Ay dios mio!
Today has been filled with excitement. Last night, me and a few other students went to the Bella Vista neighborhood a few blocks from our hotel and explored the area. It is in the old part of town, and there were many young people wandering around. We went into a few nice pubs and watched some soccer, and then sat outside at a table and drank some Escoda (Chilean beer). We also found a really cool square that is in the center of a city block, on the outside are regular shops but on the inside of the block there are a variety of bars and clubs. It was awesome! After our adventure, we all walked back and fell asleep, as most of us had not slept well in days!
Today has been filled with excitement. Last night, me and a few other students went to the Bella Vista neighborhood a few blocks from our hotel and explored the area. It is in the old part of town, and there were many young people wandering around. We went into a few nice pubs and watched some soccer, and then sat outside at a table and drank some Escoda (Chilean beer). We also found a really cool square that is in the center of a city block, on the outside are regular shops but on the inside of the block there are a variety of bars and clubs. It was awesome! After our adventure, we all walked back and fell asleep, as most of us had not slept well in days!
This morning we all met at 9am, got breakfast, and checked out of our hotel. We then got on a tour bus and got a 3 hour tour of the city from a Santiago native! He drove us down O’Higgins (the main road in Santiago – named after an Irishman, actually) and we saw many things including the Cordillera region of the Andes Mountains, El Club Hipico (Horseracing club) and also many government buildings. We stopped the bus every once and a while to get off and walk around. There were many beautiful buildings along the way, like the San Francisco Cathedral, an old pharmacy, and the Santiago public library. The library was one of the several buildings damaged during the earthquake in 2008, and when we drove past it, there were scaffolds up and they were working on repairing the building. However, our tour guide told us that most of the buildings in Chile are built to be flexible in order to withstand earthquakes. On our tour we also saw the Rio Mapocho which runs through the city of Santiago and is currently empty, because it is the dry season here. Also running through the city is the Pan-American Highway. In Chile, the Pan-American Highway is over 2000 miles long! Chilenos call it the backbone of the country, because it runs from the northern-most tip of the country all the way to La Patagonia.
Our first stop on the tour was El Club Hipico in downtown Santiago. The horseracing track stretches for miles, and the guide said they hold races there twice a week, each race drawing between 20,000 and 30,000 people. We met a few of the jockeys and horses that were walking around the grounds, and they told us a little about what it was like to be a jockey and to take care of a racehorse. Then we went to the government square in the middle of the city, which houses the presidential offices, the Supreme Court, and the Chilean senate. Unlike the United States, Chilean presidents can't serve 2 consecutive terms, and also do not live in special housing like our president. In the middle of the square there are 15 Chilean flags, one for each of the 15 regions in Chile.
Next we walked to La Plaza de Armas, the same place we had gone yesterday to shop. We saw a statue of Pedro Valdivia, the founder of Chile, and then went inside the Catedral Metropolitana. It was extremely ornate! Outside the cathedral, there was a man doing tricks with his soccer ball, and he entertained us for ten minutes! He could juggle fruit while juggling a soccer ball, and could balance the ball on any part of his body. His grand finale was a series of flips, all while continuing to juggle. After La Plaza de Armas, we drove through a different part of the city and saw the United States Embassy. Then we continued on to a local store, where they sold artisan goods. Inside the store, we were treated to a wine tasting, and our tour guide taught us how to do a proper Chilean toast. You say: Arriba (up), Abajo (down), Al Centro (to the middle), Adentro (gulp it down). The artisan shop sold lots of jewelry and crafts that contained Lapis Lazuli, a special kind of blue stone that can only be found in Chile and Afghanistan. For religious purposes, the stone cannot be sold in Afghanistan, so Chileans rule the market when it comes to selling goods made with Lapis stones.
After our tour, we moved to our new hotel in the Plaza de Leones region of the city. This part of the city is older, and the buildings are very quaint and some of the streets are made of cobblestone. There are many small business crammed close together in the alleys, but they make some of the best food around! After we ate empanadas de napolitiano (empanadas with ham and cheese) me and a few other students decided to take the metro to Santa Lucia, where there was a shopping market. When we got off the subway, we were a bit confused because the streets were empty and there was no car traffic (the streets had been closed off by the police) so we decided to climb the building for the arts that is right next to the famous Gabriela Mistral mural. It was a beautiful old building dedicated to the arts, with outdoor stone steps leading you from level to level. We climbed almost to the top, but then we started hearing drums and shouts from down on the street, so we stopped to ask a Chileno what was going on. He told us there was going to be a protest on the street that afternoon, so we climbed up to the next level to have a look. At the top, we saw many policemen, who were keeping an eye on the quickly growing crowds below. The Gabriela Mistral mural is located on the main road in Santiago (OHiggins), and from the top of the building we could see hundreds of people marching down the road with signs. We asked a policeman what was the cause of the protest, but he just told us that the people were crazy.
