June 2011 – Valpo Voyager

Month: June 2011

Long Weekend! Carnaval de San Pedro

Gringo family (minus one member) at the dunes!!: Las Dunas!! Why are there so many beautiful places here?! 🙂

Carnaval de San Pedro! These are the dancers we followed 🙂

Hola choros!

I’m working on a couple longer posts, but I wanted to give a quick update on the Festival de San Pedro that happened this weekend! There are always surprises in Chile, especially because people don’t like to tell you about upcoming events in advance! So on Friday we learned that there was going to be a festival and parades and boat display on Sunday and a vacation day with no school or work on Monday, que bakan! (awesome!)

And the celebration on Sunday was SO cool, I had no idea what to expect, but we went to the main harbor and there were tons of people there….but nothing happening…but all the boats were decorated with flowers and little flags, so that was pretty to see…and just as we were getting bored and thinking of going to a restaurant, this loud marching band music starts up and a huge parade comes our way! And this was no Tulip Time parade, this was a Chilean parade for sure, because it was all music and dancing! There were tons of different dancing groups, each wearing the traditional clothing for the type of dance that they were performing, and personal little marching bands to follow each group of dancers. Mixed in were banners and images and mini floats of the Virgin Mary, San Pedro and other saints. San Pedro is the patron saint of fisherman, therefore since Valparaiso is the most important port city in Chile and a has a huge shipping and fishing industry, Valparaiso throws one heck of a party on this day 🙂

The best part was that once the parade was finished and passed us, we started walking after the dancers down the parade route, trying to mimic there dance moves, and once we had them down started dancing behind the last marching band with the same moves that the real dancers were doing, in the parade route, baha!! People started laughing and taking pictures of us along with the dancers and yelling “gringas miren aca! Aca!” (White girls, look over here!”…I was with two of my friends who are from France and a Chilena 🙂 ). It was hilarious, we were dancing like that for a good 20 minutes until the real dancers finally ended, and then on our way back to the harbor, another parade started up! More dancing!

Then today we had a lovely free day to sleep in and then headed out to the sand dunes at Con Con, a city close to Vina del Mar, very touristy (you can tell because there was a McDonalds, Starbucks and Burger King and huge condo buildings along the beach 😀 ). The dunes were so beautiful! So I spent my afternoon hiking, eating our picnic lunch of bananas, turkey and cheese sandwiches, peach juice (I’m addicted to juice because of Chile, they have every possible flavor and stands all over that squeeze it for you fresh, SO GOOD!), and our dessert of oreos and peanut butter, and finally watching the puesta del sol (sunset) over the ocean…life is good!

Ships decorated for San Pedro!

So there’s my holiday update! I return to work tomorrow, but this upcoming weekend we’re going to celebrate the 4^th of July with our Chilean friends by having a good ol’ American cookout! Too bad fireworks are illegal here… 🙁

Chao amigos! Besitos!

Mandaka Day

June 25, 2011 / Michelle Roy / 0 Comments

The kids build a small section of the canal

One of everyone’s favorite days of the trip was when we go visit Mandaka Primary School, the school where about 500 of the village go to school. When we arrive they greet us with songs and welcome u with tea. They are so excited to have us visit yet I think I might have been more excited to be visiting them. The kids are so cute. They are in classes of about 40 and sit three to a desk, but they are so enthusiastic and joyful.

This year we hoped to teach the kids a little bit about our project by building a canal out of modeling clay. Each child got a little section of clay to make a part of the canal that we connected and improved to make a working canal. When we told the kids it was ready, they just about ran to the front of the room to see. We put a hole in the wall to how that overtime the canal will break and water will escape, which out water did spilling colorful water all over the floor of their classroom. We then fixed it to show that little repairs will help the communities get water.

Did we make a huge mess? Kind of

Everyone excited gathers around to watch the demonstation

Did anyone care? No

Did the kids fully grasp the concept of maintenance? Probably not

Did we at least help the kids understand the canal more? Hopefully

Did the kids have a blast? Yes

Did the other EWB-Valpo members have fun? Of course

Was the day a success? Definitely!

La Cultura Chilena (Getting used to some cultural differences!)

