Whenever inundated with work during my first two years at Tufts, I would continually remind myself that sleep in somewhat overrated. Why should we spend nearly a third of our lives with our eyes shut there is so much to see all around us? This admittedly unhealthy philosophy has continued to serve me well throughout the past few weeks. Whether studying, traveling, or just chilling on Puente Loreto at 2:00AM, every moment has overflowed with activity. Some highlights:
La Noche Elegante - Students in Chile, like in the US, generally do not dress up before going to class or wear anything too formal when going out at night. I definately appreciate this atmosphere, especially since I consider myself a pretty lazy dresser. However, I do miss wearing some of my nicer attire. I did, after all, save some valuable suitcase space for my dresses. Several of my Tufts-in-Chile friends felt the same way so we dressed up for an elegant night on the town. We started off our evening by eating at La Tecla, an absolutely delicious restaurant near Plaza Nunoa. Not only does it boast excellent crepes, but it also sells phenomenal salads. These salads are not Chilean-style; each boasts numerous vegetables that are mixed together and actual dressings. After enjoying the food immensely, we went to the theater to see "El Avion Rojo." Unfortunately, while I could understand the Spanish pretty well, I still struggled to follow the plot since it included numerous references to unfamiliar events in Chilean history.
El Morado - After spending the evening wobbling around Santiago in heals, I eagerly returned to more comfortable attire the next day in order to hike in El Morado National Park. Located amongst the peaks of the Andes, the park features glaciers and numerous stunning views. We could not explore it in its entirety since we somehow forgot to consider elevation and snow; it was just too difficult to navigate the deep snow drifts when only wearing sneakers and shorts. Unfortunately, our failures were not limited to our attire. Rather than checking the bus schedules, we assumed buses frequently journeyed between the remote park and Santiago. Well, as we learned, they do not and we consequently missed our friend's wine tasting. Fail. Regardless, a worthwhile trip full of great views, snowball fights, NesCafe, and new friends from the Czech Republic.
El Sur - As Columbus discovered both North and South America, Chileans also enjoy a long weekend midway through October. I may not necessarily think Columbus' behavior in the "new" world merits much celebration, but I'm not about to complain about another chance to travel throughout Chile. That weekend, the Argentina Crew reunited minus Frank to trek south and explore Temuco and Valdivia, two small cities in southern Chile.
After an long overnight bus ride, we arrived in Temuco a little too early on Friday morning. With almost nowhere open and no hostel in which to chill, we ended up sipping McCafe (much worse than NesCafe) in McDonald's for a few hours before exploring the plaza, some Mapuche markets, and the city itself. Over all, I was not especially thrilled with it; it felt overly commercialized and unexciting. My companions agreed, so we hopped on another bus in the late afternoon to travel to Valdivia a bit earlier than planned. However, we didn't arrive as soon as we hoped due to numerous mechanical failures along the way. Whether in the US or Chile, all my roadtrips seem temporarily halted by engine failure. Grrr.
While this obviously proved frusterating, Valdivia is definately worth the trek. Throughout the next few days, we frolicked with sea lions, hiked in the "urban jungle," took a boat tour along the rivers, and enjoyed an incredibly fresh seafood dinner prepared by our very own Aaron, Ben, and Katrina. Que rico! Not too mention our successful seige of an old Spanish fort in nearby Niebla. It's a long not-so-entertaining story, so let's just say that it isn't nearly as difficult to scale the walls of the facility as many historians suggest.
Colchagua: After spending only a few days in Santiago, I left again on Saturday to visit the Valley of Colchagua with the Tufts-in-Chile crew. Only four members of the group chose to attend the surprisingly enjoyable day. According to the official itinerary, we explored an hacienda and a history museum. Unofficially, we helped with both the harvest and consumption of oranges, devoured boxes of galletas, sang for hours, and wandered through some adorable artisan shops. So, even after sleeping for only three hours the night before, it proved to be one of the best Tufts-in-Chile trips thus far. Bakan!
