Bicentennial, a local adventure.

Before I explain my weekend celebrating Chile's Bicentennial, let me back up a few days to September 11th.

As you are all aware September 11th is an extremely important date in the history of the United States and serves as a day of remembrance for the lives lost. Here in Chile September 11th is also a day of remembrance, but for a much different reason. On September 11th, 1973 a 'golpe del estado' or better known as a 'coup d'etat' occured in La Moneda in Santiago, Chile, resulting in the suicide of Salvador Allende and the beginning of a cruel dictatorship led by Pinochet. This year has been a tumultuous one in the history of Chile shaped by events such as the earthquake in February, one of the strongest to ever happen in the world, the collapse of the mine in early August and the Mapuche hunger strike. All of which has happened during a change in presidency from Michelle Bachelet to Sebastian Pinera.

Every year in Santiago and all over Chile there are riots and protests led by people that are still searching for answers of what happened to their loved ones during the dictatorship. This year Chile completed it's 200th year of independence and with that celebration on the horizon people were more desperate for answers and justice than ever before. Additionally, people wanted recognition of the struggles currently facing Chile, like indigenous rights and mining regulations to prevent future collapses. I was in Santiago on September 11th this year, though I was safely tucked away in Los Condes, back by the cordillera (Andes). I did watch the news later with Allyson's family and saw horrifying images of people burning buildings and throwing stones at houses and people. Juxtaposed with that was an interview with an old lady who was still searching for her son, demanding answers from the government that is no longer in power. If you haven't read 'Death of a Maiden' by Ariel Dorfman I strongly recommend that you do. It's a short play (100 pgs) that really speaks to the turmoil Chile faced during the dictatorship.

I also recommend you watch this video that was used for the NO campaign during the election of 1990 that removed Pinochet from office. This song is one of the most emotional and thought provoking songs that Chileans identify with, and while the video could be described as cheesy, it's anything but.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDfZX51BgMU

In facing the history of a country I've just begun to know, I looked forward to the future of a nation full of possibilities and hope with my host family. Again and again I find myself so grateful to have a host family to round out my experience here. It's so nice to be able to come home to a family that wants to talk to you and listen, while expanding your knowledge and answering any questions you have. Before three days of meat and wine with my whole family I spent Friday night with Pablo, the Brooks' exchange student almost 4 years ago. He came to Vina to meet up with friends and ended up spending the whole night with me and my friends. It was so so great to see him after all this time and talk about the 'old days' and what we've been up to. We went to 'Los Jaivas' concert, which was a band I'd never heard of before, but is super famous here in Chile. My host mom loves them.

Los Jaivas is a band that was exiled during Pinochet's regime so a lot of their songs talk about coming home while experiencing new places. They also use a lot of indigenous instruments in their music and even some indigenous languages, specifically the Rapa Nui language. During their concert they had different groups of dancers come on stage to do traditional dances, including the Cueca. I found out there are 6 different kinds of Cueca, also Pablo's parents are national champions of la Cueca, pretty cool. I also got to see my first live Rapa Nui dance, very similar to the Hula in Hawaii.

This may not be their best song, but it is performed in la Quinta Vergara, which is where I saw them last Friday, so that's kind of cool. The main singer recently died so they had to have a new guy perform, they hired a man who looks almost exactly like this guy, but according to a lot of people doesn't sing nearly as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0a6ILYWMQ

After Los Jaivas we literally sprinted down Errazuriz (the main highway between Vina and Valpo) to see the fireworks being set off from Muelle Baron in Valpo. Our micro couldn't move because there was so much traffic and people just stopped in the middle of the road. I stood in the middle of Errazuriz with Pablo and Marina taking in the BEAUTIFUL fireworks display, really makes me look forward to New Year's here.

Fast forward three days: Anna has eaten an entire cow and at least a gallon of wine with Chirimoya (native fruit), not to mention so much carrot cake. Also, danced at least twenty minutes of Cueca with my Aunt and mom, succesful Bicentennario :)

Fotos: my host dad preparing the asado; my abuelos preparing pebre (Chilean salsa, onions, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro= DELICIOUS); Pancho, my cousin; Carlos, my cousin, being the poster child for everything you shouldn't do, but do during Fiestas Patrias; Rachel and my host dad making s'mores (brought some USA independence day traditions to Chile); Me and Pablo at Los Jaivas!

