Santiago and s'mores.

Two Thursdays ago I ran out of my rural sociology lecture to eat lunch, pack my backpack, and run out of my house in the direction of the bus station. I had one hour between class and my bus ticket to Santiago, and I had not planned/packed adequately beforehand. This left me with 20 minutes to get to the bus terminal, which isn’t far from my house…however, in my hurry to get there, I jumped in the first group taxi I saw that said “terminal”, and as the driver took an unexpected turn, I learned it was going to the OTHER bus terminal in Conce. An anxious wait and taxi ride later, I arrived at my bus, in the correct terminal, which, thank goodness, was running behind schedule.

All of this rushing around was for a good reason: I had plans to meet up with Celine and Lauren, two friends from Midd, at the Hillsong United concert in Santiago. My bus would be arriving one hour and twenty minutes before the concert, so I really couldn’t delay the trip. I arrived safely, successfully navigated the metro (subway), and found my friends! It was good to see them. As we walked into the concert, obviously foreigners, and obviously traveling (I was carrying my big backpack), a reporter started asking us questions. Lauren’s theory is that they were hoping we were crazy Hillsong fanatics, following the group on their tour. We disappointed them--students studying in Chile aren’t quite as exciting.

Exciting or not, the concert was interesting. Hillsong is a Christian worship band, based out of Hillsong Church in Australia. I was familiar with their music, but have never followed their songs or known their repertoire too well, thanks to my lack of experience in youth groups. Although the concert was introduced as a time of worship, it felt much more like a concert. I’m glad I went, if for nothing else than to experience a sea of cell-phone and digital camera LCD screens lighting the crowd in old-school cigarette-lighter fashion, and to take a few short videos for my host sister, Irina, who is 11 and loves Hillsong and really wanted to go see them live.

Celine's friends, Celine, me, and Lauren:

Anyway, enough about that. Lauren and I stayed in a hostel in Santiago, and spent the next day seeing the city with her Chilean man, Martín. We did the typical Plaza de Armas, museum, Cerro Santa Lucía (hill/garden in the city), and met up with Celine and her friend Luciano for awhile. The museum we went to was the “Museo de Bellas Artes”…Museum of Beautiful Art? Jaimie, a friend from Midd, had recommended it to me, and I really liked it. The art was really politically/ religiously charged, and I liked feeling like a cultured person, trying to interpret art. Ha.

The Bellas Artes metro stop. Love it.

And…what is that? Of course, a pyramid of human teeth.

Some kind of religious/ ruling type figures, along with bacteria, viruses, cultural tragedies and transvestites. Hmm.

And art made out of beads. Liked this one.

View of Santiago from Cerro Santa Lucía.

Saturday morning started our “excursion” with the Middlebury Program. The majority of the Midd students studying in Chile came to Santiago do some culture and nature. This meant that we hopped on a bus to go to the “Park of Peace”, a memorial site in Santiago which used to be called Villa Grimaldi. During the military dictatorship, which started in 1973, Villa Grimaldi was a secret government-run torture center, created for the treatment of political prisoners. The title “political prisoner” basically meant “anyone who supported/supports the previous president (Allende) and his socialistic ideals.” I’m oversimplifying this, but the general idea is that Villa Grimaldi represents a lot about the dictatorship. It was an intense visit—our guide had been detained there for thirteen months as a law student in the ‘70s—and we learned a lot about how the center had worked, specific methods of torture, etc. Although it was pretty sickening, I am glad we went. It’s important that people remember the horrifying things sometimes, and recognize the progress that’s been made in their wake.

We followed this by a visit to the General Cemetery of Santiago, which I really enjoyed. I know the words “enjoyment” and “cemetery” don’t usually arrive in the same context, but there we are. In general, I find cemeteries to be really peaceful places, and this one’s structure was an interesting social commentary of sorts…the importance of class, or inequality between classes, was very apparent. Where we entered, the tombs were large, elaborate, a lot of them basically family-sized mausoleums. There were trees and other plant life between these, but a lot of cement, with street signs naming the “roads” between tombs. As we progressed through the cemetery, the tombs became less and less impressive. We passed the “apartments", pictured below, and finally the graves that are in the ground, also pictured.

Big, “important” tomb

“Apartment”-style burial.

Burial in the ground...

