Dia de la Independencia de Chile

This weekend was the Chilean Independence Day and it was quite a draining weekend, but in a good way! In the week or two leading up to this weekend, I asked my students what I could expect from the festivities and what . Many of my students said I would be seeing Cueca dancing and maybe even dancing it myself (a traditional Latin American dance), that I should be attending fondas (basically county fair-styled block parties), and would probably be eating too much Chilean BBQ (especially choripan, essentially a hot dog with chorizo or longaniza and traditional Chilean bread), and probably be drinking too much Chicha (a juice-like, fermented alcoholic drink). For the most part, they were all right! After asking one of my students (who is probably in his 50s) what his plans were for the weekend, he said he was going to "eat and drink too much" and I found that wasn't too far off the marker.

When I was getting on the subway on Saturday afternoon, there was a guy who chugged a beer and after he was done, he promptly crossed himself several times. At that point I knew that the Chileans take their Independence Day very seriously!

I started off the weekend at the asado (BBQ) for my English institute. After that I just invited a few people back to my apartment to hang out and then to our friend's apartment. On Saturday afternoon, my friend Dustin and I went to a fonda called Yein Fonda (Jane Fonda), and absolutely no one was there. We realized that probably no one shows up to that particular one until night. So we met up with our friend, Franny and went to the fonda in my part of town. We just sat and enjoyed the people watching for an hour or two while there were carnival games and dancing going on. People were also just out with their families, flying kites and just enjoying the beautiful weather.

Afterwards we went back to my apartment as my roommate Liz had invited her friends from work to our place for an asado. A total of twenty or so people showed up and there was dancing, eating, and drinking. Many from the party eventually went to a Cumbia concert but I was just too exhausted to continue.

The next day we went to the biggest fonda in the city in absolutely huge public park called Parque O'Higgins (is it weird they would name a park after someone with the surname O'Higgins? Not so, Bernardo O'Higgins was a leader in their revolution again Spanish rule). Tons of people, fair games, cheap food and drink. We gorged ourselves on empanadas, kababs, and choripans as well as beer, terremotos (it means "earthquake" and it is an ice cream, white wine, and rum mixed drink), and chicha. Also, more kites flying than you could ever imagine! We met up with some friends there and just enjoyed the day by walking around, eating, and drinking. Later in the evening, my friend Dustin invited us to an asado at his apartment building. We went there and it ended up being on his rooftop terrace. It ended up being just a small group of us, and it was a great, relaxing way to spend the last part of the weekend.

Luckily, we also had Monday off from work so I took that opportunity to sleep all day and do my lesson plans.

Other than the Chilean Independence Day, I had the opportunity to go skiing towards the beginning of the month with a group from my English institute. We went to a place called Valle Nevado. We had a group discount through a company and we took a bus up there. On the way up, there were exactly 41 hairpin turns, I kid you not. I never get carsick, but I felt my stomach churn a little bit towards the latter half of the drive. At one point, the bus stopped to let a woman off so she could lose her breakfast in the snow. Skiing for the first time in a few years was great. Although I kept to the easy slopes, I thoroughly enjoyed the serene and almost mystical scenery up in the Andes mountains. Also, I didn't fall once! That was definitely a first. On the way down, our guide gave us chocolate and wine while the bus played a mix of 80s music videos. It was a great time!

Not much else to report! I'm still enjoying my classes and my students. Also, one of my best friends from college, Mikey, just booked tickets to come visit me at the end of November! Excited already.

Fotografia

Pichilemu : La Vida Dulce

This weekend I went to Pichilemu which is a beach town southwest of Santiago by three or four hours. I went with my friends Luke and Franny (who I stayed with for a week before my current apartment was open for me to move in) and our friend, Dustin, who works at Bridge with me. We did not know where we were going to travel to for our three day weekend (today, Monday, is a national holiday: The Assumption of Mary) until the night before we left. We were debating going to Cajon del Maipo which is really close to Santiago and is a great hiking spot. We talked about going to La Sarena which is another beach town, but much much to far away for even a three day weekend getaway. We decided that Pichilemu would be the best option to take.

The next day at the bus station we were purchasing lunch to go when I saw a familiar face. My roommate, Liz! Before she thought she might be going to La Serena but towards the last minute (just like us!) decided she would go to Pichilemu with her two friends, Jaime and Crystal. So the seven of us ended up being on the same bus there and back, which was pretty rad.

