The first 9/11

Today is 9/11, and obviously with this day comes many emotions from the American population. Yet, not as many as the Chilean people. Now, my purpose is not to downplay the immense tragedy that took place 12 years ago in our country, but rather to share what happened in Chile 40 years ago today. Chile had suffered the first 9/11, and unfortunately for them it lasted much longer than ours did.


On September 11, 1973 Chile underwent a "golpe de estado" (coup d'etat), where their democratic President, Salvador Allende was forced out of his position and army general Augusto Pinochet was placed in power as Commander-in-Chief of the Military Junta Government. It was an ugly ordeal, and Pinochet turned out to be a paranoid dictator who, along with his military was the cause of over 40,000 deaths/tortures/executions in Chile.

The hard part to hear is that the United States was the main supporter and funder of the coup d'etat that placed Pinochet into power. We had been keeping our eyes on Chile for some time, and there were many covert CIA operatives in the country during the election. We could not have Allende win the election, so the "Track I" route of the CIA was to do anything to keep him from being a candidate (buying off congressmen, pushing for another candidate, etc). In the end, Allende was elected despite the CIA's efforts. When Chile was under the Presidency of Allende, their economy was literally tanking and the country was being made into a socialist state. When Fidel Castro made a visit to Chile from Cuba, that pushed the last button for the United States. This was in the Cold War era, and the United States began to put immense economic pressure on Chile, and then we decided to take the situation into our own hands. We had interests in Chile, and needed Allende out of his seat. Now, this was not one-sided. Most Chileans at the time also wanted Allende out because he was making the economy the worst it had been in Chile. The coup d'etat wasn't necessarily the tragedy, it was what took place after that was the tragedy.


When Pinochet took his place of power, he began his regime of terror. He banned all political parties, especially the leftist party and if you so much as sneezed the wrong way, you were going to be tortured. All throughout Chile people were being taken off the streets to be tortured. The military had gross tactics of torture, and many of the surviving victims say that the officials never even asked them a question. It was just torture for the sake of threat, power, and intimidation. It worked well too. My professor was telling me of how when he was a little boy, his parents would go pale and begin to sweat every time they had to go through a check point while driving somewhere. Police could take you for any reason they wanted, so his parents would tell him that he could never say a word in the car and hopefully they would all get through safely. I can't imagine living in so much fear! There were disappearances happening left and right, and nearly 32,000 were tortured. The 8,000 others were either assassinated, exiled, or executed. Pinochet's regime lasted for 17 years, and in 1990 he was pushed out and a democracy was placed back into Chile.

Today is a very interesting day in Chile. All week I have been receiving and warnings from my professors to "be cautious" on 9/11. Today in Santiago, La Concepción, and Valparaiso there will be riots and demonstrations for the people who were tortured and killed during the Pinochet regime. It's not dangerous necessarily because I am American, just that I am a foreigner in general. When police see a foreigner in a riot, it's a one way deportation ticket for them. Most of these riots are peaceful, but a handful are bound to turn violent especially in Santiago. Viña del Mar is pretty calm and I have nothing to worry about.

Today I am sending prayers for peace between Syria and the United States. Something I have come to learn here in Chile is love for my country. Like many Chileans, I too believe that my country has made its fair share of mistakes, but I want to be there when it makes its good decisions too, and I want to be a part of making that happen. I also send prayers for the families of the victims of 9/11, and for all the victims and families of the first 9/11 here in Chile. Sometimes it is easier to unite in the midst of sufferings. It makes life more real, and gives perspective. God Bless America, and God Bless Chile :)

Chile is complicated.

In my time here I have found that there is a certain "air" about Chile. There's an underlying common attitude or personality that all Chileans possess. It has become more clear in class, and especially in my classes where I read Latin American Literature. My assignments and readings have all been about "hopelessness", "solidarity", or "loss of identity". And my first thought was, "Wow, does Chile sound like the middle child or what?"(Sorry Madi). I thought that it was just a bit of drama from the authors, and it's further exaggerated by my professors.

However, the more time I spend here, and the more I learn about Chilean history, the more I am coming  to understand the depth of this sentiment. It's not just localized to Chile either, but extends throughout Latin America. This is a continent that has a completely unique history to others. In many ways it is extremely complicated, but in my view the way it came about is straight forward. Get ready for a history lesson...

Before Chile was discovered by Spain is was inhabited by many indigenous tribes (about 13 distinct tribes) and the most prominent tribe was the Mapuche (literally meaning "men of the earth"). There was a brief Incan presence in Chile before the conquistadors came, but they didn't do much except trade with the Mapuche. I find the Mapuche extremely fascinating for many reasons. One being that when the conquistadors came, they were the only tribe that the Spanish could not overtake. They were the tribe sin rey, sin ley, y sin fe (without a king, without law, without faith). So the conquistadors couldn't attack a king and disorganize them, or attack a god to overtake them, or barge into their territory because they had no one place where they stayed permanently. So the spanish resigned to just trade with them because all the tactics they use to overtake the indigenous were useless on the Mapuche. After a while though, Spain had its foot in Latin America and everything started to Europeanize and many many indigenous were killed. It's a similar story to that of our Native Americans.