Burial site of people who were buried without identification during the dictatorship, who since have been identified.

To change the pace after all of our culturing, we got back on the bus and took a little drive to el Cajón del Maipo, a valley/canyon in the Andes. Our destination was Cascada de las Ánimas, a resort and campground where we were to spend the night. We stayed in cute little cabins and shared delicious, good meals together. On Sunday morning we took a hike to some waterfalls (“cascadas” in Spanish) before eating lunch and heading out.

Drinking tea in our cabin.

Got to love some nature (see the snowcapped mountain tips in the distance?!).

Amy and me!

It was a really nice weekend. I was glad to get to know Santiago a bit better, as well as getting to meet Martín and Celine’s friends. It was also good to get to talk with the other Midd students. Some of them had flights home earlier this week, others will be staying through January, but in whatever case, we talked a lot about our experiences in Chile…it was a nice way to start wrapping the semester up.

Don’t expect to hear from me for awhile…I’m heading off on Wednesday on a flight to the north! Where there are deserts! Amy and I will be traveling together, heading to San Pedro de Atacama and various other cities in northern Chile. We’re planning on bringing lots of bottled water and sunscreen. Be back late on December 9! Time is flying. After this bout of traveling, I’ll have a field trip for one of my classes, a number of final assignments, and only twelve more days in Chile! Wow.

Hope you all are well!

Love and bus tickets,
Tiernan

P.S. Almost forgot…I’ve got to tell you s’more! Ha. Sorry. Tonight we made s’mores at my house. On Thanksgiving (which is not celebrated in Chile), I had hoped to whip up a pumpkin pie (“whip up” meaning “go buy butternut squash, cook it, puree it, make it into something resembling what Libby so nicely prepares, make a pie crust, and turn it all into something delicious”), but when Amy visited awhile ago, we realized the oven doesn’t work. So, pumpkin-pie-dreams crumbling, I elected to buy American marshmallows, chocolate, and graham-cracker-esque cookies, to make something “American” for my host fam on Thanksgiving. The actual s’more making was delayed until tonight, but it was good, gooey, and delicious. And prepared on the stovetop. Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving!

GYMDANCE!

As I've mentioned before, the typical Chilean diet contians a large quantity of bread. In my efforts to immerse myself in the Chilean culture, I have, therefore, consumed large quantities of bread.

So I decided to find myself a gym.

I started yesterday, finally. It's this funny little place about a fifteen-minute walk from my house, where there are mixed aerobics/dance/punching/situps/jumping classes every weeknight. From what I can tell, most people go a few times a week, if not nightly, which I like, because it a) motivates me to go more frequently and b) will hopefully let me get to know some of the people there!

All of this is not that exciting or important... but there's something that is.

This is the guy who teaches the class (and owns the gym?). His picture is blue because I took it from their website. But that's not important either. What's important is that his name is Angelo. And he really reminds me of Angelo (Fu) from Midd. They dance kind of similarly, although Chilean Angelo has yet to whip out the robot... hahahaha. I will never forget my aerobics instructor's name...

Love and endorphins,

Tiernan

Done with observation!

Get ready for the longest post ever.

I know I’ve mentioned the Consultorio a few times, or mentioned people from the Consultorio, or specific things I’ve done there, but I’ve never really explained it in full. Since I just finished my internship there on Friday, I thought I should explain exactly what the Consultorio is and what I did there for fifteen weeks…

The word “consultorio” technically just means “office”, but the term is used to refer to primary care centers in the Chilean public health system. Although I’ve referred to the Consultorio as a “clinic” in some posts, that was just to save us all the explanation--- Although the Consultorio has basically the same function as a clinic in the States, in Chile, the word “clinic” applies strictly to the private sector of medicine. For an explanation on the way the healthcare system works in Chile, see the P.S. at the end of this message.

Anyway. Back to the Consultorio… Its more formal name is CESFAM Villa Nonguen, which stands for Centro de Salud Familiar (Family Health Center). Family’s really big in Chile. The CESFAM has a whole bunch of medical professional-types who work there for the greater good (and health) of the community. People come in to see the doctor, to have their kids “checked-up”, to have cuts, gashes, and other various wounds and ailments treated, to enroll in an exercise program, to have a basic blood test, etc. In my role as “intern”, I got to spend time observing in a lot of different areas of the Consultorio. Observing is a key word here. Since I am really not qualified to do anything, I did a LOT of observation. Which can be interesting. Or not. The variety of places which were available to me for observation was what saved the day and kept things fresh.