We got to Pichilemu pretty late, but we found a cheap place to stay almost immediately upon arriving which was a block away from the beach, and two or three blocks from the main part of the town. After that we wandered to the beach and walked until we found a place to get a snack and drinks while we watched the sunset. Then we bought a bag of fresh mussels for the equivalent of 2 USD and a couple kilo or so of fish for about 6 USD. We went back to our place and Dustin made us a stew with vegetables and mussels and a rich potato and zucchini dish. Then we just drank wine and talked until about midnight which was an amazing way to spend the evening.

The next morning we got up to go surfing. Having our instructions in Spanish was not the easiest, but our instructor drew pictures in the sand and some of the more important points were translated by Franny. Surfing is not easy, especially for a Kansas boy like myself. We were out there for a few hours and I could tell I was starting to get the hang of it. The best moment I had was when I was able to stay on my knees on the surfboard while riding a wave and held out my arms like I was embracing the wind (think of the movie, Titanic) for about 10-15 seconds which practically brought my friends to tears when they saw.

After surfing, we ate ceviche (juicy raw fish mixed with vegetables and lemon juice) by the ocean and then we went to La Punta de Lobos which is a cliff where people popularly watch the sunset and supposedly has some of the best surfing in the world. We watched the sunset there while watching the more pro surfers shred the waves and all sorts of birds crowding on top of the little island just off of the cliff (which I believe is actually La Punta de Lobos). After that we went back, ate dinner and hung out for a while drinking wine. The other members of my group went out to one of the more popular bars in the town later on, but I just hit the hay. I was exhausted by the surfing. It ended up being a great little weekend getaway.

Other than that, my classes have been going pretty well and I have my first private student now. Her name is Patricia and she is going to London in February, essentially just to learn English, but she wants to learn as much as possible before then! I get my first full paycheck in two weeks or so and it can't come soon enough!

I've recently attended two "intercambios" which are basically events held at bars where native English speakers and Chileans (native Spanish speakers, duh) can come together and share language. Usually how it goes is you speak a certain amount of time in one language and then switch to the other language. I've met some cool people at both of the intercambios so I fully plan on continuing to attend!

That's about all for now!

La Musica del Espirtu

I have found that when I witness the performance of a virtuosic guitarist, there usually is a real lack of emotional depth that comes along with it. This is quite the opposite experience I had last night with a charango performance I saw at a Jazz club last night.

As I mentioned in my last post, there is a traditional Chilean instrument called a charango which is kind of like a mix of a guitar and a mandolin. I went out to the Jazz club, El Perseguidor, with a couple of friends on Saturday night. When we walked in, there was a full jazz band, and we sat down and ordered our drinks while enjoying their sounds. After a little while, the band leader announced that his band was going to take a 5 or 10 minute break, but in the meantime he was going to have some friends play for us. He introduced them (a charangoist and a guitarist) and they thanked the jazz band for letting them play. What proceeded made my jaw drop. This guy was just phenomenal. He had long fingernails on his picking hand which allowed him a nimbleness already made difficult from the small size of the instrument. He used the charango as a percussion instrument on occasion, strummed the strings as a flamenco guitarist would other times, and finger picked individual strings at other times. It's hard to describe in words, but it was a very emotional AND virtuosic performance. I think this was one of the first times I have felt like I have a given a real sense of the passion and richness of Chilean culture. With three songs, they really stole the entire night's affair.

I'm still not entirely familiar with the different kinds of Latin American music that are prominent here in Chile, but I will reiterate what I said in an earlier post that Cumbia is some of the funnest live music I have ever heard. I'm excited to hear other types of homegrown music...but until then...

Heavy metal is HUGE here. Every day when I walk around, I see tons of long haired, often bearded dudes walking around dressed all in black with metal shirts ranging from more well-known acts like Iron Maiden and Megadeth, down to really underground bands like Immortal Rites and Deeds of Flesh. In my previous post, I mentioned that Chileans were under the rule of Pinochet, a dictator, until about 1990/1991. My theory is that during heavy metal's golden age (1980s), the genre was basically non-existent here and was suppressed. It's like the hole left by that period is now being lived. That gives a whole new meaning to what I mentioned in an earlier post when I said the 80s in general, whether it be fashion or music, is really big here. Though, this could just be BS and it could just be like it is/was in the US. That people often revert back to trends of earlier generations, but I feel like hearing 80s music CONSTANTLY at the supermarkets here gives weight to my earlier argument.

Also, I think that heavy metal operates in some of the same ways that punk music does in that it acts as an aesthetic that gives power to the powerless. Metal is often popular in countries where there is a religious paradigm that dictates social and political, countries where there are great economic disparities, and countries where the definition of masculinity is not the same as it used to be (some people see metal as escapist music for men, to express instinctive and archaic physical and emotional tendencies that is now not accepted in society, which I tend to agree with). Not to make this into a dissertation, but I think all three of the previous circumstances are applicable to Chile. I can't wait to go to a metal show!


