Santiago Adventures!

Even though last week was full of midterms, I managed to fit in several amazing experiences in Santiago. After falling in love with Buenos Aires so quickly, I realized I needed to give my own city more of a chance and I’m glad I did.

On Monday I went shopping in Providencia, just a few blocks toward the center of the city from the Stanford center. I thought the stores would be practically empty on a Monday at 2pm, but I was wrong. Hundreds of people were taking advantage of their lunch breaks and hitting the sales. It was then that I began to get a little jealous for the Stanford students who live in Providencia with their host families instead of Las Condes, my neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. I like Las Condes because it’s safer and not as crowded, but it feels more like the suburbs instead of the city. While Las Condes is mostly malls and movie theaters, Providencia offers better restaurants and an active nightlife, all within a few metro stops. I vowed to spend more time in Providencia, going out and enjoying my quarter abroad, no matter how many midterms I had to finish.

On Tuesday after classes about 25 of us headed to a soccer game at the Estadio Monumental, where local team Colo Colo was playing the Mexican team America. As soon as we got off the metro in the Southwest of the city, we knew exactly how to get to the stadium because the way was lined with vendors selling everything from Colo Colo jerseys and flags to pillows and aprons. I saw a mother stuffing her chubby toddler into a teeny Colo Colo jersey she had just bought in preparation for the game. The security to get into the stadium was pretty intense—violence at games is a problem in Santiago. Once inside, we grabbed some seats at midfield and a couple of completos (hot dogs with the works—tomatoes, avocado and mayo—classic Chilean fast food). We spent the hour or so before the game chatting and goofing off with a gang of hilarious 8-to-10 year old boys who had been raised to love Colo Colo. They amused us by shouting out random English phrases and swear words, and taught us a couple of basic cheers. The stadium filled with rowdy fans, almost all men, who began cursing and shouting ethnic slurs as soon as the Mexican team took the field. I’m glad I didn’t know exactly what they were saying… although I got the point. The game itself was not very exciting, with little action in the first 70 minutes followed by three goals at the end, but I was entertained by the crowd the entire time. Every fan in the stadium was shouting and cheering throughout the entire game, usually with a song or chant that everyone seemed to know. We picked up on the simplest ones that repeated “hace un gol,” “vamos a ganar esta noche,” or “Chile! Colo Colo de Chile!” We had pretty good seats surrounded by intense fans, but the rowdiest fans sit in the cheapest seats at the goals. We were happy to watch them at a distance, pounding on drums, jumping up and down nonstop, and occasionally lifting a huge banner over the entire section. The craziest fans are also the most violent, and sure enough a fight between them and the carabineros (riot police) broke out at the beginning of the second half. Seeing the stampede of fans was pretty scary, and the carabineros managed to carry off a few men who were particularly riled up. The post-game atmosphere was calm as all the fans trooped off, slightly defeated (we won the game but lost our chance at continuing on in the Copa Libertadores). All the metro stops closest to the stadium were shut down, trying to prevent destruction of the cars and the stations, which tends to happen after a big win. After following the line for a couple of stops, watching the groups of fans in the backs of pickup trucks and tank-like police trucks pass by, we cut our losses and took taxis home.

On Wednesday I was busy all day trying to finish up work, but I did go to the Biblioteca Municpal in order to do some research. Nothing too exciting there, I saw more students studying silently than I did books. Wednesday night was exciting for me, though—I felt my first earthquake! (I have been told that it was only a tremor, and not a real quake, but whatever.) I had been having vivid dreams all Wednesday night, so when I felt my room and bed shaking at about 1:30 am, I wasn’t sure whether it was really happening. I contemplated getting out of bed and going somewhere safer, thinking of all the safety debriefings I’ve heard at Stanford, but before I could figure out what was going on, it was over. The next morning I was sure I had dreamed it in a half-asleep, half-awake stage, but my family confirmed that there had been a tremor. I felt another one around noon on Thursday, but that one felt more like someone was shaking my chair than an actual movement of the ground.

I spent almost all of Thursday at the Universidad de Chile, attending a colloquium on the history of Africans in Latin America at the Humanities and Political Science campus at the south of the city. I heard scholars from around the world speak and debate about the origins, culture, and legacy of Afro-Latinos, which is the subject of one of my history classes this quarter. It was really interesting and I felt really lucky to be able to meet some of the world’s experts on this topic. It was also great to be at a local university campus surrounded by students, instead of in an office building in the city (where the Stanford center is located). After the colloquium we enjoyed wine and empanadas and I got to meet two staff members from Stanford Bing Overseas Studies who were visiting to check out our campus. We enjoyed swapping stories about experiences abroad and we got some good tips about restaurants in Santiago. On Thursday night a group of us went to Salsa Brava, a salsa and karaoke club in barrio Bellavista. The night started out slowly, as there was an intense karaoke competition (judges and all) going on that required the rest of us to observe quietly. But once that was over, they turned up the salsa music and we hit the dance floor. My salsa skills are minimal at best, but we have some pretty good dancers in our group so I got a little help. I was surprised by how fun the night was, even though we weren’t at a typical dance club.

