Atacama

The Atacama desert is like nothing I have ever seen before. I had no idea the extent of the variety in the desert. At sunset the colors of the mountains turn from orange to red to purple to blue. At different elevations the small plants turn from yellow to brown to red to nonexistant. The towering cactus that line the gorges are hundreds of years old, one meter is the equivalent to 100 years of growth. The little water that comes down from the Andes carves giant gorges and brings to life few oasis where life continues simply and slowly despite the swarms of tourists that flock the streets. The incredible rock formations made me jealous of my geology major friends. Just trying to comprehend the forces that went behind creating the Atacama is mind-boggling. When we went to see the Flamingos in the salt flats there must have been a thousand other tourists watching the sunset with us. I swear that there must have been four bus loads of Germans. I haven't seen so many blond-haired, blue-eyed people in months.

The first day here we went to the Valle de la Luna, an incredible spot just outside of San Pedro de Atacama where the salt formations and sand dunes give the impression of a lunar landscape. Other highlights included seeing the highland salt flats just 5km from the Bolivian border, seeing geisers go off as the sunrose, exploring Inca ruins at sunset, seeing the oldest excavated village in Chile, and drinking wine in a hot spring as my parents watched, bundled in their winter clothing bearing huge sandswept winds. Going to the all-inclusive resort with the parents was quite an experience, nah, a once-in-a-lifetime-experience. The service and accomadations were otherworldly, nothing like the hostalling that I am used to. As fun as the private guide and service was I am ready to start making my own adventures again. However, in San Pedro that seemed to be very difficult as everything was done by a guide service with 25 other tourists sharing the windy bus ride to the locals.

The desert was beautiful and unforgettable. So are the 400-plus photos that I took. Here are a few and the rest can be found on my Picasa Page.

More Updates to come on Valle Nevado.

An End and a Beginning

Sitting on a plane while the sun comes up over the Andes out the window is the only way to fly. I spent the last week saying my goodbyes and living life to the fullest in Valpo. It’s strange to leave a place that you have called home, especially one as special as Valparaiso. All the crap that I had to go through in the colegio, the university, and daily life really made me appreciate the city in the end. The last few days the buildings seemed brighter, the people warmer, and even the rain was more enjoyable. My family arrived yesterday and we have spent the last few days eating and drinking the best Chile has to offer. Traveling with the parents is a completely different world. It was nice to do all the touristy things in the city that I had yet to do. Taking a boat tour of the harbor, riding up the Ascensor Artilleria to the Plaza 21 de Mayo, and visiting La Sebastiana were a few firsts for me. When you are living in a place and have a routine sometimes the opportunity to go see tourist attractions slips the mind. I rode past the ascensor Artilleria every day but never got out of the bus to see the famous mirador or lookout of the city at the top.



My Chilean family greeted my American family in true Chilean form: red wine and empanadas. Although few coherent conversation was had, it was incredible for me to see two very distinct parts of my life come together under the same roof. When it was time to say goodbye I saw a few tears in Katy's eyes and they watched, waving, as the van drive away . The lights from the cerros dipping into the water was our last glimpse. I will miss the colorful city but it is time to move on before heading back home.

My Chilean Family: (from left to right) Alfonso, Paul (otro gringo), Ivan, Me, Katy

The nanny, Rosy, and Me

Thus commences another stretch of traveling before heading home in a month. Right now we are heading north to San Pedro de Atacama. The Atacama is the driest desert in the world and, so I have been told, one of the most incredible. I've never been to a desert before so I am really looking forward to seeing the new landscapes and unlike Valpo, there is a slim chance of rain.

South American Gaper Gap

Finally the cold and miserable weather has paid off.

Last weekend I went to Santiago and on Sunday Sergio and I climbed the unbelievable road to the Cordillera and into the Andes. Although the mountains are lacking in fresh snow I was astounded by the shear size of the ski resort. We skied at Valle Nevado, the most modern and largest ski resort in South America. Given the fact that the mountain is higher up and mostly west facing, the conditions are better than the other two mountains, La Parva and El Colorado. The higher altitude gave us colder weather and the fact that it is west facing hides it from the incredible strong South American sun. Even with the clouds and minimal sun screen that a cute liftie gave us my lips are still burning from the killer UV's reflecting off the snow.

I rented some gear down in Santiago and my fears (maybe delights) of South American rentals came true. At first the guy tried to rent me 150cm skis, which I haven't put on my feet since I was about 8 years old. I just told him to give me the biggest skis they had, which happened to be 170cm Saloman Scramblers...so dirty. Finally the boots scared the crap out of me: Rear entry, red Solomans circa 1979. If my toenail doesn't fall off in the next few days I will be pleased. The gear, complete with my beautiful green windpants and broken sunglasses, made me the sickest looking gaper on the mountain.

Given that the base of the mountain is at 2880 meters or 9449 feet and the peak at 3669 meters or 12037 feet there is not a tree in sight, only even bigger snow capped peaks of the Andes and huge rock cliffs that would surely make Shane McConkey a very happy boy.

Sergio and I stopped on the way back down from the mountains so he could try to sell some used snowboard boots at a roadside stand. As I stepped out of the pickup truck my eyes lit up in wonder. It seems that every amazing one-piece ski suit from 1970-1990, that Haik Kavookjian has been looking for on eBay, has ended up in the Southern Cone. The rows of dayglo colors were unbelievable and I was so tempted to make a few purchases. However, having to travel halfway across the world with one of those suits in my bag ultimately dissuaded me and I left the suits for some happy Chilean.

The thoughts of this place on a powder day is a fantasy that I can only hope will come true in my final few weeks in Chile. I will most definately be returning to the mountains in late July with my family and hopefully I can get a few more days in.

