Hola a todos! Yet again another packed week with CIEE. Monday was dedicated to learning about human rights in Chile, including visiting various memorial sites. As many probably know, there was a coup here in 1973, in which the military overthrew Presidente Salvador Allende, and replaced him with General Agosto Pinochet. Pinochet (or "la dictadura") was in power until 1990, when he was voted out of office in an official election. During these years, many people who supported Allende or supported leftist politics were dissappeared or assasinated. Today it is extremely taboo to talk about the coup--no one does. It is recent history that affected many, but is not talked about, and is still a very polemic issue. We listened to a lecture about los derechos humanos, and then went to Villa Grimaldi (remaaned Parque por la Paz), which was a site used for torture and interrogation during the reign of la dictadura. After the tour there, we continued to el Cementerio General. This national cementary is huge; there are road names to direct a lost visitor, and one wanders through rows of graves which range from small palaces of marble to long apartments of tombs. As we walked through, stray dogs accompanied us (like in all of Santiago), we passed through a large funeral party, and wandered by kiosks selling candy and cookies. While there we saw the tombs of Salvador Allende and a memorial for many deseparecidos. (LEFT: Salvador Allende's grave. RIGHT: graves of some of those who were executed during this time; most were never found.) We returned home late, around 7pm, and to say the least it was a tiring and heavy day, although extremely interesting.

On Tuesday we took a Spanish test (homework in July, whattt) to show the level of our speaking and writing skills. At the end of the semester we'll take another test, which they will compare against this one to see how much we have advanced. Once finished with work, we took a tour of la Universidad de Chile. It seems like a wonderful campus--it's huge, with beautiful buildings, all very different in architectural styles. All of the students are on vacation now (between semesters) so it was pretty empty, but I imagine it's bustling when school is in session!

Today we met at la Universidad Diego Portales for an orientation. This was great for me, because I live only 5 blocks away, and could wake up late and walk there in less than 10 minutes (once again, I love where I live, it's the best location ever!). After a quick orientation/long coffee break, I came back to my house with 3 friends from CIEE to eat our packed lunches here. We then wandered through my neighborhood, and found a huge park just 6 or 7 blocks aways, where we basked in the warm weather (well warm for here--compared to home I imagine you all would be freezing). We were craving icecream, so before heading to the CIEE office to attempt the laborious process of choosing classes, we ventured around Santiago to find a good heladería (ice cream store!). After wandering down wrong streets and asking many strangers for directions, we finally found a wonderful heladería with tons of flavors. The icecream here is absolutely delicious, and resembles gelatto more than what we're used to at home. From here I met up with Allie, a friend from K studying in Santiago, and wandered further around the city and Plaza de Armas. Quite a full and wonderful day!


Also, mi hermanita Leo had her first bath today; here's a picture of her, all warm and clean:

Eso es todo para hoy! Love to all.