CHILE!

The Chilean flag in front of La Moneda, the President's house

      Well the journey was long and arduous. An eight and a half hour long crying fest from SF to Lima (babies, not me). 6 hours curling up in a Peruvian airport in Lima with weird middle of the night construction projects as my background track, and a bus ride and walk to my hostel. Though it may have taken me almost 24 hours to travel, I am officially and finally in the beautiful Santiago, Chile. (Though I wrote this pretty soon after, it's been two weeks to the day since my arrival, whooops). 

La Moneda-the Palace/White House/President's Dwelling thing 

The view from on top of Santa Lucia 

My first impressions of the city- bustling. The city was alive. It’s hard to explain, it’s not alive like a city full of people just out doing crazy things, nor is it alive with just masses of people like Tokyo, but just lots of things always seeming to be going on, but not necessarily anything in particular exciting. People just moving places, though not in an endless stream. Its hard to explain, not this, nor that, but something.. The snow- capped mountains that grace the background are beautiful. After exploring a bit, a run, and finding a charger-day one was gone. On Saturday, I went exploring by myself a bit, and ended up on a walking tour with a few other Hostel kids, we went to Santa Lucia, the Plaza, Pablo Neruda’s house. Walking the city shows me that this city has real potential as a place to live, secret hidden life and meaning. The square, for example. 

The tour guide explained that the Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city, and the city is the heart of Chile, seeing as 1/3 of Chile’s population lives in Santiago. The city, being the intersection of the most famous and biggest cathedral in Santiago, the mayor’s building, and the cultural meeting center culminates in a square that encompasses all that Chile is. The square is where political demonstrations occur, where music competitions are held, where famous comedians are born. The square has artists, creepy fake horses, and of course the few religious crazies. Little facts like that demonstrate a new side of Santiago, a side that emphasizes an ever-changing current of life.

Valparaiso-Looks a lot like the Bay 

    On Sunday, a group of six of us, VJ, Rebecca, Tim, Harry, Pete, and I, ventured out to Valparaiso. After an hour and a half  bus ride, we arrived. The salt air struck our lungs, starkly contrasting the darker, denser Santiago. While I knew Santiago was a more serious city, going from one to the other, really set them off. Valparaiso is definitely my kind of city, a bit reminiscent of the bay area. Hills sit across from the water, beautiful color houses streak thehills, with winding streets and boulevards littered with murals and street art.

Vegans! 

     The street art was absolutely striking. Patagonia sin Represas. Animal Liberacion, Educaccion, Los derechos para las mujeres. Beautiful things about oppression, about moving forward. Emotions. Happiness, weirdness. I love street art, it is such a great representation of the human soul. Human emotions express themselves, painting the walls. Done in the cover of night, but exposing all of our interiors and deepest desires and hopes for the world and all that it can be. It’s our frustration, our love, our happiness, our sadness. It’s all. It’s freedom.

But with a bit more color! 

A picture of Salvador Allende, a famous President who was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup 

We wandered a bit more around here and there, but being Sunday, most of everything was already closed, though I was content to wander the hills, finding hidden gems of art and truth painted onto the colored walls that surrounded us. It was just great to get away from the city (though I’ve only been here for a day and a half and just feel free and light). The five who went with me were amazing. Pete, the engineer from New Zealand, quiet yet once you get him talking…Harry the happy go lucky Indonesian. So full of life, dropping everything to travel all around Asia for a year and a half. Always laughing. Tim, the goofy English grad student from New York. Always has a goofy smile on his face, but in a good mood always. Rebecca, the girl from Connecticut who literaly just got to thehostel but decided to go with us, and VJ, the vegetarian Indian who knows all about memes. Normally I’m hesitant to go with groups exploring, and while my hesitancies played out about getting off track or taking longer here and there, I’m so glad we all went together. They made the trip just as much the winding streets and street art. 

The view from the top of San Cristobal, a mountain in Santiago 

   The rest of orientation was not exciting really at all. Lots of meeting during the day, and not much at night because we were all so tired. I hung out with a bunch of people, made some good friends, ate some good food, found a few running buddies (actually went running with people, and in the morning too!), and climbed San Cristobal. Overall, it was a great week in Santiago!