June 24, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 0 Comments

Alrighty, I know I said in my last post that I was going to write about night-life and I had a post almost finished and then my computer got stolen…yeah…awesome. So I don’t really feel like writing it all over again and getting mad remembering about the computer-stealing fiasco! Therefore, I’m gonna write about Chilean culture…it won’t be a textbook promise 🙂 After living here for a month I’m certainly not an expert, but there are some really obvious cultural differences here, and most of them are pretty funny! So here we go:

Greetings (Saludos)

In the U.S. if you’re going to say hi to someone or a group, you wave at everyone as you walk by, handshake if it’s more formal or hug if you’re friends, right? Well here, to say hello you say “Hola” and then press your cheek to the other person’s cheek and kiss the air (or if you’re a teenage boy, you not so discreetly plant a kiss right on my cheek…nice). This happens between men and women and between women, men just shake hands, and you add a hug into the mix if you’re good friends. To say goodbye is the same thing, but you say “Chao” and kind of feel like you’re Italian. (They look at you funny if you say “Adios” too!) The thing that cracks me up is that you MUST greet and say goodbye to every single person individually. My favorite example of this is in youth group, when I enter the room and have to go around and kiss 50 Chileans on the cheek…and if I miss one they point it out and I’m automatically super rude! I’m really bad with remembering this when I say goodbye to groups of people, I’ll just say “Chao!” wave and start to walk off, and then realize how rude I’m being!

2. Chilenismos!

Chileans love to joke that they don’t speak Spanish, they speak Chilean. I didn’t know this before I came here, but it turns out that Chile has a reputation for REALLY difficult to understand Spanish…and I can now verify that reputation whole-heartedly! The first thing that makes speaking “Chilean” so difficult is that they speak incredibly fast! Native Spanish-speakers in general seem to speak really quickly to me, but Chileans talk fast even for native speakers, it’s insane! Chileans also love to use slang, so they have tons of words that don’t make sense anywhere but Chile. Here’s a few of my favorites:

Poh: Chileans add the sound “poh” onto any word they please. It’s most common with “si”, so a lot of times Chileans respond with “sipo!” to questions. I’ve found that in conversations between friends or with some kind of passionate topic/emotion, they start slipping poh into at least one word every sentence, it can make things really hard to follow at first! But I love trying to use it now, and it cracks them up when I do, they love that I’m becoming a chilena J

Bakán: this is kind of like “awesome”, they use it to describe anything that was cool or fun or interesting, que bakán, no?!

Pololo/polola: this means novio/novia (boyfriend/girlfriend), but it also signifies that the relationship is quite serious, if I’m understanding correctly. Try saying it, it’s such a funny word! Oh, and “pololear” means “to date”.

Fume: BORING!

Cachai/cache: Cachai is used in place of “entiendes?” (you understand?). I need to take a video of someone saying it, it’s a word with bounce and force, I love it! And if you understand you respond with “cache!”. Chileans slip “cachai” on the end of tons of sentences, speeches are littered with it! Cachai?

Wena choro/pollo!: This is a greeting between friends, choro is a chilenismo for “amigo” (friend). Pollo literally means “chicken”, but calling someone a pollo is like calling them stupid. But Chileans love insulting their friends, it’s honestly like you’re real friends once you start trading insults all the time, I almost feel good once I’m in insult battles b/c I know I’m in, ha! But don’t say “wena pollo” to someone who isn’t a friend, they’ll get mad! But between friends it’ll always get a laugh 🙂

3. PDA!

WOW. This was definitely the most evident cultural difference right away. CHILEANS LOVE PDA! SO MUCH! My first night in Chile we went to a restaurant and I looked over at the table next to me, only to find a couple making-out (and it was riding the PG/PG-13 line)! I let out a little gasp and my friend Susana looked over to ask what was wrong, so I nodded my head over at the couple…and she looked so confused! I tried to explain that this level of PDA was not normal in the U.S., especially not in a nice restaurant, and she couldn’t understand it! In her words, “Anna, love is beautiful, why hide it?!”…so there you have it, the Chilean belief that fuels their PDA J But be warned, if you’re walking around Valparaíso, you will find couples making out on almost every park bench, at the traffic light waiting to cross the street, in front of you in line, everywhere! They even do it when out with other people! Just last night I was out with some friends at a bar, two of whom are dating, and they just started kissing, during a conversation, with people sitting on either side of them…and everyone continues on as if nothing is happening! They might tease them a bit, but no one is uncomfortable! Except me! I’ll admit, I’m not surprised at the PDA because Chileans are so comfortable with touch in general. Friends hug and touch all the time here, personal bubbles are very small or non-existent! Oh, PDA, gotta love it 😉

