. Please read the description of the churros. (You have to give them credit for using the word “snow” as a verb…)

13] The southern section of Chile that exists in the space between central Santiago and the fjords of the far south is often referred to as “the lakes region.” This one happens to be in Puerto Varas.

14] Here's that awesome Michigan family who I met in Puerto Varas. I ended up spending several days with them, including part of Christmas. Clockwise from top left: Marco, Angela, Angela, Ezra and Issac.

15] Angela and Ezra checking out the water temperature. The results: cold.

16] A rushing river outside of Puerto Varas.

17] Yours truly with Ezra and Issac on the way up to the Osorno volcano. Because bad weather prevented me from climbing the Villarica volcano in Pucón (something I had planned on doing all year), driving up Osorno turned out to be as close as I would get to the top of a volcano. For this year, anyway...

18] Alerce trees, which are incredibly tall and incredibly rare. These used to be everywhere in the Chilean south, but many of them have been cut down for wood over the years. We found these in a national forest which appeared to be closed. Which, of course, we didn’t let stop us from seeing the trees.

19] A fresh raindrop in the Alerce forest.

20] One of the classic stilted houses on the grand island of Chiloé. After Tierra del Fuego, which makes up the southernmost point of South America, Chiloé is the second largest island in South America.

21] My old pal Heather from Easter Island, making some Christmas cookies on Christmas eve. I shared a cabin with her, Sebastian and Sara. I didn’t get any good pictures of the other two (sorry guys!) But you should check out their blog documenting their two-year bicycle trip from Ancoharage, Alaska to Ushuia, Aregentia at www.pladusol.org . Their perspective pictures from Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia are truly awesome!

22] We ate QUITE well on Christmas eve. This display of guacamole and smoked salmon was only the appetizer.

23] An impromptu Christmas day dance session at a beachside restaurant on Chiloé. For sure the first time I spent Christmas within a stone’s throw of the ocean.

24] Some light breaking through at the end of a cloudy Christmas day.

25] And here we have the Kuntsmann brewery that makes what I would (and already did) say is the best beer in Chile. There I enjoyed some fine beers and ate a burger the size of a basketball.

26] Moving water in the Ojos de Caburga outside of Pucón.

Santiago and beyond

2009-12-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

It's a hot December night and I, recently apartment-less, am sitting at Nora and Wes's place, typing this on their laptop. All my stuff is either in a suitcase in the basement of my friend's Spanish school or in my backpacks, southward bound this Saturday morning when I head to Patagonia. Today was essentially my last day in Santiago, and most of the goodbyes and good lucks have already been said. I left Duoc today for the last time and just got back from an a great farewell dinner with Wes and Nora in Barrio Bellavista.

Despite the inevitably bittersweet nature of the thing, my final weeks here have been incredible in unexpected ways. Beyond all the isolated moments -- trips to the coast, goodbye parties thrown by students and plenty of farewell toasts -- it's more generally been a great time for quality reflection, present existence and foresight. Plus I've started an unplanned but quite serendipitous friendship / relationship with an English profesora named Holly, who just so happens to be from the midwestern U.S. as well. El mundo esta pequeño.

I´m incredibly excited about my upcoming trip, which will take me through Punta Arenas (which exists at the far southern edge of the Americas), Torres del Paine national park, Puerto Montt, Chiloé, Valdivia and Pucón. I`m planning to get in one more full day in Santiago on the 29th before heading back to the U.S. on the 30th.

Here are some shots from the last couple of weeks:

Kurt on his last night in Santiago, in the process of placing an absurd number of pisco bottles in our hallway. I'm pretty sure he and Tim kept the Capel company in business this year.

Holly and I at the Club de Jazz.

Tim enjoying one last fajita (a little too much??)

Holly in Valpo. We went on a beautiful, sunny Wednesday and spent the entire afternoon in a little cafe in the hills. One of the best Wednesdays I can recall!

Painted containers from Valpo`s container festival. A few days later I saw a performance here that incorporated rapelling, fire and lots and lots of foam. ¡Que bacan!

Holly took this picture of me in the cafe. It`s almost like she has a degree in photography or something...

Easter Island

2009-11-23T04:18:00.000-08:00

I just got back from Easter Island-- yesterday. It was an incredible trip, and I expect it won’t be easy to top. More than 2,300 miles away from the South American continent, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui, in the Polynesian) is considered the most isolated populated place in the world. Getting to go there was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Before my trip I spent a great deal of time reading about the island and its history. The story is both fascinating and tragic. It’s the story of a people who, against all odds, navigated across the world’s biggest ocean to find an island that’s only 7 miles long and 14 miles wide. It’s the story of a civilization that developed a fully functional society, which included the world-famous moai statues and its own mysterious written language – without the benefit of contact from the outside world, horses or steel. And it’s the story of what happens when limited resources on a small, isolated place become limited. As I moved through the tragic story I couldn’t help but notice the implied lessons for planet earth.

While the weather wasn’t so great during my first two days, it eventually got sunny. I buddied up with some French and Canadian tourists and we rented a car, which allowed us to see most of the significant sites in one day. I also rented a bike and did another lap around the island solo.

1) This shot was taken in the Rano Raraku quarry, where all of the moai were carved from the same volcanic rock. When clan warfare struck the island work on the moai was stopped, and hundreds of them speckle this hillside and the surrounding area, never to make it to their final positions on the coastline.

2) A small lake near Rano Raraku.

3) With my friends Sebastian and Heather, in front of the Rano Kau crater, inside the Orongo ceremonial village.

4) Some palm trees lining the main street of Easter Island’s only town, Honga Roa.

5) A lone moai soaking up some sun.

6) A wood carving inside of a local shop. There are tons of finely carved wooden statues all over the island.

7) Heather, Sebastian and Sara posing by the ocean.

8) Relaxing in the midst of the moai.

9) The largest ahu (ceremonial platform) on Easter Island, sporting a hefty 15 moai. All of these were restored by a Japanese company in the 90s. All of them had been badly damaged by a tsunami that hit the island in the 60s, throwing some of the statues 100 feet inland. Each moia weights more than 50 tons.

10) Some of the local flowers.

11) Making friends.

12) These days horses are everywhere on the island and are an important part of everyday life.

13) My three amigos, taking it all in at Rano Raraku.

14) This distinctive moai was discovered fairly recently in the quarry. This was a big deal, because it is the only one to sport a beard and be in a squatting position. You can see the large ahu in the foreground.

15) One more shot of the large ahu and the big, blue sky.

16) Some dancers at a typical tribal dance. At one point or another I got on stage and danced with one of the island chicks.

17) Sunset on Easter Island – something I’ll never forget.

Teaching Chile rooftop party

2009-11-23T03:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to Bruce and Andrea for the EXCELLENT rooftop festivities!!

Here are a few shots from the fiesta.

Scott, looking like the badass that he is.

The roommates and I pose for what might be one of our final shots together. :: ¡que triste! ::

Trevor and Nora. Nora and Trevor.

Yours truly with my old pal Lindsay Harnish.

Dennis and Rose Marie Kargol were here in Santiago -- for like a week!

2009-11-23T03:51:00.000-08:00

I had a really good time with the folks. We went up to La Serena and otherwise hung out in Santiago. We talked, ate and walked around. I made them walk all the way across Cerro San Cristobal.

Here are two pictures to prove that I'm not making all of this up.

Pops, with Pablo Neruda.

Mom and I, in my parent's rented apartment.

Octobre: Una nota en español

2009-11-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Oye!

Hace mucho tiempo desde yo llege en Chile. Entonces, voy a escribiir esa articulo en español.

Bueno. La verdad es yo no hice mucho este mes. Muchas cosas de routina, como trabajar y estudiar el español. Pero yo salî unos veces y hice pocas cosas de mi lista de “to do.” Por ejemplo:

* Por fin, yo fui al famoso mercado, se llama “Bio bio.” Es una lugar igualamente fascinante y extraño. Es un mundo bizarro, donde es mas facil encontrar arpas viejas, y dinero desde siglos pasados que poleras y zapatillos. Fue un rato loco, con muchas risas y momentos raros.

* Tambien, yo fui a unos fiestas. He pasado un poco tiempo con mi amigo Scott, y él y su novia tuvieron una carete (Chileno para “fiesta”) en sus terazza de departamento. Tambien, fui a un asado con mi amigo Rob, y mi segundo cena de comida Cubana con Manuel y Silvia.

* Ademas, tuvimos un “cena aniversario” en Duoc, y lo pasé muy bien. Era buenisimo, afuera con clima perfecta – y aún mejor, con comida gratis. No voy a quejarme sobre eso.

* ¿Que mas? Yo fui “geocashing” con mi amigo Steven. Generalamente, yo tratará casi todo una vez. Basicamente, “geocashing” es un actividad que combina senderismo y buscando de tesoros escondidos. Excepto que en lugar de oro y plata, los tesoros son pegatinas y llaveros. ¡Fue interesante, y fuimos a la base de la cordillera de los Andes. Que bueno la naturaleza alla!

* Finalamente, la noche pasada era Halloween. Tenien Halloween en Chile, pero hace solamente 10 años desde sus primera vez, y no es tan popular todavia. Sin embargo, nos pusimos disfrazes. Mira las fotos abajo!!

1) Manuel y yo, en la cena aniversario de Duoc.

2) Kurt, en su disfraz de “Waldo.”

3) Radford y yo. Yo era Don Miguel, un hombre famouso de cajas de los cigarillos en Chile. Radford era Beyonce de la “All the Single Ladies” video.

4) Danny, en la forma del rey.

