mmann's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member mmann on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mmann en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 22 Sep 2005 20:14:54 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com Okay.... — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1127434440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1127434440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1127434440/tpod.html Thu, 22 Sep 2005 20:14:54 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

So sorry I havent updated this is a really long time... yeah anyway I updated my pictures too so you should defn take a look at them.

Two major dates have passed this September, the 11th and the 18th. While September 11 in the states has profound meaning it marks the day that Pinochet took over Allendes socialist government in the 1970's through a violent coup. This date is not nessesarily celebrated by most Chileans but it is definatley observed and sometimes can get violent. There were many protests in Santiago demanding the whereabouts of those who desapeared under pinochets government and also protesting his human rights abuses. Also the 11th also magnifys the differences between classes in Chile. It is profoundly different from the united states the social structure here. Firstly there is not a lot of mobility between classes. If you are born poor there is not a lot of hope of one day "making it". I definitely see that in the classes that I teach English in. Most of the kids have no aspiration of college because none of there parents ever went. It is hard for them to be motivated I think too because many of the class rooms have no doors or windows cause they have been stolen and are marked with graffiti all over. I see very few books, in fact the Spanish liteterature teacher told me the kids don't have the capacity to read books, like novels, for Spanish class. Its kind of depressing but the kids seem to pay attention to me when I go there so maybe I can have a tiny impact on their lives. The class difference has obviously permeated many parts of Chilean cultures but the most interesting to me is the difference soccer fans. There are three major teams her in Chile: Colo Colo, U of Chile, and Catolica. Colo Colo generally is supported by the lower class, U Chile by the lower middle to middle class and Catolica by the more well off. The biggest rival is Colo Colo and U of Chile and you can tell when they are playing each other because the military is out in full force for a good radius around the national stadium. They games get violent and some people died last time they played. I think the violence generated by these games in under scored by class warfare.

Anyway this past weekend I traveled to the south of Chile, to Pucon about 10 hours by bus away with 3 other gringas. It was a great chance to relax and believe it or not I actually got in touch with nature a little bit. Pucon is kind of a resort town and there are a lot of outdoor activities to do there. Anyway we stayed at this Mapuchen farm a little outside of Pucon. The Mapuches are the indigenous people of Chile who live in the country. There house was very comfortable and the people were really nice. They made us really good food on there woodburning stove. We went hiking and horse back riding there too. It was really nice to be out of Santiago and breath real clean air. We also climbed a volcano, volcano villarica. This is something I am very proud I did but I don't really want to do it again. We had special equipment to help us hike up the side of the Volcano. It was over 2000 meters and we had to use a ice pick to help balance the 5 hour trek up the steep volcano. It was worth it thouigh, it was a real working Volcano and the view was beautiful. It was also really fun to slide down the side of the mountain on our butts, take the best sledding experience you have ever had and multiply it by a lot. Except, I lost control and almost died tumbling at one point. But it is all good, cause I am alive and hiked up a mountain. I even have a certificate and a really bad sun burn to prove it. Anyway, what else oh yes, we decided to celebrate the 18th- their independence day- in Pucon. In Santiago apparently it was crazy but we spent the day horseback riding and then attended a barbq at the house of the some the people who worked on the farm. We met a lot of neat Chileans and foreigners there and even danced the traditional Chilean dance which is Queca.

Now I am back in Santiago, getting ready for school to pick up again. It is finally getting warmer here. I will keep you all updated.
CHAO
]]> Ummmm — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1125086100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1125086100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1125086100/tpod.html Fri, 26 Aug 2005 14:05:44 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