The sad part today is that many of those tribes are extinct, and the ones that still exist are hated by their own countrymen. Chileans do not like indigenous people. They think they are dirty, drunks, lazy, and thieves. Yet at the same time, every year on their Independence Day they dance around in the typical Mapuche wear and sing traditional songs with the cultural instruments. These people are blood related to the Mapuche! One day they love them, and the rest they hate them. One day they hate what a Eurocentric society has done to their culture, and the next they want to be Europe. It's very tragic to me.  And it's tragic to them. You can tell they're sick of trying to figure out where they fit in the world. The countries were made by Europe, but Peruvians, Bolivians, Chileans, Argentinians, and all the rest are really brothers. They share the same indigenous roots. Many of the authors hope for a united Latin America, that's not separated by borders or economic fights.

The whole personality of Latin America is complicated and hard to understand. They don't think America is that good of a country, yet at the same time they strive to be like us. They laugh at our mistakes, but make the same ones all for the sake of modernizing. Chile is considered part of the Third World, but in my time here I have seen that they have so much more culture and a better grasp on reality than the United States. They see the results of poverty, political unrest, and violence in their communities. Therefore they are more capable of making decisions to better their community, and have a deeper love of their country because they want to see it reach its full potential. My own hopes for Chile would be that they come to love their cultural identity, and stop seeking the culture that the U.S. and Europe has to offer. Ours is a gross culture of materialism, power, and entertainment. Chile has it's indigenous people, it's beautiful land, and it's passionate people. I would hate to see them trade that in the name of "modernization."

We have all next week off for National celebrations! It's even against the law to go to work on these days! It's a whole week of empanadas, mariscos (seafood), wine, beer, singing, dancing, and all that jazz. I think the U.S. should look into implementing a week like this around the 4th of July! Ciao!

Chile has beautiful countryside!

Yesterday was a very fun day in San Pedro de Quillota! This is a little pueblo (town) that sits in a valley about 45 minutes east of Viña del Mar. The valley was once home to many indígenas (indigenous) of Chile, and now serves as a little farming community. We met up with Rodrigo who was our tour guide for the day. I really liked this excursion because we got to see a side of Chile that tourists do not get to see. Our tour guide doesn't do tours that are typically sought out by tourists. It was a great peak into the reality of the life many Chileans have to live, and I would have never known. We started off the tour from the pueblo and began walking out of the town on the Ferrocarril (railroad). It was a beautiful valley!

We stopped many times along the walk so that Rodrigo could show us some plant or flower that was growing near the tracks. The plant below looks like a cute little flower (below), but people use it to make Opium... yeah not so cute anymore. It's illegal in Chile, but these little guys are all around so people do it anyway.

(Below) This is some random plant that Rodrigo pulled off the side of the track. He started peeling it and proceeded to eat the stem. He gave us some and it was actually really refreshing. It tasted like mint, but it was different. Hard to put to words, but it was cool how much he knew about the wildlife around him. He's grown up here his whole life, and all the people here know this kind of stuff. 

(Below) This is a pod that Rodrigo picked off of a tree. He says that when it gets really dry, people come out and pick them and take them to the schools so that kids can shake them and use them in music class. My roommate kept one and is going to let it dry out!

No idea what this is, but that spiney head of the plant was huge. Probably 3/4 my height. It was on top of the hill as we were walking. I don't really remember what Rodrigo told me about it. 

We arrived at a tunnel (above) that was constructed a little over 100 years ago. It goes through a very large hill, and it was very dangerous to build. Apparently around 300 people died making this tunnel. It serves to connect the railroad between Santiago and San Pedro. San Pedro produces a lot of Chile's produce, so they really needed this connection. It's sad how many lives it took to make this though :(

There were little pockets built inside the tunnel just in case you happened to be in there when a train was coming. The tunnel was pretty much raining on us because the underground water leaked through the roof of the tunnel. Just imagine seeing and hearing a tunnel full of American girls, and it starts "raining" on us in the dark tunnel (it's very hard to see in there). 

Needless to say, Rodrigo found it entertaining!

Those vines you see growing over the "patio" roof are grape vines. This woman's husband uses the grapes to make Chicha, which I will explain below.

We were very lucky because this man is the only man in the area that makes Chicha. It's basically grape juice (from his homegrown grapes) that's boiled and fermented. If you have ever drank Kambucha tea, then you would like Chicha. It smelled and tasted kind of similar to Kambucha. I loved Chicha! It was a huge treat because this man doesn't sell his Chicha, it's just for his family. We were privileged to get to have some of his, because according to Rodrigo, this is the best Chicha in Chile.

He also had a huge greenhouse that was filled with tomatoes! It was amazing!

And he had a goat :)

He gave us a bottle of Chicha to go!

After the farm, we went to a little local party that was taking place. We got to eat all the typical foods of Chile. Below is "Mate con Huesillos". It's peaches, with juice, and this grain called Mate. You eat it with a spoon. I really like it, but it is unlike anything I have seen in the States.

