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Published: October 17th 2007
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This week is our last week of classes. We have a final written exam in Spanish and a final oral exam covering the topics of the lectures. In the last few weeks we heard from a speaker discussing women’s rights, one talking about the situation with the indigenous population in Chile, and one explaining the poverty in Chile, specifically “tomas.” Tomas are land seizures by an organized committee. Groups of families without homes get together, research open land in Chile and plan a date and time to invade the vacant land. This process is illegal in Chile, but very common. Initially the police remove the squatters, but they continue to return until they are eventually allowed to live on the vacant land.
Last Friday we visited a toma near Santiago. I had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be one big party. The toma had about 1000 people, and it seemed the mother from each family came to see the gringos. They talked a bit about what they do and how they got there, but mostly they just wanted to hang out with us. As usual, they fed us more than anyone could handle.
The kids from the neighborhood danced the cueca, and, of course, we had to dance it with them (see the picture of my seven-year-old dance partner). I think I’m actually starting to get good at this dance. Other kids performed a dance from the Rapa Nui, the people of Easter Island.
The people of the toma were all incredibly caring, nice people. They seemed so happy just to have a home and a community of people around them. It’s a really great example of how you can be so happy with so little.
My community service project is also at a toma nearby in Valparaiso. We go there each Wednesday and help around the neighborhood. Mostly we do manual labor like moving dirt or cutting down trees. I don’t mind this because there’s not a lot of time to do any sort of physical activity in Chile. The people of the toma have constructed their homes out of whatever supplies they could gather (picture). We aren’t the only group volunteering with the toma; a group of students from Germany and France are also there helping the toma conserve energy.
On Saturday we organized a
fiesta for the families of the toma. We showed a movie, made food on a bonfire, and played games with the kids. Once again it was incredible to see how happy these people were with so little. Nothing is wasted there; every resource they have is used. They try not to throw anything out unless there can be absolutely no other use for it.
This last week in class we had speakers talking about human rights in Chile. On Friday we traveled to Santiago to visit the memorial of the disappeared and executed victims of the dictatorship, as well as a former torture camp. This was an unforgettable experience.
We ate breakfast with an organization of family members of disappeared persons. One woman spoke to us about the loss of her husband, and another about her father. The members of the organization have come together to urge the government to press charges against more people involved in the dictatorship.
Next we traveled to a cemetery in Santiago to see the memorial to the disappeared and executed. We spent about thirty minutes at the memorial, almost in complete silence. One of our directors pointed out the names
of his friends that were killed.
Our next stop was Villa Grimaldi, a torture camp used until 1988. Our guide at the camp had actually been tortured there. She showed us a tower where they kept prisoners and a pool used for electrocution. There are really no words to explain how I felt while walking around the camp; it was a very solemn day. The stories the woman shared were all so recent. It was a place I’ll never forget, and probably never want to see again.
"The day begins with a breakfast of boiling tea in a small metal container and half a bread. Lunch is at midday, soup with potato skins floating around in it and pieces of carrots. Sometimes we eat the agents' leftovers, with olive pits, bits of fish and fishbones mixed in with it. Almost impossible to swallow. The screams and moans take your appetite away. But we're forced to do it. Meanwhile, they never stop calling people to the "parrilla" (the "grill" torture method), to endless interrogations... It is a world of contrasts. Guards play the guitar to the sound of the wailing, while in a corner, lying on the floor,
Manuel Diaz, alias "El Tano" is dying, little by little..."
(excerpt from La Guerra Oculta: Detenidos-Desaparecidos, Capítulo 3. Recintos Secretos,
by Carmen Ortuzar and Marcela Otero, Revista Hoy, No. 445, jan.27 - feb.2, 1986.)
On Sunday I’ll be heading north. The north is much warmer than Valparaiso, with beaches, mountains and desert. We will live in a hotel during the first few days while we explore the old salitres (nitrogen mines), used before World War I. Then we will travel farther north to the land of the indigenous Aymara. I will be living with an urban homestay family for one week, and with an indigenous family in the fields four days. During this part of the program I will live in a hut with no electricity or running water (many of my friends seem to think this is what I’m doing now anyway). Last week our director informed us we will be living in the indigenous pueblo during Halloween, called Day of the Dead here. This is the indigenous peoples’ greatest celebration of the year. I have no idea what this will mean, but our director told us to prepare ourselves for the level of partying we will
encounter. Can this be serious?
I imagine I’ll be quite busy this week preparing for exams. Life is treating me well, minus the poor performance of my fantasy football team. I’m sad to say goodbye to the friends I’ve made in Valparaiso for the next two weeks, but I will be returning here for the month of November while I complete my independent study project. I’m excited that I’ll live with my same homestay family when I return to Valparaiso. We’re getting along better and better as my level of Spanish improves. I think I may even be helping my mother with her English, although she still thinks “sh” and “ph” are gringo nonsense.
I miss everyone from home a lot - even more than I miss ranch dressing. I’ve been very thankful for Facebook lately because I’ve been able to keep in semi-decent contact with my friends, and I still feel very high-tech with this blog. Who’d have thought it would take a trip to the other side of the world for me to become high-tech?
Chao
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Bill Buhr
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Broiler!!
Broiler!!