Desierto Florido to Valparaiso

Capel Pisco distillery. Right. Well we decided to go the pisco distillery because to be honest that's really all we drink here (pisco sour, piscola, pisco con Canada Dry...) and we should know how it's made right? We arrive to the distillery, in the middle of NOWHERE, and get a guided tour of how Pisco is made. My understanding was a little shotty because the tour was in Spanish and the lady spoke pretty fast, however it was still interesting to learn about the process (what I understood) because I had no idea how alcohol was made before this tour. Basically the pisco-wine process differs (they are both made from grapes) because of the time the pisco ferments and the vapors they use instead of the gunk on the side of the gigantic wooden barrels. Apparently, 90% of all Pisco is consumed in Chile, which would explain why it is uncommon in the rest of the world. I'll try to bring some back and make you all pisco sours.

side note: we identified ourselves as gringo alcoholics when Dan asked 'podemos terminarlos?' and pointed to the free samples we were given...basically we just drank a lot of free samples and the tour guide laughed at us.

Vicuna is a pretty small town, but was all decked out for the upcoming bicentennial so there were lots of little vendors to see. Marina and I spent some time talking to them while the boys digested in the park where Gabriela Mistral's 'death mask' is (Apparently it's a tradition for Nobel Prize winners to have a caste made of their face...weird). We debated going to the Mamalluca Observatory, but realized we couldn't get a bus back to our campsite if we did that, so we did our own star gazing.

Upon arrival to our campsite we had to plan out how we were going to sneak tons of firewood into the campsite so that the crazy Duena didn't see us since fires are most definitely 'prohibido'. We also didn't want to pay again. So after gathering a ton of pointy sticks from the side of the road we 'snuck' behind the cabins to our site. Then we waited until 10 o'clock when Juan would be on duty to get our stuff from the office, since he definitely didn't care what we did. 1.5hrs later we had a fire/dinner. check.

The next morning we busted out of the campsite at 6:30am so that a) we didn't have to pay b) we could get up to Caldera in time to make our 2pm tour of the Desierto Florido. We managed to get a bus up to Copiapo (about an hour from Caldera) for 7 luca, but couldn't secure a return ticket, no big deal right? ha. Anyways en route to Copiapo our bus breaks down in the middle of the desert, literally. The engine overheated (big surprise) and they were unable to get a hold of anyone from the company to either send another bus or come and fix our broken one.We had no service so I couldn't call the flower man to tell him we weren't going to be able to make it, which turned about to be an ordeal in and of itself. Fortunately, we broke down in a beautiful place where the Desierto Florido had crept down so there were fuchsia flowers all over the cerros. Second stroke of luck after 1.5hrs was getting on a bus that supposedly had 20 open seats, but really had 6 that was headed towards Copiapo. Only casualty was my nalgene got left on the first bus, oh well.

Upon arrival to Copiapo we start trying to bargain our way back to La Serena for the next day. Funny story about the bicentennario, everyone travels so there were literally NO open seats and we talked to every single bus company. Eventually we gave up and headed to Caldera, vowing to come back immediately after the flower tour to try and find our way back somehow. The only reason we were pressed about the issue was because we had already bought tickets from La Serena to Valparaiso to leave at 6 am on Friday, September 17th. All that aside we get to Caldera and then hop a ride in the back of pickup truck to Bahia Inglesa.

Bahia Inglesa was so un expectedly beautiful. The bay was a tropical blue and the beaches were all white, though not sandy. It was definitely a summer resort destination (My host family told me when I got back that they went there for summer vacation this past year), so was basically a strip of restaurants and hostels right up on the beach. We crashed on the beach to watch the sunset and eat a little bit. Turns out we picked the one town in Chile that doesn't have a panaderia (NO HAY PAN!) so I went into a hostel and asked if we could buy day old bread and the lady just gave it to me, which was really great. Then we started wood gathering round two. We went behind all of the restaurants and collected a bunch of sticks and palm fronds to carry to wherever we were camping and picked them up on our way out of town. A bunch of restaurant workers were out back chilling when we went to pick up our kindling and literally almost bust a gut upon seeing the gringos struggle with the HUGE palm fronds...I also was dying of laughter per usual, if I had had a free hand I would have taken a picture.