We ate empanadas of course! That is THE typical food of Chile.

There were people dancing the traditional Chilean dance called "Cueca". The girls wear beautiful dresses, and the men dress in the typical "Huaso" clothes. A huaso is a chilean cowboy basically. Pretty much every Chilean knows how to dance Cueca and nearly all of them genuinely enjoy it. 

It was a great excursion that was all about culture. I loved it! 

Hope all is well in the States, pray for peace in Syria. God Bless!

Will I ever get used to that?

Over the course of a month you start to really notice little things that Chileans do that are just different enough to be funny. Then you wonder, "Will I ever get used to that?" or even worse "Will I start to do that too?" For the most part, I have been pleasantly surprised by how not different the people are here. For the most part we have the same humor, common sense, moral compass, and ideas of fun. That makes things a lot easier. It also makes noticing the small things easier. Like after living with your good friend for a while, the little things they do start to stick out the most.

The first thing that I noticed almost from the beginning was probably also one of the funniest. Chileans do not smile when they get there picture taken! It's ridiculous! It's like that half smile that people usually make when they're really bored. You could be on this amazing tour of um I don't know, a volcano, and they're all grins until the camera comes out. Then it's the serious face with a half smile... why may I ask? The best part is that after their picture is taken, they give you a HUGE smile to say thank you for taking the picture. It takes some effort on my part not to laugh. Americans are all grins all the time though, so maybe to them we just look like a bunch of clowns trying to make life seem bigger and better than it is.
So it's either...

Or...

I still think I choose the first one. At least you get a laugh out of it ;)

The next thing that I have noticed about Chileans is that they are really good at whistling. Not the derogatory whistling at the girl on the street (cause that happens everywhere in the world), but the casual walking down the street whistling. It's actually quite impressive, and I most of the time I enjoy listening to it. Unless it's dark out and I didn't realize that person was there until they started whistling... that freaks me out a little. 

Alright so, America has gotten more comfortable with PDA in the last 10-20 years, but not like they are here. I hate PDA. I don't really consider holding hands bad PDA, or ever the cute little goodbye kiss... but here it's just gross. If we go to the beach, we are going to see so much PDA that it makes us uncomfortable. The beach makes a little more sense I guess. But even on the buses, at the schools, or some random couple on the sidewalk. It's just weird! Most people would say "Get a room!", but I want to say "Get a hobby!" Gringos are definitely the only ones who care though, so once again, it's a culture thing. 

I am getting used to being part of a minority. I have never known the small struggles that can come with it. You have to have some tough skin to be in the minority, or you're going to grow some. I am getting used to being stared at all the time, and not caring. I care less and less about looking like an idiot, because I think I already do every time I open my mouth and try to say something in Spanish. I really am just used to being odd. Something I haven't really gone through. In some ways it's liberating! Other days, I just want to wear a shirt that says "Yes, I have blonde hair and freckles. Go on with your day please." Chileans are very good people though, so it's all completely worth it, and I will be a better person because of every aspect I experience here. 

Please send some prayers my way for classes! They're getting tricky... somedays it's like my teachers are speaking a different language ;) Adios! 

Sand, empanadas, and... Spanish struggles.

My sister got on my case today about not writing enough blogs... so this one's for you sis.
Today was a great day that began with sleeping in, lunch/reading on the beach, then a friend and I met up with some other peeps from Mexico that I know (different ones than previously posted about) to go to Con Con.
Con Con is a little town just up the road from Viña del Mar. It's a 20 minute bus ride, and right before you actually get into Con Con you hop off the bus to hike up to the sand dunes (los dunes).

Lucky me, my friends had a sandboard and a sandsled! You just strap in, shut your mouth, squint, and head down the hill. On my first try I was laughing so hard that I ate a mouthful of sand that was blown into my face! I didn't care though, this was way too much fun!

The sledding was so fast! I was the gringo screaming all the way down the hill ha. 

The ride down is super fun! The hike back up... not so much. It feels like you're summiting a 14er. 

We then walked down to the beach and had a really funny moment. Kaylin and I were looking at these rocks from a distance, and we swore we could see a man walking on water! Like no joke, we saw a figure walking on water! So just imagine this... the gringos already sound funny when trying to speak spanish. Now they are trying to explain that they see a man walking on water. En serio! That was so funny and frustrating at the same time. Then I realized that the guy was actually slacklining! From so far away you couldn't see the line, so he just looks like he was walking on water. Then we got closer to watch some of the action. If you don't know what slacklining is you should google it cause it's pretty cool. I brought mine to Chile and I'm really glad I did. 

I mean let's be honest... I look just as cool if not cooler than those guys... (;

After the sand dunes we actually went into Con Con and stopped at a restaurant that is known for its empanadas. I got a cheese and mushroom empanada that was to die for! Empanadas are certainly going to be something that I will miss when I come back to the States. So I plan on enjoying every single one I get while I am here!
Hope all is well in the States! Happy Labor Day weekend :)