The picture above kind of shows what the Consultorio is like. It’s really a bunch of little buildings connected by roofs to a big building:
Also, Chileans are into protecting their rights. I guess with a military dictatorship within the last 40 years of their history, that makes sense. It just was strange to me that there is talk of “rights” everywhere…
“November, Month of Mental Health [every month has a theme]. ‘I have the right to receive a first and last name that distinguishes me from the other boys and girls.’ Say NO to child abuse! Program of Mental Health. Family Health Center Villa Nonguen.”

I want to share the rest of my thoughts in bulletpoint form. They got longer than I anticipated. Sorry…
- Everyone who works at the Consultorio is not a doctor. Of course, there are nurses, and secretaries, and social workers, but there are also a lot of health professionals who are not technically doctors: the matrona (women’s health specialist), kinesiologist, dietician, psychologist, etc. They are professionally trained for their professions, but they don’t require med school.

- For my first day, I helped out in the reception/filing area, where all the patients’ folders are stored. In the process of helping retrieve folders, the secretaries started laughing at me…because I could reach the top shelf without the stool! These ladies ended up being really nice, and good to spend time with. Susana, the “boss” of the filing system, always had a little chocolate hiding somewhere, and she continually asked me if I’d found a “pololo” yet (boyfriend). I finally told her that, in general, they were just too short!

- Are you pregnant? Six years old? Have a sore tooth? Then you should go to the Consultorio! There are two dentists at the Consultorio, who mainly treated kids, older people, and pregnant women. What I thought was funny about their box was that the two of them would often talk on cell phones…during appointments…or would chat with each other while drilling their patients’ teeth. At least they used novacaine, and gave out coloring sheets to the kids.

- I got to watch a small surgery one day in the “curations” box…a woman came in with the hugest (i.e. thickest, not longest) toenail I have ever seen. Apparently, it was really a fungified toenail on top of a healthy one…so a doctor pried the whole thing off. Anesthetic was also used here, but it was gruesome. I have seen lots of invasive surgeries up close and personal, but this was worse. Usually, the “curations” box is filled with people getting blood pressures taken, getting injections, having their cuts/scrapes/wounds/ulcers cleaned, etc…not quite so horrifying as removing toenails.

This is one side of the “curations” box:

And this is the other. There are three cots to be occupied by patients.

- People can pick up milk at the Consultorio. Children, pregnant women, and elderly people are entitled to a certain amount of powdered milk every month. Each type of milk is formulated differently for the specific age group, and the older crowd can also get a bag of cream stuff that can be dissolved in water to make a nutrient-supplement soup. Yum.

- The nutritionist must be the most-lied-to medical professional out there. Out of all the appointments I saw, about 5% of the patients admitted to liking sweets. In a country where, at least in my house, there is jam and manjar (caramel) on the table at 2 of the 3 meals, I find this incredibly hard to believe.

The nutritionist had a food pyramid filled with plastic food on the wall. The little kids really liked that…

- I spent a fair amount of time with the matrona, seeing pregnant women, women looking for some birth control, women coming in for their PAP exams, etc. I also saw one male come in…I think he was forced by his mom, who accompanied him to the appointment. Apparently, men can go to the matrona to get a prescription for condoms. Not many come (shame factor? awkwardness?), although in the Consultorio’s pharmacy, things are basically free…

- The pharmacy. As mentioned, medicines, condoms, etc. are basically free. In most consultorios, they are completely free, but in the one I observed in, patients are charged about 25-50 cents per medication so that meds that they’re running short on can be ordered.

- When something is free, you want to use it, right? Like “riding the panther” at Midd, some people here feel that since they have the right to receive medical attention, they should come into the consultorio for everything. Or, if they’re lonely, they can make up an ailment to spend a few minutes with a doctor. I spent an afternoon with one of the doctors, and she had to see five patients every hour (now that’s efficiency!). She explained to me that it isn’t too uncommon that people show up with symptoms that they’ve made up, or that they come in when a child has had a cold for one day, or for other things that, to me (and to her), don’t seem worth a doctor’s time. I don’t want to communicate the wrong idea—the vast majority of the patients are people who should be seeing the doctor. I just thought this was an interesting side note.