On Friday we had a field trip to Viña Cousiño Macul, one of Santiago’s oldest wineries just on the outskirts of the city. The Viña has been around for 150 years and exports fine wines around the world (including to Milwaukee, I was excited to learn). We got to tour the wine cellars and taste a couple of their wines. Our tour guide told us one memorable story about an earthquake that caused hundreds of bottles in the “wine library” to break, creating a huge pool of wine that the vineyard workers were happy to “clean up” over the next few days. A bunch of students decided to spend the west of the weekend hiking in the hills south of the city, but I was exhausted and went back to the center instead. On the bus ride back, I was excited to see a demonstration of workers at an Easy (home construction chain) store. I heard chants and the banging of drums, and saw that they had hung an effigy of an Easy worker on a nearby lamppost. Outside the store was a sign that read, “Vendas x cielo, sueldos x suelo” (sales at the sky, salaries at the floor). A group of us went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Providencia, near the shopping area. The food was good and many of us were happy to taste something semi-familiar other than bland Chilean food. On the way back we saw a man selling tiny puppies out of a box on the street, and we were all quite tempted to bring one home. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the center, enjoying lots of goodies sent by my mom and an AMAZING episode of The Office. I got home in time for dinner with the family and Papi Ricky, our favorite telenovela. I’m sure I’ve mentioned how my family loves this show and we watch it every night during dinner. I have always enjoyed the show since coming to Santiago, but this week things got really exciting and I paid better attention after reading up on the characters online. Plots to ruin weddings! Illegitimate twins being born! Bachelor parties of debauchery! Long lost mothers and sons reunited! Ex-lovers returning! Needless to say, I am very into Papi Ricky now and I can’t wait until Monday night’s episode. On Friday night, I met up with friends at Manuel Montt (central metro stop) for a night of barhopping that ended at a reggaeton club. It was a pretty relaxing night, and I met a kid from Argentina who was studying at University of Michigan but taking a vacation in Santiago. (You have to ask when someone is wearing a Michigan shirt.)

On Saturday I decided to do some sight-seeing in the city, so I took the metro to the Plaza de Armas (main plaza). Side note: Banquedano metro station, probably the biggest station and a central hub of two main lines, is pretty much the most confusing metro station I have ever seen. Switching lines was a ten-minute journey through narrow walkways and up and down several staircases, following tiny signs that poorly pointed the way. It was a cold, cloudy (smoggy) Saturday afternoon, but Plaza de Armas was filled with people, playing with their kids in the park, enjoying street performers and relaxing on the long rows of benches. A troupe of clowns had stationed themselves throughout the streets, getting lots of laughs by following, imitating and bothering anyone who happened to cross their path. An old magician performed simple tricks and a young man showed off his skills as a one-man band. Photographers set up little fake horses around the Plaza, trying to attract families to buy a souvenir photo of their kid riding one. One corner of the Plaza had an art fair, selling portraits and Chilean landscapes, while the other corner had a dance and limbo contest. The Plaza itself is beautiful, with lots of statues, different types of trees, and a gorgeous fountain at its center. It is surrounded by some of the city’s oldest buildings, including the Catedral Metrapolitana (1830), Municipalidad de Santiago (1785), Palacio de la Real Audiencia (1804), and Correo Central (1882).

I first went inside the Catedral, which amazed me with its high ceilings, marble foundations and elaborate altars. I spent nearly an hour inside, examining each of the saints, craning my neck to see the painted ceilings, and finding the tombs of several important Chilean religious figures, including its cardinals. The Catedral was absolutely gorgeous, and (dare I say it) even more magnificent than the Catedral in Buenos Aires. Afterwards I visited the Museo Histórico Nacional, located inside the Palacio de la Real Audiencia. For the discounted student price of just 300 pesos (60 cents), I got to see relics from throughout the history of Santiago, including a coat worn by Bernardo O’Higgins (first president and military hero), an enormous stuffed dog that had served as one president’s companion and protector in the 1920s, and the eyeglasses that president Salvador Allende was wearing on the day of the 1973 military coup when he shot and killed himself. Those glasses were the last item in the museum, presenting a chilling ending to the collection. The museum left the Pinochet era untouched, which was a little disappointing but understanding because his legacy is still so controversial. I wish I could have spent more time in the museum, but it closed at 5:30 and I headed home, with a quick stop at Jumbo to buy food and some flowers for my host mother (Día del Madre is the same in Chile). The mall was packed with families and people getting last-minute ingredients and Mother’s Day gifts. Seeing as my family spends most of its weekends preparing and eating food as a primary activity, I should have expected a 10-minute wait to pay (even though there have to be at least 30 cashiers at our super Jumbo).

On Saturday night I had an enjoyable dinner with my family, where my father carried on about his new vitamins and we finally had a political conversation (in which we all marveled at Bush’s stupidity). I went out around 1:30 to my now-favorite club El Tunel, where a group of us were celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday. I love El Tunel not only because of its ridiculous décor (gentlemen’s club meets Saturday night fever, complete with lit dance floor) and huge crowds of Chileans and gringos alike, but also because the music is different every time I go—this time, a mix of disco, funk and old-school rap. I was delighted to hear two of my new favorite songs—James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” and Run DMC/ Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way.” It was a fun and crazy night, and I’m really glad to have gone out three nights to three different clubs with three completely different atmospheres and types of music.

The next couple days I’ll be finishing up my midterms (finally) and getting started on my final papers (already), because I’m flying to BRAZIL on Thursday! I can’t wait for beaches, the beautiful sound of Portuguese in my ears and staying with my favorite Brazilian, Priscila!!