ah, sabado...

OK guys, I have to get something off my chest.

Chilean boys are incredibly good-looking. For example, my host brother is muy, muy guapo, and his friends aren't too bad either! This will be fun...

So yes, I have moved in with my new family and they rock out of all comprehension. I've only got my mom and my brother in the apartment with me (mom's about 50, brother's 21 and isn't around much) but my sister and her family live in the building next to us with my friend Lauren, so we all get together as a larger family quite often. Yesterday Martin (11 year old), Lauren and I went and played futbol, and had so much fun! There are certain things that make language barriers not matter so much. It was amazing how many people were playing soccer in this park (which, by the way, is right across the street from my apt). It really is their life! Hopefully I'll get to play with some people my age at some point in the near future. (This picture is the view from my bedroom window. It doesn't do justice the beauty that I see each day! The mountains in the distance are the cordillera, and on a clearer day I can see further, to the mountains that still have snow on them. The sun rises front and center... Good morning sunshine!)

(This is a picture from the side of Cerro Santa Lucia, a hill that looks out over the city. The city actually stretches from horizon to horizon! All you can see is city, with these looming mountains rising out of the current of men. Very beautiful. I also thought that the juxtaposition between city and nature was quite striking and strange... the park has a clearly defined line where city ends and green begins.)


It's so strange the way events and facts have a different effect on you depending on the way they're presented. I've read about Pinochet, I've heard about the atrocities, and somehow it still remains part of history that doesn't really connect when I see people walking around the city. In class yesterday, our director Rene was giving us a synopsis of Chilean history, and talked some about Pinochet's actions. He was almost assassinated. Right before Pinochet left power, he kind of went on a spree to get rid of all of the rest of the people he didn't like, and apparently Rene and his friends were on that list. After having coffee, Rene decided not to aaccompany his buddy down the main street of Santiago, and by the time he got home his friend was already on the way to the mortuary. Hearing this really made me step back and examine the way I view history, because all of a sudden it was so close. Teresa's host mom was tortured. It happened to almost everybody, or to the family and friends. What else are we separating ourselves from?

(Chileans don't take baths, they plant things in them. This was just on the street in the middle of the city...)

I'll move away from the heavy and thought-provoking now... last night was our first real night in Santiago (the weekend), so naturally we all went out for carrete. Carrete is the word for the spool on a fishing rod, and also a slang word for going out at night because the nights never end! (you know, like the way fishing line just keeps coming and coming and...) In reaction to the former curfews that Pinochet enforced, the Chilean people celebrate their nocturnal freedom. Typical evenings out start at 11 or 12 and go until 5, 6, even 7. Lauren and I got a bit lost in Ñuñoa and ended up walking for over an hour, but finally ended up at Club de Jazz, where this very avant garde jazz group at times assaulted and others seduced our ears. We met some people from Stanford (met some others from Cornell a few days ago) and switched up numbers, so maybe we'll have some other American company. After the fabulous show, we went to a brewery near by and chatted for a long time. The people in my group really are splendid folks. We stayed until the place closed, played on the playground, and ended up getting home around 5 or 5:30. Cristobal didn't get home until 7, crazy Chilean. So in conclusion, the nights are hoppin!

(This picture is the view from the top of Santa Lucia. You can kind of see how the city never ends.. and you can't see the mountains that ring the city, but it's still a good picture!)

It feels like I've been here so much longer than a week. Too bad my Spanish doesn't reflect that. There is an incredible difference between older and younger speakers. As a general rule, I can't understand a thing Cristobal and his friends say, though last night I was starting to pick up on a few things, so yay! It's very intimidating. I really want to have a relationship with my 'brother' and be comfortable around him, but when I can't understand what's coming out of his mouth, I pretty much freeze up too.

Monday is the day when most the middle and high schools start back up, and also the day of the Pinguinos. The Pinguinos (so called because of their black and white uniforms) are the students who first marched in protest of the education laws put in place by Pinochet thirty years ago. Even though he's gone, the laws are still there, and are almost impossible to change due to the regulations that were put on congress (also due to Pinochet). These laws have a lot to do with the privatization and decentralization of schools, and constitute much of their structure. They don't work very well, and all of the students hate them. So Monday is the traditional day of protest for students, and our director told us to leave twice the amount of time to get into the city because of all the expected activities. It should be very interesting.



This is how we feel about being in Chile.

As I said, my group rocks. It all does.

I am falling in love with this place.