While I obviously enjoy traveling immensely, some of the best moments in Santiago occur during seeming mundane weekdays. I study, I intern, I dance, I laugh with friends, and I sometimes wish I could capture every moment in my blog. Unfortunately, as noted, I don't sleep enough as it is and these entries already seem way too long. So, I'm going to temporarily stop rambling, do a bit of homework and get some zzzzzzzzzzzzz's.
Buenas Noches!
PS...Pictures have been posted: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChristyChile
2.10.09
Los Mundos Chilenos Sobre y Abajo de la Tierra
After spending my first few weeks of classes wondering whether school actually involves any real work in Chile, I've discovered that all assignments simply fall on the same weeks throughout the semester. I am, unfortunately, in the midst of one such time period. Whether it involves writing essays, reading seemingly endless articles on South American politics, or hunting for obscure comunal demographics for internship, work has consumed nearly all of my spare time. Finding time to sleep proves difficult; setting aside enough time to blog has been nearly impossible, which resulted in the long gap between entries. Anyways, as my work load has slowly diminished, I've finally returned blogging after an amazing, albeit hectic, week of homework, exploring, and just enjoying my time in Santiago.
In addition to spending a considerable amount of time in class, at my internship, or studying, I still found a few spare moments to explore more of Santiago last Friday. We arrived in Santiago nearly three months ago; yet, I often feel as if I only "know" a few small sections of the city. Thus, eager for any excuse to investigate some of the outlying areas, I decided to write my next Revista Revolver (a small English-language publication in Chile) article on Santiago's numerous parks. Rather than focusing on those downtown, I decided to visit some in other comunas including Recoleta.
I consequently decided to abandon my school work on Friday and explore the parks in Recoleta. While I enjoyed the parks immensely, the highlight of the trip definately occured when we stumbled upon a farmers' market during the trek between parks. Numerous stalls overflowed with ripe fruits and vegetables. Not only did they smell and taste absolutely delicious, but the produce was insanely cheap. Almost too cheap. It feels soemwhat wrong to buy apples for roughly 10 cents per pound when upwards of 20% of rural Chileans live beneath the poverty line. Regardless, I bought some delicious fruit. They wouldn't sell it, after all, if they were not making a profit.
While I only planned to spend the day researching for my article, I actually visited another park Friday night. A few of the Gringos and many of our Chilean friends went to Parque Quinta Normal for the Universidad de Chile's annual toxifonda. Basically, its a gigantic dance party complete with some live entertainment underneath the stars. Que divertido! Que lindo!
Although I obviously stayed out relatively late on Friday night, I eagerly jumped out of bed Saturday morning in order to travel to El Teniente, the largest subterranean copper mine in the world. After a long busride through the Colchagua Valley, we ascended into the Cordillera and arrived at the mine. Before entering, we had to dress in mining gear as a safety precaution. Amusing, but, in retrospect, probably a bit unnecessary as we only had the opportunity to explore very limited parts of El Teniente.
The tour itself consequently only lasted a few hours. We explored the control rooms, some shafts, a device that crushes rock, and a room with some other gems found deep within the mountain before lunching in the mine's cafeteria. The food obviously failed to meet the usual standards for fare on Tufts trips, although the experience may have negated its less than excellant taste. While eating, the comparison between the mine and a prison became incredibly apparent. Not only did everyone wear an orange jumpsuit, but locking doors forced all to stay within their designated area of the mine. All arrive on designated company buses and leave aboard the same vehicles after the bells end the workday. Order obviously appears tantamount.
However, El Teniente is obviously not a prison. Its 5,000 employees chose to work within its confines each day. It may even be a desirable place to work. Regardless, the obsessive organization made it appear almost exploitative. Could it change its operations to allow for more freedoms or a more enjoyable work environment without sacrificing output and earnings?