We walked up the beach and camped out by some tiny dunes. It was so beautiful. The moon was only half full but so bright we didn't really need our flashlights and I saw more stars than I've ever seen in my life. We crashed pretty early that night and got up to head back to Caldera for our long awaited flower tour. Dan and Marina went in search of water while Max and I waited for the mysterious flower man and this guy just came up to us and was like 'flower tour for two?' and Max and I look at each other and were like 'uhh there are 4 of us..." And I pulled out the piece of paper with the guys name on it and I was like 'Do you know Alberdino..." "Gallardo, si si" he says as he reads the name over my shoulder...right. So Max was like 'I don't trust this guy at all' so we were like 'ok gracias' and then waited for Dan and Marina. I call the flower man and lo and behold this mildly sketchy man was in fact our driver. check. We piled in a van to tour the desert and let me tell you, it was entirely worth the effort it took to get there. Just miles of flowers completely covering every inch of the desert. My pictures in no way do justice to the beauty.
Our driver, Claudio, told us that we were only 30km away from where the mine collapsed, which was pretty crazy.

So I'll spare you all the details of our INSANE trip back to La Serena and Valpo. Long story short is:
almost got on a really sketchy bus to get to La Serena
an old blue eyed Chilean told us not to so we got on a different bus, mildly sketchy but our only option.
Spent three hours with a bunch of Rastas in Copiapo, absolutely hilarious and the best time.
Got on our bus. Dan and I were sitting underneath the only lights left on.
Get to La Serena at 2:15am and decide to go bar hopping.
Meet some 'chorros' (gangtas) who all rapped in a bar run by guys who were literally too high to function and gave us free french fries.
Got on our bus at 5:55am, heads up to those planning on traveling by bus in Chile, the buses are the ONLY things that run exactly on time in Chile. Every bus I've taken leaves exactly at the time the ticket says.
Get back to Valpo at 12:15pm and get a call from Pablo (the Brooks' exchange student) telling me he is coming to Vina that night to celebrate Independence Day!
I'll save that story for the next installment.

Fotos: Capel Distillery; GIGANTIC wooden barrels for fermenting; Dan, Max and Marina having some free samples; Marina waiting on the side of the road after our bus broke down; Bahia Inglesa; Desierto Florido; Desierto Florido.

p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORY!!!! miss you.

Adventures: From Santiago to Desierto Florido

Last Friday (September 10th) I started out my unexpected journey in Santiago, to visit Allyson and see some more of Santiago. I stayed in a new hostel this time, and I didn't like it as much as the last one because there was less of a family atmosphere, but breakfast was included and the price was much cheaper. I also had some swell roommates who took my bed the first night, leaving me sheet-less at 4am, and the second night turned the lights on at 4:30 am while he made his bed...however, all in good fun.
Friday night we met up with Alejandra, who I met last time I was in Santiago, to have an 'once asado', less cooking and more eating. I met her friends and another girl, Lucy, who had studied in Santiago two years ago, she knew the people from K who were there at that time...small world. We went out to a club that was pretty flaite (sketchy) to say the least, so Allyson and I called it quits and went home (this was the night of the sheet stealing).
Allyson and I mostly just kicked it in Santiago and met up with some of her friends to have an asado on Saturday and then go hiking on Sunday (in the rain, I'm never prepared for the weather here). I had a wonderful time meeting a bunch of new people at the asado on Saturday, including some people who are from Vina, so that was pretty great. Allyson's friend, Sebastian, is really into hiking and camping so he had some good suggestions for places to go in the South and around Santiago and kindly offered to take us hiking the next day.
That night I watched 'Never been kissed' in Spanish with Allyson and her host family, while Renato (her little brother) modeled his new clothes for us. Her host dad also made his first cookies ever, oatmeal, that were pretty delicious though nothing at all like you would expect them to be (hard and different flavor). We also got the low-down on the Mapuche (indigenous group of Chile) hunger strike,
which I will try to sum up here;
A long time ago the Mapuche's land was taken by the government and sold to businesses. This was a problem a) because they need the land for survival/cultural reasons b) part of the land was used as ancestral burial grounds, aka sacred land. After the land was sold a new anti-terrorist law was passed by the government. I don't know the specifics of the law, but basically under the terms of this law some Mapuches who were trying to re-claim their ancestral burial grounds were arrested and deemed 'political prisoners', since they were a threat to the state. Now with the new government the Mapuches were hoping to have the law re-formed and the prisoners be pardoned (and/or freed, I wasn't sure about this part). In order to gain attention from Pinera 34 Mapuche prisoners went on a hunger strike and as of two weeks ago had been on strike for 50 days...pretty crazy huh? However, with the mine collapse the Mapuche struggle got pushed to the back (I hadn't even heard of it until last weekend), but Pinera is finally calling attention to the issue and meetings have begun to find a solution.