Other notes:

Confoundingly, Chileans tend to walk at a slower pace than Americans, but they are some of the most reckless and impatient drivers I have ever seen. I always look right and left several times before crossing, but sometimes, that doesn't seem to help! As mentioned in my previous post, Chileans operate on event time, and thus it is unnecessary to hurry anywhere on foot. However, I was told that Chileans, more or less, think that a car is made to get you somewhere fast, so when it doesn't, it's irritating! Makes sense enough.

Chi-Chi-Chi le-le-le! Viva Chile!

This week I started teaching my English classes. So far, all of the students have been really nice and pleasant to work with. In one class that I was filing in for (the regular teacher was ill), there was a discussion question that used the word "taboo", so I checked to make sure all of the students understood what that meant. After some abbreviated answers from the students, I clarified, "Something that is taboo in your culture is something that you should not talk about. Or only talk with close friends and family about." I said something that is taboo (first thing that came to my mind, of course) in America is sex. One of the younger men in the class said, "REALLY?!" I kind of laughed and said, "Yes, despite what you see on TV and movies, we really only discuss it with close friends, and in most cases not with family." Then one woman (maybe in her late 30s/early 40s) said, "Religion and politics are taboo here" (which is absolutely true...if you're not Roman Catholic, then you can just get out of town...and the years of dictatorship are almost never discussed openly*), and she said, "I don't think race is as taboo here as it is in the United States...you know, with the Negroes?" I had heard that the n-bomb is dropped here without much fuss, but I hadn't heard it yet, especially in a class. I was momentarily shocked, but then continued, "Yes, that's true...now moving on..." or something like that.

The other day, I went to go get my photograph taken for my Chilean work permit. I went to this small shop (about the size of my bedroom) in a mall that the administration at Bridge-Linguatec (the company I teach for, I'll abbreviate to "Bridge" from now on) recommended. I went there and the guy who runs it and photographs people is quite a bit more flamboyant than most Chileans. He has wild greying hair down to his shoulders, a colorful scarf, and moves very sharply and quickly like a small animal. It was like I was being photographed for a magazine or something. He was obviously very passionate about his job and made sure I looked like a million bucks!

The weekend before last, a woman who works at Bridge told us her husband's band, Los Sicarios del Ritmo (The Assassins of Rhythm...what an awesome name), were playing at a club in the bohemian Bella Vista area. I went and what an awesome time it was! They play a style of music called Cumbia that is a combination of traditional Latino music (primarily Columbian) and African tribal rhythms. Newer Cumbia bands also include some hints of reggae and hip-hop. The band was awesome and I danced my butt off the entire time. They had a vocalist, trumpeter, saxophonist, bassist, drummer, auxiliary percussionist, and a charangoist (a charango- think of a mandolin crossed with a guitar).

I've watched a few soccer matches while here in Chile. Chileans go absolutely mad for soccer. Not being a soccer fan beforehand, I definitely feel the need to become one now. The national Chilean team recently got to the semifinals of the Latin American Cup but lost against Venezuela. Our Spanish teacher said that one positive thing about losing a big soccer match is that people don't riot, haha. I thought that was hilarious. Whenever their national soccer team wins a game, people crowd into the crowd into Baquedano (which is the center of the city) and mayhem generally ensues.

I've always wondered how strange it is that the biggest international sport is one of the least popular sports in the United States. For the citizens of almost every other country in the world, it seems like the national soccer team is the one remaining, common source of patriotism. I'm sure there are tons of theories/reasons why, but it's still odd to me that Americans just aren't that big into soccer (maybe the recent success of the women's national soccer team will change some minds...)

This weekend I'm going to move into an apartment within 15-20 minutes walking distance of my place of work. I will be living with a Chilean man (age 29) and an American woman (age 25, from Boston). They seem like a lot of fun and it should be great!

I am seriously considering teaching English as a second language as a career. I feel really comfortable in front of the classroom (whether I have one student or, as I did in China, 30-40) and I think I have an ability to create and execute logically flowing lesson plans. On top of that, I think that I good at recognizing when students don't understand concepts and can bring them up to speed. It just all seems relatively natural to me. I'm kind of thinking about continuing to go around the world teaching in foreign countries (as money permits) for the next 5 or so years and then possibly getting my Masters in teaching ESL. We shall see!


