HI Susan!

I just learned that my new Chilean friend and housemate, Susan, is a reader of this blog (and will use my blog as a way to practice her English)! So, Hello Susan! Thanks for letting me stay at your house!

A little evening story time

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario. Monica and Julie have stopped into a department store after a day where all plans have fallen by the wayside (we had originally set off downtown to explore a museum and try a vegetarian restaurant… only to find “CLOSED” signs on not one but BOTH places). A bit defeated, but mostly just amused, we stop into a Macys/Sears-esque department store called Hites. I need some good walking shoes and Monica is looking at clocks. A few seconds in the shoe section teaches me that here in Chile (or at least here at Hites), my feet are considered abnormally gigantic (US shoe size 8) and I am relieved to finally find a single shoe box labeled with my size (Chilean size 49). The box is sitting close to the bottom of a wall-to-wall line up of precariously stacked boxes. As I slooooooowly slide the box out from under the stack, I begin to notice the top boxes sloooooowly falling, then sliding into the rows of boxes next to them, then smashing into the rows of boxes next to them...… seconds later I am huddled in the middle of the store screaming “OH DIOS MIO!!!!!” as shoes come flying out of their boxes, crashing down over my head, bouncing off my shoulders and landing crazily all over the department store floor. I am in complete shock, crouching over, my hands over my head, screaming “OH DIOS MIO!” while the rest of the store looks on in some combination of stunned amazement, extraordinary annoyance and hysterical amusement.

You miiiiiiight know that I'm prone to exaggerate but en serio peeps, I would say no less that 80 pairs shoes came leaping out of their boxes and onto my head/on the floor this afternoon at the delightful Hites department store.


(For the recond, Monica bought a clock and I waited till the next store over to purchase my coveted pair of ENORMOUS shoes. )

Pensando en ti....

I can't help it. Chile makes me think of Mexico. Casi non-stop.

Such different countries, so far apart physically... a million and six reasons why Chile is not Mexico and Mexico is not Chile.... but alas, here I am. Cuernavaca, Mexico, estoy pensando en ti!

I think being here in Chile brings me back to some of the most challenging and also most transformative aspects of my life in Mexico. As a communicator, much of this for me revolves around language. As I mentioned in my last post, the language issue is one with which I struggle so much. It makes me realize how much I consider language to be one of my favorite creative outlets! I love playing with words, creating new meanings for words (tap, anyone?), and expressing ideas with strange and elaborate flourishes. But in my second language, I am relieved and amazed when I can communicate a basic thought without eliciting a confused or amused look.

So that brings my mind constantly back to Mexico. A place where the simple became complicated, the normal became strange, and the routine became revolutionary. For all you out there who changed my life during those two years, you may be physically further than before, but estoy pensando en ustedes more than ever.

<3

10 Days In

I've been in Santiago, Chile for 10 days now and it's been everything from exciting, beautiful, and fascinating to challenging, lonely and confusing! Luckily, I've had experience with the vaaaast highs and lows that can come with getting acquainted with a new place and I think it's a challenge that I'm willing to take on! I think my first 10 days could pretty much be divided into 3 parts: 1) First few days of just playing and exploring the city, 2) Orientation week with the Harvard college students, and 3) Short trip to the southern cities of Concepción/Talcahuano to meet with a community affected by last February's earthquake.

I landed in Chile last Wednesday, June 9. I'm living with a young couple in the ñuñoa neighborhood of Santiago. It's a great location... lots of interesting places to explore and really close to Santiago's confusing-- but definitely comprehensive-- public transportation system! The woman I'm living with also works at Con-spirando, the women's collective where I'll doing an internship this summer. Since the other students hadn't yet arrived and orientation activities weren't starting till the following Monday, my early arrival gave me plenty of time to settle in, get the lay of the land, and start exploring the city! Together with my professor/pal, Monica we tried lots of different restaurants, familiarized ourselves with some of the public transportation (although I'm still confused....), and began preparing for the students' arrival and the course on Human Rights that Monica will be teaching and that I'm assisting with. Assisting with the course in this case basically means that I'll attend the class sessions, maintain the course website, and meet with students as they prepare for their class presentations. The first few days were fun and REALLY helpful but I found myself ready to get the show on the road and start the official orientation!

The Harvard College students that I'm working with this summer are part of a program through the college that matches them with internship sites and also provides various lectures, excursions, and orientation activities. I was lucky to get to participate in the orientation activities this past week which included trips to lots of sites around the city (especially some powerful visits to introduce us to the fairly recent dictatorship under Pinochet and the diversity of views that still exist around that time!) and presentations on everything from culture shock to Chile's current political and economic situation. As we explored, listened, and talked about the frustratrions/joys of this adjustment, I was CONSTANTLY reminded me of my incredible co-workers at the Center for Global Education in Mexico who are quite the experts at Orientation Weeks of their own! We also had the first 4 class session of the Human Rights course. I think it is going to be great and I'm so excited to learn about these issues within Chile's particular contexts.

The end of this week took me to the southern cities of Concepción and Talcahuano, the areas most affected by the recent earthquake here. Con-spirando has been asked to give a series of workshops around personal and spiritual well being as people make meaning of this huge trauma that has occurred in their community. Three of the women from the organization gave a great workshop (very creative and really well organized, in my opinion!) and generated lots of interesting insights from all who attended. While my official role was to photograph the workshop itself, I found myself absolutely amazed by what was happening around me and am so excited and honored to get to learn from people who are doing such important work that can far too often be overlooked.

The weekend trip itself brought up a lot of the main challenges that I personally find myself confronting here. First of all, language is SUCH a challenge for me! I knew it would be but the reality is hard. I find myself so embarrassed to admit that I lived in Mexico for two years because I'm constantly confused as the accent and vocabulary here (particularly amongst young adults!) just seems so unfamiliar! I hope this gets better over time as I get more and more used to everything from lingo to just the general way of life that is so different from the places where I have lived before.

I start work at Con-spirando this Monday. My schedule for the rest of my time will generally be 4 days/week at Con-spirando, 1 day/week with the college students on excursions, and 2 evenings/week with the Human Rights course. Whew! Thanks so much for all of you out there who wrote to me on my birthday last Tuesday. It was SOO wonderful to hear from so many friends and family. I'm thinking of all of you and would love updates on how life is in your corner of this world!


Here is a link to the photo album where I'll be posting pictures along the way! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060919&id=28500257&l=8a1a0be573