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!
