I celebrated New Year's Eve, along with the rest of South America, in Valparaiso, a port city about an hour and a half from Santiago. Getting to Valpo took some creativity as my friend Lindsay and I, through no fault of our own, missed our bus. When we purchased our bus tickets a few days before New Year's Eve, the woman at the counter told us the last available bus would be leaving at 2:00 in the afternoon. So we believed her. When we arrived at the bus station on the 31st at around 1:45, however, we took a first glance at our tickets which noted the departure time as 1:40. Foiled! Dear Counter Woman, 1:40 ≠ 2:00. Love, Mariah. Every bus after that time was completely full. Luckily, resourceful Lindsay called her Chilean roommate whose friends had rented a car to make the trip and had two extra seats. Because of the traffic the drive took four and a half hours but the fireworks at midnight made all our troubles null and void. I have never seen anything quite so magnificent--the fireworks lasted for twenty-five minutes and each minute was like a grand finale. The Chileans around us proudly chanted "Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le, Viva Chile!" over and over after the fireworks ended. The crowds were overwhelming but we all managed to have a great time.
Back in Santiago, my fellow volunteers and I have been doing a good job of seeing some sights and experiencing Chilean life. On Friday night, after Lindsay and I briefly joined some street musicians dancing around in a circle, a group of us accidentally took over a table at a street café temporarily abandoned by two Chileans. When the guys, Carlos and Ignacio, returned to their table, they happily joined us and we all ended up having a lively discussion about U.S. politics. Carlos thinks electing Obama was a step in the right direction but that one person can't work miracles. How interesting.
On Saturday, my friend Ryan and I walked up one of the large hills in Santiago called Cerro San Cristobal to go swimming at the public pool on one of the crests of the hill. It took us about an hour to get to the top but the views of Santiago on the way up kept us entertained. About halfway up was a beautiful Japanese garden. In the picture below you can see part of the garden, Santiago to the right and the mountains above the buildings, behind the smog of course.
Here's the pool at the top. It was expensive to get in, but as you can see, it was well worth it, especially after climbing for an hour in the Chilean summer heat.
On Sunday, a group of us rode the teleférico, the system of cable cars that brings passengers up Cerro San Cristobal. The cars are up pretty high and are a bit ricketey, but that's all part of the fun! Here are a couple of pictures to give you a sense of the experience:
On the Entre Todas front, the girls are settling into their summer [lack of] routine. Usually they go on vacation during the summer but this year Entre Todas doesn't have enough money. We will, however, be taking four trips to the pool pictured above! None of the girls have ever been to that particular pool because it's so expensive, so they're all excited, furiously picking the lice out of each other's hair so their heads will be deemed clean enough to go. Our first trip will be this Thursday.
Chris and I attended our first Entre Todas staff meeting yesterday. Each Monday the tías meet to discuss what's been happening with the girls, their schedule of events, etc. Chris and I proposed a couple of projects we've been planning, including a cooking workshop, and the tías seemed pleased. It's hard to read them--sometimes I wonder if they'd rather not have us there at all, but I think they appreciate our efforts. I felt pretty sheepish about trying to explain projects in Spanish in front of six Chilean women but, although my face was surely bright red the entire time I was speaking, I managed to get my ideas across.
Right now I'm going to the Banco de Chile to attempt to deposit my rent money in my Cuban roommate's Chilean bank account. Wish me luck!
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