7 Agosto 2011
After another late night, I slept in till around 12. My room has this sweet black out curtain which creates a very sleepy type of atmosphere, even during the middle of the day! I awoke to Marisol’s greeting of “Feliz dia del nino!” hmm lets google this bizz—ahh Children’s day. A day of children’s rights and…well…just kidding, in Chile, it’s actually day of buying your kid presents and spoiling them in such a manner that they feel they are special, and maybe even loved. Well, we shall not partake in such commercialized banter in this house! And so it goes, Vale moping around because there are no presents, Marisol insisting that she is the one who wanted to be treated like an adult, etc etc. Vale was carrying around a bottle of dish soap this morning and smelling it because it smelled really good (she’s not challenged or touched, just crazy) and so I asked her if I could get a whiff of her “regalo de dia del nino” laughs all around. Typically, gifts for Children’s day are small things like a toy car or a doll or something (not a bottle of dish liquid). However, in recent years, it has been so overly commercialized in Chile that parents are gifting bicycles and ipods and much more expensive gifts to their kids! Talk about crazy! Then they have to outdo themselves for birthdays and Christmas! Yeah no. that’s why there are no gifts for the over-age kids in this house! Well that... and we aren’t really kids are we?
Sundays mark the one day of the week where lunch is, for lack of a better term, tremendous- in all forms. We had company over, a close family friend (and actually the brother of the professor that I initially contacted through a professor at State about a homestay…small world), and I tasted my first Pisco Sour, I believe it’s the national drink of Chile…either that or Rodolfo just likes it so much that it might as well be the national drink of Chile! During lunch, we (and by we, I mean everyone but me. I mainly just listened because I don’t know how to express my thoughts… :/) talked about politics, the education strike, the university system, and we even talked some about environmental regulations in Chile. I know that the politically charged nature of these conversations is not reserved to just Sunday living room talk amongst my family, what with all of the strikes and movements, I’m starting to gather that Chile is a very politically charged nation, each person with their individual opinion about certain issues, and each definitely not afraid to voice said opinion. It’s also interesting to me how often Chile is compared to the United States, and in how many ways. From traffic laws to school systems, from the retirement age and social security to voting practices, I am always hearing the “…but in the United States” card whipped out in such arguments. Something interesting Vale told me today was that they actually have a problem with voting in Chile due to the fact that if you register to vote, you are legally bound to exercise this right….Meaning that once you register- you either vote or you face a fine of a certain amount. She told me that this is why many people don’t register to vote in the first place!
We also talked about the Cellulose factory that used to be near Valdivia and the environmental debates associated with this. Apparently this factory emitted a very fetid/nasty/I’m fixin’ to barf kind of smell and the smell, while not toxic, still contaminated the air of the city. The citizens rallied together (oh? well that’s abnormal…not!) and they had some sort of environmental legislation passed where the company had to eliminate the smell all together. This is why we were even on the topic- environmental legislation- aka me. I was told that they are a few professors on campus who specialize in just this- environmental law and policy. How perfect! I’ll have to track ‘em down and get the down low on Chilean environmental policy…that will be quite the endeavor considering the abounding info on politics in this country!!
After lunch Vale and I had bonding time, that’s of course after she got the grand tour a la skype of my house and my crazy family (who all met Marisol as well). Marisol said that she’s excited for my mom to come and visit because she can tell that my mom is spontaneous and fun and that she would fit right in…which is true, with the exception of the distinct language barrier. But I’m sure she will find someway to break right through that too. Following this, I watched Marisol make lunch for the next day (mashed potatos…aka pure…said pure-ay. Yeah potato purée. Clever no?) and helped her put away our some 5 or 6 dozen eggs that had just been purchased…it’s a month-long supply, she assured me!!
The night came to a close with Rodolfo traumatizing me with ‘el indio picaro’: see video
Gotta love that Chilean sense of humor.
8 Agosto 2011
Today was another early day and we headed to al centro to try to get our ID cards (carnets) from the registro civil. We arrived very promptly in the morning, just like the man had told us to when we last were there filling out our forms and getting fingerprinted and the like, but, much to our dismay, our cards were not ready. Well. That’s annoying. So I asked the guy behind the counter when they would be ready and he said sometime between now and the 17th of August. HA. Well that narrows it down. Again with the time sensitive nature of things, I don’t know if I’m ever going to get over it! Following this, we checked out the mall in Valdivia, not too shabby, but overall pretty lack luster simply because there aren’t that many stores open!
The most interesting part of our mall expedition was a footprint of the educational protests that was left right across the street. There were desks and chairs shoved expertly into the links of the fence and a banner slung across the front of the school demanding educational equity. Later, I would talk to Marisol more in depth about education in this country and how public education truly is appalling in comparison to private education in terms of quality. I am going to have to agree with the protesters on this one- if there is not educational equity, students do not have the same opportunities, and because of this, their success is primarily dependent upon their social class and quite frankly, whether or not their parents can afford to send them to a private school! Sadly, the distribution of wealth here is not as such where every family can send their child to a private school, and because of this the children are entrapped in a circle of poverty, faced with an educational deficit that they simply cannot match or even remotely surpass! It’s really infuriating and extremely frustrating (mind you…I’m not even Chilena but I feel this way…), but it’s definitely not something that can be changed overnight. Marisol is frustrated with all of the political discourse surrounding the issue, she just wants something to be done already. I can’t blame her, but like I said, change is not exactly instantaneous and there are various conflicting political parties here (she listed something like 5 parties off the top of her head that are influential in the decision making process) that all have to say their piece. If the States had this many parties…I don’t know…I don’t even want to think about what would have happened with the debt ceiling and other recent legislation. It would be disastrous! That’s for certain. Yay politics says the poli sci major!
Anyways…::hops back on the train of thought:: So we drop by the Mercado so I can pick up a pair of slippers which are called pantuflas (what. a. fun. word.) to keep my feet cozy warm while I am roaming about the cold floors of this house. See pantuflas:
Exhibit A: Pantuflas
Most importantly, after lunch, the girls and I went to make new friends! Yay!! Ha. But really…we met up with some MUCH NICER international students from Germany and France and we officially…drum roll please…have plans to go to Chiloe! Hoorah Hoorah!! Pinguinos!! Our meeting was actually pretty comical because our only means of communicating was through Spanish, but we all had such distinct accents! I really enjoyed talking to the other girls and I think we are going to get along splendidly especially since 2 of them are avid rock climbers! Aka: I am going climbing tomorrow! Can’t tell you how much this fogs my goggles. I’m thrilled that I am going to be able to climb!! Let’s just hope that the gym we are going to has gear for rent!
So let it be known that this Thursday through Sunday, we are going to Chiloe to visit the cities of Castro and Ancud, and we are going to hit up Puerto Montt on the way back. Should be fun! We have lots of cool things planned and I’m sure all will go exactly as such….riiiiight. no. but that’s what makes adventures so fun!
I love your slippers!!
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