- I got to go “a terreno” (to the land?) quite a bit. Basically, I got to go to houses, to schools, etc, to do checkups on kids (at the school), to take blood pressures and talk about health eating (at the local farmers’ market), to be amazed at how small newborns are (with the matrona on home visits, post-delivery), etc. I really liked getting to leave the Consultorio for awhile and see the village. An interesting this with this is that a number of times, we couldn’t find the houses from the addresses listed by patients, and their phone lines didn’t work. Some people, instead of saying that they would not like to have home visits, list an incorrect address and phone number, so that when the matrona tries to come check on their newborn, she goes on a wild goose chase to find their house, all the while calling a phone number that doesn’t exist to get in touch with them. To me, this seems much more inconvenient than just being honest. I think the idea that you don’t want to offend anyone about anything can be kind of strong here.

- In chatting with the people at the Consultorio, I got to learn about them, about Chile, about practical things (which micro to take to get to the bus terminal, etc), and I got to explain things about myself and the United States to them. I clarified a lot of misunderstandings about our health and education systems, particularly. One day, I found myself explaining that, yes, you must pay (quite a bit of money) to go to college in the US…

- Although everyone (myself included) wore a white coat or some other type of clinic-wear, a lot of professionals wore jeans with their professional wear.

Me looking confused, because it’s my last day and because I’m taking my own picture in the bathroom mirror:


All in all, I had a great experience. I learned a lot about how the Chilean healthcare system works, where it is really great and really not so great, the mentality of people about healthcare, and the mentality of Chileans in general. I met a variety of people, spent more hours observing than I ever care to do again (12 hrs/week), and got to dance in the Consultorio’s lobby during the week of their national celebration. Really, what more could I ask for?

Love and learning,
Tiernan

P.S. Here goes. The explanation of the Chilean medical system. If I’m wrong about anything, I’m sorry. This is from an email I wrote to Mom explaining this awhile ago…

To start, each person has a decision to make: do you want to be in the private healthcare system, or the public one?

Private system = ISAPRE (Instituto de Salud Provisional = Institute of Provisional Health?)
Public system = FONASA (Fondo Nacional de Salud = National Healthcare Fund)

Regardless of which system you choose, a percentage (7%, I think) will be deducted from your paychecks to pay for your healtcare.

If you choose to be ISAPRE, although part of your healthcare costs are subsidized by the government (the percentage you pay through paycheck deductions), you still need to pay the clinic/hospital/physician that is treating you for their services. This tends to be rather expensive, but the care is excellent and speedy. If you want a second opinion and have the money to pay a second physician, that choice is yours. If you go to the doctor and you are prescribed a certain type of medicine, you must go to the pharmacy and pay for that prescription out of pocket.

*note: with ISAPRE, you may also elect to pay for private health insurance. This insurance can help cover the costs of your treatment (including meds), but, obviously, you must pay your insurance bills every month, and you will still pay some money out of pocket for your doctor's visits, medications, etc.

If you choose to be FONASA, you are placed in one of four levels: A, B, C, or D.
A = You have no income. You pay 0 for your healthcare. When you go to the Consultorio, all care is free.
B = You make minimum wage. You pay 0 for your healthcare, like in level A.
C = You make money, you pay for a minimal percentage of your healthcare costs (I don't know what this percentage is...I want to say 10%?).
D = You make a really decent living, therefore you pay for a slightly higher percentage of your healthcare costs (30%? 60%? I really have no idea on this one).