4. Super Talkative and Friendly!

Chileans are very, very friendly, which I love, it’s really helpful when you’re a stranger in a foreign country! Living in the YMCA there are always tons of people around and it’s quite normal for a stranger to strike up a conversation with me while I’m on my laptop, walking up the stairs, sitting in the kitchen or even when I’m getting dressed in the locker room or taking a shower (still not used to that whole stranger shower conversation thing…)! I think this may happen more often because I’m a gringa, and this tends to fascinate people (also, I so easily stick out, I’m so white, ah! I need to be home and able to tan!), but I’ve also seen this happen a lot between Chileans, as a whole they’re just much more comfortable and laid back with touch and meeting new people. Chileans keep the conversation going for a long time too, when you sit down for a meal I’ve learned that you need to be prepared to sit for a good hour once everyone is done eating in order to just sit and talk and laugh. I love that, it works well for a talkative extrovert like me

5. Aggressively Kind

This is a term that Erica and I decided on to describe how Chileans treat us, and each other. Chileans are hospitable almost to a fault. When you’re invited over to someone’s house they will ask you what you want to drink and if you want more or something they don’t have at least 10 times and keep insisting that you eat more and won’t let you help prepare or serve or clean anything at all! It’s very sweet, you feel like a queen J It’s hard to explain the aggressive part, but the best way I can think to describe it is that Chileans are very sure that they know what is best for you and will not take no for an answer! So if they think it’s too cold outside and you need more clothes, nothing is happening until you put more clothes on! With food, I get second helpings or they at the least look very confused and disappointed if I repeatedly refuse something…or just give me another drink anyways J When I was sick and they decided I needed bedrest, then there was NO leaving the Y, no matter what I said! And if you say “no” to anything, they rarely take it seriously, I think they think you’re kidding…ah, I hope this makes sense, it can be both really wonderful (the kindness) and really frustrating (the aggressive-ness)!

Ok, there’s lots more to say, but this is really long already, so I’ll have Chilean culture part 2 later! As for life here, things are good! I love teaching my classes, singing with the kids and getting cooking lessons in the soup kitchen , and I never run out of places to explore here…life is good 🙂 I taught the third graders for an hour and a half all by myself today (that was one of the most obvious indicators I’ve had at how much my Spanish is improving, YAY!) and it was so much fun! I taught them “This is the Day” in Spanish and English and motions to go along with it, and then we made clay models of the beautiful things that the Lord has made, like we were singing about…so much fun 🙂 I have some pictures, I’ll put them in soon! Off to a concert now, besos!

Bucket Brigades

June 19, 2011 / Michelle Roy / 0 Comments

The villagers work hard to mix a concrete batch by hand

Building junction 1 required making a lot of concrete by hand. This is not an easy task as the rock, stone, cement, and water are heavy and need to thoroughly mixed. Now imagine mixing this with a shovel that is only 2 ft long. That is what the villagers did for over 50 batches of concrete me made. Although it was tiring and hard many of them kept mixing like machines to finish the work. I was impressed since I was exhausted after mixing a batch before it was even close to being finished.

The mixing was hard, but I loved watching the people work together. As soon as a batch was ready someone would yell “fall in” and everyone would line up and pass buckets of concrete down the line to get the concrete to where it needed to be placed. The line was so efficient generally we did not have enough buckets to keep up. I enjoyed it because it was something that everyone could take part in. I joined the men and women of the village in line and laughed and smiled as we moved the concrete in order to fix their canal.

EWB-Valpo member Brittney joins the buckt brigade

Tag in the Market

June 15, 2011 / Michelle Roy / 0 Comments

These are my new friends

One of my jobs on the trip was to measure the length of rebar required to reinforce our drop box. After the generator broke, I took my job to the market where there was electricity in one of the shops. However, once the villagers started cutting they did not need my help. Instead I played with three of the cutest little kids I have ever seen. They lived off the market and on non-market days they used the booths as their personal playground. They laughed and giggled and ran around. I tried to teach them how to do some very basic dance moves, but they just laughed at me. I got the same reaction when I tried to get them to make funny faces at me. Eventually we started playing chase where they would run away from me laughing and I would follow them through the banana trees. They ran past an old woman doing laundry a few times and with each passing she would give me this huge grin and laugh as I played with the children. It was such a simple gesture that made the kids so excited. Later that day when I returned to the market, the kids got my attention and then took off running through the trees wanting to continue playing with me.

