si, po

So instead of adding 5 new vocab words to each post, I decided to put a list along the side of the page. So check there for some chilean slang/vocab I learn along the way.

Along those lines, one interesting thing that Chileans do when they talk is add "po" after sentences. I think it's supposed to be short for "por supuesto" (translation: "of course") but I'm not totally sure...

Thursday:

Learned about education in Chile. Most interesting part was the discussion about La Rebelion de los Pinguinos (The Revolt of the Penguins) that took place down here in 2006. Chilean schoolchildren are called penguins because their black and white suit and tie uniforms make them look like little packs of penguins as they wobble to and from school every day.

So although these little penguins look innocent and feeble, apparently they're pretty smart little things. Two years ago, after a rise in price of the PSU (Chilean version of the SAT), a decrease in school transportation funds and the implementation of a system that would privatize Chilean schools (among other things), a group of Chilean high school students organized a nationwide revolt. Over 1 million students from 1,000 schools across the country participated in marches and demonstrations to show the government that they would not tolerate any more negative government intervention on their education system and to get their voices heard. And boy were they heard loud and clear. Citizens from around the country- of all ages, from all occupations, from all political parties, responded in resounding support of the pinguinos' requests. Apparently some of the kids who organized the revolt made a very good impression through Chilean media- the lecturer was telling us about one 15-year-old boy who was being pressured to disclose information from a closed-door meeting with the Minister of Education and the student responded "I'm not at liberty to disclose that information." Haha - precious.

Although the government responded positively to most of the requests, it seems that many students are still unhappy with the education system. Many people have told me that they think there might be another uprising - or at least a few protests- this schoolyear...so I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

Later that afternoon we were split into the groups with which we'll be taking our Spanish oral exams this coming week. We had to decide on a discussion topic and one kid in my group brought a very interesting perspective to the table. As we browsed through the list of questions, one girl in my group (not me, surprisingly) said "Why don't we talk about number 15- "Discuss the current role of women in leadership in Latin America." While most of the group nodded in agreement that it would be a good topic with a lot of information to discuss, one boy chimed in, "But what about that period thing?" I wasn't really sure I heard him correctly, so I just ignored the comment, but another girl in our group asked him to clarify. So the boy went on, in complete seriousness, to say "You know- how when women are on their period they can't think clearly and stuff, so they don't make good leaders."

I desperately wanted to start either a) laughing hysterically or b) ranting about why that was such a preposterous and politically incorrect statement; however, I restrained myself and just rolled my eyes instead. Fortunately, the other boys and girls in the group were on the same page as me and we quickly agreed that were were DEFINITELY using this for our discussion topic - at least it would make for a lively debate!

At lunch I went for a walk with my friend Marni and we both agreed that we wanted to improve our Spanish as much as possible and it was hard to improve with all of the American students speaking English to each other. So we made a pact to speak Spanish with each other at least - which is good b/c she's the person I've been spending the most time with so far.

In the afternoon, our tutor took us to the Cultural Center of La Moneda - an underground Art/Cinema center located in what used to be Pinochet's bomb shelter. Saw some really fun modern art of famous artists from around the world. Although I never really understand the complete meaning of modern art, I always enjoy trying to solve the secret code of what the artist is trying to communicate.

Came home and had dinner of charquican (basically a pureed version of the dinner from the night before) which was carbonada (a stew with carrots and corn and potatoes and red meat and such). The day before that, we had chorrillana (fried potatoes+egg+meat). Why do all of these dishes sound the same?! (at least fairly similar...)

Friday:

Started off the morning learning about Chilean cinema. Apparently, along with a lot of other aspects of pop culture, Chileans typically rely on American cinema to fill their theaters. However, recently there has been a surge in Chilean cinema (now that they're allowed to actually make movies after years of no cinema during the dictatorship). We watched one example of a popular Chilean movie, called "El Chacotero Sentimental" (literal translation: "The Sentimental Feeler." Other translation: a nickname for the male reproductive part).

The movie was divided into three different parts - each telling a different story but all of them relating to similar themes in modern Chilean culture. A bit scandalous but quite entertaining.

Later learned about Chilean music, from folklore to protest musicians to their copycat versions of Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Went to dinner with he CIEE group to a big restaurant with Chilean food (sopapillas, ceviche, meat kabobs, salad, fish, meat, etc). The point of the dinner was for us to meet with our "Chilean ambassador" - a student who would show us around their university and introduce us to their friends and stuff so that we could adjust easier to campus life down here. My group's ambassador is named Andres and he is very friendly - should be fun getting to know him even better.