Today I went to the school were I am going to teach english this semester as a volunteer. It is in a not so great neighborhood in the Southern part of Santiago. I was told those living in the South of Chile generally migrate up to Santiago to find work. They are too poor to live in the city so they move to Comunas like la pintana where I was today. It was very interesting to see the school where I am going to teach. It is a public school that is not funded very well. They pride themselves on there vocational programs, accounting, design, culinary, and autoshop. They had a band but it consisted only of recorders, a drum, and recorders. The school was very run down, broken doors, no heating, and graffiti everywhere. Despite this the teaching I am going to be working with seems very nice and is extremely enthusiastic about teaching the kids english. I spoke with some of the kids after and they seemed very nice. They all hate Bush a lot, beause he likes war and killing people. I have yet to meet someone here who likes Bush. Even the conservative people, the ones who are going to vote for Pinera in the upcomming election, really hate him and the American government. Not a big suprise though. Pinera is one of the conservative canidates for president. He is extremely rich and is the owner of LanChile. The other main canidate is Bachelet, a women. She is critisized though for being too liberal as she once was part of the communist party.

Yesterday, as part of university week, Catolica sponsered a trip to the beach for the day. It was a lot of fun to go and meet other people I am studying with outside an academic setting. It was basically one big party with a lot of music and drinking.

Well that is all for now...
I will write later.
CHAO
]]> Ummmm — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1119815700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1119815700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1119815700/tpod.html Fri, 26 Aug 2005 14:05:14 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

Today I went to the school were I am going to teach english this semester as a volunteer. It is in a not so great neighborhood in the Southern part of Santiago. I was told those living in the South of Chile generally migrate up to Santiago to find work. They are too poor to live in the city so they move to Comunas like la pintana where I was today. It was very interesting to see the school where I am going to teach. It is a public school that is not funded very well. They pride themselves on there vocational programs, accounting, design, culinary, and autoshop. They had a band but it consisted only of recorders, a drum, and recorders. The school was very run down, broken doors, no heating, and graffiti everywhere. Despite this the teaching I am going to be working with seems very nice and is extremely enthusiastic about teaching the kids english. I spoke with some of the kids after and they seemed very nice. They all hate Bush a lot, beause he likes war and killing people. I have yet to meet someone here who likes Bush. Even the conservative people, the ones who are going to vote for Pinera in the upcomming election, really hate him and the American government. Not a big suprise though. Pinera is one of the conservative canidates for president. He is extremely rich and is the owner of LanChile. The other main canidate is Bachelet, a women. She is critisized though for being too liberal as she once was part of the communist party.

Yesterday, as part of university week, Catolica sponsered a trip to the beach for the day. It was a lot of fun to go and meet other people I am studying with outside an academic setting. It was basically one big party with a lot of music and drinking.

Well that is all for now...
I will write later.
CHAO
]]> Its been a month — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124724600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124724600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124724600/tpod.html Mon, 22 Aug 2005 11:48:15 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

So its been a month since I have been here. I finally have my classes picked out after visiting about 10 different ones. I am taking macro econ 2, a class about chilean poverty, and a class about prostitucion in a Chilean historical context. All in all I think it should be good and challenging.

This past weekend I went to Valparaiso with the rest of the gringos. It is a such a beautiful city but unfortunately we did not get to stay very long. It is the second largest city in Santiago and was originally founded by the Spanish to be a port. All the houses are built onto these big hills and they are mandated to keep the outsides looking like they did before, so the houses often timese look a little run down but they are very nice. Oddly enough in this city the rich people dont live at the top of the hill, they live at the bottom. It is often hard to drive up the streets so they have these really old, and kind of scarey, elevators people use to get themselves up the hill. I have posted pictures too. We also visited Pablo Neruda's house in Isla Negra. It was very interesting. His bedroom there has the best view of the water. Also inside are many of his collections of bugs, butterflys, and shells. We ate lunch on the beach and we were so kindly greeted by on of Chile's many street dogs who thought he would "join" us for lunch. When I say join I mean steel our food and pester us.
Also on Saturday we went out to Bellavista again. This time we went to this really nice bar that had good live music. Also we went salsa dancing. It was an interesting time. We meet some very interesting Chileans there. Unfortunately I still need a lot of practice learning how to do it correctly. Some of the women there were making fun of me.