Mi Trabajo! Starting the actual internship part of my life here :)

June 12, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 1 Comment

Colegio Jorge Williams! The amazing quiche we made!: Mid-day assembly, the kids get in line and have a routine of “arms up! to the side! in front! at your sides!” to end up standing straight like ladies and gentlemen 🙂

Taller de Cocina (Cooking Class) at Rukantu…Rodrigo is an amazing cook!

Oh hey, it’s been awhile! I have so much to tell! I finally got to start working this week and I absolutely loved my first week in the programs. It was definitely a week of introductions and planning, so this next week is when I really dig into things, but I’ll give you an introduction to what I’m doing and was up to this past week! My time is divided between 5 programs. I really love all the variety in my work schedule, every day is different! (I will add photos ASAP!)

On Monday, Tuesday and Friday I work from 9am-1pm in Colegio de Jorge Williams, a school for preschool-8th grade that is sponsored by the YMCA. The YMCA started this school to create a place for kids from troubled homes, whether that is from abuse, lack of money, alcohol abuse or other reasons. They provide free breakfast and lunch to provide more economic help for the families and the staff is really great, all people who have a passion to help these kids create the foundation for a positive future. On Tuesdays I work with the music teacher in his classes for 5th and 7th graders, and on Mondays and Fridays I’m with the third graders. I love the Colegio so far, especially the 3rd graders. I was mostly observing in the music classes, I’ll be teaching part of the class next Tuesday, but there was tons to do with the 3rd graders. One of the difficulties in this school is that discipline is really difficult. Often the kids don’t have a very controlled environment in their homes, and it’s obvious that many of them don’t get enough attention. So the kids want your attention all the time and speak out of turn and interrupt a lot, it can be really hard to get things done. But the 3rd grade teacher is really great with the kids, they obviously adore her, and I’m glad that I can be there to help her keep control and attend to everyone; I don’t know how she does it every day! Helping the kids with their assignments was hilarious, I’ve found that the pattern is this:

1. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, necesito ayuda, ahora, ahora!!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, I need your help, now, now!”

2. Help with question, try to leave and help other student, but get pulled back and asked:

3. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, como se dice [insert Spanish word] en ingles?!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, how do you say [Spanish word] in English?”

4. Tell them the English word.

5. They say “en serio?” (really??!), try and pronounce it and start cracking up and telling all their friends.

6. Receive huge hug!

7. Repeat starting at Step 1 🙂

Haha, I love these kids, I’m pumped to have 2 more months with them! On Wednesday I work at the center in Las Cañas (all the hills have different names). Las Cañas has a soup kitchen and then runs different programs for the community, such as literacy workshops, english classes, bible studies, lifeskills etc… Wednesdays I go to help the soup kitchen cook, I’m definitely getting some good cooking lessons for my apartment next year! About 30-50 people come each day and I help to serve them, sit and eat with them and then clean everything up afterwards. I love interacting with the staff there and the people who come to eat, they are all really excited about the english class that I’m going to be teaching on Mondays (tomorrow, I’m nervous!). This Wednesday I went to the Bible study after lunch and made lesson plans and signs to put in the community for my english class, I’m excited to get started tomorrow! We’re having one for the adults at the center who come for lunch and one for kids and any community member who wants to come.

Thursdays I’m supposed to go to the center in Placeres, eat at the soup kitchen with the community members and afterwards help with two workshops: theatre and women’s empowerment ….perfect fit for me, right?!?!?! The center was closed this Thursday, but I’ll start next week!