El Profe y Los Estudiantes

Happy Fourth of July!

While my parents gear up for BBQ ribs and baked beans in Connecticut I faced the reality that I only have 13 days left in Valparaiso.

I never thought the time would come when I would start to reflect on all of this. I feel like my life has been a rollercoaster since January and I have been constantly adjusting to the dips and curves. However, these last few weeks I have found myself content and comfortable in my surroundings, despite the inevitable frustration that living in Chile can sometimes deliver.

As I sit in front of my computor trying to write a Latin American Philosophy paper I am reminded of our constant discussions in my Filosofia Latinoamericana class in La Universidad de La Playa Ancha. The class is taught by an incredible human being, by many accounts the most reveared profesor at La UPLA, Sergio Vuskovic Rojo. Recently I found out that Profe Vuskovic was the mayor of Valparaiso from 1970 to 1973. When the dictatorship came to power he was arrested and tortured on the Esmeralda, an incredible four masted ship that was actually moored in the harbor earlier this year. Vuskovic lived in exile after his imprisonment and returned to teach in the public university. Although he usually can't hear what the students are saying and his lectures aren't what we would call "coherent" or "organized," his presence has been extremely dear to my experience in la UPLA.

Vuskovic was a strong supporter of Allende and the socialist movement in Chile before the military coup. The discussion of politics here in Chile is rare and everytime it has come up I have felt unnervingly uncomfortable. The other day I was asking my Chilean father, Ivan, about the Chilean currency. I was asking about the old system and I used the word "dictadura" (dictatorship) instead of the "el gobierno de Pinochet." His eyes got narrow and said, "Dictadura, no habia una dictadura...fue una dicta-blanda." Etomologically speaking, dura, means strong while blanda means soft. It has been pretty evident throughout my stay here that Ivan was a supporter of Pinochet. He obviously did well under the dictatorship as he works in the city government, was never exiled, and is extremely well off. The divide between politics here is scary. He always calls la UPLA communist, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. The student body is radical to say the least.

I recently read an article in the New York Times about a new trend towards the political moderation of professors on college campuses as professors from the 60's retire. I guess going to college now isn't about radical ideas but rather about making a ton of money. In Chile, the majority of the student body is radical but I am unconvinced that it is a trend that can last. There are some students who come to both philosophy classes ever week (imagine that!) and give passionate speaches about socialism and the repression of the masses. There are other students who come in for the rare test and are otherwise absent class. There are the students that love the strikes because it allows them to sit in bed all day and watch telenovelas and finally there are the students that love to throw rocks at the cops.

The president of Chile is a member of the socialist party, not too mention the first Latin American woman president. Is this a sign of moving left-ward? Are the students' voices being heard? That completely depends on the electorate and there is no way the current electorate is going to change the direction of this country. Futhermore, I have never met anyone happy with Michelle Bachelet, it seems to me that she is not socialist enough for the socialists and the fact that she is socialist makes everyone else hate her. If the students of this generation can sustain their revolutionary attitudes until they start running for Congress they might have a chance. For now, they can take it too the streets.

Pow! Bam! Smack!

Sometimes I forget where I am because I can watch House and Law and Order SVU on the tele.

But then I am ripped back to reality when:

• all the public school teachers in the country go on strike for a week
• there are puddles in the classrooms because the glass windows are shattered
• I kill an insect in the bathroom that my family assures me is not a scorpion
• men ride horses down city streets alongside cops who look disturbingly similar to green storm troopers.

I'm in Chile afterall. The TV is heavily influenced by the US but the internal problems are all Chilean. This week has been marked by massive protests and marches in Valpo by over ten thousand public school teachers from around the country. The protests were in response to the Congressional vote on a new education law, the LGE (Ley General de Educacion), which would replace the LOCE. The LOCE is a law remaining from the days of the dictatorship which supports a private, merantile system of education.

Under LOCE, the poor attend public schools, don't get an education, don't get into college and remain in the same position. The rich (all the polititians) send their kids to private schools, get into the best private universities, and continue the system.

This is Chile right? Sounds like some problems are international.

The LGE was passed but the professors don't believe that anything will change. For now, classes resume and the future is uncertain.

La Radio

In the spanish language each word has a feminine or masculine gender, an incredible characteristic because some would argue that many human beings lack such distinctive qualities...

Most words correspond wonderfully and easily like the following:

la cama

la computadora

el rio

la musica

el auto

However, some words suck and break the rules:

la micro

el problema

la radio

For any and all that are interested, I am now writing on the WRMC Middlebury College Radio 91.1 Blog.

There is truely no one more excited about this than I am.

www.wrmc911.blogspot.com

It was Mr. Green in the kitchen with the rope

I feel like my internal clock is completely screwed. My body is craving the beach and the killer heatwave that the east coast is having but my mind knows that the ski areas of Chile are opening this week.


Recently I have realized why I haven't had work all semester. Apparently the end of the Chilean semester is a scramble to get all the work done that was put off while the students where marching in the streets and throwing rocks. Nonetheless, I am not concerned.


This past weekend Middlebury treated the students in the program with an all inclusive trip to La Cascada de las Animas in Cajon de Maipo. Though it is no Sandals resort and the temperature sure as hell did not coincide with Jamaica, it was great to have the whole group back together again, sans Ed Quish, the other token Milford resident in Chile.


The trip was marked by good food, a nice jaunt to a waterfall, a puma siting (possibly caged), and board games in spanish. When I learned that no one had seen the movie Clue I was deeply upset that they all had missed Tim Curry's performance of a lifetime.

I also spent the fastest 12 dollars I have yet to spend in Chile. The zipline across El Rio Maipo was only worth the incredible views in the middle of the river. The sun setting over the snow capped peaks of the Andes while the river raged 30 meters below was quite a moment.