Mil Tambores 2010, Valparaiso.
As I mentioned earlier Mil Tambores is an annual festival here in Valparaiso that celebrates mother earth (Pachamama) with a thousand drums, body paint and group discussions about environmental conservation. I didn't make it to any of the conferences, but I did participate in the first two activities.
This festival is unlike anything I've ever seen before, and everything I love about Chile and Valparaiso rolled into one. Everyone was out on the streets dancing and celebrating the beginning of spring. There were clowns (less creepy here I promise), mimes, people on stilts, artists painting naked bodies, drum groups of all ages from all over the country, and everyone was smiling. I couldn't stop smiling and the only thing I could say was 'THIS IS SO COOL!'
I decided to get my body painted, though I kept my pants and bra on, and I'm so glad I did. I ended up getting painted by a famous graffiti artist here named 'Charquipunk'. His artwork is everywhe
re in Valpo and while he paints all sorts of things he's most famous for his cats, which is what he painted on me. He also wears a luchador mask while painting, essentially he's the bomb.http://www.flickr.com/photos/charquipunk/
^this is a link to his flickr site where he posts pictures of all the graffiti he's done.
Shortly afterwords I was dragged into the parade by one of my CIEE friends, and proceeded to lead a drum group down Av Alemania, dancing and smiling the whole way. More performing groups came out to join the parade including an Aymara group (indigenous group from Chile), an Indian dance group, jazz bands, Copeira (fighting, but not hurting kind of deal) and some fire jugglers.
The night ended with Dan, Max, Marina and me running up hill away from the riot in Plaza Anibal Pinto while watching drunk Chileans throw bottles and stones at the carabineros...all of this happened while a Chilean w
as telling me and Dan 'Don't worry it's not a big deal....They might take us to jail for the night, but it's not a problem' Shortly after which we decided going up into the cerros was in our best interest. Apparently in the last few years things have started to get out of control during the nights of festivals with all of the drunkards roaming the streets and the police are starting to crack down. However, like everywhere in the world, the police seem to take advantage of their power a little bit and we saw some rather shocking treatment of the locals. Don't worry though, we were up way out of harms way and waited until things had died down a little. Although the next day when Marina and I walked through the plaza our eyes still teared up from the residue tear gas.San Juan, Argentina
This past weekend I made the journey back to Argentina to visit my host family who I stayed with in the summer of 2007. I got myself on a bus to Mendoza and headed east. The bus ride through the Andes was incredible, it still amazes me how HUGE they are! while the ride was a bit arduous if you have time to do it, I really recommen
d it.Aduana seemed to epitomize the relationship between Chile and Argentina, one of unmerited prejudice, and took about three hours to get through. I've been asked multiple times, by Chileans and Argentines, 'Which do you like more, Argentina or Chile?' Writing to an objective party I can honestly tell you I don't like either one more, there are so many things that are so beautiful and unique to each that there is no possible way to choose. I told both of my host dads this, and they just laughed and then said, 'But seriously, which one?'
One night I had a long conversation with my Argentine host mom about the Chile-Argentina debate. She said that as a country Chile is much more patriotic and has a better government that can generally reach a conclusion, where as Argentina tends to b
e left in limbo or leans to one side. Politics between Chile and Argentina are a little sticky right now because Kirschner wouldn't extradite a man who is a human rights abuser and is wanted in Chile. She then said that as people Chileans are jealous of Argentines because their culture and the middle class that exists in Argentina and not in Chile. My host brother, Nico, and my cousin, Santi, both agreed with this saying that Argentina is the only country in Latin America that has a predominant middle class. All of the other countries are seriously divided between a low and high class; Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and even Chile. Something I'd never thought about but definitely is true.Politics aside, I had a great weekend. I literally fell asleep Friday night smiling thinking about how happy I was to be back with my host family. The weekend was pretty run of the mill, but was just what I needed because it gave me a lot of time to just sit and catch up with everyone. I got a chance to meet my sister's, Noe, new friends from a church group she joined. I als
o went with her to visit the family she works with that live out in the campo for whom they are trying to raise money to build them a type of outhouse, since they currently have no bathroom at all. The program reminded me a lot of Building Blocks, since they're trying to build a sustainable community as well, so it was interesting to see something similar in action half way around the world. Typical Sunday afternoon with my host dad's side of the family, it was so wonderful to see my cousins, who are all so big now! It's laughable that I was taller than most of them last time I was here... Monday we went to the ranch that my family inherited to have an asado an
d see some old friends from 2007, and aprovechar el dia; because San Juan is so much farther north it was much warmer than it is here in Valpo. It was such a beautiful day, and I'm so glad I got to spend it outside playing volleyball, drinking mate and enjoying life with my host family. I realized this weekend that I have a huge family, a lot of whom I'm not related to by blood and who are all over the world, that I love more than anything and am just so grateful to have.Rescate de los 33
Tuesday night, Octob
er 12th, was the beginning of the rescue of the miners that have been trapped underground for the last 70 days. 24 hours later they were all out and alive and well. It was a very emotional experience to watch and be a part of. When I got home at midnight on Tuesday the first miner has just been rescued, and my host parents were elated. After the last miner came above ground last night I went over to Marina's and on my way heard cars honking, saw Chilean flags being put out and some neighbors grilling on the sidewalk.I am so glad that these men have been reunited with their families and that they have been given so much help and attention, but it does concern me that the Mapuche hunger strike has pretty much been forgotten, even though it's still going on...We'll see what happens.
Fotos: Mil Tambores; Charquipunk painting a little girl's face; Me!; Samba group; Man on stilts; Aymara dancers; Me and all of my cousins in San J
uan (minus Emilia, she may have been hiding under the table...); the view of the ranch; my host dad and Elias preparing the asadohttp://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g466/Amiller237/
^link to the rest of my pictures, only updated through
August though.