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6472

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/news/other/19808-bachelet-criticizes-chiles-actions-in-mapuche-hunger-strike

^here are two articles that might be able to elaborate a little more than I am able too

Monday night I made a last minute decision to go North with Max to meet up with Dan and Marina. We left at 11:15 from Vina to head to La Serena/Coquimbo, where Dan and Marina were camping. We got into Coquimbo at 5:15 am and struggled to get to the campsite, eventually made it and set up camp at 6 am to sleep for three hours before heading out to Vicuna to tour the Capel Pisco Distillery- see next installment for this adventure.


Fotos: View from one of the resting points on the hike; the steep muddy hill we went up (Dad, doesn't it remind you of Algonquin last summer?); The gang at the top, pre-torrential down pour (Alison, Sebastian, Abby and Allyson); Noche de Mujeres (Ladies Night at a Mexican restaurant where I sang Karaoke...) Me and Rachel; My host mom and Aunt (I clearly belong in this family)

Every day is something new

Well here it is, the blog I'm sure you've all been waiting for, the one where I tell you about how I, Anna Marie Miller, tried to surf in the Pacific Ocean.

you're gonna have to wait a few paragraphs.

Friday, September 3rd, I woke up bright and early to head to Rabuco. A tiny farming village/area nestled in between the mountains of La Campana National Park. Most Chileans have not heard of this place even though it's only an hour away, so don't feel bad if you haven't either. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The sun was out and it was actually warm, a new concept for the greater Valparaiso area. Our first stop was a blueberry (Arandono) farm run by an ex-navy man, Juan. His dad and grandfather were both in agriculture, so after 30 years in the Navy he also decided to give a go. There were acres upon acres of blueberry plants, just starting to bloom. The peak season here is November/December, which explains why blueberries are available year round. There are only 3 full time employees at the plantation, but Juan hires more during picking/packaging season. We got to see how the plants are fertilized and how the irrigation system works; Diane even dressed up in blueberry picking regalia to show us how it is done. Juan also has bee houses that he uses to help pollinate the blueberries and they are stationed all around the fields. We then went into the packaging station to see how the blueberries are sorted and packaged. The containers that they put the blueberries in say 'From Florida', when Marina asked about that Juan said 'es su engano, no mio.' 'it's their trick, not mine.' So heads up on purchasing 'USA grown' products. Also, he sells blueberries to Meijer, the Driscoll brand. As a farewell present we all got little pots of blueberry jam, I'm pretty excited about that.

After wards we piled back on the bus to head to a family's house for lunch. As we were barreling down the unpaven roads and I was looking at the shacks on either side of the road, I started thinking to myself 'How are 40 gringos going to fit in someone's house here? Slash why would they volunteer to do that to themselves?' The house we ended up at was more of a farming mansion than a house, gringo problem solved. The home owners, Estefanie and Ricardo, run a flower plantation that grows and distributes cut flowers to Jumbo, the grocery store here, and Mercado Central in Santiago. I got a tour of the greenhouses after the most amazing lunch of my life. I've literally never eaten better. This family made us empanadas, chicken, rice, potatoes, fresh tomatoes with avocado and corn, not to mention the fresh fruit juice; pear or banana/orange. Almost died with happiness slash gluttony.

The greenhouse tour was really interesting and reminded me a lot of a Spanish documentary I watched in class last winter (Amor, Mujeres y Flores), though a lot less depressing. Ricardo originally went to school for business and was one of the head managers of Lider, another grocery store here, so he traveled around a lot doing business deals for the company. He didn't like not being home to spend time with his family so he decided to try out 'floricultura' (agriculture of flowers, no idea what that is in English). He moved his family to Colombia to earn a post graduate degree in Floricultura, while leaving an Agronomy engineer in charge back on the farm. I didn't completely understand what happened, but basically this engineer screwed Ricardo over either by stealing money or ruining the flowers. Ricardo decided to move back to the farm and just do it himself. His family stayed in Colombia until they finished the school year and now they all live in Rabuco together. This all happened in the last two years, pretty crazy huh?

We also learned how to dance La Cueca, Chile's National dance, so I can officially claim Chilena status now....sort of. The couple that came and taught us were the representatives for la Quinta Region (where Valpo, Santiago are located) for the national dance competition in Puerta Arenas, meaning they're kind of a big deal. They're also pololeando (dating), which made the whole thing a lot cuter.

