http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/22/students-march-chile-education-protests?CMP=twt_gu
Here's a little background on the current protests about education reform.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Musings
Things that I had forgotten about Chile:
1) The stray dogs wear sweaters.
2) Having daily protests is pretty regular.
3) It appears that I am, in fact, blond.
1) The stray dogs wear sweaters.
2) Having daily protests is pretty regular.
3) It appears that I am, in fact, blond.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Day two. In which I write in my blog probably more than I ever did on study abroad.
Writing in my blog two days in a row...who am I?
I spent much of today walking around Santiago, visiting some favorite old places and discovering new parts of a city that I thought I already new well. Today was one of those days with ups and downs. The downs started out because, well mostly because starting a huge research project is a little daunting and not exactly what I want to be doing right this second, especially after finishing classes only about two weeks ago. But cest la vie. This morning I spent a good 2.5 hours in the library pulling up article after website after book that I should probably at some point read just to start with my investigations. After spending all this time skimming through pages, reloading my email a million times, and minimizing all of my new info (to make the computer look pretty, of course), I decided that that was enough studying for the day. The outdoors and city was awaiting.
Now, here I want to interject with a little piece of advice, or just some thoughts that I have acquired from my experiences abroad. Go on study abroad if you can and are at all interested. Do it, really. Because, living in a city by oneself is nothing at all like the experience you get abroad through a program. Now this is of course a) my biased opinion, and b) not necessarily a bad thing. I find that now being in Santiago on my own is fun and a much more independent experience than before, but also has its moments of being a bit lonely. (Today I sort of accosted a group of gringos and talked with them for a long time, making them walk with me by luring them to the greatest ice cream shop in the city...what can I say, 4 days without speaking a word of english maybe has gotten to me.) On study abroad there is a program that organizes activities, other kids on the program to make friends with, and a set class schedule. However, none of this is to say that I'm not having a good time now. What I do want to stress is how thankful I am to have already made the connections to this city that I have; I have a loving family, friends, and favorite places to visit. I now have a much better appreciation for how hard it must be to move to a new city where you know very few people, and can only imagine how hard it would be to move where you know no one and nothing about the place.
Anywhooo, after having a feeling sorry for myself moment (too much studying probably turned my brains to mush), I was walking through beautiful, bustling Santiago just going to head home, when a woman stopped me on the street AND ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS. If you want to know the secret to feeling amazing, it's this: look as gringa as I do and be mistaken for someone who would know directions, and then...wait for....know the directions! YEAH. So there, world. Good good moment.
After a long day of minimal study and walking, I decided to wander around the neighorhood where I live. I found out:
a) I live near an alarming amount of gun stores. It just seems counterintuitive that someonw would open a bunch of gun stores right across from the government, right?
b) I live a block away from a beautiful, long road that is closed to traffic. Pedestrians stroll along between giant fountains. Two cops on horseback stopped as kids petted the horses, and a street musician played his saxophone nearby. Walking back, the view reminded me a bit of North Capital street at home, where you head straight towards the impressive capitol building.
c) There is an AWESOME park and old church about 8 blocks away from my apartment building. Score.
OH, other cool thing is that I get to listen to good music again; I'm constantly surrounded by cumbia, reggaeton, and salsa beats. All in all, life is good.
I spent much of today walking around Santiago, visiting some favorite old places and discovering new parts of a city that I thought I already new well. Today was one of those days with ups and downs. The downs started out because, well mostly because starting a huge research project is a little daunting and not exactly what I want to be doing right this second, especially after finishing classes only about two weeks ago. But cest la vie. This morning I spent a good 2.5 hours in the library pulling up article after website after book that I should probably at some point read just to start with my investigations. After spending all this time skimming through pages, reloading my email a million times, and minimizing all of my new info (to make the computer look pretty, of course), I decided that that was enough studying for the day. The outdoors and city was awaiting.
Now, here I want to interject with a little piece of advice, or just some thoughts that I have acquired from my experiences abroad. Go on study abroad if you can and are at all interested. Do it, really. Because, living in a city by oneself is nothing at all like the experience you get abroad through a program. Now this is of course a) my biased opinion, and b) not necessarily a bad thing. I find that now being in Santiago on my own is fun and a much more independent experience than before, but also has its moments of being a bit lonely. (Today I sort of accosted a group of gringos and talked with them for a long time, making them walk with me by luring them to the greatest ice cream shop in the city...what can I say, 4 days without speaking a word of english maybe has gotten to me.) On study abroad there is a program that organizes activities, other kids on the program to make friends with, and a set class schedule. However, none of this is to say that I'm not having a good time now. What I do want to stress is how thankful I am to have already made the connections to this city that I have; I have a loving family, friends, and favorite places to visit. I now have a much better appreciation for how hard it must be to move to a new city where you know very few people, and can only imagine how hard it would be to move where you know no one and nothing about the place.
Anywhooo, after having a feeling sorry for myself moment (too much studying probably turned my brains to mush), I was walking through beautiful, bustling Santiago just going to head home, when a woman stopped me on the street AND ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS. If you want to know the secret to feeling amazing, it's this: look as gringa as I do and be mistaken for someone who would know directions, and then...wait for....know the directions! YEAH. So there, world. Good good moment.
After a long day of minimal study and walking, I decided to wander around the neighorhood where I live. I found out:
a) I live near an alarming amount of gun stores. It just seems counterintuitive that someonw would open a bunch of gun stores right across from the government, right?
b) I live a block away from a beautiful, long road that is closed to traffic. Pedestrians stroll along between giant fountains. Two cops on horseback stopped as kids petted the horses, and a street musician played his saxophone nearby. Walking back, the view reminded me a bit of North Capital street at home, where you head straight towards the impressive capitol building.
c) There is an AWESOME park and old church about 8 blocks away from my apartment building. Score.