Friday afternoons I go to Rukantu, a rehabilitation center for teenage boys who have been arrested for drug usage and/or a minor violent crime. The first time I visited Rukantu I was a bit nervous, but I really enjoy working at this center, the guys are really fun to hang out with and they LOVE having gringas visit, it’s kind of hilarious. Erica and I are going to teach an English class here (The director told us that if he tells the boys that two American girls (gringas) are coming to teach a class, everyone will come for sure, all you need to say is gringa….easy advertising! Haha). After the class they have a cooking class, this week we made pizza and it was DELICIOUS! Rukantu is much more chill, it’s nice to have a different working pace where I’m just talking with the boys and social workers in the center while we cook and eat, and then watching them show off and play ping-pong later…perfect ending to the week! I even got my palm read by one of the guys this Friday, it was hilarious, he told me that I’m going to have 3 children and that they will have a mix of gringa and chileno blood…so I have to stay in Chile to find my true love…smooth, haha 🙂

Finally, I’m involved in the YMCA Leaders program. It’s kind of like a youth group, they hold a Bible study Friday evenings and program Saturday afternoons. There are 2 program levels and you can graduate to become a Leader, but the first level is open to anyone and is a mix of a mini Bible lesson, games, some kind of topic/message to help the youth (for example, this Saturday they were talking about confidence and speaking in front of other people and had lots of activities to practice). The YMCA Leaders are such a fun group of people, they’re the ones that I see at the Y all the time and hang out with and I love the program too, all the teenagers are really friendly and it’s pretty easy to make friends as a gringa, everyone wants to talk to you!

So that’s my work schedule! I’m feeling more and more like a Chilena now, walking around the city on my own, going to work, taking the bus and taxis, having favorite restaurants and foods…I really like having some more independence with my days!! I’m off to work on my lesson plans right now for my 1st English classes tomorrow, wish me luck, I’m a bit nervous! Now that you know about work, my next post will be about night life in Chile, baila, baila, baila!! Besos choros!

Hands Up for 10,000 Shilling Fines

June 8, 2011 / Michelle Roy / 0 Comments

Some of the many villagers who attended the meeting who wanted the canal fixed

The day before we arrived in the village, we received word that there was a landslide that blocked the water from flowing through the canal. With nowhere else to go, the water forced itself under the wall of the canal causing the canal floor to cave creating a giant hole in the canal. Panicked, I met with the technical chair and tried to come up with a solution to the new problem and completely revise our schedule. We didn’t get too far before we heard from Canute, our main contact person in Masaera that the village did not want us to fix it; instead, they wanted to fix it themselves. This was great news because not only did we not have to completely redo our plan, but it meant that the village was taking ownership of their canal.

A few days into the trip I had the opportunity to attend the village meeting to discuss the fixing of the canal. From what was translated for us, it seemed like all the villagers were willing to pay money and donate their time to make sure the canal was fixed in a reasonable time frame. At one point, all the villagers raised their hands and cheered. It turned out that this was the official vote, that if each family did not contribute their 2,000 shillings (about $1.33) they would have to pay a $10,000 shilling fine. I have never seen a group so willing to support a large fine. I was surprised how important it was to do whatever they could to make sure the canal continued to bring them water. It made me happy to see how the village was coming together and taking initiative to repair the canal. This was the main objective of partnering with the village: to make sure that when we are not on implementation trips the village has the knowledge and skills to maintain the canal themselves. Seeing this first hand was absolutely amazing.

Three Plane Rides and a Bumpy Van Ride Later

June 5, 2011 / Michelle Roy / 0 Comments

Driving past a beautiful sunflower field

So getting to Masaera, Tanzania isn’t exactly easy. First we flew to Frankfurt Germany, than Edis Aba, Ehthiopia, and finally to Moshi, Tanzania. There were had about an hour drive to Masaera, the village we worked in. This ride was at least gorgeous since you could see the mountains and shrubbery. As strange as it may be, Tanzania is actually pretty green with lots of flowers. I personally loved driving by all the sunflower fields. I also just enjoyed people watching out the window as they moved on the roads with goats and cows. It was fun to look at advertisements in English as they did not quite grasp the right adjectives to describe certain things. Obama’s face and name was everywhere including on buses and having hair salon’s named after him.

Eventually we turned off the main road onto a little dirt road that took us up farther into the mountains. The rains had deteriorated a lot of this road so it was really bumpy. The ongoing joke was that you needed to apologize to your kidneys afterwards because you moved around so much. However, I enjoyed this ride quite a bit. The kids we passed would excitingly wave at us as we passed and they were adorable. Finally we arrived in the village we were working. The next day I was coordinating the moving of supplies when out of nowhere I heard my name screamed. I turned to see Jackie, my friend from last year, sprinting towards me. We hugged and she welcomed me into her house to introduce me to her family. That greeting alone made the 36 plus hours of travel worth it.

