Pomaire, home of the clay potters

So last Saturday my ND program took a trip to Pomaire, a small town about an hour outside of Santiago known for all the people who work with clay. First thing in the morning, we visited a house and met the family who lived there. They would serve as our tour guides and hosts for the day. We had an excellent breakfast at their house, complete with bread, jam, cheese, and an assortment of pastries. The house in and of itself was incredible. It was set back towards a hill, down a long dirt driveway, and had been made by the family themselves. After breakfast we set out for our tour.

Our first stop was the workshop for a couple of potters. But unlike most other shops, these guys worked the whole process. The greda, or clay, is brought in by the truckload, looking like nothing more than really rough, dry, and brown dirt. The clay used to all come from Pomaire, but after years of harvesting it, it now comes from the surrounding 50-100 kms. The next step in the process is to soak the dirt for a couple of days and send it through a ramshackle grinder, breaking up all the rocks and large pieces. The now moist clay is then formed into quesos, or cheeses, because they look like giant wheels of cheese, about 30 kg each (trust me, they were every bit that heavy!). After being cleaned for small twigs by hand, they were ready to be worked. I was the first to step up to the plate from our group and try my hands at the clay wheel, trying to make a simple bowl. It could have gone better, to say the least! It's real hard to find the right balance between molding the clay too hard and not hard enough. Eventually, with considerable help, I managed to create a semi-acceptable bowl. I wish I could have had more time with the wheel, but my friends were waiting. It was also quite humorous to see the shelf-fulls of much more intricate bowls made by the potter in a single day, while seeing how much effort and time mine took.

Our next stop took us to another artisan, one who specialized in making piggy-banks. Our whole group spread out along the table and followed his lead, forming our clay into chanchitos, or little pigs. I was real proud of how mine turned out until it started to dry and I realized that I hadn't scored the clay for the snout well enough. You can see the crack starting to form in the above picture. My piggy is now in two parts, the main body and the snout. Oooops! I guess it's a learning experience. And nothing a little super glue can't fix.

We returned for lunch, were we were served the largest empanadas I've ever seen. I happily ate mine then helped out a friend, with half of hers. We were then served salad, vegetables, and cazuela, a delicious soup I've eaten quite regularly here with beef or chicken, rice, corn, squash, potato, and always a healthy portion of aji, or chili pepper (personal preference). On a side note, I'm kinda disappointed they don't call chili chili in Chile (follow?). On a second side note, Chileans have a sweet word, cachai, they use all the time to ask "Do you understand?" or "Do you follow?," perfectly applicable in the earlier sentence. Back on topic, this was a HUGE lunch, and I almost didn't want to get up from the table. In the end I did, as we made it into town to buy some pretty awesome and cheap clay cups and mugs, seen above. Some might say the large one had the intention of being used as a beer stein...

On another note, I recently went golfing with my tandem partner David (he helps me with Spanish, I help him with English). We played the Mapocho course, out by the airport. Real fun time. At over 6900 yards (for some reason they measure golf courses in yards here while everything else is metric) it was far and away the longest course I've ever played. I also had the unique experience of being dive-bombed by birds on the first two holes. I hooked a drive into the long grass and must have disturbed their nest. As I went to find my ball, birds flew directly at me, squawking away like crazy. Through the use of my golf bag and clubs as shelter and protection, I avoided any injury, but I'm convinced they would have actually hit me if not for my efforts to repel them. David told me that I was being ridiculous, and that that's happened to him tons of time with no injury, but it still scared the crap out of me. I calmed down for the rest of the round and ended up playing pretty well. I was real happy to get out golfing because it's not a very popular/accessible activity for most Chileans. It's considered a very cuico, or snooty high society, pass time. $20 for 18 holes might not sound like a lot to us (in fact it's quite cheap considering the quality of the course), but to many Chileans this is out or reach. I'm hoping to get out again with David and his girlfriend's dad. Chao

Bicentenario!

So guess, what? Since my last post, Chile turned 200 years old! Not everyday that your study abroad experience lines up with such an important celebration. Although many friends took off from Santiago to visit Linares, the beach, or other friends and relatives around Chile, I stayed put here in Santiago. Saturday the 18th was the actual bicentennial, while the 19th was the day to celebrate the armed forces.

