Chilean culture in Quinta Park - food, theatre, cinema, arts and powerful women

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After spending the morning at the Human Rights Museum studying some very moving content I had a walk around Quinta park, a park located nearby . By chance, I stumbled upon some very informative notice boards explaining the culture of Chile, it’s food, it’s drinks and from what rituals they came from, it’s most famous films for which it had won awards and it’s famous playwrights. I took photos and made notes so that I could try some of the food and drink during this visit, watch some of the films when I get back to the UK and when someday I return to Chile eat any famous dishes I didn’t have time to eat on my first visit and see any famous plays at the local theatres.

I read all about the different types of Chilean wine produced in the local vineyards, wine such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere and Syrah. The cepas were brought from Bordeaux in France and planted in the Maipu valley. I learned about a dish which I’d eaten a lot of in Santiago – Ceviche chileno, raw fish bathed in lemon, salt, garlic and onion. I also learned about the difference between Chilean ceviche, and peruvian ceviche which was popular back in the Precolumbian times. I read about the famous dessert – arroz con leche or Chilean rice pudding which is a cereal made with milk, sugar and lemon or orange zest, brought to Spain by the arabs when Spain was under arab rule.

I also learned about famous Chilean films such as ‘Sexo con amor’,a comedy released in 2003, and another comedy called El Chacotero Sentimental released in 1999 which centred around a couple having sex in a car. Some other award winners were ‘La Luna en el Espejo’, ‘La nana’ and ‘La vida de los peces.’ The first ever silent Chilean film made in black and white was ‘El Husar de la Muerte.’ Films starring one of the most famous Chilean actors Pedro Sienna were ‘El hombre de acero, 1917, Los payasos se van 1921, El empuje de una raza, 1922, Un grito en el mar 1924 and ‘La ultima trasnochada, 1926. I also discovered two plays that I would be really interested in seeing – a comedy ‘El Cepillo de Dientes’ a toothbrush by Jorge Diez, a comedy about a toothbrush and ‘La Negra Ester’ which is about a guy who falls in love with a prostitute.

On the advice of these informative noticeboards I have made plans to visit some sculptures in another trip, sculptures made by Mario Irarazabal Corruvias who also made sculptures in Madrid and other parts of Chile too. There is a giant hand sticking out of the Atacama Desert, 75 km of Antofagasta called ‘La Mano del Desierto’ and he has also made some sculptures in Punta del Este in Uruguay which hopefully I’ll be visiting in the beginnning of March.

I then learned about Doctora Eloisa Diaz, the first professional woman of Chile and the first doctor in South America. She was 15 years old when she took the BAC and then she attended La Escuela de Medicina de la Universidad de Chile. Back then she became doctor at a time when there were only two women doctors in the world, one in the US and one in the UK. She helped out in public health in 1900s when infant mortality was at its highest, she introduced dental services in schools and made school breakfast obligatory. She became Directora del Servicio Medico Escolar de Chile.

It’s amazing how a park full of trees and ponds can at once be turned into a playground of culture by a few informative noticeboards and one human beings' keen interest in learning.

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