Yesterday I hung out with Magdalena and our new Chilean friend. We met her at a reunion of all the foriegn students and all the Chilean students looking to study abroad at Catolica last week. Here there are over 1000 foriegn students, most seem to be from Germany or the US. Anyway she was very nice and invited us over to have once (kind of like tea) at her house. It is nice to finally start making real friends who are not gringos here.

Well that is all for now... Check my pictures out!
]]> PHOTOS — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124207040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124207040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124207040/tpod.html Tue, 16 Aug 2005 11:45:13 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

NEW PICTURES... Enjoy!
http://photobucket.com/albums/a104/margmann/
]]> Update... — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124162400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124162400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1124162400/tpod.html Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:13:26 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

HOLA... okay, sorry I havent updated for a while. This past week has been a little overwhelming with classes and things like that. I have just returned from my short expedition out of the city. Yesterday we decided, me and 3 other gringas, that we wanted to leave, since today was a holiday. Vina del Mar is where we went, a resort city about 2 hours north of Santiago. It was spur of the moment which made it all better and luckily it was probably the easiest time I had traveling in a long time. The buses here are really easy to use and cheap. We brought the lonely planet guide and found a residencial to stay at for about 6 dollars a night on the bus ride there. Luckily the bus dropped us off at our residencial whose discription in the guidebook was merely "a blue victorian house". It was an experience... it was run by these too old ladys and smelled really bad. It was a cool house though and had a good view of the street. We all slept in the same room that had five beds. It kind of reminded us of a haunted mansion though... in a wonderful majestical way. It didnt matter though- we had a great time in the residencial, it really doenst matter where you sleep anyway. We spent our time in vina eating a lot and relaxing. It is supposed to be the place where rich santiagans go for vacation and you definately got an affulent vibe from many of the people there, one that I have yet to feel in Santiago. Honeslty, besides my mothers epanadas, it has been the best food I have had here. Chilean food, while interesting, lacks the flavor a lot of other foods have. We were extremely excited to find pepper on our table at this little cafe we ate at that was on the beach in vina. For a city Santiago also lacks a large array of ethnic food. I was told their are no middle eastern or indian restaurants here. They do have a lot of chinese food and my mother makes it too (with hotdogs though, I was confused). They eat a lot of hot dogs here with avacado and mayonaise... its interesting- something you have to get used to. In vina we walked along the beach and passed through a market. It is cold now but when it gets warm I am sure it is going to be really nice. We also found mexican food there which was quite good. I have noticed that food isnt really used for "entertainment" purpuses in Chile. There are not very many nice restaurants in Santiago. Most families here rarely go out to eat. The trip was an all around success in relaxing from Santiago.
It has started to get warmer here in Santiago- which is definately nice. The micros no longer scare me, in fact I would much rather take one than walk around alone at night. It is much more unsafe to walk around here at night than in the states. It is interesting to see how people are responding to politics here as well. Pinochet wife, last week, was taken in for involvement in a money scandal and that has sparked some contreversy. My family, who claims to be poltically apathetic- but a little to the right, thinks pinochet did some good things for the country. The point to the lack of crime that occured under his rule, I point to the crimes he commited by violating human rights. I guess we differ in opinion on that. Oh well, Chileans also are VERY eager to practice their spanish with anyone who is percieved to be gringo. It is quite obnoxious because they feel that just because your a foreigner they must speak better English than your Spanish, which is usually not true. People selling things and working in restaurants also seem to think that
Americans are more likely to buy or eat in their restaurant if they speak to you in English. It is indeed quite the opposite as I constantly feel partronized by those people. My aerobics instructer at my gym also feels the need to give my a special set of directions in English appart from everyone else. Its very frusterating cause I understand what he said the first time in Spanish.
I will write more later- much has happend since I updated this last. Picutres tommorrow... I have some nice ones from Vina. For now CHAO!
]]> Visitando Clases... — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1123032960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1123032960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1123032960/tpod.html Tue, 02 Aug 2005 21:48:36 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