I spent the whole weekend more, more than anything else, eating. Saturday and Sunday were days for huge asados (BBQs). Leo, my host dad, whipped up some INCREDIBLE food. Saturday we had shish kebabs, and Sunday was steaks, pork, sausages, and prieta (a dark sausage made with blood), always accompanied by vino tinto (red wine) and empanadas. Delicious doesn't even begin to describe it all. Furthermore, for these asados, many of my extended family and close family friends came over. We had a great time celebrating in the amazing backyard patio area. As you can see from the above picture, the patio and grill outside are absolutely perfect for entertaining.

As for other festivities, we saw an air show, went to a fonda (a typical independence day state fair like event. Several huge parks around Santiago were all set up with food and drink vendors, music, and trinkets for sale. It reminded me a lot of the MN state fair minus all the animals and with more focus on drinking and food - if it's possible to have more focus on food than the MN state fair), and went to go see a fantastic light show at La Moneda (the presidential offices)... 3 times! We wouldn't have had to go to the light show 3 times, but each time we got there a little earlier and got better spots in the huge crowd. The light show was absolutely incredible, I can't believe they could make the building appear to shake, warp, grow shapes, and change colors so convincingly. My favorite parts of the show included when La Moneda moved like an ocean wave, beat like a giant speaker, grew Moai (the typical human-like statues found on Easter Island), and was enveloped in neon colors. Fireworks also accompanied the show.

Monday, a national holiday as well, I went biking with my uncle and sister. We climbed Cerro San Cristobal, a mini-mountain in the heart of Santiago, along with herds of other people enjoying the holiday. The ride up took some effort, but was well worth it for the view, let alone the ride down. The 5 km ride back down the hill was spent dodging walkers, slower bikers, and cars. It was absolutely exhilarating weaving between the cars at top speed!

I've come to love Santiago and Chile in general for all it has to offer. Geographically speaking, it truly is the most remarkable country I've ever experienced. In just over an hour you can be soaking up rays on the beach, and more interestingly for me, in half that time you can be climbing the mountains. I did one of these climbs this morning. Two ND friends of mine, Katy and Rosie, climbed Cerro Pochoco. Although containing a relatively well marked trail, we enjoyed "trail-blazzing" more, or creating our own approach to the top and back down again. There is something romantic about climbing giant hills and mountains that just really grabs me. It's just incredibly inspiring to look up a hill, tell yourself you are going to climb it, and then do it. The simplicity of the task and the challenge of completing it thrill me. I have loved taking in nature this way, with a good understanding of our minuscule size. All this natural excitement and activity I have done really makes me happy that I came to Chile. Sure, I could be touring historically important buildings and visiting ancient palaces in Europe, but Chile has provided me with amazing opportunities for more environmental experiences, something I am very happy to be doing.

A couple of quick add-ons. On Friday I made pizza for my family, complete with homemade dough. My technique could still stand to be perfected, but it was a lot of fun and delicious. My family loved it too. Turns out I didn't make enough! I have found that food has really been a great way for me to bond with my family, especially my mom and dad. Whether we're talking about the differences in food from different countries or I'm helping them cook/grill, it has been a great way for us to really connect. Plus, any of you know I love to talk, think, and dream about food!

I also continue to be amazed with the power of the ND network. Just last week I had lunch with a friend of one of my cousins. They studied at the Notre Dame's Seminary together. Chris is a great guy, has lived in Chile for just under 20 years, and is currently developing university level English programs. It seems that there is nowhere in the world that I go where I won't find an ND alum willing to grab a bite to eat and share their experiences with me. Simply amazing.

On a more somber note, my grandma here - who I see probably 4 times a week, as she lives so close and often comes over for meals - was recently hospitalized after a heart attack. It happened a week back, and was misdiagnosed as a stomach condition. After being bed-ridden for a couple of days last week, she was up on her feet and her usual animated self again, yet she now has to stay in the hospital for the next 2 weeks to undergo more tests. It's going to be tough for someone as active as her to stay in a bed for so long, and I plan to go visit her in the coming days. Any prayers are appreciated.

Lastly, my sisters have continued to question my eating habits. They can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that I will eat lentil soup with a ham sandwich and apple on the side, or some other equally strange gringo mixture of flavors, sweet and salty, and texture. They continually tell me I'm going to upset my stomach (I still haven't). And above all, they can't understand why I like to drink a glass of milk with every meal. I guess that's the Midwest roots in me. Cami and my uncle Ricardo even came up with an expression for the apparently crazy things I do: "Gringo tenia que ser," or "That had to be a gringo."