Bronquitis! :(

June 3, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / Comments Off

Hey all,

So let me tell you what it’s like to be sick in a foreign country. NOT FUN. Turns out, even Chile can’t make having bronchitis any less sucky, but if I’m gonna blog about my experiences here, I guess I should tell about the good and the bad, plus you can learn from my mistakes!

Last Saturday I started having a sore, scratchy throat, which is a BAD sign with me. This usually means that I’m getting a cold, but it’s frustrating because I don’t really feel sick, so it’s very hard for me to rest! I usually end up still going out and going about my life busy as ever, and then pay for it when 2 or 3 days later I wake up during the night with a stuffed nose, cough and full head……..and was it any different this time? NOPE. Smart one Anna….but who can rest when there’s so much to do and explore here?!?!

Anyhoo, Tuesday night was awful, I could tell I definitely had a cold, and it was supposed to be our first day of work Wednesday morning! You may be thinking, “Lucky you, you get out of work!” but I was really excited to finally get started. Don’t get me wrong, these last two weeks have been awesome, I feel like I’m on vacation and am loving my time here! But I’m also really ready to have some purpose to my days. And the Chilenos are oh so chill about us getting started. That part of the culture here has been difficult to adjust to. I’m a planner and I like to be busy. The Chilean pace of life is much more relaxed (they aren’t lazy, I don’t like that stereotype, it’s just a different pace/mentality to things…honestly probably healthier than the breakneck American pace!) and they are very go-with-the-flow. I learned quickly that if I asked what we were going to be doing in the future I was told “tranquila, calma, espera, no sé!” (chill out, calm down, wait and see, I don’t know!). Valparaíso is beautiful and there are always new places to explore, but the whole group is getting a little weary of walking around day after day, and is feeling ready to have a more independent schedule and accomplish something. So it was very disappointing to me that I had to get sick at this time (though to be honest, being sick anytime during this trip would be disappointing!)

On Wednesday Erica got up early, I told her I felt awful and really hot and according to her, my forehead was feeling pretty feverish. So I spent my first day of work in bed, not teaching and playing with kiddies, que triste L But I was hopeful that with lots of Dayquil and rest, I would be good to go for Thursday! However, Wednesday night it was clear that my body was not listening to my plans, and was still quite sick. So Thursday turned into the second day of rest. And I was feeling better! So I did what Anna Wiersma does best: leap up and start doing things as soon as I have the energy…….I’m really terrible at resting, it’s a problem. So I went grocery shopping. And was absolutely exhausted afterwards. So I rested (good job, me!). But then a friend came by and surprised me, so I convinced myself that walking a block for empanadas wouldn’t kill me. But afterwards, I felt AWFUL. I had been so hungry, which was good because I hadn’t had much of an appetite the past few days, but now I felt like I was gonna throw-up. I went back to my room and was freezing, but 5 minutes later I’d be burning up. At the same time I’d be ravenous, start eating something, and then feel naseous….and all the while my chest was feeling very heavy and it was hard work to take deep breaths…..it was scary! Erica came back up to the room after the meeting I was supposed to be at was finished, took one look at me and told me I looked like a ghost. Cue the tears.

If I was home, I don’t think this would have been so scary. But being in a foreign country you can’t help but wonder: what if I got a parasite or something? What if I’m really sick? What’s happening to me?! And there isn’t anyone familiar there who really knows you, so you feel even more alone in all of this! Therefore, when Juanma and Susana wanted to take me to the ER to see a doctor that night, I was all for it. I just wanted to know what the heck was wrong with me! And navigating a hospital in Spanish, phew, that’s a whole other adventure. Thank goodness Susana and Juanma were with me, trying to comprehend Spanish while you are feverish is no piece of cake. But it was just me and Erica in the examination room, and it took me about 2 minutes to figure out that the doctor was asking me to cough for him, that was a lovely game of charades we played 😉 But he did offer to write me a note to get out of school and/or work at the end, so that made up for it, ha. And I have (drumroll please….) BRONCHITIS! Yay! (sarcasm, lots of it)