CIEE then decided it was time for us to let out our inner child and play some traditional Chilean games; such as sack races, carrying an egg on a spoon, three legged race and tug of war. Nice to know some things don't change from country to country. My team lost every single game, but we probably had the best time. There are some quality snapshots of our failures on facebook should any of you care to take a peek. After this we prepared to load back on the bus and were given mini apple pies, since we clearly hadn't eaten enough that day. Not nearly as good as my Mom's apple pie, but I guess I'll settle for it :) Final note about Rabuco: It is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life and whatever pictures I took in no way show how breathtaking the view was. I think I may live there and work on Juan's blueberry farm, just a heads up.

Saturday-The big day. I got to Vina promptly at 9:15 am (obviously couldn't be on time), and we left promptly at 10:45 to pick up another girl. This country is completely incapable of functioning on time, slash any sort of schedule. Once again had another beautiful day, which made being in the freezing water a lot better. I am absolutely in love with surfing, and plan to do it at least a dozen more times before leaving. I didn't successfully stand up, but the great thing about it was that even if you didn't stand up you could just ride the waves and take in the ocean (literally and figuratively). I was able to get up on my knees every time and ride the wave, so there is some hope for me yet. Mostly just being in the ocean and hanging out with a bunch of great people was all I could really ask for and completely made the experience. Also, if any of you were thinking that the fact that I snowboard would be helpful, think again. It's the exact opposite, so definitely threw me off for the first half an hour or so.
Here's a link to the pictures my instructor took while we were surfing-sorry I look like a goof in all of them...

http://picasaweb.google.com/escueladesurf/ClasesDeSurfSeptiembre2010ComienzoDeTemporada#5513610132010893010

All of Valpo is decked out for Independence day, September 18th, but the celebrations start on the 16th...typically Chilean. It's so cool to see the whole city getting so excited for the bicentennial of their country and everyone asking you what you're going to do for the big occasion. I am looking forward to spending time with my host family and stuffing my face for four days while trying to dance La Cueca (Gaby and I had been practicing in the living room, I'm definitely better at La Cueca than Salsa, practice makes perfect I suppose). I am going to Santiago again this weekend to do some hiking with Allyson and hopefully meet up with Pablo (the Brooks' exchange student) and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Santiago is preparing for the upcoming festivities.

So much love to you all!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057718&id=1357020163&l=3d4d56fdde
^This is a link to my first album on facebook, let me know if it works and I'll post the others.

Fotos: Rabuco; Blueberry Farm; Juan and Diane picking some blueberries; Ricardo talking about planting seeds; Carolina and pololo dancing la Cueca; Maddy and I getting ready to surf, plus our instructors being goofs.

A True Chilean Experience

Here I am, more than a month into my program and I have just had my first true Chilean experiences...according to a variety of gringos and chilenos.

Thursday: We threw a surprise party for our friend Ryan, who turned 21 on Monday. We made Carne al Disco, which is basically an entire dead cow plus some sausages, a few chickens, a package of hot dogs and a few vegetables. SO.GOOD. I also made a pretty good cake, at least that's what everyone told me when they were really drunk...I'll take the compliment. Then we went out to Huevo, a 5 story club, including a terrace on the roof for dancing. pretty epic.

Friday: My host sister Gaby started to teach me 'La Joya del Pacifico' by Joe Vasconcellos, which is basically Valparaiso's anthem that any good porteño (person who lives in Valpo) should know how to sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBP8owL4mQ0

I was invited to a Peña at Casa Central (our main campus building) put on by the Agronomia majors. My host mom told me that they party the hardest out of all the majors at PUCV...truth. There was navegado (which is basically mulled, warmed wine with oranges and cinnamon), chorripan (chorizo+pan, sausage and bread), empanadas and a live Chilean folk band that had pan flutes and drums. It was such a great time, and a wonderful way to meet some more people from outside of my classes/major. Turns out that Peñas were banned during Pinochet's regime here, he claimed they had communist roots, but mostly he wanted to keep people from singing songs with political conotations and gathering in large groups. My host mom was a bad ass and went to them down the street from our house when she was about my age. You had to know the secret knock to get in and if the carabineros (cops) came you had to run.

