Tremor makes for a rude awakening

Last night I was shaken awake in the middle of a deep sleep. Somehow I jumped out of bed. Everything was moving and rumbling. I debated...should I wake Dan? Should I grab the kids? What turned out to be only 76 seconds seemed like a long time, during which I envisioned ceilings falling or glass breaking any minute.

Later this morning we found out a tremor, estimated somewhere between 5.6 to 6 on the Richter scale, occurred just off the coast 50 kilometers north of Valparaíso at 4:03am. I asked my English class when a seismic occurrence is considered an earthquake versus a tremor. They responded that the foreigners call anything over "5" an earthquake and in Chile its a tremor until you hit "7"!

Either way, I was a bit shaken up, literally and figuratively. Chile sits over the convergence of the Nazca and South American plates and the rubbing of these tectonic plates causes releases of energy regularly. Up until now, the tremors have been mostly unnoticeable during the day and kind of novel for us at night. Last night was neither novel or unnoticeable, as I tried to get back to sleep and kept feeling my body moving either due to my imagination or aftershocks.

But I will say that it has been fun today to hear the "talk" of why Porteños (people from the port city) should have known it was coming...because the moon was red, because of the quick change in temperature (it was unseasonably hot this weekend), because of certain alignments of interstellar objects! Good stuff. :-)
Laura

Chile's 9/11

Chilean soldiers take aim at the presidential palace, as its warplanes bomb it.

As the United States (and the world) remember the events of 9/11/2001, here in Chile people are also marking the day as the anniversary of the military overthrow of the democratically elected president Salvador Allende.  On 9/11/1973, the Chilean air force began bombing its own presidential palace, and army tanks took to the streets of Santiago and other cities.  Citizens were rounded up and detained in soccer stadiums all over Chile, which became concentration camps where people from all walks of life were tortured, murdered, and 'disappeared', never to be heard from again.  Some of the same navy ships which we see today out our window here in Valparaíso were, on that day 38 years ago, landing troops on the docks to take over the city, clearing the streets and shutting down radio and TV stations.

It is uncomfortable for us to think about the U.S. role in the events of that day.  By order of President Nixon, the CIA was active in orchestrating the coup and supported the resulting military dictatorship, which was in power for 17 years.  Our country talks a great deal about promoting democracy around the world, but we should all remember that 38 years ago today, here in Chile, the U.S. was on the other side.

How 3rd Grade saved Montealegre School

Hi. This is a story I did for school. The assignment was to do a "terror" story. If you don't understand you can look at Google translate. Hope you enjoy it.

Theo

Como 3ro Básico Salvó a Montealegre

En el momento de este cuento, recien la habían votado a 3ro básico de Montealegre por ser tan travieso. Mientras tanto, había un temblor que se abrió la tierra y de reprente un ejército de zombies salió. Y como el hueco era cerca de Valparaíso, empezaron a atacar a Valparaíso. Eran terribles. Algunos no tenían cabezas, otros huelían de caca de perro. Habían sangre y cerebros por todos lados.

Cuando ya no había esperanza y los zombies estaban acercando a Montealegre, Alvaro tiró una pelota de fútbol donde escribió, “3ro básico, ven a salvarnos”. Entonces 3ro básico volvió para enfrentar a los zombies. Primero empezaron a tirar pelotas de fútbol, que les relentizaron los zombies. Pero todavía estaban avanzando. Cuando estaban a punto de estrar a atacar, los niños de 3ro les administraron un examén de division dificíl a los zombies. Ellos se asustaron tanto (porque no sabían nada de division) que volvieron a la tierra. Entonces los niños de 3ro básico se convirtieron en heroes. La escuela les agradeció tanto que los dejó hacer lo que querían.

Por Teo Prince

Culture Shock

I am going to violate blog protocol now and you'll have to actually scroll through tons of text(!) regarding my thoughts about culture shock. For those of you brave souls that aren't intimidated, grab a cup of tea and read on.

The anthropologist Kalvero Oberg first coined the term cultural shock. He reported that cultural shock was caused by the "anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse" while living and working in another culture. There's five typical stages of culture shock;

1) Stage 1: The honeymoon. Everything is new and exciting. You are open to the possibilities.
2) Stage 2: The rejection. Coming down from the novelty of it all and trying to work and live in a new place. A stage marked by frustration and eventual hostility to the new environment.
3) Stage 3: The regression. Frustration fosters self-isolation and foreigners often look for the comfort of home language and cultural outlets and blame and complain about the new culture.
4) Stage 4: The acceptance or assimilation. Realizing that there's good and bad of both your home culture and country as well as the culture and country of your new home. Things get more comfortable, you have a greater understanding and acceptance of your environs.
5) Stage 5: The re-entry. You've finally adapted to your new life and then its time to go back to your old one, but you have changes and so has everyone else. Often the toughest stage.

These stages aren't necessarily linear, often one cycles through them more than once. But they are a very common experience to those who have lived abroad.

