I'm almost ready to do it...

I've been in Casa SIT for 9 hours now. You'd think that that would be an incredible time in order to get work done and take a huge chunk out of my load. You'd think that!

Really I've spent the day here (because I had an interview, but the guy is sick and forgot to tell me, and then because I wanted to work, then it wasn't worth going home before the dinner I've got in half an hour) working for a little while, browsing the Lonely Planet forum, working for a second, looking for sites about Patagonia, browsing facebook, maybe working, gossiping with Rossanna, going on a search for a delicious manjar treat (manjar is directly translated as delicacy.. perfect), and maybe working. Eh, I worked a lot this weekend, it's all good.

The truth is, I feel like I could write my paper at this moment and so have little motivation to go put myself in really awkward and vulnerable places to gather the perspectives of the people. I really just need to talk to graffiteros, and that doesn't generally happen in the middle of the day.

Except for this guy. My new best friend. Margs and I went to south Santiago Centro to talk to people about carabineros and graffiti, and when walking back to the metro ran into him. I could hardly talk to him I was so excited! First person at random in action. Paradise! The guy on the left does images, and the guy on the right is a tag artist. He really gave me a whole lot more respect for tag. Apparently there are whole unspoken laws about it in and among the community of artists, and they're not conglomerations of lines, but rather designs inspired and driven by the artists own experiences. His always include the words 'ideas.' Look for it.

We met a lot of really interesting people, who were all more than willing to talk to us about their opinions. It's amazing how open people are with complete strangers, and especially with people who are obviously coming from a whole different background and set of ideas than they are. Two old men on the street talked to us about how bodies had to be burned during the dictatorship (that or how people set themselves on fire... was that really the reflexive they were using?) and an old hairstylist ranted about how foreign influences are screwing up the economy and social heirarchy in Chile, making delincuency rates rise and making her son's occupation (carabinero special forces) that much more dangerous. Once you scratch the surface of anyone, you're bound to found answers to questions you never had.

We also saw some really incredible art, most of it tags, covering every public wallspace. Here's an example of why it's so amazing to study a subject in depth. This picture to you guys looks like the graffiti artist wearing something weird. But from this, I know that the artist is probably a Socialist and participates in protests, usually on the violent side, and that he is most likely late teens to early twenties. He probably is also a biker. That's just the part of the code that I know... Think about what else this could mean. And what about the murals that are more complex, or have different images? Also one of the reasons why graffiti does not achieve the political and social goals it sets out for.

This weekend we cooked again, woohoo! I am really discovering the joys of cooking. I was trying to get us all started, getting pots and such, and David made some comment about how I must be starving. I wasn't - I realized that I really just wanted to stir that chicken, to sniff out the right spices, to watch the onions change color. It's incredibly fulfilling and gives me this warm and happy feeling inside. Or maybe that's just the good company I associate it with. Anyways, this time we did Mexican food at David's house, it was delicious, and we even found Corona! That really reminded me of nights at Cosmic. We were all going to go dancing afterwards, but since we didn't start cooking until 9:30, we didn't finish up with dessert until 3. I have to admit I'm getting more used to the Chilean way of doing weekends... It's not just about staying out late. It's about making the time that you have last as long as you can. They never hurry through anything, and will often opt for a conversation instead of getting something done. So when we get together, even if we start when the sun is still up, often we won't feel the urge to leave or get on to something else until much later than we 'should' have. You can feel this sense of things everywhere. I went to one of my interviews the other day, and the guy I was going to talk to brought his buddies from the TV station. We went and bought sandwiches, talked about fútbol, then the station, then cigars and digital radio, then whatever else. When we got there, Cristian laughed and told me he hoped I didn't have plans. I've learned my lesson here - my day was free.

The guys at the interview yesterday (which is the tomorrow of some of this entry... I didn't finish. Yay for internet saving capabilities!) are also the perfect example of how incredible people here are. I didn't make them unnatural in any way, and they did the same for me. They kept joking and talking and arguing like all friends do, including me in almost all of it. They did threaten me once - when I tried not to eat the half-sandwich they offered me. I had two choices - eat it, or leave. Gotta love that hospitality! It was also assumed that I was coming back to help out with their programs, which I am, but tonight would have to go alone so didn't go. My director forbade me.

Speaking of director... I met with him today, seeing as he is acting as my advisor now. He pretty much pointed out all of the really interesting things about my paper that I was skirting around, and now I am going to restructure it almost completely. (I would say have to, but I'm loving it!) It's all the same information, and I can still use almost all of my info/interviews, but I have to go back and reanalize them from this new perspective. The weight of the new topic would frighten me if I didn't recognize the fact that I am a student doing a study for less than a month. That said, René told me that if I can pull this paper off the way it's proposed, I could start the beginnings of social revolution. My paper has to do with alternative communication as a voice for the parts of society that are nonrepresented in a'liberty of expression' democracy.

