Blogs from Ñuñoa, Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 2

Well it has been over two weeks since the earthquake, but the aftershocks are still hitting pretty regularly. They haven’t done any damage that I can see so far, and they aren’t nearly as scary, just kind of annoying. We have had four so far today, the biggest registering at 7.2, which was not fun at all as I was on the 17th story of our academic building. The buildings here are all built to withstand them, and there was no damage, it is scary but it’s just a part of life here. Earthquakes might be part of their culture, but I’m almost as tired of talking about them as experiencing them. So moving on to some less depressing/natural disaster topics, I started some of my classes this past week. Through the IFSA program I ... read more

Yeah, Santiago is great so far. I'v only been here for two days but I love the city, It's a lot like being back home, I don't stick like the only white person, and restaurant and stores have change when you buy things. The only problem though is the hole currency thing. One US dollar is about 550 Chilean Pesos, which is a little complicated to figure out. The subway is really cheep, 300 pesos, 470 during rush hour, but its clean, like really clean, so much better than NYC. Its also really crowded, though, all the time. The city reminds me of New York a lot, just cleaner, which more construction, at least the parts of the city I'v been in, the old city might be a little different, only saw the edge of it ... read more

Tonight we leave on a wonderful adventure. Classes are over, so two other girls from the program and I are taking a week and a little bit to explore the country south of Santiago. We're taking an overnight bus to Pucón, a small tourist town near Lago Villarica and Volcán Villarica about 10 hours southwest of Santiago; I'm not sure how many miles or kilometers. We don't have a definite plan. It's going to be something like 2 or 3 days in Pucón, 2 or 3 days in and around Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, a coupe days on Isla de Chiloé, and maybe some time further south in Chaitén or Coyhaique. We'll see what we actually have time for. I'll try to keep you updated and all, but my internet access will be sporadic at ... read more

Tuesday in Santiago there were a large number of people protesting, mainly education. It started as a peaceful march, but then, according to my friend who was nearby, someone threw a rock and all hell broke loose. The march was never ok-ed by the government, so the police were more or less just waiting for something to happen. Sewage water was sprayed and tear gas released. I just missed most of it as I was getting off the Metro near school. The ground was wet and the gas lingered in the air, making my nose burn, but it wasn’t a big deal. I was talking to a couple people about it and (correct me if I’m totally wrong) during the Pinochet regime a lot of schools were privatized. That trend is continuing and school is becoming ... read more

I started classes today. My schedule could not be sweeter, unless the days here were longer. The sun sets about 615 or 630, so it gets dark fairly early. I have Latin American History MW 3-5 and Chile's Native Cultures of the South TH 3-5. I never have to wake up early! Word on the street is that some students are taking over a building tonight and there will be some protests tomorrow. For those of you who don't know, students in Santiago have been protesting the education system, I think because they lack the basic supplies they need for learning, like books, etc. The police have been using sewage water and tear gas to deter the students. I've not yet witnessed any of this, but apparently it got pretty violent last week when we were ... read more