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