Current Events in Chile

I thought I'd take the time to share a little with you about Chilean current events. Currently the big news story (aside from the bicentennial celebration of Chilean independence on September 18!!!) in Chile is that 30 some incarcerated Mapuches (the most prevalent indigenous group in Chile) are on a hunger strike, trying to change the way in which the anti-terrorist laws are applied to them. These prisoners, who have committed various acts of arson, and destruction of public property, are seeking to be tried in a civilian court instead of a military court. This would likely cut their prison sentence by 2/3. The hunger strike has lasted over two months, and many people are worried that the death of one of them would shed a very bad light on the bicentennial celebrations, let alone be an internationally recognized failure of the current administration. There's been a lot of discussion about whether the crimes which were committed should be considered terrorism or whether the government is unjustly applying this law to the socially-disadvantaged and discriminated Mapuches. There is also concern over whether the government's bending to these demands would set a precedent for future groups. I haven't yet been able to get a sense for what the majority public opinion here is, but it's certainly complex.

On to more personal events, I recently got REAL lost on the Santiago bus system, known as micros. I was coming back from a birthday party with my friend Shu and we jumped on a bus going the opposite direction. Let me clarify that we did know we were going the opposite direction, but it was a cold night, we hadn't seen another bus in quite a while, and we figured we'd just ride the bus to the end of the line and turn around. Not a bad idea right? The end of the line can't be that long. WRONG! The bus took us to one of the poorest sections of Santiago, a good hour away from where we started (and an hour and a half from where we wanted to be). After getting off at the terminal station, the bus drivers on duty there quickly asked us what in the world we were doing there. Didn't we know this part of town was dangerous, especially at 4:00 AM? We explained our situation and hung out with the drivers until the next bus headed back. The ride back was also exciting, as the bus driver called us up to the front at one point to ask if he could drive with the inside lights off because this was such a dangerous area. Kinda gives you the chills if a public bus driver doesn't even feel safe driving through. Well we eventually made it home, 3 hours after leaving the birthday party. And the craziest part of the whole trip was that it all took place on September 11th, which in Chile is also an important date. It is the anniversary of the coup-d'etat in 1973 when the Pinochet and the military overthrew Salvador Allende's marxist government. Every year there are protest marches and riots (the most dangerous being in these poorer neighborhoods). Even moreso, this year was supposed to be worse because it is the first year of a right-of-center government since the military dictatorship. Probably the kind of stuff Notre Dame warned us not to do. The things I do for life experiences!

Lastly, I found a sweet Chilean reggae group called Gondwana. They're older and don't produce music together anymore but are absolutely awesome. Probably second best reggae music I've ever heard behind the one and only Bob Marley.

That's all, on the the 4 day weekend! Friday and Monday are national holidays.

Some Reflections

Well, while looking over blog, I realized that I had told you a lot about the adventures and trips I'd taken here in Chile, but hadn't really provided any big picture reflections on what life is like here. Maybe I got a little bit of inspiration from visiting Pablo Neruda's house here in Santiago (the second of his three houses I will be visiting), but here goes nothing.

First of all, back home I had heard people speak of the influence that the US exerts on Latin America, but hadn't really fully appreciated it until Chile. It is absolutely incredible what English and US culture mean here. Most movies are Hollywood produced, tons of clothes are from US brands (North Face is a huge, although still very expensive name here), and McDonalds and especially Burger King are everywhere. US music has also has a huge following here, but Latin American music is still very popular. I think this is something that those of us from the US really have to acknowledge and respect. We have to be aware of how our actions and culture affects the rest of the world. And appreciate the fact that we have it pretty easy with English as our first language. There is also a huge campaign in Chile called "Ingles abre puertas," or "English opens doors," meant to promote learning English in schools. I have heard many people tell me that without some English knowledge, their future career plans are substantially limited.

On this note, I have chosen to do my service work at a poorer Santiago high school, assisting in an English class. The teacher, a great lady named Claudia, is the only English teacher at the school and didn't actually start learning English until college! Despite her enthusiasm, it's tough to teach English with only this small foundation. Shu and I go every Monday morning to help out in the classes. We've been helping the classes with pronunciation and grammar more than anything and it has been extremely rewarding and enjoyable. The experience has also taught me a lot about the Chilean school system. The school is partly subsidized by the government, placing it between a full-on private school and a completely public school. As in the US, the Chilean school system has many problems. Fully public schools are notoriously bad and private schools are out of reach for most families. Therefore these partly subsidized schools provide education to middle and lower-middle class students. It's been an eye-opening experience to get out of the wealthier neighborhoods and downtown areas of Santiago. I also view this as a necessary experience because I don't want to leave Chile with a biased view of what life is like for Chileans.

