Chile

Going to Chile is like going to America. They have highways connecting Santiago with the beach, the people drive Fords and new Chryslers (dad, I saw Jeeps/Chryslers that I have never seen before and they were brand new). They have marshmallows and Starbucks and Cheerios (they were multi grain; I bought a box). Parts of downtown Santiago feel like New York City (the financial district), while other parts feel more like suburban MD/VA. The metro is clean and new. However, Chile is still South America: they have crazier strikes than Argentina, Chilean are the first to tell you that Chileans are the biggest thieves in the world, the markets are fantastic.

My first destination in Chile was Valparaíso (aka Valpo), a historical port city on the Pacific Ocean. I really enjoyed Valpo for its murals and art along with hills that make Tufts look flat (I will never be able to complain about Tufts hills again). I stayed in a hostel that was really someone’s house. it was on top of cerro alegre (“happy hill”). I was there for four nights, which is the longest I have ever stayed in one place while traveling. I really liked the hostel because it had internet, hot water and I could use the kitchen. while I was in Valpo, I went twice to Viña del Mar, another costal town, about 10 minutes away. Viña was more upper class, beaches and pretty parks whereas Valpo was more middle class. During my two trips to Viña, I went to Quinta Vergara (a botanical park), the fine arts museum, the beach, a castle overlooking the water which was an art museum, and had a sushi lunch. The sushi was amazing and so necessary after a lack of fish in Argentina. the restaurant was very American feeling and even had kikoman soy sauce!!

In Valpo, I went to Pablo Neruda’s house, the vege market, the pier to see the boats, and an outdoor mural museum. I also walked the picturesque hills and sat in the plaza reading (I had homework) and went to a Passover seder. The first night in valpo, Anna (from Mendoza program) and I went out to dinner and had chorrilla, this greasy mess of fries, meat bits, hot dog bits, onion, and cheese (which she ate). to it we added ketchup, mustard and ají (a spicy tomato sauce). Then, we went dancing at a club, which was interesting because it was way more chill than the clubs in Argentina. People were there to have fun with their friends rather than show off their outfits. The guys were actually polite and accepted rejection if I didn’t want to dance with them.

the other thing anna and I ate were completos: a hot dog bun, hot dog, chopped tomato, avocado, mayo (we got ours without it), ketchup, mustard, and ají. they’re so big you can barely fit them in your mouth, but so yummy (you can’t taste the hot dog). we also shared ice cream which came in a pineapple (she ate the fruit and most of the ice cream). I really like the lucuma ice cream. lucuma is a pitted fruit from peru, but tastes almost pumpkin-y. we slept on the beach for a few hours the first day we got to chile because we were tired from our 11 hour bus ride. we sat at the boarder for 3 hours waiting and then waited another hour in line for the immigration and customs process. it sucked….chileans are crazy when it comes to customs (I don’t think they beat American immigration procedures though).

after anna left to go meet her parents, I hung out with the jumbos who are in the viña/valpo area. I met up with a girl Hannah, whom I know from Hillel and other things around Tufts. We went to a Passover seder, which was really interesting. First we went to the synagogue, which was really a room in what might have been a house at one time. There, we bumped into three more jumbos (Josh somebody, matt plitch and jake pearson). they are studying on various programs in the area. I knew matt and jake from latin American politics sophomore year. after the service, we piled into cars with the members of the synagogue and drove about 15 minutes south of town to a community center/naval academy…I’m not really sure, but they had a lighthouse! there we started the seder, which had an attendance of around 75 people. we sung all the songs and went through the seder plate, but skipped the four children and Elijah. they served matzoh ball soup, which didn’t hold a candle to my grandma’s soup. the matzoh balls were somewhat gummy/rubbery, but it was till better than nothing. the entire seder lasted 5 hours! because of all the people interrupting the rabbi and all of the craziness to serve everyone (imagine more than a dozen jewish mothers trying to “help” in the kitchen).

the next day, I went to Santiago. I stayed in a hostel and did some touristy stuff around the center of the city, which was really nice. the pedestrianized streets are fantastic: they have music playing and the music follows you as you walk! I especially enjoyed hearing Uptown Girl as I made my way to the plaza de armas (main square). I spent wedesday and Thursday wandering the city: I climbed cerro santa lucia (a hill in the middle of the city), went to Pablo Neruda’s Santiago house, went to the fish market, and barrio bellavista with a group of girls I met at my hostel who were studying in BsAs with COPA. Thursday I got my backpack from the hostel and went to Starbucks in Las Condes, a neighborhood of Santiago which feels like you are in America….starbucks was next to ruby Tuesday’s which was next to hooters….etc). I had a venti iced peppermint, soy latte and it was fantastic!!! it cost more than four dollars….but I’m pretty sure that’s what it would have cost in the US. I think the cup here was a little smaller…..

then I met caroline and went for Chinese food with her and her friends....south American Chinese food isn’t that good (with peru being the exception). we had to coat it in sauces (soy and sweet and sour) to get any flavor, but it was still a nice change from the Chilean/argentine foods. they were sick of Chilean food and I’ve been sick of argentine food (that’s why I don’t eat out). it was also the first meal where we weren’t served bread (both countries are obsessed with bread). caroline and I then went to her house and had tea with her host grandma and went out to a dance club/bar and hung out with more people on her program, all of whom are very nice. the next day we climbed cerro san cristobal, which has a huge virgin mary statue on it. it was good Friday, so the hill was packed. then we went to the fish market for lunch, which was not the best idea for good Friday….it was beyond packet. I had a raw fish soup and caroline had salmon. we went back to her house for more tea and then went to the apartment of a guy in her program and played cards. Saturday we went to parque o’higgins and barrio brasil for dinner. we also walked around barrio bellavista and walked by a religious concert. it was so great to see her and be able to talk about our classes for next year and people we know and stuff. one of her friends told her that he could see how we are friends because we have the same mannerisms….neither of us understand this…

on Sunday, I returned to Argentina and classes and life….

Monday was a strike day, meaning all classes were cancelled and transportation was completely stopped between 12 and 1 PM. A teacher had been killed by police in the south. he had been protesting the low salaries teachers receive and the protest had gotten out of hand. out of respect/to further the protest, the entire country shut down Monday, which was kind of ridiculous. it doesn’t really teach the children about protesting or workers’ rights, it just gives them a day off from school. anyway, I went to a march in the center of Mendoza, which was interesting to see the different groups demonstrating. there were approximately 10 thousand people at the march.