Quickie.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to post a short update since I noticed it's been over a week since my last post. Our group travels to Valparaíso for the weekend (it is nicknamed the "Jewel of the Pacific" for good reason) and we're all quite excited to travel and see more of the country. Next week I should have lots to write about because a) there's a teacher strike scheduled for Thursday, b) Sunday is the anniversary of the death of two young brothers who were killed during the dictatorship ("Dia del Joven Combatiente" is the name of the day; aka Day of the Combatant Youth---lots of protests and vandelism occur), and c) we finish up our school observations, which have certainly been eye-opening.

A quick look into my Chilean life: our group is getting to know more and more Chilean students as the time passes. We're starting to feel a much deeper connection to Chile because of these new friendships (not to mention improving our Chilean slang and swear word vocabulary). Below is a picture of me with Rodrigo (left, the son of our academic director) and his friend José (right). I also met a group of really nice girls at the university who are studying to be English teachers. Needless to say, our conversations are quite interesting, as we switch back and forth between English and Spanish. All this is to say that I might need to come back and visit my new friends in the future (holla Lindsey!).


A shoutout to some very special people:


Thanks Aunt Kathy, Uncle Kevin, and Miss Kendall Paine for the love!
If you follow suit, you too could be featured on my blog. I'm just saying......

Cuídense,
Jenna

PS For those of you who are Spanish-inclined, here's a video from the birthday party of our academic director, Roberto. His speech is really quite beautiful. Our singing, not so much.
VIDEO!

Understanding "Anti-US"

First things first: a bit of business. I want to try and explain the Chilean attitude toward people from the United States. A word of warning: please understand that this is from my personal, very limited point of view, taken mostly from interactions with my host mother. So here it goes…

First of all, I’ve learned to identify as “Estadounidense,” one from the US, instead of “American” because South America is also part of America; people get slightly offended. ¿Cachai? But that’s only somewhat related to the issue at hand. I think a bit of historical context is needed to really understand the current Chilean mind-set. I’ll try to make it relatively short.

In 1970, Salvador Allende became the first democratically elected Marxist president in world history. I’m not much of a political analyst, but I do know that the US is not particularly fond of communism, especially in a rapidly-developing, influential country such as Chile. Needless to say, the CIA’s fingerprints are all over the 1973 coup against Allende’s government. What was to follow is Chile’s darkest moment in recent history: seventeen years of military dictatorship, lead by Augusto Pinochet. Thousands died, tens of thousands tortured, overall just a really painful time (economically speaking, too). I heard that in the first two years of the dictatorship alone, an estimated 1/10 of Chilean families experienced arrest, torture, and/or exile. My host mother’s father and grandfather were tortured, along with many other family friends. Can you imagine?

As a self-proclaimed “woman of the left,” (and I don’t mean Democrat…think way farther left) my host mother has very strong opinions of the Pinochet era, the US involvement in the situation, and the effects of it all that she still sees today. On the one hand, she offers a very, I mean very, interesting perspective to what I’m learning and my general experience in Chile. On the other hand, however, our relationship comes with a few expectations. She admitted to me that she has a very strong anti-US attitude (rightfully so), and that one of the reasons for hosting her first study abroad student was to break that prejudice. Talk about pressure, right? Well, you’ll be happy to know that so far I believe I’ve represented the US quite well; we’re forming a very strong relationship, my mother and me.

One can imagine that there are many people in Chile that have similar anti-US feelings (again, rightfully so), but it can be rather frustrating to encounter them and know that I won’t have the opportunity convince them otherwise. At the same time, though, I don’t feel like I have the right to convince them of anything. Does that make sense? It’s almost like I empathize with their opinions of the US and don’t even want to try to justify them—1) because I probably couldn’t articulate it in Spanish and 2) because I’m pretty sure I would feel the same way in their position.

Pictures of women who are still missing from the Pinochet dictatorship.

Me and Yarella, my host mother.

On a lighter note, here’s a story for you: I met a fellow Richmond Spider in Santiago a few days ago. It’s such a small world, isn’t it? Walking back from class, I hear “Hey, Spider!” coming from a nearby internet café. How did he know I go to UR, you ask? Well, I’d like to say it’s because we Spiders have a certain way of carrying ourselves, a certain air of intelligence…..but alas, it was the gigantic spider on the back of my t-shirt from the UR bookstore. Anyway, he graduated in 2007 and is teaching private English lessons in Santiago. It was a very strange experience but really fun to reminisce with someone about Richmond.

Here are a few pictures from our wine tasting tour this past Sunday:

Sad with empty glasses.

That's better.

Getting a tour of the second vineyard of the day.

And last but certainly not least, I have another video for your viewing pleasure.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE COOLEST VIDEO EVER!

Hasta luego!

A video...just for fun.

This is the "Casa SIT," where our group meets to eat lunch, do homework, and have afternoon classes. You can meet some of my group members and visualize a bit more where we're spending a lot of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv_Awt-yXeI

Love,
Jenna

Story time.

I accidentally took a bus 35 minutes outside Santiago. How did I manage to do that, you ask? Well, it was actually quite easy. I took bus number 201e (“e” for express) instead of bus number 201. Careless mistake. Bus 201e apparently goes straight to the highway and doesn’t stop until it reaches its final destination...in the middle of nowhere! Obviously, I survived to tell the story—without any major physical injuries or emotional breakdowns—so that’s a plus. I opted not to tell my host mom the story; why worry her when I already learned from my experience, right? Instead, I decided to get her opinion of the 201e bus: “I almost got on the 201e bus today,” I said. “Where does it go?” To which she replied: “Oh, no, no, NO. Never get on that bus. That will take you halfway to Argentina.” I took a [fake] mental note of her advice. Ay, ay, ay, so much trouble over a little “e.”