*note: AUGE is a program that all members of FONASA are eligible for when they have specific conditions/diseases/problems that need medical attention (for example: cervical or breast cancer, pregnancy, etc). AUGE stands for "Acceso Universal para prestaciones integrales y Garantías Explícitas asociadas a la atención a prioridades," which translates roughly to "Universal Access for comprehensive benefits/assistance and Explicit Guarantees associated with attention to priorities". A bit wordy. Basically, it is a system that puts time constraints on the public hospitals and physicians, saying that they must treat patients within a certain time frame for specific conditions. Therefore, while someone in need of a necessary, but not urgent, surgery may wait a year or more for treatment, patients with conditions requiring more rapid care will receive care more quickly. This still doesn't mean it is extremely fast. Example: Yesterday, a woman came in to see the matrona about her PAP exam results. Her PAP was taken in June, and since the results usually take about a month and a half to be processed, the Consultorio recieved them in August. Since the analysis showed some atypical cells, the matrona needed to request an appointment with the specialist for her patient. The hospital/specialist has one month in which to schedule this appointment. The hospital/specialist tells the matrona when this appointment is scheduled (i.e. Monday at 9 AM), and the matrona calls the patient to come in for a consultation. The patient arrives, and the matrona tells her that the results were atypical, and although this does not guarantee cancer, it converts that patient into an AUGE patient (woman signs off on this). The matrona tells the patient that she needs to go to this hospital to see this specialist at this date and time, and the appointment is finished. If the patient has cancer, her treatment will be controlled by the timetables of AUGE.

Whew. If you are still reading this, I am impressed.

Just a day at the beach.

Today I spent the afternoon with the matrona, Paulina, and her mom and fiancée. After eating onces at her house last week, we planned a trip to go to the beach. So that is exactly what we did.

We drove from Concepción past a slew of towns on the coast—Penco, Tomé, Dichato—before reaching the entrance to Pingueral, a residential community with a beach. The beach used to be closed to the public, but due to the enforcement of some law (requiring all beaches to be open to everyone), the general public can now visit Pingueral. To get there, you need a car (or really good walking shoes), and you have to drive through a check-in point before entering the neighborhood. Once you’re in, you take a nice little drive through lots of well-manicured houses (without gates!) before arriving at the beach, which is laden with tiki umbrellas (is that what they’re called? the umbrellas with straw roofs?). It’s a small beach, but really nice. We walked around (too chilly to swim), took pictures, sat and talked, and enjoyed the tremendous waves crashing onto the shore (while Paulina’s mom worried about the little kids who were too close to the water).


Before heading out from Pingueral, we drove through the whole subdivision, house-watching. I kind of felt like it was Christmastime and we were going out to see the lights, except that it was daytime, and November.

We wrapped up our day with some ice cream in Tomé, a photo shoot at an overlook, and onces at Paulina’s house. A lovely day.


Tomorrow, I plan to be under the ocean for awhile. More news on that at a later date.

Love and undertows,
Tiernan

P.S. When we stopped in Tomé, there were a bunch of scooters, tricycles, etc lined up in the plaza. Apparently, someone brings them there during the weekend and rents them out so kids can play. I took a picture, but it was blurry. I took it quickly, because I didn’t want anyone to realize that I was taking a picture of big wheels.

I also took this picture in Tomé:

It might be too small to see, but what’s attached to the trunks of those trees? Birdhouses, of course.

Valdivia--photographic proof of travel.

Víctor, the TA for my geography class, always talks to Julie and I about how we need to “aprovechar” (take advantage of/ make the most of) our time in Chile, and how we should “conocer” (get to know) the country and its varied landscapes. Luckily enough, Amy (from Midd) is living in Valdivia, and last weekend I got to visit her! I got to know the city, her university’s campus, and some of the nearby towns that Víctor had told me about. Among those towns was Niebla, where we went to a fort and ate empanadas (separately). We ferried across the estuary (Amy knows her oceanographic terms) to Corral, and walked around for approximately fifteen minutes before heading back on the boat. It was a pretty small town. We watched the sea lions (“lobos del mar” = “sea wolves” in Spanish), smelled the sea lions (eww), made burritos at her pension, ate lemon pie, and saw the Michael Jackson movie. Success.


Doesn't the siding on this house look like fish scales?


It was a great weekend.

Love and sea wolves,
Tiernan

P.S. Amy and I learned a good lesson when we went out to lunch-- no one orders tap water here. We, however, being from outside of Chile and not wanting to pay for water, did ask for "agua de llave". This resulted in free water, but also in our waiter thinking we were the cheapest people ever. When he brought bread and pebre to the table, he whispered, "The bread is free." We made sure to leave him a nice tip : )

My first dogs.

Since the 3rd grade science project goldfish don’t count, I’ve never really had a pet before. I remember around 5th grade when it seemed like everyone else was getting a pet, and I went on a short “why we should have a dog” campaign. My parents didn’t budge, and eventually I just lost interest.