5) Yo creo el disfraz de Dan es bastante obvio. El hizo su gorro con “white out” viente minutos antes la fiesta. ¡Que impresionante!

Ahora estoy muy emocionado, porque mis padres van a llegar a Santiago en Viernes que viene! Entonces, hasta la proxima vez! Cuídate mucho!

Pichilemu

2009-10-12T10:22:00.001-07:00

What a perfect weekend!

I just got back from Pichilemu, a quaint little surfing town three hours south of Santiago. Manuel, Radfod, Nora, Wes, Trevor and I headed down to the little peninsula on the sea for two days of fun in the sun.

The first thing that struck me about “Pichi” was the vivid color that painted the town. Houses, flowers, signs, and indeed the sky itself positively radiated light from every angle, and continuously dazzled the eyes. Even the garbage on the street had a certain aesthetic beauty. Needless to say I took a lot of pictures.

We all rented a cozy little house just off the beach, which emanated that lovely, cabin-in-the-woods smell of mildew and years passed. We spent a night chatting around the wood-burning stove, turning the house upside down in the eternal search for kindling paper.

We walked around town, snapped photos, rode bikes and strolled on the beach. We crammed into collectivos to and from Punto Del Lobos, a high, ocean-side cliff from which we saw an incredible sunset and watched surfers shred some of the biggest waves I’ve ever witnessed in person. We ate seafood empanadas and more than our fair share of ice cream.

It was intoxicating, peaceful and perfect. I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful the world is and what a gift our lives really are. I thanked God more than a few times. I felt humbled, and remembered how many people struggle each day just to make it to tomorrow. I remembered that it’s my obligation to help them in real and substantial ways.

My favorite part of the trip was the bike ride I took with Nora and Wes. We spent a couple thousand Pesos (read: a few bucks) on some charmingly weathered bicycles and cruised down the coast. We ended up pulling off the road and spending some time sitting on the beach, talking and executing our silliest yoga-on-the-beach moves. There were lots of flowing garments and leaps into the wind (I daresay some of them were springs and bounds).

Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Our house.

The coolest Chilean I know: Señior Manuel Antonio Henríquez

Rad, awash in sunlight.

Nora, snapping up a shot of the Pacific coast.

Graffiti and colorful beach houses.

Wes, Manuel, and one of the many street dogs who seemed to think all of our pockets were stuffed with prime rib.

Two little girls and the world's biggest ocean.

The crew, minus Manuel (who took the picture) and Trevor (who hadn't arrived yet).

The sun setting at Punto del Lobos.

Surfers, shredding the gnar at Punto del Lobos. Props to Grady, who used to come here all the time last semester, and is clearly more coordinated and graceful than I when it comes to riding waves.

A gull resting on a cross at Punto del Lobos.

This was the farthest south I've ever seen a sunset.

The sunset sky at Punto del Lobos.

I think this horse is related to the horse from the cover of the Lonely Planet.

Trevor and Radford, looking as pumped as ever.

Equipo bicicleta, getting ready to conquistar el mundo.

I think these might be orchids (?)

Nora and Wes sizing up the swim to Australia.

Nora and Wes positively rocking out on the swing set.

Wes and I enjoying the teeter-totter. I'm not sure why I look so sad!

Vividly colored flowers.

Lakes, Hills and lots of BBQ Sauce

2009-10-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

A week ago I headed back out to the Cajon de Maipo to do a little bit of hiking. The weather was cold and overcast, but the air in the mountains was quite refreshing. I met up with some friends from my Spanish school and headed out on a guided tour. As it turned out, “a little bit of hiking” was exactly what happened — I had been expecting more time actually walking on trails. It was a good time, however, and while I was there I managed to get a few shots. I also got to see the giant, man-made lake that provides about half of Santiago’s drinking water.

* * *

Yesterday, with the help of my dear California friend Radford “Carolina” Lathan, I completed the much-anticipated “Gringo Asado”—a BBQ event which allowed us to showcase “American food” to some Chilean friends.

The menu:

Flame-roasted BBQ chicken
Baked, cut potatoes with garlic and onion
Corn on the cob
Grilled red peppers and beets
Warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Sangria

Alright, alright: Sangria is from Spain. But nonetheless, I feel that Estados Unidos was well represented!

* * *

I just got back from a lovely little walk on San Cristobal hill. The weather here is getting nicer and nicer and I love walking around the city and the parks and just taking it all in. I was able to get a few pictures of the Japanese Gardens, which, incidentally, were donated to Chile by – you guessed it— Japan!

* * *

This week I’m getting ready to start teaching new classes and begin organizing accommodations for my parents, who are coming in a month! I just got done planning my late December travels, which will be the last thing I do before I fly back to Michigan the day before New Year’s Eve. Man. Time flies….

A trail running through the snowy banks of the Cajon de Maipo. Quite a contrast from the sunny pics I posted in March (then again, I was at much higher altitude this time around!)

My Swiss friend and I, having forgotten our surveying equipment, taking a primitive gauge of the water table at the giant water reservoir in the mountains.

A girl from Seattle who I met on the hike. I can’t remember her name, but hey. It’s still a sweet picture.

Two of Chile’s finest in the lovely Parque Forestal. Ironically, the photo was taken mere minutes before Radford and I bought enough food to feed every horse and police officer in Chile. There’s nothing quite like traversing a big city wearing a backpack full of vegetables while carrying four whole chickens! I’ll tell you what.

Me, gettin’ silly with the pollo.

Ms. Lathan, working the beets and the company.

My friends from the Pedro Prado school in San Pablo, Santiago: Paz, Manuel and Silvia, enjoying a toast with yours truly.

And one with Radford, too.

Chicken and beets on the grill. I hadn’t tried grilled beets before this, but they are tasty. Props to the Lathans for their innovative grilling traditions!

The sangria bowl. Chilean wine + ginger ale + oranges = A fine spring beverage!

My good pal Manuel, considering eating everything on the table.

Juan Carlos, mesmerized by his mom’s glass of wine.

At the Japanese gardens.

The city from the gardens. In the mornings I work right across the street from the big building on the left.

Some flowers. (Or are they only buds?)

The first lizard I’ve ever seen in Santiago!

September

2009-09-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

September has been quite a busy month!

Not long after posting my last entry I began teaching extra classes in Las Condes: Santiago’s ritzy business sector. In the mornings I work in a giant glass building and teach English to businessmen and women who work for a Finland-based mining technology company. I wear ties, look at my watch and sip coffee from mugs—sometimes simultaneously. Thus far I’ve resisted the temptation to buy a briefcase and/or Ray Bans.

I’ve also begun taking Spanish classes at Escuela Fronteras, a very quaint and very professional school located less than a block away from my apartment. I’ve therefore redoubled my efforts in studying Español, and I’m shooting to be conversationally fluent (minus the ever-feared subjunctive tense) by the time I leave in late December. I have a great teacher named Luis, who has already taught me a lot, and who laughs when I accidentally make sexual puns or seemingly suicidal comments (“estoy terminado,” “él necesita abrir su paquete.”)

My new pals Alejandra and Steve run Escuela Fronteras, and they’ve gone above and beyond in making me feel welcome and being great friends. Alejandra invited me to watch the big Chile / Brazil World Cup qualifier game at her apartment the same day I met her (unfortunately, Chile lost). Also, Fronteras had a wonderful “fonda” (i.e. independence weekend barbecue bursting with Chilean food and dance), during which I learned the cueca, Chile’s national dance.

Which brings me to the main event: September 18th. Chilean independence day is a HUGE deal for Chileans. This year it fell on a Friday, but the celebration really started on Wednesday night and lasted throughout the weekend. Flags lined every street, festive music drifted from open windows and the sweet smell of empanadas wafted through the air. I can only imagine what the event will be like next year, which will mark the 200-year anniversary of Chile’s independence. Next year I’ll certainly be watching for pictures from my old Astrocamp friend Erin Davies, who, in a crazy, small-world turn of events, just got accepted to come down here and teach next year.

For the weekend, I headed to a town called Los Andes, which is about an hour and a half north of Santiago. Tim’s friend Chefa invited the roomies and I out to her parent’s vacation home for the weekend, and we had a dandy old time. I felt like a kid again, running around barefoot in the grass and playing with traditional Chilean toys, like the trompo, which is essentially a top that is spun by a long, wound-up string. Tim and I also spent a fair amount of time pitching potatoes across the backyard and into the hole in a giant ceramic pot. At one point or another a potato ended up on Chefa’s roof, and I’m pretty sure exploded potatoes pepper the lawn to this very moment.

Otherwise, spring officially arrived the other day and I’m absolutely reveling in the weather. Unlike in Michigan, here it doesn’t take two months of spring for the sun to come out. I’m particularly appreciative of the weather because I know I’ll be having two winters this year: I’m returning to the U.S. on December 30th.

In other news, Tim went back to Australia yesterday. His return ticket was about to expire, and he decided to use it to go back and visit. He’ll be gone for a month. When he returns he’ll be flying in to Buenos Aires and then bussing it back to Santiago.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a few promising work and volunteer opportunities on the horizon, and I’m expecting next month to be even more jam-packed than this one.

¡Hasta luego!

PHOTOS:

1) The Chile / Brazil soccer game. Chile can still qualify for the next level of World Cup competition, but after losing to Brazil it’s not going to be easy.

2) Alejandra mere moments before devouring her birthday cake in one bite.

3) The street I call home.

4) A statue of Pablo Neruda at a nearby park. I took this on what felt like the first day of spring.