I think my honeymoon period with Chile lasted longer than normal- up into July really. I was so happy to be abroad again and in particular in Latin America. In some ways, it was like going home after living for almost 5 years in the Dominican Republic and another year in Venezuela more than a decade ago. I was so happy to be speaking Spanish full time again and learning about so many new things here in Chile...like a kid in a candy store.

When I returned to Chile in August, after 3 weeks out of the country, I think I realized the honeymoon was over. I started becoming more sensitive to the differences between Chile and the States and even more so, the differences between Chile and the culture in the Caribbean, which had been so familiar to me. Unlike the Caribbean, it was winter and cold and people tend to be less gregarious and open here in Chile. In the winter, I think folks tend to hibernate a bit here, similar to Minnesota, and perhaps socialize most with familial or long-established groups, which can make for a somewhat isolating experience if you are new in this land. There isn't a a vibrant nonprofit sector in Chile, unlike in Minnesota, which had made it difficult to find appropriate volunteer opportunities for me. And then, watching the kids navigate the social challenges surrounding a new school, in a new language, and particularly one with its own cultural idiosyncrasies, has been very difficult for me (watch out mama bear).

I know that this has been an amazing experience for the kids and that they have learned a ton. I trust that in the end, the positives will far outweigh the negatives - hands down. But I also recognize that this hasn't been easy for either of them and that we have asked a great deal of them; to leave family, friends, their home, everything familiar for a year. To walk in a school everyday and face the challenges of not understanding everything in the class or outside of it, of not having a history with friends and feeling like you really don't and won't ever fit in in some fundamental ways. Probably, I'm more sensitive than the kids, but Dan and I opted for this experience which maybe makes its harder when things are difficult for the kids.

So, August was a tough month and probably I went through some rejection and regression, which was made easier as we had family visiting from home. I think I'm moving on in terms of the stages now. I think I am becoming more comfortable and patient with some of the challenges that surround us. Plus I am becoming more engaged again. My English class started again with double the number of students. I have had an explosion of volunteer opportunities related to nonprofits and facilitation work that had all seemed remote previously, but now all are becoming possible at the same time. That all makes a big difference for me (I don't do idle or non-engaged well). And the kids seem very happy, which may be a testament to their resilience or maybe to the fact that its not so challenging for them these days. Hard for me to know, but I need to trust the smiles and laughter.

Just like any country or any culture, there is the good and bad of it. And just like anywhere one lives, isn't the trick to focus on how to enjoy the great aspects of living there, of which in Chile there are many, and let go some of harder aspects of it.

-Laura

Days of Mourning

In the news here...Chile has declared two days of national mourning for the losses from a small airplane that crashed this Saturday. All 21 passengers plus crew are presumed dead. The plane was trying to land on Robinson Crusoe Island, which is part of the Juan Fernandez Islands, about 400 miles west of Valparaiso. It is most famous as the location for sailor's Alexander Selkirk's marooning for four years, which may have inspired the novel.

As you can see by the picture, not an easy landing and September winds in this part of the world would have made it even more difficult. The losses included a well-known business leader and philanthropist as well as a popular TV host and his crew. Also on board were some leaders from the Valparaiso's municipal cultural board.

When something like this happens, one realizes that Chile is a relatively small country (pop. 16 million) and Valparaiso is a small town (pop. 300,000) because so many people we know are directly touched by the tragedy; ie. our principal's uncles were part of the group of fishermen who went out to try to search and rescue despite the dangerous waves surrounding the island or we were going to our friends' school on Saturday for a festival and it was canceled because one of the parents from that school had been on board, etc. There is definitely a subdued feeling all around.

-Laura

Falling in love with Valparaiso all over again

Saturday was a beautiful day to wander the labyrinthine alleys and passage ways of Valparaiso and make new discoveries of art and angles.

The kids invited Vincente and Isadora to join us for a great puppet show and spent the day playing. I think we were all surprised at how much easier playdates are now - more fun than language work! Yah.

Picking up and dropping friends off again involved wandering cobblestone streets filled with public art and a joyous lack of cars. We did have to walk around the ubiquitous garbage and dog poop, but with the sun shining and friends calling out to us from windows - we hardly noticed.

Laura

Bagpipes!

The kids and I pulled out the dry erase board and brainstormed all the things we wanted to do while Dano was out of town. It's quite ambitious - especially this weekend; catch some shows from the International Festival of Puppets, go to a play with school friends, eat lots of pancakes, fly kites, etc.

We kicked off Friday night with our favorite Bogarín smoothies down the hill. Then we went to an art opening down the street. The Gata Ferrari gallery owners are friends and also some of my English students. It was an exhibit by Chilean students from the entire country about their thoughts on their rights, sponsored by the European Union and UNICEF. Interesting. I also did some good networking with a group with whom I've been wanting to do some volunteer work.

Then, on our way home we ran into a group of bagpipes and drums! A group of 20 men and women dressed in like goat herders from the Swiss Alps, playing music in the park. Very random. I love this town.

-Laura

-Next up - catch up. 10 more things about our trip in Perú that we wanted to record! Stay tuned.