Magically Beautiful

I'm not really sure if there's a blog etiquette...but for anyone who is reading this...it's really my journal entries. So it's not very thoughtful and contains grammatical/spelling mistakes...so beware...and read on, if you'd like!

It's been one and a half full days since I arrived in Chile on Tuesday at 9am. And things are going well. Even though I assumed they would...it's nice to finally be here and feel that things are going well.

We got picked up from the airport and were driven to Algarrobo which is about 2 or so hours from Santiago. During the ride out of Santiago, I had images of Pinochet's coup take over my mind---I imagined the roads, empty--except for the few secret police vehicles and the bodies that were lying dead on the ground, I looked into the distance and wondered what people in the far away homes were thinking when they heard of Pinochet's take over. I wasn't sure what to think completely but I felt uncomfortable not hearing anyone talk about Pinochet until later that day. The director of my program said that people look at Chile's history in 4 or 5 parts. But Pinochet's take over is the defining moment between the history before and after it. I continue to read about this era at night, and it all feels more real as I am in the country, surrounded by people, some of whom lived during that period.

We are staying at a Hotel for the first few nights as we go through Orientation and get to know the program Staff and fellow participants. It's beautiful here. Not too hot or humid. And a huge tourist spot for Chileans and people who love Pablo Neruda. As his last home, Casa de Isla Negra () is located nearby Algarrobo.

We visited it last night...the house is stunning, right on the water. Some of his house is designed from real parts of a boats, as he loved boats. He loved collecting things. It reminds me of Gini's home in Patagonia, Arizona (where Me to We runs their youth leadership/volunteer projects). In Pablo Neruda's house, there was a room for ocean objects--sea shells, fish tanks. There was room for masks from indigenous cultures around the world. There was a room for a certain type of hand-crafts. There was a room for horse collections. The tour was entirely in Spanish...so I only understood about 10% of what was told. So most of what I remember is from I actually saw. In his dining room, (this part I understood in Spanish) he put glass vases (objects he had all over his house) that had colores del tierra (colors of the earth)--greens, browns, near the window that faces the trees and his yard and the glass vases that had colors like the ocean---blues---facing the water. He had two large panoramic windows that overlooked the ocean in his bedroom. All in all, it was stunning, an in your-face-reminder about how much money some people have, the beauty and softness that is found near water and wind.

The group has been great and the staff of SIT is wonderful. They were eager to meet us all at the airport, welcoming us by name (using the our passport photos), and taking tons of pictures (which were quickly uploaded and put into a powerpoint presentation for our orientation).

The other participants are eager to use their Spanish...and they are also unafraid to admit that they aren't the best at it (which is reasurring for me!). The staff of SIT talks slow for us and constantly reminds us to speak up if we don't understand something. Today when someone was speaking about using public transportation--one of the staff members ask the speaker to talk to us in English because we all looked really confused (I was.). I'm feeling better about using my Spanish and I'm impressed with how much I understand. However, I get tired quickly (and often) because it's so exhausting listening so attentively to Spanish. I get these cravings for a little bit of English (instead of a normal craving for a chocolate bar, for example)...just to give my mind a break.

The director of the program described Chile as a land of contradictions. He described the range of land found here---from deserts in the north to the frigid temperatures in the south close to the arctic, the industries spread throughout (fishing, agriculture, commercial trade), to the politics---the recent election of a conservative/neo-liberal President, Sebastian Pinera () for the first time in more than 3 decades. It was wonderful to hear someone talk about their country so openly in terms of its contradictions...I don't think people often think about the US that way...but most countries (and people for that matter) are fully of contradictions. I think the more open we are to admitting we have them, the easier time we have working towards eliminating them.

We're off to Santiago tomorrow to meet our host families (who we will be living with for 6 weeks) and start the academic part of our program...first the intensive Spanish course. I learned a bit about my host family today--a couple who live in Santiago close to the National Stadium. They are teachers of religion at the University. It will be fun to meet them and have time to really get to know them.

Off to dinner!

Love to hear anyone's thoughts and/or hear from a familiar voice in English so post away :)