We climbed down to the bottom and began taking pictures from a balcony that overlooked the road, and we learned that the people there were environmentalists who were opposing the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the Patagonia region of Chile. The Patagonia region is mostly forest, and the government wants to build power plants there because cities like Santiago whose population grows every year need more sources of energy. It was extremely exciting to watch, but we made sure to keep our distance. At the end of the protest, there was a marching band, and my friends and I danced in the streets with the rest of the group. After the protest, we went to the Mercado Artisenio (craft market) around the corner, where individuals were selling many cool things, most of which were made out of copper and lapis, the two most common Chilean natural resources. After the market closed, we returned to the hotel and had dinner with our group at a local Chilean restaurant, where we all tried Pisco Sours – a famous South American drink that is made differently in each country) for the first time. Tonight we are going to explore the Los Leones area some more, before we head to Valparaiso tomorrow!
It will be sad to leave Santiago, but all of us cannot wait to meet our host families! I have learned so many new words in the last two days and speaking Spanish is getting easier, but I am a bit nervous to speak Spanish with my host family! We are all starting to understand the money system (although it still feels weird to pay for things using thousand dollar bills). Every Santiago native is very interested in asking us about the United States, so it has been fun to interact with the people here because they are so interested in us. It is almost time to go out, but hopefully I will have more to say tomorrow after I meet my host family!
Next we walked to La Plaza de Armas, the same place we had gone yesterday to shop. We saw a statue of Pedro Valdivia, the founder of Chile, and then went inside the Catedral Metropolitana. It was extremely ornate! Outside the cathedral, there was a man doing tricks with his soccer ball, and he entertained us for ten minutes! He could juggle fruit while juggling a soccer ball, and could balance the ball on any part of his body. His grand finale was a series of flips, all while continuing to juggle. After La Plaza de Armas, we drove through a different part of the city and saw the United States Embassy. Then we continued on to a local store, where they sold artisan goods. Inside the store, we were treated to a wine tasting, and our tour guide taught us how to do a proper Chilean toast. You say: Arriba (up), Abajo (down), Al Centro (to the middle), Adentro (gulp it down). The artisan shop sold lots of jewelry and crafts that contained Lapis Lazuli, a special kind of blue stone that can only be found in Chile and Afghanistan. For religious purposes, the stone cannot be sold in Afghanistan, so Chileans rule the market when it comes to selling goods made with Lapis stones.
After our tour, we moved to our new hotel in the Plaza de Leones region of the city. This part of the city is older, and the buildings are very quaint and some of the streets are made of cobblestone. There are many small business crammed close together in the alleys, but they make some of the best food around! After we ate empanadas de napolitiano (empanadas with ham and cheese) me and a few other students decided to take the metro to Santa Lucia, where there was a shopping market. When we got off the subway, we were a bit confused because the streets were empty and there was no car traffic (the streets had been closed off by the police) so we decided to climb the building for the arts that is right next to the famous Gabriela Mistral mural. It was a beautiful old building dedicated to the arts, with outdoor stone steps leading you from level to level. We climbed almost to the top, but then we started hearing drums and shouts from down on the street, so we stopped to ask a Chileno what was going on. He told us there was going to be a protest on the street that afternoon, so we climbed up to the next level to have a look. At the top, we saw many policemen, who were keeping an eye on the quickly growing crowds below. The Gabriela Mistral mural is located on the main road in Santiago (OHiggins), and from the top of the building we could see hundreds of people marching down the road with signs. We asked a policeman what was the cause of the protest, but he just told us that the people were crazy.
We climbed down to the bottom and began taking pictures from a balcony that overlooked the road, and we learned that the people there were environmentalists who were opposing the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the Patagonia region of Chile. The Patagonia region is mostly forest, and the government wants to build power plants there because cities like Santiago whose population grows every year need more sources of energy. It was extremely exciting to watch, but we made sure to keep our distance. At the end of the protest, there was a marching band, and my friends and I danced in the streets with the rest of the group. After the protest, we went to the Mercado Artisenio (craft market) around the corner, where individuals were selling many cool things, most of which were made out of copper and lapis, the two most common Chilean natural resources. After the market closed, we returned to the hotel and had dinner with our group at a local Chilean restaurant, where we all tried Pisco Sours – a famous South American drink that is made differently in each country) for the first time. Tonight we are going to explore the Los Leones area some more, before we head to Valparaiso tomorrow!
It will be sad to leave Santiago, but all of us cannot wait to meet our host families! I have learned so many new words in the last two days and speaking Spanish is getting easier, but I am a bit nervous to speak Spanish with my host family! We are all starting to understand the money system (although it still feels weird to pay for things using thousand dollar bills). Every Santiago native is very interested in asking us about the United States, so it has been fun to interact with the people here because they are so interested in us. It is almost time to go out, but hopefully I will have more to say tomorrow after I meet my host family!
Viva la Chile!
Julia Marie
La Plaza de Armas, in the center of Santiago
The barns at El Club Hipico, the famous horse-racing track
El Club Hipico racetrack
La Catedral Metropolitana
Chilean guards and their horses!
Anti-Hydroelectric Power Plant Protest in Santiago
View of the protest from atop the arts building
Patagonia sin represas!
Hanging out in front of the arts building in old Santiago