OH, other cool thing is that I get to listen to good music again; I'm constantly surrounded by cumbia, reggaeton, and salsa beats. All in all, life is good.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Chile part two: winter again!
Hello world!
I have heard your requests and have decided to continue my blog while I'm in Chile for the summer (or rather, winter), writing my SIP (Kalamazoo's senior thesis-like project).
First off, I am finding out rather quickly that living in Santiago post-study abroad is a very different experience than my first six months here. I'm going to be researching indigenous women and their health rights (healthcare accessibility, conventional versus traditional health practices, etc.), and as my chilean advisor has not gotten in contact with me yet, today was rather free. So my day consisted of walking to the CIEE office to pop in and say hello to the lovely staff; run to Cafe Literario and take advantage of their free internet; take out way more cash than anyone should ever walk around with, and then deposit way more cash than anyone should ever display in public in a foreign country...these are the joys of renting an appartment in another country. Then I wandered around my favorite part of downtown, Bellavista and Lastarria, and ate my first italiano of the trip! I cannot even begin to say how much I have missed street food, especially the kind that is smothered in delicious mounds of avocado. From there I went to a cafe and sat for a good 2 or 3 hours, reading about the Mapuche (yeah that's right, I said working). I braved the grocery store (I've been washing dishes with shampoo for three days) and then fought my way through the pre rush hour crowds with bulky shopping bags bouncing in either hand. While it's not the most comfortable thing to carry a week's worth of groceries with you in the metro and then through the streets, there's something exciting and liberating about not being at all dependent on a car for transportation. Hello awesome public transportation! (USA, get your shit together.) After all that, I trundled back to my apartment just as it was starting to get a bit dark (at 5pm, womp womppp).
And my apartment! It's in an absolutely amazing location, only 3 blocks from La Moneda (White House equivalent). I live catty corner to a police station and a military unit on the other side, and got woken up Sunday morning to the sound of some sort of military parade going below my window. Walking to the apartment you cut through a beautiful road, wide and full of small restaurants and people bustling by.
Let's see, yesterday I got to spend the whole day with my host family, which was especially fun since it was Father's Day and the day after Héctor's birthday. I feel so thankful to have such a wonderful second family here in Santiago, and it was amazing to see them again after all this time. We spent the day having a delicious lunch, then just hanging out (I played cars with Renato, who is now TALKING, whaaaat!), and then had cake to celebrate Héctor's birthday. Some friends of his and Seba joined us for cake, and we all ended the evening watching the Chilean soccer team beat Estonia (4-0, yeaaah). Quite a lovely way to spend the day.
The only place in the apartment that has wifi is the lobby, and I've been sitting here on the steps right by the door sort of freezing my fingers off, so I think I'll call this done. I'll try and keep up the posts more regularly than on study abroad (although don't hold me to that 100%).
Happy summer-winter!
Besotes
I have heard your requests and have decided to continue my blog while I'm in Chile for the summer (or rather, winter), writing my SIP (Kalamazoo's senior thesis-like project).
First off, I am finding out rather quickly that living in Santiago post-study abroad is a very different experience than my first six months here. I'm going to be researching indigenous women and their health rights (healthcare accessibility, conventional versus traditional health practices, etc.), and as my chilean advisor has not gotten in contact with me yet, today was rather free. So my day consisted of walking to the CIEE office to pop in and say hello to the lovely staff; run to Cafe Literario and take advantage of their free internet; take out way more cash than anyone should ever walk around with, and then deposit way more cash than anyone should ever display in public in a foreign country...these are the joys of renting an appartment in another country. Then I wandered around my favorite part of downtown, Bellavista and Lastarria, and ate my first italiano of the trip! I cannot even begin to say how much I have missed street food, especially the kind that is smothered in delicious mounds of avocado. From there I went to a cafe and sat for a good 2 or 3 hours, reading about the Mapuche (yeah that's right, I said working). I braved the grocery store (I've been washing dishes with shampoo for three days) and then fought my way through the pre rush hour crowds with bulky shopping bags bouncing in either hand. While it's not the most comfortable thing to carry a week's worth of groceries with you in the metro and then through the streets, there's something exciting and liberating about not being at all dependent on a car for transportation. Hello awesome public transportation! (USA, get your shit together.) After all that, I trundled back to my apartment just as it was starting to get a bit dark (at 5pm, womp womppp).
And my apartment! It's in an absolutely amazing location, only 3 blocks from La Moneda (White House equivalent). I live catty corner to a police station and a military unit on the other side, and got woken up Sunday morning to the sound of some sort of military parade going below my window. Walking to the apartment you cut through a beautiful road, wide and full of small restaurants and people bustling by.
Let's see, yesterday I got to spend the whole day with my host family, which was especially fun since it was Father's Day and the day after Héctor's birthday. I feel so thankful to have such a wonderful second family here in Santiago, and it was amazing to see them again after all this time. We spent the day having a delicious lunch, then just hanging out (I played cars with Renato, who is now TALKING, whaaaat!), and then had cake to celebrate Héctor's birthday. Some friends of his and Seba joined us for cake, and we all ended the evening watching the Chilean soccer team beat Estonia (4-0, yeaaah). Quite a lovely way to spend the day.
The only place in the apartment that has wifi is the lobby, and I've been sitting here on the steps right by the door sort of freezing my fingers off, so I think I'll call this done. I'll try and keep up the posts more regularly than on study abroad (although don't hold me to that 100%).
Happy summer-winter!
Besotes
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