October 16 to 18

Such a busy last couple of days. So we had our last EAP class like I said previously and that night we all went over to Kelly's house to celebrate. Our friends that we met on the backpackers' train on our way to Machu Picchu were in Santiago staying with Meg so they came. And so were Gary, Elena, Kelly, me, and Megan so it was a Peru Travel Group reunion of sorts. :) I hung out for a couple hours and then Victoria and I left for home. It was nice because we ended up walking through the comuna of Nunoa at 2 in the morning. She has such a great spirit that we just talked and laughed and enjoyed each others company as we walked through the serene neighborhood. Actually, I don't think I will even forget the feeling of safeness that I felt in that place even at 2 am. It was a good feeling.

The next day was our cultural activity to Villa Grimaldi. Villa Grimaldi was a torture center used during the dictatorship and that day our guide was a man who lived through the dictatorship and even spent 2 weeks at Villa Grimaldi. Of course, it felt like more time to him because of the intensity of his time there and he even confessed that he couldn't be sure how much time he was there. But he talked to us in the classroom first for a couple of hours about the layout of Villa Grimaldi and expressed the stories of the people he had spoken too during his decades of research into the events of the dictatorship. To say the least, it was a humbling experience to hear about all the pain that was endured by these people during those dark years. After he spoke to us in the classroom, we took the bus over to the actual center and he took us around and recreated the scenes and experiences that he remembered like it was yesterday. He told us that things like that don't ever leave a person.

There were times when he would stop what he was saying and fight to keep back the tears. Sometimes he couldn't hold them back and we were left helpless...trying to console him but knowing we could only offer our sympathy. To show empathy for an experience such as his would be almost impossible for most people to express. Nonetheless, he gave us his entire account and the accounts of others and we left the place with a solemn appreciation of the difficulties that he and countless others had to experience. After Villa Grimaldi, we went to the Cementario General in Santiago to finish the tour. All in all, the day remains one of the most memorable that I have had during my time in Chile. I will never forget our tour guide and his bravery in expressing all the memories that are still so vivid in his mind and yet so difficult to tell time and time again.

The next day I had another cultural activity to visit a Mapuche population in Santiago. We were greeting by the man and women who were going to lead our discussion that day. The woman was a Machi which is a woman doctor in the Mapuche culture. The man was a type of chief I believe but I dont remember his actual title. Their granddaughter Malen Kiyen behaved much older than the typical 14 year old and we enjoyed several meaningful conversations during the day. They spoke to us about their culture, gave us a tour of the Rucka and the surrounding Ruckas, and we got to eat a lunch of their typical food. Cornbread, sopaipillas, bean soup, fruit kabobs, Chilean wine, and of course, pievra which is a spicy salsa which is usually put on bread during once. After watching an educational movie, we went outside to enjoy the sunlight and sat in a circle to give our introductions to the group. It was kind of like the first day of 10th grade all over again, but in a way, it was super cool because I got to hear all of my fellow EAPers speak Spanish to the group. This is wierd but I have never heard a lot of them speak Spanish because if you think about it, when would I? When I talk with them, we speak English. And if I'm not taking any classes with them or hanging out with them WITH chileans...I never get to hear them. So it was a cool memory. Then we danced a typical Mapuche dance and eso fue todo.

When I got home, Liz came over and we talked about boys, drank tesitos, and then watched YouTube videos. Note: Tesito is just a little cup of tea. Chileans add -ita or -ito to the end of many words and one tends to pick up this habit after being here long enough. It was a great girls' night. You really have to appreciate those as life gets busier and busier. Continuing with the chronology of days past, on Monday I went over to the Puente Alto school to visit with Erick and was lucky enough to intersect the mother of one of the patients that I am observing for my research. I was so scared to ask her if it would be ok to observe her daughter and also to ask her to take her time to fill our my questionaires and do an interview. But she was SO WARM and WILLING TO HELP that I just about fell out of my chair. She was like: What can I do to help? When do you need me to turn the questionaire in? Etc etc. It was absolutely amazing. Actually I am writing this entry a week after all of this occurred but I was at the school today too and I gave all the questionaires to my "subjects" if you will. And when I gave it to the mother of Marie Jose who was there to pick it up from me, she asked me again when she should have it filled out and she must have said THANK YOU 3 times to me. I was blown away but her warmness and willing to help. Those are the kind of people that really make me want to succeed in the challenge of the language. Those are the kind of people that make all the difficulties and challenges and tears and frustrations that one experiences while studying abroad worth it in the end. God bless that woman. But ALSO today I went to talk with the mother of the other patient that I am observing named Tomas who luckily works at the school. And it was the same story which her. Erick gave me an introduction and I explained the rest to her after he left and she was so ready to help that even when I handed her the questionaire, she took it with open arms and wanted to make sure that I would get it back by next Friday and that she was happy to help. SIGH. It just is so lovely when things happen like that.