I had pretty much thought I would never have a pet when I left for Chile. However, when I arrived to my house here, I was warmly greeted (i.e. jumped upon) by Sofia, the yellow lab that “guards the house” (i.e. barks viciously at every child walking past on the sidewalk). A couple of weeks ago, another dog arrived. A little, little one. I think I mentioned her before, but wanted to bring her up again. Her name is Pepita. She is a little black lab, and I adore her. She’s about 7-8 weeks old now, in the stage where she whines about everything and tries to bite you because she doesn’t understand that it isn’t fun…

This isn’t the best picture ever, but I want to introduce you:

She is a great study break companion.

Similarly, blog writing is another good procrastination tool. I should get back to my studying (more specifically, take-home-exam-writing, which means regional-development-planning, ay).

Only 40 DAYS until I leave Chile. That is ridiculous. I finish up my internship at the clinic this week…more on that later.

Love and puppies,
Tiernan

Confirming stereotypes

Paulina, one of the matronas (a women’s health specialist—like a midwife, but also certified to prescribe birth control, do PAP exams, etc) at the clinic, has been so nice and enthusiastic about my presence at the clinic and in Chile. The very first day that I met her, she told me that I would need to come to her house some night to eat once (tea, coffee, bread, cake—night meal) with her family, and then we’d have to find a day to go to the beach. Last week she proposed a date, and so last night I found myself driving away from the clinic with her towards her house, her fiancée, and her parents for once. It was so much fun. We talked, drank tea, talked, ate sopaipillas (fried bread) with pebre (oil, vinegar, lemon juice, cilantro and onion), talked, had some cake, etc. We talked quite a bit about the U.S. Usually, that becomes a conversation topic here, because people are interested in the States and I am the local expert on the country. However, last night’s conversation had two interesting connections to the U.S. – Paulina’s dad lived in Mississippi for three years in college, and she and her fiancée want to go to the States for their honeymoon next November. There were a few mentionable highlights:

- I mentioned that when I went to a family party with Marta, the man of the house whipped out his world atlas and made me tell him what city I lived in so he could find it on the map, and although Paulina’s dad protested, their family eventually did the same.

- Paulina wants to whiten her teeth. I knew this, and asked the group if “whitestrips” exist in Chile. I was told that they don’t, and as I described them, Paulina got really excited (whitening is expensive in Chile, because you need to see a dentist to do it). We discussed approximate prices of mailing packages between countries, and I’m planning on sending her a couple of boxes for Christmas.

- I don’t even know how we got on this topic…We were talking about Atlanta, and Paulina’s dad chimed in, “That’s where all the black people are!” I just kind of chuckled, as the fiancée explained that the U.S. is really more integrated now than when the dad went to college in Mississippi.

- Somewhat similarly, we stumbled onto the topic of Chicago, and Paulina thought it sounded like a good honeymoon destination. Immediately, her dad added, “Oh, Chicago’s full of the mafia. You can’t go to Chicago. It’s just full of them—they’re everywhere. It’s way too dangerous.” This, to me, was another funny back-in-time kind of thought, but also a mindset that I’d been told is pretty common among foreigners. Since there is a lot of U.S. influence here, but in the form of movies, TV, and music, the visions that Chileans (and people from other countries) have of our cities is that all of them are horrifyingly violent, completely dominated by Latino gangs and the mob. Maybe that’s an overstatement. Actually, I think it’s just that the view is split. Some people think in the “horribly violent” stereotype, and others think in the “blissfully perfect” one. The idea that most houses do not have locked, spiked gates in front of them symbolizes the idea of pretty, completely safe cities to many people I’ve met.

All in all, it was a really fun time. I’m just pointing out the funny stories here, but they were all really nice and welcoming, and it was good to spend time with some new people!

I’m about to head to Valdivia, a city about 6.5 hours South of Conce. My Middlebury friend Amy is there for the semester, and I’m going to visit her for the weekend!

Love and Chilean sunshine,
Tiernan

P.S. Before I go, I just wanted to leave these two pictures:

Guess they’re not worried about selling to an international market…

This is a student (ESCOLAR) micro (bus) ticket. In case you can’t see it, it says “NO A LA DROGA” (“No to drugs”) underneath the drawing of the students. That reminds me of fifth grade and Deputy Dare...