Last Friday our SIT group visited a municipal school in Santiago and had a sort of cultural exchange with the students. In pairs, we ventured to different classrooms and had absolutely no idea what we were supposed to do once we arrived. (That seems to be the SIT trend.) About an hour later Estefania and I had gotten to know our 4th grade class very well—what they like about their school, their favorite subjects and after-school activities, etc. We learned some Spanish jokes, too, none of which I can reproduce. The students kept their end of the deal and asked us question after question, mostly in some form of “What is Pennsylvania like?” or “Which do you like better: Pennsylvania or Chile?” I talked about my small town called Ephrata—the farms, the cows, the Amish, the contrasts to Santiago. Somehow at the end of my explanation I had them thinking that everybody in Pennsylvania uses a horse and buggy for transportation. I’m not sure if that’s what they wanted to hear or if it was just lost in translation; either way, it was really cute.

Below is a video from our visit to the school. As a part of our very warm reception, a few students performed some traditional Chilean dances. It was so beautiful and reminded me so much of the children in Peru.

While University of Richmond is on Spring Break, we're just starting to get into the intense class schedule here in Santiago. Presentations, interviews, articles to read, Spanish to learn... I think I had forgotten what homework was. Wake up, Jenna. Study abroad isn't all travel and relaxation. In fact, from here on, there will be much less free time to just spend with our families or walk the streets of Santiago. It's a fine tradeoff, though, because instead we're investigating some some really profound questions that would challenge us even in English, I think. I will go into greater detail about the class material once I've had time to process another week or two, I promise.

Random facts: 1) At this moment, we are an hour ahead of the East Coast. HOWEVER, we turn our clocks back an hour this Saturday and will then be in the same time zone. 2) It is nearing the end of summer here, but temperatures have been stubborn, and don't seem to want to cool down. Most days have been in the upper 80's, sometimes into the 90's.

Hasta pronto!

¿Cachai?

Everyone says “cachai” in Chile about once every few sentences. It originates from the word “catch,” so it’s literally saying, “you catch?” like “you know?” Cachai was the first “Chilenismo” I learned, and every day I learn another two or three. They’re slang words and phrases, basically. But gosh, there are so many! I feel like I’m learning Spanish all over again.

When I return to the States, I will be fluent in Chilean slang. Spanish in general? We’ll see. And of course, Argentina will be a completely different story. New accent, new slang, new social behaviors. It would just be much too simple if every Latin American country spoke the same way. I mean, really, how boring would the US be without the southern twang, the slang of Philly and New York, or, my personal favorite, the Pennsylvania Dutch inflection? Is it pop, Coke, or soda? Awesome or wicked? Coffee or “cwafee?” Exactly.

Ok, so there’s the slang…and then there’s the accent. Oh, Chilean accent, how you confuse me so! Here are a few examples for the Spanish-inclined among you: when saying “mas o menos,” one will hear “mah o menoh.” Where did the “S’s” go, you ask? Beats me. “Pescado” (pess-kah-doh) sounds like “pescao” (pess-kow). “Me gusta” (may goo-stuh) becomes “me guta” (may goo-tuh). Okay, enough illustration for now; you get the idea. Long story short, in a conversation with a native Chilean who doesn’t tone down the accent or slow down at all, I understand just about 10%. At the end of the day, my brain is fried. Sometimes literally, I think. Talk about a great experience, though! It has definitely been a lesson in humility, having to ask so many questions and feeling out of place all day.

Moving on…



The transportation in Santiago is worth mentioning. It is absolutely wonderful for the most part: super efficient, relatively new, and best of all CHEAP, but nevertheless, it has been my main source of awkward encounters. I wish I had a picture to illustrate what I experience on the metro each day. Believe me, if I were to have sufficient room to move my arm to reach inside my bag, pull out my camera, and take a picture of this scene, I would. Actually, that’s a complete lie. Then I would look even more like a foreigner than I already do. Let’s just visualize for now, shall we? Picture this: it’s rush hour, which means wall to wall people on the metro. The man standing beside me holds on to a ceiling handle; my face comes entirely too close to his armpit. It’s summer here, so he’s wearing a tank top. In case you just recently finished eating, I’ll stop there.

I often find myself in the middle of the pack because the good spots around the handlebars have been taken, so there’s nothing around me to hold on to. Not that that really matters, though, because we’re so squished together that we all kind of lean on each other as the metro train sways back and forth, school-of-fish style. I have never been surfing, but “freestanding” on the metro is certainly a physical activity that comes close in my mind. As the train slows down for the oncoming station, I can’t possibly imagine another body fitting into the leftover space, but without fail, somebody always jumps on, almost losing a nose as the door closes. And then we all breathe a little less. It’s that simple.

Well, that’s enough cultural observation for today. I hope all is well with you; don’t forget to keep me updated on your lives, too. To my friends at UR: have a wonderful Spring Break! Enjoy what’s left of the snow!

Love to all,
Jenna

PS Just so you know, I do have classes and homework. More on that later.

My address. Por fin.

Jenna Garber
c/o Roberto Villaseca
Ernesto Riquelme 226, Tercer Piso
Barrio Brasil, Santiago Centro
Santiago, Chile

Another update on the way!
Love from Chile,
Jenna