5) Alejandra invited me to the circus. Consisting of only four guys, the event was totally amazing. It wasn’t a traditional circus with bears and elephants and clowns (and their rags soaked with ether). Rather, it was more along the lines of Cirque Du Soleil – a graceful interweaving of gymnastics and performance art. You should have seen this guy manipulate this giant wheel. How he could see straight after all that spinning I can’t possibly imagine.

6) Steve from Escuela Fronteras, raking the lawn the day before the big fonda. What exactly are you raking there, Steve?

7) Chilean dancers just before their performance. Watching these guys made me realize that I don’t, in reality, know how to dance the cueca. But the Chileans still think it’s funny when I try.

8) The cueca in action. I mentioned earlier this year that the cueca mimics the mating dance of a rooster and hen.

9) The rooster’s feet, stomping away.

10)

My friend Manuel’s school had a big cueca competition on the day before the 18th, and kids from various age groups competed. The little ones were my favorite, and were cute to the point of hilarity. Now I finally understand why the adults always made us dress up and do plays when we were little.

11) These two were the best. If you check out the video of them, which is posted just below, you won't regret it.

12)

A massive box of pino empanadas. A Chilean friend and I estimated how many empanadas were in Santiago during the independence weekend, and our guess was in the multiples of millions. On a side note, I met a real cool guy named Pocho while waiting (for over an hour) to buy these empanadas, and we’re now trading language lessons on Wednesdays. Idn’t that neat?

13) Chefa and I, dressed up in traditional Chilean attire and holding traditional Chilean toys (I have the trompo). Chileans call people who live in the countryside “hauasos” (pronounced “wasos”), and anything that’s really country is referred to as “huaso.”

14) For example, in addition to looking completely ridiculous, Tim looks very hauso in this picture.

15) Chefa and Tim dancing up and partying down on Sept. 18. This photo was taken after an only moderately successful attempt on my part to dance the cueca.

16) One of our pals holding a curiously orange sausage. Like President Obama’s joke about House Minority Leader John Boehner earlier this year, I’m pretty sure that color doesn’t occur in nature.

17) The gang playing cards in Los Andes. We’re currently on a mission to spread rummy far and wide across the South American continent.

18) One of the farm dogs. This little guy really wanted steak, and he eventually got it. You know how dogs are about steak.

19) Quiet time by the pool.

20)

The grape fields outside of Chefa’s house, with the Andes cordillera in the background. Not at bad view at all!

Kid Cueca

2009-09-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Street Performers

2009-09-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

While seeing elaborate performances at traffic lights is a daily event in Santiago, these guys really took it to the next level.

Remembering Chile's 9/11

2009-09-14T04:14:00.001-07:00

This article does a good job of summarizing why 9/11 is also a tragic day for Chile. In addition to never forgetting the amazing people who personified love and bravery in New York in 2001, we should never forget the thousands of Chileans whose only crime was standing up to multinational capitalism.

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/9875

Tiny dogs and deli meats

2009-08-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

¡Hola, y bienvenidos!

This is my first ordinary transmission since returning to Santiago and getting back to normal life. Now, of course, every time one returns from a vacation, things are never quite as they were at the time of leaving. For example, in my case, the billboards in the subway have changed. The new plaza a few blocks up the road has been finished. They even rearranged the grocery store, meaning a dramatic and unpredicted drop in the amount of available breads and deli meats. But one adapts to these sorts of developments.

On the topic of new things, I have a brand-new colleague / cohort at Plaza Oeste. Her name is Nora Rodriguez, and she was brought in to fill the cavernous hole that was left when my friend Grady peaced out at the end of the last semester. The other day Tim and I spent a few hours in the city with Nora and her boyfriend Wes. Before eventually (inevitably?) ending up at La Piojera, we went to a German-inspired diner named La Fuente Alemana, which was featured on the Chile episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show “No Reservations.” We ate sandwiches the size of our heads, which were smothered in avocado and mayonnaise. Like Bourdain says, getting mayonnaise on a sandwich in Chile is about as difficult as getting chlamydia at Burningman. Having seen both Chile and Burningman, I can appreciate the joke.

Things are going awesome at Duoc, and I’m really enjoying my new classes. I’ve got a bunch of cool students, a new schedule and a new, basic-level class. They even built a new empanada place right across the street. I know—awesome! By the way, if you ever want to make a Chilean style empanada, go make a crust and bake in some beef, onion and egg. Also include exactly one raisin and one olive (you don’t have to take the pit out, because any self-respecting Chilean already knows its in there and will thus chew cautiously).

Otherwise, I went to a couple barbecues, thanks to my pals Dan and Manuel. I’ve posted a few photos below.

1) A photo from La Fuente Alemana. The lady in the middle was working when Anthony Bourdain was there.

2) Wes and Nora at La Piojera.

3) Tim and I at La Piojera.

4) A Chilean dude and his rosy cheeked baby.

5) Kev finally changed his shirt. It’s blue now.

6) Dan looking cool as ever in front of a shoe ad.

7) You always see really random and hilarious uses of English in Chile. This billboard at the huge La Vega market promises “knock out prices.”

8) Eggs. Lots and lots of eggs.

9) This must be the smallest dog on earth. I was afraid I was going to accidentally inhale it or something.

10) Señior Chef.

11) Tara y yo.

12) Tim wearing a racist apron.

13) My friend Sidi and I.

14) My main man Manuel. Just like my mom, he always takes off his glasses for pictures.

15) This family had me over for an amazing barbecue. It was the girl on the right’s birthday. The woman in the middle is my friend Elisa, who I see every Monday at a high school on the west side of town.

16) A swirly statue in Providencia. This is one of the few color pictures featured in the Lonely Planet, and I didn’t realize until today that I live right next to it.

Winter Trip Top Ten

2009-08-15T00:12:00.001-07:00

These are my ten favorite things from my recent trip to Bolivia, Argentina and northern Chile.

This is totally out of order, like the pictures from my previous post. The actual chronology of the trip was:

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and surrounding area
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Potosi, Bolivia
Sucre, Bolivia
La Paz, Bolivia

(the above with Tim, Kurt, Brendon and Danny)

Mountain trek in Bolivia
Lake Titicaca and Copacabana, Bolivia
Arica, Chile
Parque Nacional Lauca, Chile
Iquique, Chile
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Iguazu Falls, Argentina

(I was traveling solo for the second section)

The Top Ten

10) Potosi mine tour: If you think your jobs sucks try working in a Bolivian silver mine.

Ultra-poor Potosi was for centuries a source of immense silver wealth. It was one of the most populous cities in the Americas and financed a large part of the Spanish monarchy. The saying goes that the streets of Spain were paved in Potosi silver, and it has been suggested that the dollar sign originated as a spin-off of the Potosi city logo, which is a P,S and I overlapping each other. Unfortunately, Potosi was the site of terrible exploitation by Spanish colonists. Our mine guide estimated that some eight million people died in the stifling mines throughout the reign of Spanish empire. Tens of thousands were slaves shipped in from Africa, and most were forced to work long hours with nothing but a hammer and stake.

When Tim, Kurt, Brendon, Danny and I were in the mines, our tour guide also explained to us that as a result of the more or less uncoordinated blasting strategy used in the mine today, most experts predict a major cave in at some point in the next several decades. The mine has been exploited for so long that many miners today have shifted their attention to mining zinc instead of silver.

Our time inside the mine lasted about an hour and a half, and pretty much every moment offered some variation on the themes of discomfort and danger. Low ceilings. Claustrophobic tunnels. Cavernous holes in the ground. Plumes of arsenic and asbestos-filled dust in the air. The Lonely Planet guide -- a sort of bible for many travelers -- dedicates a half page to warning against the risks inside the mine. Because of the associated dangers, most estimates place the average life expectancy of a Potosi silver miner around 40 years.

I think my better instincts came through when I decided toward the end of our time inside not to scale up a 20+ foot mud slope, which had a 30-foot-deep pit at its base, using nothing but a single rope. The old camp ropes-course instructor in me kept wondering: ¨What´s this rope tied to at the top, and with which type of knot?" Something told me it wasn´t a figure-eight follow-through. After running into a drunk miner on our way to the slope, I felt less than confident about the mine´s quality control department.

The culmination of the experience came when we eventually got out of the mine and our guide detonated a stick of dynamite just for fun. Beforehand, as a joke, he handed it to my roommate Tim, who had it live in his hand for a good 10 or 15 seconds. All of us had actually carried around sticks of dynamite and sandwich baggies filled with an explosive mixture to give as gifts to the miners. Because nothing quite says "keep up the great work" like a stick of dynamite and a sack of ammonium nitrate.

9) Parqe Nacional Lauca: I originally planned to spend several days in this national park in Chile´s northernmost region. Due to a combination of changed plans and at one point actually not knowing what day it was, I only ended up having only one day in the park.

Lauca is at crazy high altitude, and during my one-day tour we sprinted from sea level up to 4,517 meters (14,819 feet), then back to sea level again. This would normally be a fail safe way to hammer yourself with altitude sickness, but I think it helped that I had by this point spent a few weeks at high altitude and had acclimatized rather well. Others weren't so lucky, and the oxygen tank was brought out at one point on the way home.

The park was beautiful: filled with grazing vicuñas and surrounded by snow capped volcanoes. The highlight was definitely Lake Chungara, which is located at the park´s highest point. (I incorrectly wrote in my previous entry that Chungara is the world´s highest lake: It turns out it´s only the 29th highest. Some of these facts that you pick up on tours turn out to be less than reliable!!)

Regardless of how high it was, it was glassy blue and postcard perfect.