Saturday: Marina's host mom decided to show us around Valpo. Our first stop was 'Porto Viejo', which is a restaurant down by Plaza Aduana. To round out our Chilean cuisine experience we had empandas de camaron y queso (shrimp and cheese, not my favorite, but pretty delicious), a bottle of white wine and parillada de marisco. Parillada de marisco is probably one of the best seafood dishes I've ever had. It was a tiny grill filled with coals and on top of the grill was a plate piled sky high with every seafood imaginable; clams, oysters, mussels, fish, shrimp and topped with some delicious green leafy thing. I was pretty sure I was going to have to be rolled back home. After lunch we made a stop at Plaza 21 de Mayo, since Marina and Max hadn't been yet. It was a totally different view with the sun out. After that we walked around and wound up at a plaza right by Plaza Annibal Pinto, that is brand new, and is the site of a new mosaic project. At first we thought it was just a scout project, since there were only scouts working on it, but it turns out that anyone can come and work on it. I'm trying to get my family to go with me. Oh, and did I mention lunch was followed with Flan flavored ice cream? We then met up with some Chilean friends and drove up to Cerro Mariposa, which is the highest cerro in Valpo, to watch the sunset. Beautiful, though the drive was a little unnerving.

Sunday, Monday: Pretty run of the mill days here, beautiful weather. Stuffed my face with gelatto at Bravissimo with Dan, while walking along the beach, you know the usual :)

Tuesday: Started the day off with a trip to the CIEE office to deal with their inability to be direct and specific about anything...such is the way of life in Chile. I did manage to get a run in which was needed and very satisfying. Less cat calls than expected, could be due to the fact that my legs haven't been shaved in awhile, who knows. On my way back from CIEE to Casa Central I sat on the back of the micro. My host dad once told me, in typical vague Chilean style, avoid sitting on the back of the bus if you can, so I usually sit towards the front. What he should have said was 'Don't sit on the back of the bus BECAUSE it's easier for people to rob your shit and then run off the bus.'
So I'm sitting on the back of the micro because there were no other seats and I didn't want to stand for the 25 minute ride to campus. I'm listening to my ipod, holding it inside my jacket pocket and thinking about how lucky I am to be here, in this city, sitting on a bus that drives by the ocean. This guy next to me stands up to get off of the bus and brusquely rubs up against me (not unusual on a crowded micro) but consequently tugs on my jacket and backpack strap (which was on my lap, secured with both hands). I stand up, at first thinking it was an accident and then realize that this fucker's hand is in my pocket and he is stealing my ipod. I start yelling obscenities at him in English as he runs off the bus. I had one of those split second thoughts of 'Do I run after him?' and just ended up standing there speechless while the micro pulled away. I sat back down and the guy in front of me said 'Te robo?' (did he rob you?) and I nodded. The girl next to me then said, in English, 'I'm sorry, you can't trust nobody here.'
All of this got me thinking about life in a different country. I'm honestly not worried or upset about the loss of my ipod. I am annoyed that this punk had the audacity and lack of respect to take my ipod. Part of me can't help thinking, 'well maybe he has a family or pregnant girlfriend to care for', but then what are the chances of that? In my social work class here we've been talking about the different values in every country, and talking about how Latin America really values family and community, and really look out for each other. however, that is only true to a point. When it comes down to bad shit happening, it's really every man for themselves here, nobody is going to stop you from getting robbed or anything. I've heard and witnessed it, from gringos and Chileans. So what does that really say about the value of community? In a way, I think that community and having each others backs only extends to your blood lines, and forget anyone else. After telling this story to my friend Tim he said 'That would never fly in the states, somebody would have stopped him.' But I'm not sure I agree. Would anybody have really stopped him if this same thing had happened in the states? I've never lived in a city before, so I couldn't give an insightful answer.
Either way, don't worry about me. I'm still safe and sound here in Valpo, and I'm not concerned about this. It's part of daily life.

So now that I've had a variety of "true" Chilean experiences; traditional food (from Valpo and greater Chile), traditional parties and I've been robbed, I can claim I'm a Chilena right?

to further my Chilean heritage I will be learning how to dance the Cueca, Chile's national dance, this Friday. Imagine a gallino (rooster) chasing a gallina (hen); basically the girl plays hard to get and the guy doesn't leave her alone. I told my host mom I didn't need lessons on this dance, it happens to me every time I go out clubbing, haaaaaa. but actually.
here's a link to some professionals dancing this dance, which according to my host sister, Gaby, is 'muy fome' (very lame).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGURVqOmH0

Love to you all!

Fotos: Dan and Yogi Bear (His real name is Gregorio, but in Spanish a nickname is Yuyi, so I obviously decided to call him Yogi Bear) making Carne al Disco; Ryan and his birthday cake; La Cecilia (Marina's host mom) with the parillada de mariscos; view from Plaza 21 de Mayo with sun!; Me, Max and Marina (if you're wondering if I hang out with other people, the answer is no); View of sunset and Valpo from Cerro Mariposa.