Santiago

Sorry I've become such a floja blog poster!
floja: adj. "flow-ha" lazy
I saw that I've had 712 page views and realized that some of you really do care about what I have to say and want to know what I've been up to! So here goes:
Santiago: Last weekend I was able to visit the capital city for one day/night only, but managed to jam in as much as possible, including the Museo de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Museum). However depressing the content and gloomy the weather outside, it was fascinating to learn about what atrocities were actually ocurring during Chile's years of military dictatorship that only ended a mere 30-odd years ago. As a student of African studies as well, I am always captivated by the human experience, learning about both the horrors as well as the positives that people have undergone in our brief history here on Earth.
Moving away from the dreary start of my trip, we also were able to split up into groups and explore. My friends and I chose to head over to the Universidad de Chile in the center of Santiago to see what damage has been done in the past several months of student protest, and it was breathtaking. Truly beautiful and heart-wrenching to see the amount of work put into the immense hand-painted banners and flyers that covered the massive yellow and white building of European architecture. The essence of tear gas was in the air, I myself sneezing at least 15 times, but we walked up and down the block listening to amateur soapbox orators and DJs blasting their thoughts from bull horns and giant stacks of amps. I bought a button for a dollar that reads "Vamos" (Let's Go!) in front of a Chilean flag.

view from about 3/4 up Cerro Santa Lucía

Friends Paige and Elyse at the bottom of Santa Lucía

We continued along our way, stopping in a few old, dimly lit churches that reminded me of Spain. We also explored the "Drug Store," a galeria style mall of sorts with boutiques and small, overpriced shops, and I was able to resist purchasing anything in order to save for my October trip to Machu Picchu. We even tried to get into the grand Palacio Moneda, but we were blocked out of it by some stern carabineros in green trench coats (that somewhat resembled kilts....) due to the frequent student protests. The entire lawn was even blockaded as if it were Mardi Gras, with only a few lonely street dogs lounging in the grass. Finally, we climbed the Cerro Santa Lucía, a sort of Central Park-esque oasis in the center of Santiago that rises above the city, with platform after platform of terraces and fountains, statues and neatly trimmed trees, a couple kissing on every bench. If you are determined enough to climb to the top along some treacherous staircases, you reach the highest point, a watch tower of sorts, with a 360 degree view of the city. All around you rise skyscrapers in every direction, and in the distance, if you can see past the unfortunately trapped and hovering smog, lie the Andes Mountains.
The following day, my class and I went to a Taller de arte, (Tay-air day artay), or artists workshop, to meet and work with the resident artist himself. He worked mostly in print making, all of his work done on wooden slabs and then pressed onto paper with black ink. Our class even carved our own...*cough*interesting...piece and everyone was able to operate the press.
Finally, we ate lunch at a Peruvian restaurant, many trying ceviche (although I was not a brave soul, my lobster ravioli was delicious, aka "rico") or Peruvian soda (which tastes like melted bubble gum).
Since my trip to Santiago, which I would consider a short and sweet success, I've also started my volunteer position which I think will be challenging but rewarding as I work with some extremely unmotivated little girls on their reading and math.