8) Arica: I arrived in Chile´s northernmost city after a 19-hour bus-from-hell ride through Peru (the city itself is only 11 miles south of the Peruvian border). I was tired, and the city´s fresh ocean air and cozy streets were exactly what I needed. The weather was remarkably warm for winter and I spent a whole day walking around the city and the Pacific coastline. I passed an hour watching sea crabs shuffle in and out of the rock formations, and also headed up a large cliff overlooking the ocean, which is a very important site in Chilean military history. Called the "morro," it figured importantly in the 1880 War of the Pacific (not to be confused with the Pacific War, which refers to the Pacific theater in world war two). Basically, it was here that Chile captured an important Peruvian military base, which was a pivotal step in what would eventually grant Chile large chunks of Peru and Bolivia´s land. The war left Bolivia a landlocked country.

7) Outside of San Pedro de Atacama: The geyser fields and desert valleys outside of northern Chile´s San Pedro de Atacama were beautiful. We began our trip in SPA, and it was pretty amazing to step off of the plane into the cold desert night on our very first night. The north of Chile couldn´t be more different from bustling Santiago: quiet and tranquil, with an impossibly clear night sky. We spent part of our first full day of the trip sandboarding, which I talked about a little bit in my previous post.

6) Buenos Aires: Including "B.A." on this trip was a pretty spontaneous decision. I had originally planned on going in December, but a combination of finishing my travel itinerary early and changing my December plans led to a last-second switch up. I messaged my friend Jessie, who lives in B.A. this year, about four days before arriving and asked her if I could crash. Funnily enough, when Jessie visited me in Santiago it was on similarly short notice. We're just spontaneous like that.

The city was very cool. Quite a bit noisier and dirtier than downtown Santiago, but it more than made up for its shortcomings in the way of great museums, cultural sites and food. Among other places, I visited the Casa Rosada, from which Argentine heroine Eva Peron ("Evita") delivered speeches. I saw MALBA, Buenos Aires´amazing modern art museum, the massive Recolleta cemetery, and also visited Bellas Artes, the fine arts museum. As mentioned in my previous entry I also saw a great street tango.

Ultimately, however, my favorite thing about B.A. was the steak. Man. Argentina´s reputation for having the best beef in the world is definitely deserved.

5) Birthday in Iquique: I had a pretty memorable 28th birthday in Iquique. In the early afternoon I went paragliding with two very cool people from Toronto, Lindsay and Brian. Even though we had fairly soft wind and didn´t make it as far as we might have liked to, it was still an amazing experience. Floating around above the city and staring out into the Pacific was awesome. Later, I spent a few hours walking around the city. At one point I ended up exploring the city´s antiquated arts theater, and visited some rooms I probably wasn´t supposed to. I finished the day off with a barbecue at a local hostel, where I met a bunch of cool kids and had a lot of fun.

4) Three-day mountain trek in Bolivia: I split up with the other four guys in La Paz, and headed off for an incredible three days of hiking in the mountains outside of the city. I mentioned in my previous post that the trek took me through various types of scenery. It also offered me my first opportunity to camp this year.

The walk was mostly downhill and I spent a lot of time pondering 2010 and beyond. My favorite part of the hike was meeting an old, hunchbacked Japanase man, who showed us his garden and had us mark our home cities on his hand-drawn map of the world. My other favorite part was meeting a super cute little girl, whose picture is also in my previous post. She was pretty fascinated with us gringos -- perhaps partially because we kept giving her stuff, like the hackey sack in the photo. We actually taught her the word "hackey," which she kept repeating over and over. Who says English degrees are good for nothing?

3) Iguazu falls: A branch-off of my sudden trip to Buenos Aires, Iguazú National Park is in northern Argentina and straddles the Brazilian border. Brazil actually has its own Iguazu national park, which I'm told allows for a more panoramic view of the falls (I never made it to that side because I didn't want to pay for a Brazilian visa). There's not a whole lot else to say about the falls other than that they were really overpowering and awe inspiring. The sound and sight of all that falling water was intense. I didn't know it was possible for that many waterfalls to be that close together.

2) Salar de Uyuni: The entry point into Bolivia from the Chilean border outside of San Pedro de Atacama, we spent three days rolling across the desolate altiplano (high flats) of Salar de Uyuni. Every few hours would lead to an entirely new set of scenery. Lagoons and lakes and rock formations and salt flats and tiny pueblos. It was like using one of those plastic click-and-view binoculars from when you were a kid. In Salar de Uyuni, there was always something to look at, and it was always a sight to behold.

1) Biking down the "Death Road": I kind of surprised myself by picking this as my favorite thing from the trip, but when I really think about it, it was the most thrilling and fun part. Labeled "the world's deadliest road" by the Inter-American Development Bank, the road goes on for about 37 miles. Annual death estimates were between 200 and 300 when the road was open for vehicle traffic (it has since been replaced by a newer, safer highway), and along the way there were countless memorials marking places where vehicles had fallen off the steep cliff face. Needless to say the ride down was a little unnerving, especially when you could actually see over the cliff edge. It was, however, extremely fun, and I have to admit that much of the time I stayed to the right-hand side of the road, giving myself a comfortable cushion for potential crashes (which, thankfully, never occurred for anyone in our group). It was a thrilling experience, and by the time we reached the end of the trail we all looked like we had just crawled out of a dirt pile. Crazily enough, this experience got me really interested in riding bikes again, and I'm really looking forward to riding more often when I get back to the U.S. next year. The world's deadliest road -- as good a place as any to spark up an interest in bike riding!!

Thanks for reading and checking out my pictures!!

Winter Trip

2009-08-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a month of traveling South America up, down and sideways. It was an incredible trip that I'll remember for the rest of my life. It began with a group of five: my roommates Kurt and Tim, my co-worker and fellow Michagander Brendon, our mutual friend Danny, and myself. We started out in northern Chile, passed into Bolivia, and did most of the things one expects to do in Bolivia, often with very little breath to spare. After La Paz, the others headed to Peru, and I went my own separate way back into northern Chile. While there, I visited Arica, Parque Nacional Lauca (and its high-altitude lake Chungara, at 4,500 meters), and Iquique. I then flew off to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spent the better part of a week with my good pal Jessie, whom you'll warmly remember from previous posts. Somewhere in there I bussed 20-hours each way to to Iguazu Falls, as well. Anyway, enough words. Time for pictures!

1. Kurt, Danny and Brendon scouting the dusty streets of San Pedro de Atacama.

2. A sand board. Sandboarding is a lot like snowboarding, but, you know, on sand. You rub a candlestick against the bottom of the board to make it more slick.

3. Yours truly with a sandboard. I didn’t look nearly this cool once I actually got on the thing and gravity took over.

4. A sunset in Valley de la Luna, just outside of San Pedro de Atacama.

5. The geyser fields outside of San Pedro. Lots and lots of hot air piping out of the ground!!

6. I took this picture on a hike through a large cactus field.

7. Here’s me again, this time in Bolivia, in Salar de Uyuni’s pink lagoon. Those things behind me are flamingos.

8. This is me “goin’ Nat Geo” in Salar de Uyuni. This little guy is called a Vizcacha.

9. Here’s the five of us posing for a group shot in front of another lagoon. It was amazing how many different landscapes there were in Saral de Uyuni. So beautiful…

10. Brendon searches the terrain to make sure he’s lost the mob of screaming young women. Darn that boy is handsome.

11. An old church in a tiny town, located inside of the Salar.

12. Kurt knows a good cactus when he sees one.

13. Me on the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni. I was super excited to finally make it here. I’ve wanted to come for years, ever since my cousin Dale told me about them. It was a surreal landscape, with nothing but flat, white land for miles and miles in every direction.

14. Here’s the whole group in the flats. We had a running joke that most of our group pictures looked like boy band press shots. I’d say it’s pretty difficult to disagree.

15. On second thought, the boy band press shot thing might not apply to every group shot. This is the five of us in the silver and zinc mines in Potosi, Bolivia. Words cannot express how sketchy, toxic and dangerous the mines were. Here we’re in the mine, sitting with a statue of the devil, whom the miners reason lives in the mines. As gifts, they often give him tiny bottles of 192 proof alcohol, which – of course – some miners choose to imbibe while working. Bolivia has a whole different way of doing things. In any case, we were all quite pleased to make it out of that place alive, and just in time to see our tour guide blow up some dynamite just for the hell of it.

16. There’s a pretty funny story to go with this picture. We were all in Sucre, one of Bolivia’s two federal capitals (again, Bolivia has a whole different way of doing things). We saw on a tour map that there was a brewery in town, and decided to go take a tour. After multiple cab rides and various degrees of confusion, we realized that there was no brewery, and that this unremarkable little bottle shop was the place the map intentionally led us to. Absolutely classic.

17. Strips of orange peel draped over the side of a street vendor’s juice cart in La Paz, Bolivia.

18. Tim and I in La Paz, which really is a pretty remarkable city, if for no other reason than its location. The city is built inside of a valley in the high stretches of the Andes mountains. At its highest point, La Paz is more than two and a half times higher than Denver.

19. Some llamas in the high mountains outside of La Paz. I did a three-day trek that took me from this sort of environment, to valleys, to cloud forests, and ultimately to jungle. It was pretty incredible!!

20. A bridge in the cloud forest section of the hike. Some of these bridges had signs warning that the bridges were risky, and to walk one-by-one. One sign even took the liberty to declare that even the mules don’t use the bridge. Very reassuring!

21. This little girl from a tiny village in the cloud forest was one of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen.

22. My friend Mario from Germany and I on the big hill in Copacabana, Bolivia, overlooking Lake Titicaca.

23. These are the oldest known mummies in the world, from the Atacama dessert in Chile. These particular mummies are in a museum outside of Arica, the northern-most city in Chile.

