3:41 PM
Fun weekend. Friday was spent exploring Santiago and going to various outdoor and indoor markets. Finally found some postcards that I like, so people might actually be hearing from me somewhat soon. Saturday, Winnie and I went to Cajón de Maipo along with Shay, another guy from our program. Cajón de Maipo is about an hour away from Santiago and very pretty, super close to the mountains. I really wanted to go on a hike, but when we asked at the tourist center, we were told that the only hike nearby would cost us $15,000 pesos (about $30). Needless to say, we weren’t too excited about that, so we instead decided to follow the road up the nearby mountains to the ski resort 16 km away. We walked part of the way, but got a lot of rides from people as well – my first time hitchhiking! We bushwhacked off the road for a while as well, although it ended up being a bit more of an adventure than we were looking for, what with cliffs, fences, and lots of prickly bushes and loose rock. Shay and I were fine, but Winnie (who is scared of heights), was not a huge fan of some parts. We got out of it all right however, and it was definitely an experience! We caught a ride back down the mountain and got a ride back to Santiago from Shay’s host mom, who happened to be there for a party. Shay was particularly happy not to have to take the bus back, as he was not a fan of the speed and bumpiness of the ride over. (I, however, liked the bus – it was like an amusement park ride :P)
Sunday, Winnie and I went to Pomaire, a pueblo about 45 minutes away that is pretty much dedicated to creating pottery. It was interesting, but I enjoyed Cajón de Maipo more. Plus there were tons of tourists in Pomaire – although very few Americans, which was good. The day ended up being a little longer than expected after we realized that a lot of the buses going back to Santiago were already full, but we got back eventually. And spent the extra time flirting with several Pomaire guys, so it wasn’t too bad :P
Today was a día feriado, state holiday, so no work. Back to the normal routine tomorrow though. I’m not really looking forward to it – the office is so so cold, and I don’t actually enjoy teaching English that much. It also makes me sad learning about the state of education here, as it’s pretty horrible. Right now a lot of the schools are “en toma,” meaning that students have taken over the school buildings and aren’t allowing anyone in. You can tell when a school is en toma because chairs are stuck into the fences surrounding the schools. There are student guards who determine who can pass, and there are students in the building at all times (many sleep and eat there). Some schools have been en toma for a couple weeks now, and I’m not sure when it’s going to let up. The tomas were initiated in order to protest for better quality education, and some people in my program see the tomas as being a good example of citizens protesting for their rights, but I think the whole idea of a toma is very contradictory. Quality of education may be bad, but it can’t be worse than nothing at all. Those defending the tomas claim that the only way to initiate governmental action here is to do something drastic, but taking over school buildings and destroying school property can’t be the best way. Not to mention that some of the problem lies within the students themselves – at one of the schools I go to to teach, many of the students spend most of their time sitting around outside instead of in class, and students regularly miss their lessons at the office I work at. And Chile isn’t yet a completely developed country, so I have my doubts about whether the tomas will be able to instigate any change even if the government recognizes the problems in quality of education (which they do). I wasn’t set on writing my thesis on education in Latin America/Chile before I came here, but now I think I’m even less likely to. But we shall see! And for those interested, I’ll try to put up a picture of one of the schools currently en toma soon; I haven’t had the chance to take one yet. But if you search “en toma” on google images, some images of schools in Santiago come up.
Okay, well I’m exhausted now, so I’m going to take a nap before going to a plaza with my host family to walk around and get a coffee later tonight. Hope everyone is doing well! I’ve recently had my first tinges of homesickness this week, and I miss the ease of being home (used loosely). But I knew that would happen, and I think it’s good for me in various ways. One of which is that visiting other places has been super useful to me in terms of helping me figure out exactly how I want to live. Not in terms of what I want to study or do for a career so much, but in terms of what kind of living situation I want: house, food, eating and sleeping schedule, social life, etc. Hasn’t changed my opinion about where I want to live though: Montana still on my mind ☺
Cajón de Maipo in the background
Shay, me, and Winnie
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