After an extremely mild winter, spring has slowly started to arrive in Santiago. This past weekend has included brilliant sunshine, mid-70s, and lots of color. Not only are the flowers beginning to bloom, but we saw vibrant colors splashed across both canvases and houses during our excursions on both Friday and Saturday.
Friday, or el dia de los bellas artes, began with a charla discussing the development of Chilean artwork, beginning with that of indigenous groups. Surprisingly, the most interesting content did not address any artwork, but the images of indigenous attire. When explaining the photographs, the professor began discussing anthropologists beliefs regarding the migrations bringing the Mapuche to Chile. They are believed to be an Asian group that journeyed across the Bering Strait to Chile. As he explained his surprise about this theory, the speaker noted that their eyes are not structured like those of most Asians today.
Upon hearing his idea, I initially gasped. How could a well-educated individual discuss such stereotypes using much blunter language than I did in my journal? This behavior is not uncommon in the largely homogenous Chile. Unlike in the United States, race and physical appearance are addressed very candidly. While it has been somewhat jarring, I'm starting to wonder whether their approach chihas merit. If the very politically-correct United States continues to treat the blunt discussion of race as taboo, how can we claim to be a fully integrated society when we try to ignore race in its entirety? Why do people still continue to shy away from using race when describing someone's physical appearance to a friend? Shouldn't skin color, for instance, be treated the same way as hair color?
After the charla, we traveled to el Museo del Arte Colonial. Located in a still-active Fransiscan monestary, it features several rooms of colonial religious artwork. It is an impressive collection, but the drab colors are not exactly my favorite. The white arches on the building, overflowing garden, and ornately decorated cathedral on the premises were much more attractive.
Immediately following the tour, we traveled over to El Museo de los Bellas Artes. The immense building is imposing when outside, but it has surprisingly few exhibits. We managed to view it in its entirety in less than an hour, and, in my opinion, we spent a bit too long in the Irrarzabal Sculpture exhibit. Surprisingly, the best exhibit consisted of a series of photographs taken by children throughout the city and Chile. Each depicted their neighborhoods through the childrens' eyes, which definately provided a different view of Santiago. The project actually seems reminiscent to that depicted in Born into Brothels. This documentary chronicles a project in which children raised in the poorest neighborhoods received cameras to document their lives and the situation in the red light districts. Good movie...it's highly recommended if you have yet to see it.
Recognizing that we were starving after our whirlwind trips through two museums, we soon stopped at an adorable cafe for lunch. IT HAD A SALAD BAR! In Chile, salads are incredibly rare, so this was an incredible gift. And this was just the appetizer. We followed our salads with a salmon and reinata ceviche, although the name probably should somehow include shellfish. We had no idea what was inside and moving the spoon in the dish often meant finding mussels or other such treaures. Great for me since I love seafood, not so good for those who hate shellfish. At least we all enjoyed the dessert...chocolate mouse sprinkled with white chocolate. Once again, the Tufts-in-Chile program comes through big time and serves an incredible lunch!
Afterwards, we finished our afternoon by visiting the archaeology museum to see some pre-Colombian treasures and the Museum of Visual Arts. Cool, but 3 museums is quite a few to visit in one day.
At least the next few hours proved exciting when we finally bought our bus tickets to Argentina. Spring Break Countdown - 10 Days! And enjoyed some Arabic food for dinner.
Tufts-in-Chile reunited once again early Saturday morning for our trip to Valparaiso, a small port city a little less than two hours away from Santiago. Upon arriving, we met our guide near the port and briefly enjoyed some spectacular vistas of the waterfront from sea level. Random fact, it was my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. Pretty cool or "Bakan" as we say in Chile!
A few minutes later, we returned to the bus for a quick overview of the history of Valparaiso and a trip to visit another stunning ocean viewpoint in the hills surrounding the city. Almost immediately, or so it seemed, we plunged back down the hill for a very early lunch by Chilean standards. The meal itself was not spectacular, but it did provide an interesting cultural lesson when our fried fish still contained bones. While it tasted fine, its not the greatest feeling the bite into the spine of a fish and then notice the tail sticking out. Ew.
After lunch, we visited La Sabastiana, one of Pablo Neruda's many unique houses. As I spent the bus ride to Valparaiso reading his biography for a paper, the house and tour really interested me. Not only was it interesting insight into his life, but I actually heard some information that will help me write my paper. Sweet. And the stunning views of the port and the colorful houses covering the surrounding hill weren't too bad either.
Architecturally, La Sabastiana seems strange to Gringos such as me. It is, however, actually very similar to most of the surrounding houses as we discovered during the followed walking tour through various plazas, neighborhoods, and alleyways. Most are brightly painted and built to allow for excellent ocean views, which isn't too hard considering the hills essentially create a giant amphitheater around the bay. Many also resemble ship heads, which is a nod to the maritime culture of the city. We also took one of the city's fifteen ascensor (funiculars) up Cerro Alegre.
By nightfall, we were already bussing back to Santiago. The trip, thankfully, was the perfect length for a quick power nap before a night of salsa. Once again, I pretty much failed at the dancing but loved every minute of it. I'm thinking some tango in Argentina? Maybe I should try some lessons in Santiago first?
After two days of being a tourist and a (late) night of dancing, Sunday should have been a "day of rest." As often happens at Tufts, unfortunately, it had to be a day of homework instead. At least I had enough time to foolishly go running on Cerro San Cristobal. Brutal. Too much continuous, steep uphill climbs. On the bright side, I found out every single runner in the city seems to go there Sunday mornings. Chilean runners must be really hardcore. And I did follow the run with a long, leisurely family lunch. Not quite as insane as Sunday brunch at Dewick, but a good time nonetheless.
Before returning to the mountains of homework waiting for me, some photographic evidence of my past few adventures in Chile.
Skiing: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChristyChile/ALasMontanas#
Las Bellas Artes: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChristyChile/LosBellasArtes#
Valparaiso: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChristyChile/Valparaiso#
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