24. This church in Arica was designed by the same fella who did the Eiffel Tower in France. That fella would be Gustave Eiffel.

25. One of the many banners commemorating Chile’s victory over Peru in the 1880 War of the Pacific. Most of these artifacts are gathered on Arica’s “morro,” a large rock overlooking the ocean.

26. Outside of northern Chile’s Parque Lauca, with pals from Chile and Spain.

27. During our tour of Parque Lauca we all got to feed crackers to a herd of extremely excited llamas. They were frantically running around, gobbling up as much as possible and chewing with frenzy. It was hilarious, and I think every single person was cracking up at one point or another.

28. What appeared to be real human skulls, in – curiously enough – a church inside of the park borders. I’m really not sure what the deal was, but hey… they make a pretty sweet photo.

29. I love this picture. In the background is one of Lauca’s six volcanoes, and at the bottom is a herd of grazing Vicuñas.

30. My feet and the coastline of Iquique, Chile. I went paragliding here on my birthday. No better way to usher in another year on earth than by running off a cliff, right!?

31. This guy at the hostel in Iquique was obviously pretty happy.

32. I spent the evening at a barbeque with this gang in Iquique. It was a great time. A fine birthday indeed.

33. Skip ahead to Buenos Aires. This is the famous La Boca neighborhood, which is widely known for its colorful houses.

34. A street Tango in B.A.’s Microcentro neighborhood. Buenos Aires is world famous for its Tango, and these two were really, really good.

35. B.A.’s giant, metallic flower. It opens at dawn, follows the sun during the day and closes at night.

36. Probably my favorite picture from the whole trip. Jessie’s roommates Caroline and Gino (far left and far right) were preparing to head back to Michigan, and this was their going away celebration. We all decorated masks. I made a mask, too, but for this picture I had to be the cool guy with the big glasses and umbrella.

37. There are three different countries in this picture. I’m standing in Argentina. To the left is Paraguay and to the right is Brazil. I never made it to either of the latter two. So close yet so far…

38. Along with Machu Picchu, this section of Argentina’s Iguazu Falls – named “Garganta del Diablo,” or “the Devil’s Throat” – was one of the most breathtaking things I’ve witnessed in person. A massive wall of falling water, rippling and twisting and spraying in all directions. Intense.

39. Another section of Iguazu. The park is not lacking for waterfalls, as this panoramic would prove. The rainbows were all over the place, too. I felt like I was standing inside of a postcard.

40. I spent a while hanging out with these Austrian girls in the hostel. The weather in northern Argentina was perfect, and there was a pool. In experience, hostels don't usually have pools, let alone beautiful, outdoor, in-ground pools. It was a lovely little dose of summer (it’s still winter down here, you know), and a great excuse to walk around barefoot for 24+ hours.

41. The tire on my bus blew out on the way back to B.A from Iguazu.

Right now, I feel pretty much how this tire looks. I’m going to write again, and try to include some extra stories about the trip itself. But , for right now, I’m going to sleep!

Off we go...

2009-07-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my shadow (left) and my friend Manuel's shadow (right) from yesterday.

Right now I'm off to catch a plane to northern Chile. I'll be traveling for about a month. I'll be in northern Chile, then Bolivia, then back to northern Chile again.

I'm excited!

La Piojera - Dance Sesh

2009-06-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

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Jessie Brown + Birthday Extravaganza

2009-06-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a pretty active one! It was Kurt’s birthday AND I got an out-of-the-blue visit from my good old Michigan buddy Jessica Brown. I gave her the whirlwind tour of Santiago, and, unless she’s lying to me, she had a good time. Here are some photographs.

Jessie and I at La Piojera with our Chilean buddies. A pretty ugly fight broke out about three minutes after this photo was taken, and our table was incorporated at one point or another. Everyone in the place got quiet for about 10 seconds, then someone just shouted a jolly “HEY!!”, prompting everyone to start singing and dancing again.

A photo from inside Pablo Neruda’s house in the Bellavista area of Santiago. Among his many literary accomplishments and status as a national hero of Chile, Neruda won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1971. I actually got semi yelled at for taking this picture. Moments after that, my roommate Tim pointed out to me that this table would be perfect for beer pong. Rest in peace, Mr. Neruda: your house is in good hands.

We didn’t have any candles in the apartment for Kurt’s birthday cake. But we did have a bunch of matches.

Jessie and I at the fountain on Cerro Santa Lucia.

The sculpture outside Mueso Bellas Artes. ¡Muy hermoso!

Some native dance action from La Piojera. (See video above).

Jessie at Pablo Neruda’s house. The eyes on the tree are to make sure people don’t hit their heads—something Jessie clearly doesn’t have to worry about!!

Our friend Dan and some random Chilean guy. I'm not sure who's happier: Dan with his tierra moto or homeboy with his cigarette.

Tim and Kurt – mis compañeros de cuarto.

Another shot from Neruda’s house, which, I forgot to mention, is actually modeled after a boat. But yeah. For a dude with socialist sympathies Neruda sure was comfortable.

Big shoes in the Neruda house. Supposedly, back in the day shopkeepers would put really big replicas of whatever it was they sold outside their stores so people who couldn’t read would know what type of store it was. (P.S. Thanks again to Jessie for the occasional on-the-side English translation).

A memorial underneath the giant Mary statue on Cerro San Cristobal.

One of the artists in the Plaza de Armas. My friends Griff and Libby were so impressed with one of the paintings when they were here in March that Libby flew one back to Oregon on her lap!

Another action shot of El Cumpleañero.

La torta.

Muchas Fotos

2009-05-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

Judging by the sheer volume of pictures, May was a great month. A review.

One of the world-famous moais from Eastern Island. I didn’t actually go to Easter Island – but I did go to the natural history museum!!

The outside of the museum, located inside the beautiful Parque Quinta Normal in sunny Santiago, Chile. But really, it’s not that sunny anymore.

The only thing better than a llama is a llama wearing a small, festive cap.

This is a real mummy. Insert your own Brendan Fraser joke here.

Yours truly enjoying a peaceful moment with a moai.

This is Estacion Central. I walk through the shopping mall inside every day on my way to school. Sometimes I buy an ice cream cone.

I snapped this here photo inside Casa De Moneda, a museum focusing on Chilean currency. These notes are from a couple centuries back.

My good Chilean friend Manuel (far left with the red shirt) invited me to have dinner with some of his co-workers. This was such a fun day, and the kid on Manuel’s left made authentic Peruvian food. During the meal I promised everyone I’d come back and cook American food. All I need to do now is figure out what American food is. (I’ll probably just make Mexican…)

The family whose house I ate dinner at is related to a Chilean artist named Héctor Herrera, who, during his life, was mentioned by name in a poem by the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

My roommates getting silly. Tim bought air rifles that shoot tiny plastic balls, and these two have wars inside the apartment on a semi-regular basis.

Tim and his parents. He wasn’t thrilled about this forced photo opportunity, and was even less thrilled with the two subsequent retake photos.

Brendan and I at the semi-famous and thoroughly sticky La Piojera. We headed to this place a couple weeks ago on Día de las Glorias Navales, or Navy Day. Let’s just say the mood was festive. I forgot to bring my camera, but luckily a super cool Chilean girl sent me some of her pictures.

Cuaca, the official dance of Chile, which mimics the mating of a rooster and a hen and is heavy on the stomps and handkerchiefs.

This guy kept busting out the bugle and rousing the crowd like you wouldn’t believe. He had to be the most popular guy in the place, inspiring chants of “Che-che-che, lay-lay-lay, VIVA CHILE!!” every few minutes.

With my friends Caitlin and Aurturo at Caitlin’s apartment.

From Caitlin’s rooftop. She talked her building people into letting us hang out up there all night.

We thought it was hilarious that someone decided to put a container of honey, a large plastic spoon and an entire box of cereal into the microwave. An anti-climactic way to end the series, but curious indeed...

'Notha day, 'notha Peso.

2009-05-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

Oh man!! It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this thing. So, sorry Mom, Dad, Lynn, Megan, and Some Chilean Woman. I’ll try not to leave the five of you hanging like that again in the future!!

Things are great. It’s been a lot of the same with some new stuff, too. Last weekend Teaching Chile had a little mid-semester reunion at a place which some of us lovingly refer to as the “gringo bar.” The place is run by some dudes form California. Thankfully for me they play NBA Playoffs games, so I’ll probably be heading back in a couple weeks to watch the finals. But it’s still kind of weird hearing a waitress say things like “Can I start you guys off with some appetizers?” It’s like, “What country am I in, again?” Too funny.

Tonight I’m heading off to hang out with some kids on the roof of their place and play Apples to Apples. English edition, although playing Apples to Apples in Spanish would be an excellent vocab builder.

What else is new?

Tim and Kurt decided a few weeks ago that it would be funny to keep some goldfish inside the top part of our toilet. They even decorated the place with some shells and other marine-themed items. I correctly predicted that all three of them wouldn’t survive the weekend. So, a moment of silence for the lost fish of Santiago. (One per fish).

…

…

…

Ok.

I cooked up this crazy little fantasy a while ago about teaching English at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago. According to my wild imagination, I would make some money offering advanced lessons to lower-level foreign diplomats. This would have entailed wearing a tie to work, looking at my watch a lot, and drinking coffee out of a mug bearing some sort of official government seal. And the best part: President Obama would come down to Chile, and I would have worked my embassy connections to fanagle a quick handshake and photo op. Anyway, back here in reality the embassy doesn’t need any English teachers. So it looks like my copy of “Dreams From My Father” is as close as I’ll be getting to El Presidente anytime soon.

