Don't cry for me, Argentina

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Coming at you once again from the wonderful Sixth Region of Chile, from the city of Rancagua, I welcome you back to my blog. It's been about a month since I last wrote, but in my defense, the internet here is very hard to both predict and control. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Time continues to speed by, another month gone, the realization leaving a bittersweet aftertaste in my mouth. A mixture of sadness and excitement, in that I have come to love both my students and my host family here. Leaving will be very hard, but I am looking forward to that next step, whatever it may be. That is still in the hazy future, and I refuse to look too closely at it just yet. I also find myself missing little things about the states, things that you don't think about when you have them but now I'm missing. Things like not lighting a gas box every time I want hot water, or having a car, so I don't have to rely on finding a colective when I want to leave, or even just being able to call my friends and family when something funny happens that I want to tell them. But for the most part, the novelty still hasn't worn off, so Chile is still a treat every day. And the fact that I am able to travel so much is also quite a bonus.

Since I last wrote, many things have happened. In my last entry I mentioned that the Anniversary of my school was coming up...well let me tell you, nothing could have prepared me for it. Cami explained it as a frat house. The students and teachers were all coming and going as they pleased, none of the students were wearing their uniforms, and there was a DJ in the middle of the courtyard all week long, leading the different competitions. It was a little like the week before Homecoming, spirit week style and all that, but on steroids. There were different competitions everyday, but the highlight for everyone, I think, was on Thursday with the big dance competition. There were four categories: cueca (the national dance of Chile), cumbia villera, salsa, and reggaeton, the grand finale. There were four Alliances, or student groups, Azul, Roja, Negra, and Verde, my alliance. Two students and two teachers from each alliance had to dance to each type of music, and I was roped into dancing reggaeton with another professor. How, you may ask, do you dance raggaeton? Well, just think about Daddy Yankee and there you have it. Chalk it up as one of the more embarrassing moments of my life, given that all my students were both watching and taping it with their cell phones, and since that fateful day they have all shown me the tape multiple times. Time only serves to amplify the mortification. But they all got a huge kick out of it, and now I will always be known as the gringa who can dance. So that's something at least. The week after the anniversary was fairly subdued, as everyone was a little tired after all the festivities. Nothing of note really happened, other than my co-teacher breaking his shoulder and so he was out all week. So that was fun.

Then that Sunday we flew off to Buenos Aires. Cami, Kate, and I took a week off school, we figured that we deserved a little break, and flew to Argentina for a week. It was amazing. Buenos Aires has been called the Paris of South America, but having never been to Paris I had little to compare it to. I simply settled for marveling at the beauty of the city, and at the novelty of being in a big city, a cosmopolitan city once again. It's a fantastic city, one in which you feel like there is a surprise around every corner, where you are satisfied by wandering around the streets, drinking in the simple beauty of the buildings and homes. We made the most of our week there, accomplishing everything on our To-Do list, and more. On Monday we went to this improv drum show that happens every Monday night. This group called La Bomba del Tiempo plays in this old, abandoned warehouse, and each week they have guest artists come and jam with them. It was the coolest concert ever. Just this 16-piece drum group rocking out for a few hours.

The rest of the week is now a blur of leather, beef, beer, and sites. We wandered all over the city, stopping only for food, or if something shiny caught our eye. One night we saw a tango show, which was mind blowing. We went to the cemetery in Recoleta, where Evita is buried, but we couldn't find her grave so we went and had lunch instead.

For me, the single most powerful part of the trip was on Thursday at 3.30. We went to the Plaza de Mayo and saw the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo march, as they have been doing since 1977, to protest the dictatorship's brutal kidnapping, torture, and murder of their children, all in secret. They march to raise awareness, to remind people that although there has been a democratically elected government in Argentina for years now, their past is not so far behind them, and it still has not been officially recognized. These women just want to know what happened to their children, and most are still denied that small victory. After writing my senior thesis partially about the strength and courage of these women, to finally see them circle the Plaza was incredibly powerful.

Coming back to Chile was hard. It's nice to be on vacation, even just for a few days, so knowing that we had to come back and work was a big incentive to try and stay longer. But regardless, we came back and started teaching once again. The good thing about the week we came back was that it was the week of Chile's Independence Day, the 18th of September, Fiestas Patrias. Its like Christmas time in the States. Everyone goes crazy, people just eat and drink for days at a time, so needless to say, classes were a little more relaxed. We just bummed around for the week, then on Saturday took a little road trip out to Pichilemu, a small beach town on the coast about two hours from Rancagua. Our friend John's host family has a house

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Comments

[holly]

Hey Loli Lu, Just want to say hi, I miss you. Glad youy are having fun. Keep the blogs coming. What are you going to do in the time you are done with work and before your family comes down there? Where are you all going to go once they are ther? Sounds like you are having fun, wish I could come too! Love, Holly