Some Chilean trivia:

-If you order a hamburger, hotdog, or sandwich there is often the choice to get your order "Italiano". "Oh", so you might think,"I'm going to get some good Italian meat with, like, prosciutto as an extra topping." At the very least, you might think, "Oh, so I'll be getting a slice of mozzarella rather than a slice of cheddar." Not quite. "Italiano" means that you get the terrific combo of guacamole, mayonnaise, and tomato (sometimes ketchup or Ahi sauce (pepper sauce) plopped on your delicatessen dish. "Why?" you might ask. Because guacamole is green, mayonnaise is white, and tomato is red, just like the colors of the Italian flag, you silly billy!

-PDA (Public Displays of Affection) are not looked down upon here as they are in the United States. Young couples can often be seen making out in public, especially in public parks. This reminded me of my Chinese experience, because one could always see young Chinese couples on my campus being intimate (or fighting). From what I've been told, it's for the same reason. The Chinese students often had as many as 8 other roommates, so they couldn't be private with a significant other. Similarly, considering some Chileans live with their parents here until their mid-twenties, they bring their physical intimacy to the public eye.

-The other day I read a blurb in a textbook about clock time versus event time. Cultures usually operate on one or the other. Those who live by clock-time are often punctual, and schedule by specific times or time frames ("I'll call you at 5:00 p.m."). Those cultures who operate by event time usually have a better night life. They schedule events in relation to other events ("I'll meet you after dinner."). Americans definitely operate on clock time, and I am definitely a good example of that. Chileans (and Chinese) operate on event time, which is why no one ever arrives on time. We have had a teaching practice almost every day of my training class, and Chileans volunteer to be students. I'm not sure if we ever had a volunteer student arrive on time. I've been hearing the echo of my Foreign Affairs Director in China saying, "Later, later..."

*Strangely, there are tons of Chileans who sympathize with Augusto Pinochet (the dictator who ruled Chile from 1974 until 1990). Pinochet introduced a lot of economic reforms that still are applied today (such as the privatization of previously state-run agencies) and the scaling back of welfare. His economic policies drastically lowered inflation in Chile and it is largely attributed to his economic policies that Chile is where it's at right now (#1 economy in Latin America from what I understand). Usually it's the more conservative old and young who sympathize with him and his policies (including the businessmen and women whom I teach), but the younger generations seem to be a bit more liberal and thus point out the cruelty of his reign (Pinochet interned, tortured, and killed thousands of political opponents).

Los Hijos de Valiente: A Most Un-Chilean weekend

As I'm sitting here drinking beer and watching the latest addition of the colossal Cleveland Indians/Cincinnati Reds rivalry (yea, I know nothing about baseball, but the two Ohioans next to me are oozing team spirit), I realize that I may be on my way into a very American weekend. Our trainer, Carissa, has invited us to a 4th of July BBQ on Sunday afternoon. She said that only a select few of Chileans (boyfriends and girlfriends) were invited and definitely no Canadians. Carissa said that whenever you have a BBQ here, the Chileans will just bring nothing but meat-all kinds of it-but nothing else. Maybe a bag of chips. No other sides.

Sidenote: The Chileans love their white bread, coffee, sweets, and fatty foods. They have this bar food dish called chorillana which is basically the equivalent of supreme nachos...but with fries. So you get tons of greasy fries topped with hard boiled eggs, onions, peppers, ham/bacon/chicken, cheese, etc. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like heaven coming in, and hell going out. Chileans also love NesCafe (instant coffee). The coffee section at the grocery store is completely dominated by instant coffee which is totally confounding, because South America is renowned for their coffee! Even with their obsession with NesCafe, they jokingly refer to it as "No es Cafe" ("It's not coffee"). I'm going to get to the bottom of this... (no pun intended, har har).

Santiago so far seems to be highly American/European in many ways. Just like how I perceived Beijing to be while in China. I feel like it might be the same way with big cities in many parts of the world. It just means that I just have to look harder for the "real" Chile underneath it all. I also think this will also come by making friends with Chilenos and Chilenas which is only a matter of time.

One crazy story not meant to scare Mom or Grandma:
One of my fellow classmates chose to seek out residency outside of the host families that our program offers. He found a place that was cheaper and went with it. The head of the household was a Belgian woman who has fostered several Chilean boys and hosted several foreign exchange students. Last weekend, my classmate found out that one of the boys he has been living with had murdered his brother (who was also living at the house) a little over a year ago over a video game. You can actually read about the incident here (as well as several other news sources if you look up "playstation murder Santiago Chile"):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8650606.stm

Needless to say, my classmate felt a little uncomfortable living in that situation, especially not have been informed of that incident before moving in. He left as discretely as possible (including having an argument over the phone with his host and telling the boy who murdered his brother that he was leaving because of the noise). Luckily, he is now out of that situation and glad to be out of it.