I’m kind of toning everything down finance-wise in preparation for my big winter trip. I typed up a new monthly budget and actually spent five minutes searching for the skull and cross bones wingding in Microsoft Word. You get the idea.

A couple weeks ago a small orchestra played a rooftop concert directly across from my building. Among other crowd pleasers, they covered Michael Jackson and No Doubt. It was cool. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard “Beat It’ piped out of a tuba.

The smog down here is getting rough. It’s perhaps the only major negative of this whole trip than I can think of. It’s especially bad at my school. Working in a smog cloud can be a little difficult, and I’m always careful to drink a lot of water and try to keep my breathing slow and steady. The other day on the bus I caught myself legitimately fantasizing about breathing air from an oxygen tank. And that just ain’t right.

In another bit of silliness, my roomies and I were not-so-subtly accused of carving graffiti into the new elevator doors in our apartment building. We struggled through this conversation, which, of course, was entirely in Spanish. “Soy un professional. Yo no escribe con mi llaves in al ascensor.” Needless to say, it was a pretty ridiculous several minutes.

I’ve been hanging with one of my co-workers from Duoc, a super cool Chilean guy named Manuel. He’s also an English teacher, so it’s easy for us to discuss any variety of subjects. But he’s trying to force me to practice my Spanish more, which is good. When I got in his car the other day I talked to him for about 20 minutes in Spanish. When I was done, I was like, “Woah! Did I just do that?!” It hadn't occurred to me that I'm capable of basic Spanish conversation.

Our power went out the other day in the apartment. Tim and I were walking around in our Peruvian-style winter hats, and I decided to warm up some red wine on the stove. My old red-light headlamp from Astrocamp came in quite handy. It was a really funny night, too, because we got to watch some guys trying to negotiate with the electrical cables on the street from our balcony. Apparently a truck crashed into a pole and, according to one Chilean source, “make the explosion.” But this guy was standing on top of an old-fashioned ladder, which was hastily leaning against a tree, and he was trying to clip branches right next to the electric cables. We were pretty sure he was going to die. For as elaborate as Chilean Spanish is, I’m pretty sure they don’t have a word for “safety precautions.”

No vemos…. (Until next time…)

==============

PHOTOS:

1) Yours truly posing next to what has to be one of the coolest trucks in the world. Kurt wanted to buy it, but between the two of us and Tim we didn’t have the two and a half million Chilean Pesos.

2) The aforementioned fish de toilet. (R.I.P.)

3) Some street entertainers juggling knives in bloody butcher uniforms on the street.

4) Kurt looking keen.

5) The true extent of Chile’s “development” hit me when I walked past this Applebee’s on the street. I literally did a double-take.

Video Tour of Dave's Apartment!!!

2009-04-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

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The Zoo, South America Style

2009-04-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Middle April

2009-04-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Dave has been a busy little beaver.

I’ve signed on to give private English lessons to one of the Chilean teachers at Duoc. One or two more similar assignments appear to be on the horizon. One of my classes was cancelled (everyone dropped out!!), but should soon be reassigned with new students. I began taking Spanish lessons twice a week at a Duoc location in my neighborhood. I also spontaneously wrote a political column, and sent it off to a variety of newspapers in the U.S., hoping to see it printed as a guest column. While I didn’t have luck this time (partially, I think, because I went way over the 500 word limit most newspapers impose), I received some promising feedback. So I’m going to add freelance writing to my to do list. (Isn’t it amazing how one can live several thousand miles away from home and, with the help of technology, keep tabs on world news and participate in the exchange of ideas?)

And on that note, I created another blog, DAVEKARGOL.blogspot , which is less about my time in Chile and more about issues, ideas and questions that are on my mind. There isn’t much on the site now, but I suspect I’ll be updating it much more often than this one.

I had an excellent trip to Mendoza, Argentina last weekend. After some stress scouring the internet for a place to stay the day before we left, we ended up getting set up with a pretty good, cheap little hostel. On my first night I met some guys from Buenos Aires and proceeded to jam out some Bob Marley in the common room. There’s nothing quite like being handed a guitar by 20 strangers, whose language you have a 3rd grader’s grasp of, and being instructed to play. I did my best, man. No woman, no cry.

My friends Kurt, Arden, Caitlin and Kate were along for the journey. On our first full day we did an adventure package that included horseback riding, rappelling and white water rafting. Rafting was my favorite. Kurt and I showed those rapids who their daddy was.

We also spent a little bit of time hanging out with some Danish folks. They were good people. I was told that if I ever wanted to, I could have a job making ice cream in the “back room” of the ice cream shop where one of them works. I guess it would be a fairly high-paying job, as the Danish Corona is a super strong currency. I guess that’s how Danish ice cream shop employees can take vacations to Argentina.

The next day I went to Mendoza’s huge Parque General San Martin. I walked around for a while and ended up visiting the Mendoza Zoo. It was such a fun time. In terms of variety it wasn’t the best zoo I’ve ever been to, but it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at the zoo. All the animals we’re really close to the bars and you could just walk right up. Of course, it was a pretty uncontrolled situation. At various stages I witnessed people feeding wrapped candies to animals, kids chucking rocks at llamas and, in my favorite moment, a liberated monkey running around and generally doing whatever it damn-well pleased (see video above). Safe? Probably not. Humane? It’s questionable. Fun? You bet.

Later that night I headed off to a “full moon party.” I was a little disappointed, because it was kind of made to sound like a really rare, outdoor-style celebration. One picture from a previous full moon party showed a large group of people gathered around a giant bonfire outside. It turned out to be essentially a normal party, only an hour away. And after a little while, the guy who drove our van decided it was time to go back, even though it was still pretty early. It was still fun though, because almost everyone from our hostel went and I got to chill on the foothills of the mountains. And I got a few good photos with a guy in a Goofy mask.

Beyond Mendoza, my travels will probably slow down to a crawl here for a couple months, as I begin saving for my big winter expedition in July. At this point I’ve already been to most of the close-ish places I planned to go for weekend trips (Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, La Serena, Mendoza), and I’ve only been here for one fifth of my total planned time. In other words, I need to tone it down several notches. But I’ve done a pretty good job of that this weekend, just walking around, reading and cooking. Less is more.

I need to give a shout out to my parents, who sent me, among other things, a bag of my favorite brand of jelly beans. I will be rationing them out over the course of the next several weeks, and I’m keeping them in the same drawer as my money, ipod, and passport. Precious, precious little beans.

I watched Body of Lies on my computer last night, and realized that it was the first full movie I’ve seen since I got to Chile. I went two whole months without watching a movie!

I’ve recently discovered a new favorite podcast: Stuff You Should Know, from How Stuff Works. This has been great for my two-hour daily commute to and from work. You can find it in the iTunes Store. It’s free, and it teaches listeners tons of crazy stuff, like:

- Honeymoons got their name from the ancient Persian practice of taking a one-month vacation after being married, and bringing along honey, which was believed to be an aphrodisiac. A month, of course, is one moon cycle.

- There are at least 120 dead bodies on Mount Everest.

- Life expectancy in developing countries without direct ocean access is several years lower than it is for developing countries with direct ocean access.

That’s about it for now. Today is for writing, studying Spanish and lesson planning. Now where did I put those jelly beans… ?

PHOTOS:

1) The gateway into Parque General San Martin. (First above)

2) Some guy I don’t know and I posing with goofy, who, unknown to many, has a fleurdelis tattoo on his right arm. (Second above)

3) The long road home, leading down one of the Andean slopes from the Argentina/Chile border crossing.

4) Arden and Kate jamming out at the full moon party. We didn’t know the guy on the left, but that didn’t stop him from sneaking into the picture at the perfect moment.

5) Full moon party. It wasn’t as spooky as it looks here.

Room With A View

2009-04-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

From March to April

2009-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well first of all, the Radiohead show I went to last week was the best concert I’ve ever seen. It was perfect. They played an amazing, long set list that I couldn’t have improved upon if I made it myself. It included every song from “In Rainbows,” as well as crowd pleasers and rarities from all the other albums. The lights and video were incredible. It was an outdoor show with great sound. And Griff and Libby were there on their very last night in Chile. Unless I get amnesia or suffer a traumatic head injury, I will never forget that show.

I just got back from a weekend in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. This was the first time I got into the hills in Valparaíso, which is where everyone – accurately -- says the cool stuff is. The long, winding streets of Valpo have an enchanting quality, and the spot where we hung out last night reminded me a bit of Cusco, Peru. Tim, Kurt and I stayed at a nice little hostel on Cerro Concepcion, which offered one of the best views I’ve ever had in a temporary lodging (see video in proceeding post). We ate at a restaurant owned by a guy from Las Vegas. The paella, wine and ice cream we got were all nothing short of immaculate.

The day before, we arrived in Viña pretty late, and my friend Grady and I grabbed a super cheap room. The pillow on my bed looked like it had come into contact with at least half of the fluids the human body is capable of producing. So I did what any reasonable person would do -- throw it on the floor and sleep on a sweatshirt. Earlier that night we went on a complete wild goose chase, trying to get to Tim’s friend’s house for a birthday party. The poor cab driver was really confused about where we wanted to go and had to talk to Tim’s friend on the phone a few times to figure it out.

Sometimes my students write or say things that I find pretty hilarious. A few recent favorites:

- I walk to the bich
- When I was young my mom cooked me
- I rode my friend on a horse

I will usually share these gems with my other classes, and explain to them why they’re funny. But I totally understand how it goes, and make similar mistakes all the time. I accidentally said Chile’s equivalent of the F word to a café employee the other day, and I didn’t even know it until a Chilean guy pointed it out. Oops!