It feels good to know what’s going on. And to have 3 strong medications working for me, I do feel a lot better today. I’m just SO tired. All the time. And that’s difficult for me. My time here is already going so quickly and it kills me to have to spend a precious weekend in Chile sitting in my room, resting! But I’ve been given very strict bedrest orders, Juanma says he’ll have the security guard tattle on me if I try to escape the Y (I think they’re getting that I suck at resting, ha ;D). And it’s hard to be away from my family while I’m sick. I don’t even like being sick while I’m away at college, you just want your mom to make you soup and baby you a little, right?! But I’ve been very blessed by the care that I’ve received here. Erica is wonderful. It’s crazy to think that I barely spoke to her in Valpo, and that last night she was making me tea, sitting with me while I cried, insisted on going with me to the hospital and is always checking in to see how I’m doing. Juanma has a family, but never complained about coming at 9:30 to take me the the ER and kept me laughing during our long wait. Susana let me cry and then turned around and kept me laughing the whole night, with lots of hugs thrown in for good measure, and again never complained that her night was spent in the ER. Jorge came by to bring me movies to keep me entertained during my bedrest sentence and the staff at the Y keeps checking in on me and asking if they can make me anything. I feel so blessed by all of these things, and am trying to focus on them when I get really angry and crabby at my situation!

So my advice would be this, if you ever go abroad

If you feel run-down or like you might be getting sick, REST! Try to prevent it! Everyone has told me it’s pretty common to get sick the second week or so, your body is adjusting to a lot of new things, plus the switch to winter weather has been a bit rough! It was really nice weather at first, but Tues-Thurs was really cold all of a sudden, and you don’t get a break from it, because none of the buildings we’re working in, or the Y, have heat! So my body has to work hard to keep me warm all day.
That brings me to my second piece of advice: bring LAYERS! Being warm is better than looking good! I’m just wearing my black fleece and a new scarf with it each day so I don’t look so drab, ha J
Make an account of your symptoms in the days leading up to your doctor visit before you go. Erica did that for me, and it was really helpful, because we could look up the words we didn’t know before we had to try and explain things to the doctor! Kudos Erica J

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I get better soon, I want to be able to work on Monday!! I’ll be teaching my first english class (fingers crossed!) Besos!

Patagonia sin Represas! Educacion Publica! Protestas!

June 1, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 0 Comments

Wena choros! (Chilean way to say “What’s up my friend?”…loosely translated, ha ;D)

Alright, now that you have an idea of where I’m living, I’m going to get into what’s actually going on during my days here! I start my work schedule tomorrow (supposed to be today, but I am sick with one nasty cold, ugh!), so then my days will have more of a regular rhythm. Luckily, I’ve experienced enough in these last 2 weeks to keep me blogging for a LONG time! Sorry that I won’t be necessarily reporting on things as they happen, but there’s just a lot to tell! And one of the really interesting experiences I’ve had is being right in the middle of some BIG protests! The first one took place on only my 4th day in Valparaíso. We left so quickly for Chile because our study abroad director told us that May 21 was a holiday in Chile, Navy Day, it celebrates a victory the Chilean navy had over Peru and there is a huge parade of the armed forces in the streets of Valparaíso to celebrate. Plus, the President of Chile was coming to Valparaíso for the holiday and to speak to Congress, so we thought it would be really cool to be there for this! Therefore, I was really surprised when the Chileans at the Y just shrugged their shoulders at my mentioning of this holiday and the parade and President’s visit and said they weren’t too interested. Turns out, LOTS of people in Chile are really angry at the President right now, for many reasons, but tensions have heightened regarding a situation in Patagonia. Patagonia is an area in southern Chile where the nature has really been preserved and the beauty of this area is a source of pride for many Chileans. The President recently approved a plan to construct a huge dam in Patagonia so that Chile can produce more of its own energy and not depend on other countries as much, and do so in a clean way. However, this dam is going to ruin a huge amount of land and communities, making many Chileans VERY upset.

The Army organized in its new route, perfect for viewing from the Y!