Telenovelas and lots of questions

I’m sitting in the kitchen watching the last episode of the telenovela, “¿Dónde Está Elisa?” It’s been on TV four nights a week since September, and tonight is the grand finale. The aunt of Elisa was just arrested after a shootout in a barn where she was holding her own daughter hostage after murdering her husband and setting it up as a suicide….oh, goodness, Chilean television. The new telenovela started last night, and continues tonight. It’s called “Count Vrolok,” and is set a couple hundred years back in time. It has most of the same actors as “Elisa.” I’m psyched.

I’ve been busier than usual since my last post. I had my first exam last week, went to Linares to do some rural tourism, had a dance class, read a lot about rural development, picked out a class for J-term at Middlebury, made a powerpoint presentation, played with a puppy, ate my first strawberries of the season, and bought a hula hoop. It doesn’t sound like I’ve actually done that much, but there I go, basing my life’s value on “productiveness” in the school sense of the term…

When Julie and I went to Linares, it was kind of a funny day. We went knowing basically nothing about the area except the name of a farm that offered agrotourism (tourism on a farm). We took our 8 AM bus bright and early out of Conce and slept on the 3-hr-plus ride to Linares. Upon arrival, we asked a lot of questions. How do we get to the center of the city? Where can we find tourist information? How do we get to the little town where this farm is? Why is there a parade happening?? There was this parade in the central plaza, with a bunch of uniformed school kids marching down the street, followed by adults (their teachers?). A whole group of huasos (like cowboys, but Chilean = men on horseback wearing ponchos) was in waiting to join the action, and a crowd had gathered on both sides of the street to applaud the procession. Unfortunately, we didn’t ask what was going on. We were getting tired of questions.

After stopping in a number of little shops to ask for directions to the bus terminal, we found a bus that could take us to Yerbas Buenas, the little town where our farm was located. The bus ride was smooth, and the farm’s online directions were great—we arrived easily. But we were the only people there. There were the people running the place—a waiter, a hostess, a woman in a house—but although it was a beautiful, breezy, sunny Saturday, we were the only lunch guests. We took our seats and enjoyed a really good meal—lomo a lo pobre. Lomo is like a type of steak. “A lo pobre” means “served with fried eggs and French fries.” Healthy, right? Before we left, a couple of other small groups arrived, which made our presence less awkward. That was nice.

We took off, stomachs full, ready to head back to Linares and possibly explore another town in the area. We got on a bus marked “Linares” in the place where we had been dropped off earlier. All was good. Except the bus went the other way out of town. I still thought it was good, because I assumed the driver would make a quick turnaround and head back. Not quite. We passed through two more little villages before asking him what was up (I was enjoying the ride, so felt reluctant to ask, even though I kind of knew we weren’t going where we needed to go). We were informed that the bus would be stopping at the end of the route, and heading back at 4 PM. The bus stopped at 3:25. We waited, chatted with the driver, and napped until departure. Luckily, Linares is much closer to the Andes than Conce, and we were in a rural, natural area. So I took pictures, like these ones:

In total, we were on that bus for long over an hour. A good learning experience, I guess. The excursion to Linares was a fun one. Unstructured and full of detours…

The telenovela episode just ended. The aunt was convicted and sent to prison for life, and they ended with a shot of a squad of police cars on the highway and the word “FIN” (end). Irina and Raisa (my 11- and 20-year-old Chilean “sisters”) are exclaiming, “Fome, fome, fome!” “Qué final tan fome!” “Pero fome!” “Fome” is one of my favorite Chilean words. It’s like a combination of “boring” and “lame.” For example, having a test can be “fome”, watching the grass grow can be “fome”, having swim class on a cold, rainy day at camp is definitely “fome.” Chileans use a lot of slang/ terms that are specific to Chile, which made my initial adjustment here a bit more difficult, and could definitely affect my communication with other Spanish-speakers in the future. I’ll start talking fast, cutting off final consonants, and using words like “fome”, as any good Chilean would, and the other person will wonder what I’m saying.

Here’s to seven and a half more weeks in Chile!

Hope you all are well, wherever you are,

Besos y abrazos,

Tiernan

P.S. I just finished trying to translate a pop song's lyrics for Irina. I love speaking English sometimes.