I really, really need a haircut. I’ve been putting it off because I’m afraid they’re not going to understand me and shave my hair off or give me a mullet. Mullets are huge down here, by the way.

Otherwise, I’ve been taking advantage of my free time by practicing Spanish, playing guitar and working on my cooking, and watching a lot of Flight of the Conchords.

PHOTOS:

1) (First above) Paintings of Valparaíso, for sale on Cerro Concepcion.
2) (Second above) The sun shining through Valpo's famous electrical wires.
3) A statue in Valpo.
4) One of the main monuments in Valpo.
5) Yet another stone structure in Valpo -- this time with me in it!

The Visitors

2009-03-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

What a great week.

Libby and Griff have been here for nearly seven full days now, and much to my excitement they’re having a great time in Chile. Since arriving we’ve walked all over Santiago, and last weekend we took a brief trip up to La Serena, which is about a six hour bus ride north of Santiago on the coast. We originally planned to go to Mendoza, Argentina, but hit a few snags when a member of our party was unable to summon certain travel documents. If there’s one thing the Chilean authorities love, it’s documentation. I officially graduated to four finger printing sessions the other day when I got my thumb inked up at a government office while picking up my Chilean ID card (more documentation).

A calm resort town in Chile’s Norte Chico region, La Serena has a certain quaintness and charm. Since fall officially started two days ago, La Serena was relatively free of tourists. This would not have been the case even a few weeks ago. The three of us milled about town, looking at the many trees, statues, and orange and yellow painted walls. Most South American cities I’ve visited have a Plaza de Armas, or main square, and La Serena’s was one the more attractive ones. Griff took quite a liking to the many dogs in the streets, and probably said the word “perros” upwards of 50 times. He fed the dogs leftover bread, salami and cheese on more than one occasion. Which is weird because now that I think about it the first time I talked to Griff he coaxed me over to him with a trail made of cheese, salami and breadcrumbs.

While in La Serena we also met some friendly Germans at Hostel Punto, and saw a breathtakingly clear sky at a secluded observatory an hour’s taxi ride from the coast. After spending last year working at Astrocamp in Southern California, it was a treat to see celestial objects that are impossible to see from the northern hemisphere – namely Alpha Centauri, the Southern Cross constellation, and the two Magellanic Clouds. It was also funny (to me, anyway) to spend the entire day waiting to find out if the clouds were going to recede and, thus, if our tour was going to continue as planned. I spent a great deal of last year in the same situation at Astrocamp, waiting to find out if the “Scopes” activity was going to be cancelled – or “called”—because of bad viewing conditions. Scopes, it turned out, was on, and we did not have to come up with an alternate program. If you’ve never worked at Astrocamp I sincerely apologize for the last several sentences.

Tim, Kurt and I accidentally got on our building super’s shit list last week when we barbequed some meat on our balcony. Apparently charcoal grills are not allowed in rented buildings in Santiago. Which, you know, makes a lot of sense. But at least four people talked to and/or scolded us about the incident. At least what we lack in intuition and Spanish skills is compensated for with charm and stunning good looks.

Teaching is still going really well. It’s awesome to actually see progress and see certain grammar points click for students, especially so early in the game. This teaching situation is essentially the opposite of my year teaching high school in Detroit, because I have a pre-made curriculum, a textbook, and – this is the sticking point – students who are respectful and actually want to learn. That last thing is the thing upon which everything else hinges, and it’s really nice to see the other side of the spectrum. It’s also worth noting that my school is located in a poor part of Santiago, and that most of my students come from tough backgrounds. Unlike my students in Detroit, however, they actually want to learn and realize that education is the key to a better life.

That’s about it for now….

PHOTOS:

1) Libby and Griff at the Hostel Punto in La Serena.
2) Libby and I looking intense in front of one of the Easter Island guys. This is at the archaeological museum in La Serena.
3) Griff and I in La Serena, with the lighthouse in the background.
4) A horse on the beach in La Serena.
5) A statue of Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador and first Royal Governor of Chile, in Santiago's Plaza de Armas.

The new place

2009-03-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

This has been a very productive week!

I’ve been all moved into my new apartment for the last few days and I really love this place. I feel really lucky to be in such a comfortable apartment, and the view is something I don’t expect to take for granted anytime soon. We’re on the sixth floor, and the San Cristobal hill and its famous statue of the Virgin Mary is perfectly visible from my bedroom window. It’s awesome. I think the second best view I’ve ever had from somewhere I’ve lived was of Domino’s pizza in Ypsilanti. So you can imagine my excitement.

I’ve also taken to a practice I like to call the “city size up.” This entails staring down at the street from a high floor of a building. In order to really do it correctly, one should have a beverage in hand, preferably in a cup with a handle. One stands very still and gazes down at the activity below. Occasional, slight nods may be appropriate every once in a while, along with the squinting of one eye as though in deep though. You might even pause briefly while raising the cup to your lips, before actually taking the sip. Any proper “city size up” will last a minimum of two minutes in duration.

The area we live in is pretty amazing. From my balcony I can see basket gondolas moving up and down the hill on cables. The San Cristobal Tower, where many foreign diplomats stay, is right there as well. I’m a five-minute walk from the Peruvian and French embassies. And this street is a lot quieter than the area I was living for the last month in Barrio Bellavista. I’m sleeping like a baby.

My first week of teaching went really well. I’m feeling really good about my classes and my ability to actually teach these kids English. In a few classes I’ve dropped some Chilean slang words I learned, which is always a great way to grab everyone’s attention. In Chile, a really popular slang word is “cachai,” which kind of means “get it?” or “know what I’m saying?” If you were explaining something to someone, you could use “cachai” as a question at the end. I think to my students there’s something genuinely hilarious about hearing a gringo use Chilean slang in a Michigan accent.

Yesterday some friends and I headed to the Concha y Toro vineyard, which is just outside the city. It was kind of weird to get off of the subway and be a ten-minute cab ride away from such a serene, natural place. I didn’t realize this until I got there, but Concha y Toro is the third largest wine seller in the world. Apparently Gallo, the American company from California’s Napa Valley, is the first. Anyway, we had a good tour and got to taste some pretty good wine. It was muy bueno!

Otherwise, I’m just really settling in and getting into the flow of normal life. While I still have a ton to learn, my weekly routine has basically been established. I’m getting used to living like a Chilean, and trying to negotiate a reasonable weekly budget. I’m going to spend the rest of the day today lesson planning and trying to get as far ahead as I can, because Libby and Griff are arriving here tomorrow morning and I want to have as much time to hang out as possible.

Much love, and until next time….

---------------

PHOTOS:

1) Tim feeding Vegemite to Caitlin
2) Kurt, crammed into the back of a cab during our move from Bellavista to Providencia
3) My non-digital photo wall, on my bedroom closet
4) (From left) Tim, Nico, Jose, Kev, Chio and Kurt on our first night in the new place.
5) Yours truly, standing in front of a cascada in the Canyon del Maipo

Insomnia

2009-03-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

I can’t sleep!

I start my first day of actual teaching today. I’m pretty excited about that -- apparently to the extent that several cups of coffee are looking more and more likely in a few hours.

Later today I’m signing my contract for my new apartment. I’m living with two guys – Kurt, from Baltimore, and Tim, from Melbourne, Australia. Tim calls popsicles "icy poles." We found a pretty incredible place in the Providencia area of Santiago. I have an hour-plus commute to work everyday, but I’m really happy with the place. The prospect of no longer living out of my suitcase inspires almost too much excitement to handle.

My school is awesome. Everyone there is really nice and welcoming. It's right across the street from a huge mall that's probably four times newer and nicer than the one I grew up with in metro Detroit (sorry, T-Shirt Place). I feel like I'm going to become a huge mall rat because I'll have some breaks to fill in between classes and a guy can only read for so long. Oh, and all the other U.S.-based English teachers at my school are super cool. Grady, from Santa Cruz, Brendon, from Kalamazoo, and Radford from Santa Barbara are all great fun.

This last week was pretty laid back. Just a lot more hanging out in the hostel, exploring the city and looking for apartments. I headed out to the San Jose de Maipo area the other day and hiked around with my friends Arden, Caitlin and Shelly in the foothills of the Andes. The day before that a bunch of us got really good food at an authentic Spanish restaurant. Also, I finally got around to eating some empanadas, which are practically littering the streets down here.

We’ve all begun to notice that the many stray dogs in Santiago are all really nice, and all look like purebreds. It’s pretty strange. Almost all of these dogs look like they escaped from some nuclear family’s house five minutes ago. I've been hatching this fantasy where I rescue one of these guys and bring him back to the states. Clearly, any dog would rather spend nine hours in my laundry room everyday than roam about free and wild.

Earlier today it really hit me how hard it is for Chileans-- or Chilenos, as they're called here -- to understand my Spanish. Even when I say a sentence correctly (no small event, I can assure you), they often still don’t get it. This is basically because I'm speaking Mexican-style Spanish with a nasally Michigan accent. It sounds so different from their accent that sometimes it just doesn’t register. My typical plan B -- gesturing and pointing at stuff -- has been a pretty good fallback thus far.

I guess I don’t really have a ton else to write about right now. It’s pretty amazing how even when you fly to the bottom of the world, move to a new city, get a new job and spend every day with people you didn’t know a few weeks ago, life still has its way of just flowing on. I’m already adjusted to living here, which is insane considering I still have so much more Spanish to learn.

Only one more week until Gribby (Griff + Libby) get here!!