I also felt my first small amount of homesickness this past weekend. Well actually, it was NDsickness. Before our victory over Purdue, I had a bunch of my friends over for a BBQ-Tailgater. It was a great time and a great chance for my sisters to meet the ND group. It was almost like the real thing, with everyone sporting "The Shirt" and grilling out. We headed of to a gringo bar around here to watch the game, where believe it or not, we ran into other ND fans. Some had just graduated and found jobs in Chile, some were natively from Chile, and some were just passing through. It was a fantastic game atmosphere, almost as good as the real thing. The happiest/saddest part was the pregame coverage when they showed pictures and videos of campus, including the typical pump-up videos. I've told myself that I'm going to enjoy Chile to the fullest without holding on to ND too much, but is it so wrong to miss it just a little?

On other notes, I've had some challenges trying to balance my schedule between everything I want to do. Although I have minimal homework compared to being at ND, an hour of commuting to school and an hour back seriously cuts into my day. It's been tough trying to balance my schedule between hanging out with my family, meeting new people, travelling, and hanging out with my ND friends. I have found positives and negatives about being in a program so formalized like mine. The ND program is great in that we have 2 full-time ND staff to help us with any problems, we have many already scheduled day-trips around Santiago, and I already have a network of friends. Yet at the same time, I really feel that my class schedule (with 3 gringo-only classes, 2 of which are all ND) and the general atmosphere of our program make it hard to break free. It's certainly different from any other study-abroad students here.

My classes, although easy, have been quite interesting. My favorite is Chilean Politics, Culture, and Economy. Although I complained about the all ND classes earlier, this one is great! The professor is a extremely bright, exciting, and funny guy. Esteban studied law in Chile but then got his Ph.D at Notre Dame in Political Science. I've realized that Chile is one of the most interesting countries to study politically. So far we have really only looked at the last 50 years, but in Chile this means a lot. They have gone from a democratic government, to a democratically-elected socialist government, to a military dictatorship, and back to a democracy, all in the past 50 years. Esteban has great first hand impressions on all of these changes in addition to a fantastic background of Poli-Sci knowledge.

Also, I've gotten real good at living on low amounts of sleep. Late night carretes (parties) followed by early morning trips or even classes is a regular occurrence. In the end, I really don't want to waste my time in Chile sleeping, so I've gotten used to running on fumes. And I'm proud to say I still stay away from caffeine and naps!

Lastly, I've found Chileans in general to be HUGELY welcoming and helpful. They have a reputation for being some of the most serious and least outgoing of South Americans, working hard and minding their own business. Yet this does not detract in the least from their willingness to help a lost gringo. Everyone from bus drivers to carabineros (police officers) to random people in stores and the street are always friendly and helpful. It's trully made these 2 months (already????) a great experience.

Back to my trips and adventures, I went to la Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo this Sunday to do a little bit of hiking with Beau, a friend from Northwestern. Our of pure luck, we decided to visit the national park on Dia de la Patrimonia, and got free entrance! We spent the day (after yet another early morning) hiking on organized paths and trail-blazing new paths. It was a great but exhausting day hiking through the beautiful mountains and valleys. See the pictures above

Valle de Elqui

Man, last weekend was great! 15 or th 16 kids in our ND group (+2 others from Marquette) traveled 7 hours North to the Elqui Valley. I left late Thursday night, taking an overnight bus to La Serena, a colonial beach town that is the closest major city to the valley. After arriving at 4:45 in the morning, I explored La Serena a little bit while we waited for the first bus of the morning (7:00) into Vicuña, a small town about an hour inland. Vicuña is a really pretty town, very quiet (at least for the winter off-season), and also the birthplace of Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral. After stashing our backpacks in a hostel, we set of for our first day. We visited the simple museum honoring Gabriela, walked around the town a little bit, then headed to the Capel distillery. Capel is one of the main brands of pisco here in Chile (remember, pisco is the traditional Chilean liquor made from grapes).The tour was really interesting, as we got to tour each stage of the production factory from fermentation to bottling. In addition to making the discount Capel brand, the distillery also produces the upmarket Alto del Carmen brand and many already mixed cocktails. After a very informative tour, and a requisite stop in the sampling room, we headed out to lunch. We ate at an incredible solar restaurant, where everything from the bread to the rice to the goat meat to the dessert was cooked using solar ovens that focused the suns light. Absolutely delicious and incredible to see the process. See the picture above for the ovens