My group was warned not to leave the Y before 1 or 2 in the afternoon due to the protests, and I didn’t think too much of it because I couldn’t hear anything going on in the morning. When I heard the sounds of the parade I went out with Erica and our German friend Max to watch and it was really cool to see! I’ve never experienced anything like it in the U.S., because it was just a parade of the armed forces; the parades in my town will have little sections of war veterans, but it’s mostly floats, and bands and community groups, so this parade was much more serious and a bit eery! Maybe it’s just me, and other people don’t get as freaked out to see thousands of people marching with guns and such, but I’ve watched too many movies of Latin America during the Cold War to not feel a little chill when I see this. But you could also definitely feel a sense of national pride. Things got interesting when all of a sudden a section of soldiers started running in sync and policemen starting running down the street on their horses. People in the street started moving away, running, some were yelling and I was SO confused as to what was happening! Turns out a protest had sprung up farther down the parade route, and the police were coming to inform the soldiers to change the route. So they turned down this side street and took the parade onto one of the major streets in Valparaíso, right in front of the Y! And it was chaos for a while as things were changing, cars and taxis and buses honking, people running, one guy even came up to me wearing a gas mask and babbling that the armed forces were going to turn on us and the world was going to end (maybe my Spanish is bad, but I swear, that’s what he was saying!) Things calmed down once the new route was established, but we decided to watch the rest of the parade from the safety of the Y’s balcony!

I thought that was as crazy as things got, so I was very surprised when I was watching the news later that night. I was at a dinner party at the house of one of the women who works with the youth programs at the Y and everyone was very interested in watching the news that night, and it only took me a couple seconds to see why. Valparaíso was headlining national news! And my little chaotic experience was nothing! Turns out that in the morning there were HUGE protests as the President was traveling in to his house in Vina del Mar (the city next to Valparaíso) and the Congress building in Valparaíso. People were lighting garbage cans on fire, throwing rocks at the President’s car and his guard, there was even a man who ran through the streets nude holding a sign that said “PATAGONIA SIN REPRESAS” (Patagonia without Dams!)- the slogan of the protests! Things got really violent, the police were spraying tear gas at the protestors and arrested hundreds and policemen and protestors alike were being beaten with clubs. It was really shocking for me to watch, I’m used to peaceful protests and not to violence from the police against protestors. But when I saw how violent the protestors were being, it was hard for me to fault the police for reacting, I don’t think it should have been to the violent degree that it was, but it was definitely a difficult situation. I was remarking on the violence, and one person at the party told me that this is still way better than things a few decades ago under Pinochet, because at least the police don’t fire directly into the protestors. Yikes! The right to organize and protest is definitely being utilized in Chile, and that’s cool to see after the dictatorship, but the violence was hard for me to swallow. It was an awesome experience for me to talk Chilean politics though (which I’m sure doesn’t surprise you if you know me, ha :D). There was a great mix of opinions at the party, to me it seemed that most weren’t too happy with the President, but some recognized that this was a difficult decision and the best option, even though they weren’t excited about it, while others were adamantly opposed. It made for some really interesting, heated conversation! And they loved explaining things to the gringa, for which I am highly grateful 🙂

And then, while I was writing this (really, how cool is that?!) another protest started up outside the kitchen window were I was eating breakfast (or drinking breakfast as they say here, the most important part of breakfast is your tea/coffee :D). This protest was about the education system and was all students. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about it, my friend Juan was taking part in it and had invited me to join, but it’s very dangerous for me to get involved in anything like that, I could get booted out of the country fast! Most everything is privatized in Chile, including education. There are public schools, but according to my Chilean friends, they are of very poor quality and going to one almost ensures that your future will not be bright, as it’s very difficult to get a good education and the test scores you need to enter a good university. This traps a lot of people in poor areas, as they can’t afford a private education and can’t get a good enough education to move out of their poverty. Most everyone I’ve met has gone to a private school because of thi

s, but the problem is that these are not cheap, and the government has recently raised costs for students. So there have been waves of student protests for the past 2 weeks, calling for a reduction in private school costs and for improvements in the quality and accessibility of the public education system. But there hasn’t been anything as big as today: it was a HUGE parade of students from all the local private universities marching for public education, which I found really touching and inspiring. They were all grouped by their major in college with signs to marks each group, such as “GEOGRAFIA, PRESENTA!” (Geography, present!), like attendance was being taken in school. Each group had a different chant, and they took over the huge main street right in front of the Y, didn’t matter that tons of cars and buses were honking like crazy! This protest is still going on outside my window, so we’ll see how it turns out! So far it’s just a peaceful march, and the police are just watching, so keep your fingers crossed that it stays this way! As for me, looks like I’ll be staying inside the Y for awhile, even though I’m a bit tempted to run out and march! (Don’t worry familia, that’s a broma (joke :D))

I just had to end with another shot of the beauty of Valparaiso. I took this on our walk to tour the cerro where Pablo Neruda lived!

Lately, Chile is heaven for a political nerd like me! Besitos!

Valpo Voyager

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