PICTURES, IN ORDER:

1) Kev the Kangaroo, Marcos and myself kicking it at Hostal Oveja Negra.
2) Santiago's dirty river.
3) Brendon and Radford
4) Really, really expensive gumballs.
5) Salvador Allende -- the world's first democratically elected socialist.

Dave = Pumped

2009-03-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Settling In

2009-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

It’s 1:11am. I’m the only one awake in the hostel, in large part because I just learned my first day of on-site school training has been postponed until Wednesday. A car alarm has been ringing in the distance for at least five minutes, a few dogs are barking outside. Otherwise it’s really quiet here. A giant inflatable kangaroo is in the room, posed on top of an djembe drum, wearing a polo shirt but – in true kangaroo fashion -- no pants. I’m on a wooden bench in the main gathering room. The window is open and I’m in my bare feet.

It’s been a great week. I still feel for the most part like a tourist, because I haven’t really done much work since getting here. Assuming you don’t count living day to day with a 2nd grader’s grasp of the local language as work, that is.

Last Wednesday the other teachers and I started orientation, which basically let us know about the school system we’ll be working in. Everyone in this hostel is working for Duoc UC, a private language institute. We’ll be teaching post high school, although we’re not technically part of university academia. We were all briefed by representatives from the US Embassy on all manner of security issues: what to do in an earthquake, what to do if you find yourself in the middle of a protest, what to do if you spontaneously combust, etc. Additionally, we took the TOEIC exam, which is basically a test that proves to our employer that we can, in fact, speak the English language. I haven’t gotten my results back yet, but I’m feeling pretty confident about my odds.

The days have kind of melted together. They’re long, hot, and relaxing. I’ve been all around the city and I’m starting to connect the dots between the various districts. I’ve figured out the subway and bus system. The subways here are super new and remind me a lot of the Metro in Washington, D.C. The public transit system and I will become very well acquainted over the course of this year, considering the fact that the school I teach in will be at least a half hour away from where I’ll probably end up living.

I’m definitely already used to city life. Hopping on and off trains and busses. Walking miles and miles. Jogging across busy streets. Hearing bits and pieces of hundreds of conversations, even if I don’t understand most of them. This place definitely has an energy and a pulse that is very exciting. I’ve always said I wanted to live for a year in a big city, and Santiago is definitely a big city. I’ve also been apartment hunting with a few other guys, and I think we’re less than a week away from closing in on a good place. We’ve found a few apartments online that we’re planning to look at very soon.

Today I received the huge news that my friends Griff and Libby are coming down from Bend, Oregon, in exactly two weeks. This is even greater incentive to, you know, find an apartment. But I’m really excited about this, and honestly didn’t expect anyone to actually follow through on visiting me. It’s amazing that it’s happening within my first month! Additionally, I’m going to try tomorrow to buy tickets to see Radiohead here on March 26th with my out-of-town friends. That’s right. RADIOHEAD!!!!

I just got back today from a weekend trip to the coastal sister cities of Valpariaso and Viña Del Mar. I ended up getting invited along by my friend Tim, whose Chilean friends Jose, Titi and Chico were already heading out there on a driving trip. It was super nice and very convenient to make the trip by car, because I just assume I’ll have to make any long trips within Chile by bus or train. We stayed in Titi’s grandparents’ place on the 10th floor of a high-rise apartment building right on the ocean. I slept both nights to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. On our second day I watched hordes of small children build various SpongeBobs in the sand. Apparently this was for the 10th anniversary of the show, and at one point a chorus of kids started chanting BOB – ES – PO – HA! This could be roughly translated in English to mean BOB SPONGE!!

Other things that happened last week:

- We had a really good barbecue at the hostel where the other half of the Teaching Chile people are staying. I had a good time taking turns beating the hell out of my steak with a large spoon in the kitchen. It’s always a good thing when tenderization becomes a group activity.

- Earlier today I ate lunch at Burger King. And it is no less mediocre below the equator.

- I got a Chilean cell phone. My phone number has eight digits. I’ve got about twenty people in the phone, none of whom I knew ten days ago.

Nothing else comes to mind at the moment! Hopefully by next time I write I’ll have an apartment, some Radiohead tickets and a slightly expanded Spanish vocabulary.

Ciao!

---------

PHOTOS:

1) The view of Santiago and the Andes Mountains from a nearby hill.
2) A shot of Barrio Bellavista, the district of Santiago where my hostel is.
3) The pacific ocean from Viña Del Mar. Santiago is about two hours from the coast.
4) Graffiti from just outside my window. Santiago has tons of amazing graffiti all over the city.
5) Jose, Titi and Chico.

Arrival

2009-02-22T16:34:00.001-08:00

Well, I made it all the way down here to Santiago de Chile! It’s pretty crazy to think about how far south I am. In my home state of Michigan, down-staters refer to everything above Flint as “up north.” Now I could use the same phrase to refer to just about every major city on earth, and indeed most of its land.

Panama Canal? Up north.

Rio de Janeiro? Up north.

Mexico? Way up north.

The last few days have been really busy and really fun. I’m living in a hostel called Oveja Negra (black sheep) in the Barrio Bellavista district of Santiago. There are about 15 or so of us here, and I’m sharing a room with five other guys for the next few weeks. You can probably imagine what our room looks like. Its like somebody detonated a series of bombs, all of them made out of suitcases.

So let’s see. I woke up on Thursday morning in Riverview, Michigan. It was really cold outside. When I got on my first of three flights, a lady was yelling at the flight crew because of how cold it was in the boarding area. About twenty hours, six podcasts, and one country later I found myself here in Santiago, nothing short of shocked that all three of my checked bags made it. Pretty soon the sun came up and I was just blown away by how beautiful the weather is here. It’s been about 85 every day. Just walking out the door has become something of a spiritual experience.

I’ve been reading a lot about Chile recently, and it didn’t take me much walking around to confirm that Chile has a lot of money. Most of the cars in central Santiago are very new and very nice – nothing like the fleet of Ford Pintos I saw milling around in Lima a year and a half ago. There are plenty of new, beautiful buildings and high rise condos are popping up all over the place. They say Chile will be the first Latin American country to be considered developed.

I’m definitely having a good time with the other teachers I’m shacked up with. Everyone in my hostel is also affiliated with the Teaching Chile program, and they come from all over the place. We’ve got people from Ireland and Australia in our posse. We’ve all been hanging out a lot and exploring our new home. I’m planning on going out on Tuesday and taking lots of pictures. I’ll need to be careful with my camera, though, because Chile apparently has the highest rate of petty crimes in Latin America. Our program director told us that Spain recently limited the number of visas issued to Chileans because of theft-related problems. This proclivity to steal, I have to say, doesn’t apply to most Chileans. But it is a big problem. We were even warned to hold our cell phones a certain way so people can’t grab them and run. My new favorite practical joke is giving a light tug to one of my friends bags on the street. You can almost see the adrenaline drop.

A few of my recent adventures include:

- hiking up a hill to see a large statue of the virgin Mary

- looking for a place to buy a towel -- for about two hours

- entering a contest with my friend Tim to see who can eat the most “poor man’s steaks” – a popular menu item here that involves putting cooked onions and an over-easy egg on top of a cheap slab of meat.

- at the liquor store, accidentally asking for ice cream to put into mixed drinks. I meant to ask for ice.

In a minute I’m going to go make some spaghetti and hang out in the common room. Bringing my guitar has turned out to be a great idea because we’ve all been jamming out on a nightly basis. Bob Marley and Beatles songs have been favorites. Happy songs for happy people.

Introduction

2009-01-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

In just about three weeks I will be moving to Santiago, Chile, for the rest of the year. There I will be an English teacher at a Chilean university called Duoc.

For the last several years I've thought about teaching English as a foreign language. I spent most of 2008 thinking I was going to teach English in Seoul, South Korea. I tried to learn the Korean language. The word for “running” was pronounced “kor-o-ga-go-e-sim-e-da.” I thought that was too many syllables to describe something so simple, so I started thinking about other countries to live in. I ultimately decided upon Chile because I love South America, I’m trying to get better at speaking Spanish, and Chile has tons of fun things to do outside.

You probably already know that Chile is a long and narrow strip of a land that kind of looks like a spine, that stretches along South America’s western edge. And that the massive Andes mountain range runs along the length of Chile’s eastern border with Argentina. And that the Pacific Ocean runs along its entire western end.

Here are some other quick facts about Chile:

- Because of the Huboldt Current, almost all of Chile’s beaches have very cold water.

- The Inca empire extended into much of modern day Chile.

- According to The Wine Bible, Chile is the fifth largest exporter of wine to the United States.

- The mummies discovered in Chile’s Atacama desert date back 9,000 years, and are the oldest mummies ever discovered.

- Easter Island is a special territory of Chile. It is more than 2,000 miles away from the mainland and is considered a Polynesian island.

- Chile is the site of the most massive earthquake ever recorded—9.5 on the Richter Scale.

- The neo-fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet is not a recommended topic of discussion when striking up a conversation with people you’ve just met in Chile.

- Chile and Peru have an ongoing argument over the appellation of Pisco, a popular liquor and the national drink of both countries.

- According to the 2007-2008 Global Competitiveness Report, Chile is the most economically competitive country in Latin America.

- Copper mining makes up a large piece of Chile’s GDP. Copper accounts for nearly half of Chile’s exports.

- As a young boy, I thought Chile, Turkey and Greece were all named after food.

I probably won’t have much more to write about until I actually get to Santiago on February 20th! Until then I’ll be hanging out, saving money, studying Spanish and tying up loose ends in Michigan.