When the dinner was over, my tutor (a late 60s year old man who wears the same sweater two days in a row then switches) came over to say goodbye and gave me the customary cheek kiss. although it's a normal custom for every occasion, our tutor had never done the cheek kiss in class (maybe the wine at dinner made him loosen up). But anyhow it just felt weird and gross and now i'm going to forget it happened.

Came home around 10 and Victoria had a friend over for coffee. Went to bed at 1AM and they were still chatting away! My host mom sure knows how to chat.

Saturday:

SKIING IN THE ANDES!!!!

Sorry...the whole day was just so surreal that I still can't get over it. thank goodness i didn't miss out - I was supposed to meet up with my friends at 7AM and work up at 645. Luckily, I had prepared everything the night before and made it to the metro station by 7:02. Hooray. Met up with a group of about 14 of my classmates and we rode a bus up and up and up the mountain for about an hour and a half. Felt miserably ill as we ascended up the mountain, turning back and forth on roads that basically folded on top of each other. I was sitting backwards on the bus which was part of the problem, plus I was staring out the windows the entire time (I couldn't help it - every five seconds there was a new breathtaking sight!). Then I was worried that part of the illness was from altitude sickness, which might have ruined my plans to ski; however, luckily once we got out of the van at the top of the mountain I felt a gazillion times better.

On the bus ride, we met a group of guys in the marines who are currently serving as security guards for the American embassy in Chile. Got some good insight into places we should visit while in Chile and heard their perspectives on what the military should be doing/should have done in Iraq.

Arrived at Valle Nevado around 10AM and began teaching ski school to a few of my friends who had never skied before (boy do they have a cool story to tell: "yeah, I learned to ski in the Andes"). The morning was a bit slow - we had 7 girls, half who knew how to ski, half who didn't - all trying to stay together and wait patiently as the slower ones made their way down the mountain. Then one girl lost her phone, so we had to go on a recon mission to search for that (no luck, unfortunately). Then, another girl's bindings were too loose so we had to solve that problem. By lunchtime, everyone understood the basics and felt comfortable on the mountain and on the chair lift.

After lunch, my friends and I who knew how to ski decided to get our money's worth out of the day. We parted from the rest of the group and went on some tougher runs. My favorite was this cool natural halfpipe that was fluffy enough that I didn't lose control on it. The weather was absolutely perfect - sun shining and reflecting off the snow - it was so warm I even took off a layer of clothing (such a relief after fearing that I'd be frozen all day).

Valle Nevado was a really cool resort with a lot of interesting runs and endless amazing views; however, I think the main area is poorly designed. At the bottom of the hill where basically all of the runs pool together, you don't ski into the main entrance to the park w/the bathrooms and lockers and stuff. Instead, you have to take a lift to get back up to that area. And unfortunately, it's a two-person lift that gets stuck every 3 minutes or so! Gah- annoying. But probably only for impatient people like me.

Came home, had dinner with Victoria + Marcelita's family. Felipe was back from vacation and this time when we talked I was able to understand him a lot better than last Saturday. Hooray for progress in Spanish!

Sunday:

Met up with a friend to visit a Protestant church. Got a little lost trying to find the bus stop, but eventually found my way. Part of the struggle I've had in getting around the city is the incredibly strange way that the Santiago map handbook is laid out. Fortunately, I think I've finally cracked the code of how it works, so hopefully I'll be able to find things more easily now.

Anyways, the church we went to was really welcoming and had lots of music and was filled with people...it just felt wonderful to be there. The sermon was about Jesus turning water into wine - a story that probably meant a lot more to the Chileans (imagine a wedding without wine! what a catastrophe!).

After the service, I heard two guys talking in English and so my friend and I went over to introduce ourselves to them. Turns out that they lead a college ministry (more of a focus on reaching out to Chileans - but they said we're welcome to come too) and one of the guys graduated from Georgia Tech! Small world!

Came home, had lunch with Victoria and Vecita, then walked a mere 4 blocks to get to the outlet mall area. (This is going to be dangerous having cheap shopping so close!). Victoria picked up a few things at Falabella (Latin American department store...they have evvverything!). She bought me a thermos so that she can pack warm lunches for me when I go to school and had them gift wrap it as a present--haha so adorable.

Tonight I went to say goodnight to Victoria and saw that she was watching a movie with Jake Gyllenhal so I decided to stay awhile. Ended up watching an entire movie called Zodiac - about this serial killer and a little cryptographic game he played with California newspapers. Good movie but crappy ending (but I think it's based on a true story, so I can't blame the moviemakers for the ending I guess).

Okay school tomorrow- time for bed. Hasta luego.

Un besito,

Lindsay