Okay... so I have spent the past two days visiting classes and it has been tiring. Yesterday I looked at classes at Catolica and La Chile. On my way to Catolica I took the micro... i asked the driver to tell me when to get off... he forgot. I wound up twenty minutes away from Catolica in kind of a bad neighborhood, it kind of set the mood for the rest of the day. My first class at Catolica was cancelled... typical chilean style. The Class and La Chile was hard. Calculus 2... since I have taken Calculus 1 I should understand Calc 2... no... I guess not, they used all these funny looking symbols which I did not understand. So no Calc 2... Here I have noticed a lot more tolerance for PDA... in class. I am not sure how professors in the US would respond to people kissing and touching each other in the middle of class but here they dont seem to care...

Anyway, Today was a little better... I visited Classes at Catolica again... the first one was really good. Its called confronting poverty and the professor seems very engaging (and understandable) so I think I will take it. Next class seemed interesting... development of Chilean politics.... but was extremely boring. The professor was a constitutional lawyer but was very strict and not interesting or exciting at all... so no Im not taking that class. The last class I looked at today was cancelled... typical... oh well. I meet some really nice german girls waiting for it...
I must go... ta ta
]]> En Casa — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122852960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122852960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122852960/tpod.html Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:37:06 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

So I am finally feeling comfortable here in my house and in this city... These past couple of days have been spent doing normal things around. Every night my host mom and prepare dinner and eat watching my new favorite TV show, a teleseria called Brujas... its getting kind of intense. I also have found out we get CNN en espanol here... score. Yesterday I meet some more of the extended family at a bowling outing. Bowling is always a good time. The little kids in my family are so cute. The mall where we went looked like it could have been an American mall... but stores here are cheaper. Last night I hung out with my host brother and his friends at there apartment. I am excited to be able to interact with other Chileans my age. It was interesting to hear there opinions on other Latin American countries. I was not aware of the large dislike Chileans have of Peruvians.

Today my host mom bought at DVD player from the grocery store... and with it she received 8 large packs of mayonnaise... as a special offer... it made me laugh. Here they eat everything with mayonnaise... its actually kind of gross.
Also today I took a walking tour of Santiago. It was probably not a good idea to go out lasat night and stay up till 7 but that's how they party here. The tour was really interesting. A lot of the toursity places in Santiago are very inconspicuous so it was nice to have someone show us around. Santiago has a lot of beautiful churches and open air markets. I will post pictures later...
This week I start classes... I will let you know how that goes...
]]> Universidades — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122506760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122506760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122506760/tpod.html Wed, 27 Jul 2005 19:39:08 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

Okay... so I have spent the past 3 days looking at the universities here trying to figure out where I want to take classes. First we looked at Diego Portales, a small private university that blends in with the rest of the neighborhood. I got the impression that the people there are rich and snobby, the ones who couldnt get into the good public universities. Here the public ones are better... Anyway so we also looked at U of Chile and Catolica. I like catolica the best, it seems the prettiest and most organized. Plus at U of chile the students were on strike for 6 weeks last semester so classes are going to start late anyway. The people at U of chile didnt seem to like americans very much either... they laughed at us a lot as we were touring their campus. They also had a mural of Chileans stabbing a bald eagle with an american flag with a spear... it was kinda disturbing. Catolica had a beautiful view of the mountains as well and while walking around we noticed a group of construction men driving around in a bulldozer listening to girls just want to have fun... it made me laugh...
Anyway so thats that... hmmm... oh I went out for the first time with my american friends the other evening... we went to a bar and had some wine and met some sketchy old men. In the bar there was a sign that side "here everyone smokes" and an old man made fun of me for not buying cigerettes... today we also went to this wierd little cafe where everyone was dressed as pirates and we sat in midget chairs...
Well I will write later...
]]> Pictures — Santiago, Chile http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122341460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122341460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mmann/chile-2005/1122341460/tpod.html Mon, 25 Jul 2005 21:31:52 -0400 Studying abroad in Santiago Chile
Santiago, Chile

Look at my pictures: http://photobucket.com/albums/a104/margmann/
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