Happy 4th of July!

La Fuerza Del Destino

At some point my luck has to run out. It´s 8:30 a.m. in Chicago at my friend´s apartment in Wrigleyville, and I had set two alarms for 6:15 a.m. to catch a 10:00 a.m. flight to El Salvador. From Salvador, I have a connecting flight to Peru. From Peru, I have a connecting flight to Santiago, Chile.

I panic.

I had stayed up far too late drinking far too much with good friends from college. One of them is at the receiving end of my frantic delerium.

`Mikey, the alarms didn`t go off!!!` (yelled using much more profane language)
`What time is it?` (muffled, sleepily)
`8:30!!!` (insert profanity where logical)
`I`ll hail a cab, you get your stuff together` (sleepily, unphased)

As Mikey shuffles out his door and into the street while still in his boxers, I shove what`s left unpacked (thankfully very little) into my bags. I jump into the taxi as Mikey tells the driver to `step on it`.

Not the greatest start to 18 hours of flights and layovers, but I make it on board in plenty of time.

Fast forward.

I have been in Santiago for a week now. I am staying at a house in one of the richer parts (called Las Condes) of the inner city. My host`s name is Andres and he is extremely hospitable and accomodating to my needs as both a foreigner as well as a student trying to get his TEFL teaching certificate. The house is marvelous (pictures soon to be posted) but is poorly insulated like so many of the apartments and houses in Santiago. They are not used to having such cold weather! As one can imagine, it was quite a shock to come from hot summer in Kansas to late autumn in Chile.

I have had half a week of my training course and there has already been a lot of information thrown at us. In fact, we are doing our first practice teachings on Monday and Tuesday. I´m going on Tuesday and my topic is grocery store vocabulary, specifically focusing on units of food. For instance: loaves of bread, bunches of bananas, and jars of jam. I´m going to make my lesson plan tomorrow and have some ideas of how I want to go about it.

In my course, they focus on teaching a specific style of language teaching called the Communicative Approach in which the student learns language by putting them into `aunthentic`, or real-life situations. So, say instead of having the students do drills in which they just repeat what you say in English, you actually need to make the context something they may encounter on a day-to-day basis like a business meeting or buying food at the grocery store. Also, the focus is on having the teacher talk as little as possible and making sure the students speak English as much as possible. Those are just a couple main points in the Communicative Approach.

Besides my course, I`ve just begun exploring the city and picking up on Chilean culture. I get the impression that Santiago stands out from the rest of Chile in many ways. The most obvious way is the European sensibilities it seems to have combind with their traditional Latin American-Chilean culture. I have not been able to put my finger on it quite yet, but it definitely has something to do with people within the city dress really fashionably and European. Also, on that topic, the American 80s seems to be a huge trend right now. It´s almost as if I have time traveled back to the 80s in the United States...except everyone speaks Spanish and is Chilean. Young people here are wearing stone-washed jeans, Nike high tops, and listening to bands like Journey and Duran Duran. I just can´t explain it.

Luckily my Spanish is revitalizing itself more and more every day, so that is one advantage I have compared to when I was in China. One thing that makes it harder, though, is that the Chileans speak very fast AND speak very sloppily. Chileans tend to leave their `S`s` out of words. So instead of `dos` they say `do`. Instead of `como estas` they say something like `como estai`.

Some other interesting things to note:

- You get receipts for EVERYTHING, and I mean everything. I used a public restroom and got a receipt for that. How many jokes can you derive from that?

´I wasn´t satisfied, I would like my money back´
`I started it, and it just exploded on me!`
`What am I going to do? Take it back because it doesn´t fit?´

- People love to dress their dogs in sweaters. Apparently, a dog´s natural fur isn´t enough to keep them warm in 50 F degree temperature. Thus, colorful, ridiculous looking dog sweaters are a necessity.

- Since dinner time is generally not until at least 9 p.m., people don´t generally go out on the weekends until midnight, which doesn´t seem that crazy...until you realize that it is standard for people to go home at sunrise after drinking all night and you seem like a sissy if you go home at any decent time. Haven´t gone out yet, but I understand the Chileans party HARD.

- You can tell there is a big German influence because people eat tons of sausage and drink really good German-styled beers. Even some of the architecture seems straight out of Germany.

That´s all for now. I´ve been typing entirely too long.