Democracy is an idealogy. This amazing man pointed out to me that the only difference between a doctrine and an idealogy is that within an idealogy, the system works to hide the elements of itself that are contradictory. Think about it. Apply it to life. Here's an example. Chile claims that with democracy came liberty of expression and representation for all. However. All major TV channels and newspapers are owned by the extreme right, some of whom hosted concentration camps or torture centers in their buildings. The government will give no no-strings-attached funding to community methods of communication (which are almost always from the Left) because of who knows why. The structure of the electoral system here has somehow prevented any representation of the not-surprisingly large population of Communists in Chile. They have a bipartisan system (more or less) - one from the right, and one from the center-right.

At first look, we all think that the growth of democracy in Chile is a fantastic thing. But it doesn't work. Now let's look at another country. The United States? How's that working?

The picture above says "Histories that never happened, for fear of making sense."

Here's a picture of me in Valpo listening to Michelle Bachelet's State of the Union address (or the equivalent). All the streets were closed, they wouldn't let us in to Congress (but why? We're not extranjeras or anything..)

I don't know if I've written about this in here, and if I have forgive me. This is one of the most influential yet subtle realizations I have made during my time here. 'Democracy' is not synonymous with 'government.' In fact democracy is really just one way of looking at things. You can have a society that is as far away from democracy as you can be, and that society can be happier than we are, and can run smoother than we do. It's all perspective. My friend Abel lived four years in Cuba, and wants to go back even after he's seen the 'American dream' style of consumerism. When we asked him how it compared, he refused to do it. There is no comparison, he said. They are completely different. How can we pretend to know that our way is better, or that we can assume to know 'better' than their government?

Also, side note, did you know that Cuba has a representative government compelte with Congress and all that jazz? That Fidel is a just a figurehead? That the people love Fidel, and the system, and want it to continue? Maybe I'm just showing my ignorance, but I find it amazing that I always thought that Fidel was a heavy-handed dictator. We need a revolution.

One of the founders of the community channel I talked to told me this: First you start the communication revolution. Then you start the social revolution. You can't start the social revolution if the people don't know anything.

Let's change it up, ladies and gentlemen.

Long political offwind. Sorry. Margs and I went to Valparaíso on Monday. We talked with a lot of scary-looking carabineros and realized that they are all amazing people. Nice, intelligent, looking out for people. One captain that we spoke with showed an incredible amount of self-awareness and social consciousness. He pointed out that Chile is in a cycle of violence, a cycle that every country is in to some extent. The way it goes is that one side raises the bar and gets more fierce with the other (we'll say gvt). Then the people have to react with great violence in order to enact change. The government becomes more violent, so on and so on. Eventually you are left with a military government that solves everything with violence.

People down here also consider Bush to be the winner of a political coup. Some say military. Think about that.

Whoops, another political branching off. Too easy down here.

Valpo was amazing. It was incredible to be able to breathe again. Right now in Santiago, it's rare to see the mountains. When I got here they loomed over half of the sky. It's gross. But Valpo... ah, the ocean! Good food, nice cops, great views, amazing friends, and a day to relax. We had to wait two hours for the bus back, but spent it dissecting English, gossiping about boys, discussing the meaning of life, and devouring papas fritas.

We like cheesy photos. Here I am in front of the place where they held the day-long ceremony - replete with speeches, the Cueca, and the army on parade - around the State of the Union. (And yes, I know it's not called that but I don't know what they call it and that's our equivalent.) I could have seen Michelle Bachelet!!!

All in all, it's starting to get cold. Debra should be buying my plane ticket to Peru in about 30 minutes. Maybe by the time I get there I'll have some sort of travel plans. The crew is all rolling back to Santiago in five or six days. I'm excited. I'm sad. I'm going to try and convince my Chilean brother to travel with me for the week I'm solo. I realized that I'm going to miss him terribly, and we are just now getting to the point where we can really talk. I also might try to be in Santiago for Lorena's birthday. También le voy a echar de menos.

Being here in this atmosphere, in this program, studying what I am with the people who are helping me... At times I feel like everything is political in some sense. We exist in society, which is run politically. Even culture is politically driven, and our expression of ourselves. There is no way to ever be completely happy with it. But there are definitely ways to make it the best that we can, for everybody. And I'm going to do my best.

"Smile! You too can change this prostitute world."