Although the mine arguably usurps its workers rights today (I don't know enough to make any conclusions; so, we'll just make observations), the situation has definately improved from early eras. When it first opened slightly more than a century ago, all employees lived in the adjoining company town, Sewell. They needed to adhere to company rules and buy from the company store. Today, the mountainside town is merely a tourist site...which we explored after visiting the mine. Not only did we wander through the colorful buildings, but our guide told us some old town lore. Quite amusing.
Obviously this town flourished numerous decades into the past...but still within my Chilean great-grandmother's lifetime. The mine is about 100 years and we celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday. She's the first person I've ever met whose reached such an old age, but I'm thinking it may become increasingly common as doctors can cure so many more ailments these days.
Once again, the following week overflowed with classes, homework, and tango lessons. Que divertido!
In addition to spending a considerable amount of time in class, at my internship, or studying, I still found a few spare moments to explore more of Santiago last Friday. We arrived in Santiago nearly three months ago; yet, I often feel as if I only "know" a few small sections of the city. Thus, eager for any excuse to investigate some of the outlying areas, I decided to write my next Revista Revolver (a small English-language publication in Chile) article on Santiago's numerous parks. Rather than focusing on those downtown, I decided to visit some in other comunas including Recoleta.
I consequently decided to abandon my school work on Friday and explore the parks in Recoleta. While I enjoyed the parks immensely, the highlight of the trip definately occured when we stumbled upon a farmers' market during the trek between parks. Numerous stalls overflowed with ripe fruits and vegetables. Not only did they smell and taste absolutely delicious, but the produce was insanely cheap. Almost too cheap. It feels soemwhat wrong to buy apples for roughly 10 cents per pound when upwards of 20% of rural Chileans live beneath the poverty line. Regardless, I bought some delicious fruit. They wouldn't sell it, after all, if they were not making a profit.
While I only planned to spend the day researching for my article, I actually visited another park Friday night. A few of the Gringos and many of our Chilean friends went to Parque Quinta Normal for the Universidad de Chile's annual toxifonda. Basically, its a gigantic dance party complete with some live entertainment underneath the stars. Que divertido! Que lindo!
Although I obviously stayed out relatively late on Friday night, I eagerly jumped out of bed Saturday morning in order to travel to El Teniente, the largest subterranean copper mine in the world. After a long busride through the Colchagua Valley, we ascended into the Cordillera and arrived at the mine. Before entering, we had to dress in mining gear as a safety precaution. Amusing, but, in retrospect, probably a bit unnecessary as we only had the opportunity to explore very limited parts of El Teniente.
The tour itself consequently only lasted a few hours. We explored the control rooms, some shafts, a device that crushes rock, and a room with some other gems found deep within the mountain before lunching in the mine's cafeteria. The food obviously failed to meet the usual standards for fare on Tufts trips, although the experience may have negated its less than excellant taste. While eating, the comparison between the mine and a prison became incredibly apparent. Not only did everyone wear an orange jumpsuit, but locking doors forced all to stay within their designated area of the mine. All arrive on designated company buses and leave aboard the same vehicles after the bells end the workday. Order obviously appears tantamount.
However, El Teniente is obviously not a prison. Its 5,000 employees chose to work within its confines each day. It may even be a desirable place to work. Regardless, the obsessive organization made it appear almost exploitative. Could it change its operations to allow for more freedoms or a more enjoyable work environment without sacrificing output and earnings?
Although the mine arguably usurps its workers rights today (I don't know enough to make any conclusions; so, we'll just make observations), the situation has definately improved from early eras. When it first opened slightly more than a century ago, all employees lived in the adjoining company town, Sewell. They needed to adhere to company rules and buy from the company store. Today, the mountainside town is merely a tourist site...which we explored after visiting the mine. Not only did we wander through the colorful buildings, but our guide told us some old town lore. Quite amusing.
Obviously this town flourished numerous decades into the past...but still within my Chilean great-grandmother's lifetime. The mine is about 100 years and we celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday. She's the first person I've ever met whose reached such an old age, but I'm thinking it may become increasingly common as doctors can cure so many more ailments these days.
Once again, the following week overflowed with classes, homework, and tango lessons. Que divertido!
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