After doing a little bit of hiking, and grilling up an awesome asado (BBQ) at our hostel, we headed up to the observatory for our night tour. The Elqui Valley is well known around the world by astronomers because it has one of the clearest night skies anywhere. I didn't know what to make of this beforehand, but let me tell you, this is 100% true! Instead of just seeing single stars, with the naked eye we could actually make up clusters of starts that appear as huge clouds. And this was all before looking through a telescope. The telescopes at this observatory (a tourist observatory, not actually used by scientists) were the biggest I've ever seen at a whopping 40 cm in diameter. Even more incredible is the fact that nearby you can find telescopes with diameters as big as 8 meters, yet these are actually used by real scientists, not easily impressed gringo tourists. We had tons of chances to gaze through the telescope, getting great images of stars, planets, and moons.

The next day, myself and two friends, Tom and Shu, travelled another hour inland to Pisco Elqui (renamed such to honor another of the biggest Chilean brands of pisco that is produced here). From here, after loosing and then finding my cellphone again (!), we started hiking even more up the valley. The scenery here was amazing. Despite being so dry, the valley is dominated by grape vines. Often, even the hills are planted, with vines growing at seemingly 45* angles! The farther up the valley we went, the narrower the valley got. After stopping at a panaderia (bread shop) for lunch, and actually eating in the owners own kitchen, we continued our trek upwards. Eventually, we made it all the way to Alcohuaz, our goal, some 15 km from Pisco Elqui, only to find that there weren't any public buses available to take us back. Hitchhiking it is! After starting a little tentatively, we figured it out. After catching a series of 3 rides (one of which was the open trailer behind an old rickety tractor! Check my facebook for an awesome video), we made it down. In the process, we even developed a hitchhiking theory: First of all, with three guys, you have limited options. The vehicle must have a bed or a trailer that is outside and separate from the driver/other passengers. Secondly, the vehicle must be built before about 1995. We tried to hail a ride from a guy in a brand new Mercedes, but to no avail (Not really a surprise, as we were covered in dust and sweat), Lastly, the driver must be male. We made it back to Pisco Elqui, where Shu and Tom set off for La Serena again, in order to catch an earlier bus back to Santiago.

This is where my solo-adventure starts. After finding my LonelyPlanet recommended hippie hostel (this place was so hippie! bubbly neon colored letters, overgrown gardens, outdoor kitchen, nature music playing, hammock), I cooked myself some dinner and explored the town. It's a very calm town, even quieter than Vicuña, but I hear that in the summer it is nearly overrun with backpackers. After enjoying the hammock I got to bed, exhausted from the last two days. I woke up early the next morning planning to hitchhike back to Santiago. Yes, my plan all along had been to peddle rides for the whole 9 hour trip. After setting off early, I realized that the roads aren't too busy on a Sunday morning around 7:30. Haha, I should have anticipated that. Eventually, a nice family picked me up and took me the remaining 2 hours to La Serena. Great family, we had a great ride and they wished me luck for the rest of my trip. After grabbing a quick lunch, I set off walking down the highway. Yes, the highway. My initial optimism soon dwindled however as I found myself walking km after km with no one even considering stopping. I told myself that if no one gave me a lift before then next major city (Coquimbo, some 12 km away), I'd take a bus from there. Eventually, at 10 km, a really awesome VW bus pulled over and gave me a lift, yet unfortunately, they were only going to Coquimbo. A fun 2 km ride though! I caught the next bus to Santiago, disappointed that my strategy hadn't worked, but proud of giving it my best. I can't say I didn't try!

A couple more things. I have decided to grow my beard out. Right now it looks pretty ugly, but I'll keep you updated. I can get away with it here in South America better than I can back home.

Also, I enrolled in a tandem program here at La Catolica. I have been paired with a Chilean student, David, who wants to improve his English. He's a great guy from Southern Chile. We speak a mixture of English and Spanish, helping eachother out along the way.

Lastly, big game for ND this weekend. Let's start the season off strong. Go Irish, beat Boilers!