First things first, it appears as though I'll be in Chile a bit longer than I initially planned! It was always my hope to stay longer, but I had no idea that I would stay for such an exciting reason. Tomorrow morning I'll be signing a contract, good through the end of June 2010, as VE's next Director of Volunteer Relations! As I've made quite clear throughout this blog, I've been over the moon for VE since I got here, so the opportunity to be involved on this level feels like yet another glorious piece falling into place. There have been many instances over the past three months where I've had a strong sense of being where I'm supposed to be, not only because of the work but because of the connections I've made with people here. To be recognized as having the potential to do this sort of job shows me not only that I am where I'm supposed to be, but also that I've made progress building confidence and maintaining "Mariah-ness" in all areas of my life. My dear best friend mentioned noticing this shift in me a year or so ago, this ability to relax and maintain my authentic personality around people I'm not completely comfortable with, and I've since realized just how significant a shift it's been. When I arrived in Chile, I made it my goal to maintain Mariah-ness from Day 1 and for some reason, something clicked and I've felt a sense of contentment from the very beginning.
That being said, I'm still terrified! But it's a good kind of terror. Daniel, the current DVR, does a truly fantastic job, and I can't quite picture anyone else in the role. I'll learn as much as I can from him in the next two months before he leaves, then I'll make the job my own. My schedule will change completely, as my time will be spent in the VE office rather than at Entre Todas, though I'll still get to see the girls about once a week. The job itself is basically my dream job at this point in my life--in a nutshell, the DVR makes sure the volunteers are happy, trained, supported, and motivated. Of course there's a long list of actual responsibilities, among them organizing the arrival of new volunteers, running Orientation and Jornada, coordinating the bi-weekly general VE meetings, and much, much more! The position will challenge many aspects of my personality, I'll get to be my goofy, fired-up self all the time, plus I can walk around the office barefooted. Happiness.
In other news, my co-workers Chris, Brooke and I recently went on vacation with the Entre Todas girls in El Tabo, a little coastal town near Isla Negra, where Pablo Neruda had a home. Though the girls and three tías stayed in El Tabo for a full week, we went for four days, knowing the experience would be a bit on the intense side. Though I felt apprehensive going in, the trip ended up being much more calm and pleasant than I expected. We stayed in a "colonia," which was a large house with three rooms of bunk beds, a kitchen, a large common space for sharing meals, and an asphalt area outside set up for soccer. The colonia was a fifteen-minute walk from the "downtown" of El Tabo and the beach. A group of boys from another hogar was also staying in the colonia, so there were plenty of hormones flying around. On our first night, we had a "dance" in the large common space (with the lights off and everything!). Couples were forming and dissolving left and right. We had never really seen the girls flirt before, so it was truly a trip. During this dance, I had a bit of a breakthrough with one of the seventeen-year-old girls who doesn't usually open up to me--we started dancing together, doing silly ho-down dance moves alternated with a few Chilean(?) steps. We were seriously cracking each other up, then all of a sudden we were alone in the center of the dance floor, swinging each other 'round and 'round for all to see. We "performed" for a few fantastic moments, then it was over, but I was ecstatic.
When it came time to go to sleep that first night, one of the tías sheepishly told us there were no beds left in the room with the girls and that we'd be sleeping in the room with the tías from the other hogar as well as the younger boys. It was all fine and dandy when we went to sleep and the little ones were all already sleeping; however, when 8 a.m. rolled around and I was convinced I was in a rowboat in rough seas, I opened my eyes and realized I was just on a wobbly top bunk with a few small boys bouncing on the bunk beneath me. The boys were harmless, although one of them did tattle on Brooke for not making her bed neatly enough.
The contrast between the two groups was fascinating. The boys prayed before every meal, sometimes singing an “educational” song as well. One of the songs simply cannot go without repeating. Chris, Brooke and I stared at each other in disbelief as one the tíos led the boys in a song called “The Little Bird,” about a little bird that wants to fly but keeps getting into trouble. At first, the bird drinks too much whiskey and gets cirrhosis. Then the little bird smokes five hundred cigarettes and gets cancer. Then the bird uses cocaine and overdoses. Finally, the bird tries heroin and dies of AIDS from a dirty needle. The song, of course, had a bright, cheery melody and all the boys merrily sang along. My, oh my.
We ate our first dinner and breakfast with the girls, then after breakfast sat down with our tías for tea and ended up having a lovely conversation with them. I think we passed some sort of test by doing this, because for every meal after that, we ate with the tías after the girls finished. There’s not usually a lot of communication with the tías when we’re at Entre Todas, so to have this time to get to know them a bit felt significant. By the end of the four days, I felt we had developed some semblance of a rapport with them and even hugged them good-bye.
Eating with the tías also gave Brooke, Chris and me some down time with each other to read or play cards, which definitely eased the stress of the trip. We walked into town with the girls on the second night and had more down time with each other when the tías let the girls run free for an hour and a half. The three of us decided to reward ourselves with some ice cream. We stood in front of the ice cream cooler, gazing at the flavors indecisively. We finally asked the slouching ice cream shop employee if we could try a couple of flavors. He sighed and reached for a spoon, scooping some mint chocolate chip for me to try. Brooke asked to try the Swiss chocolate and the employee looked at me impatiently, reaching out for the sample spoon in my mouth. Now, mind you, I had a nasty cold during this trip, so my initial thought was, “Oh, I don’t want to give Brooke my germs.” The employee held out his hand insistently, though, so I handed him the spoon. I tried to suppress a gasp as he dipped my sample spoon into the Swiss chocolate and handed it to Brooke. We looked at each other, smiled, and she popped it in her mouth. We each received, of course, a fresh spoon with our dish of ice cream.
Overall, the trip was what I expected: not traumatizing, not amazing, but not without it’s small victories. It was great to see the girls enjoy the beach, crowded as it was, and generally nice to see them constantly over the course of a few days. Brooke and I leapt into action when one of the girls had bad cramps, and we tried as best we could to comfort one of the girls who had her heart temporarily broken by one of the boys from the other hogar. I love these day-to-day happenings. When nothing we do feels like it makes any difference, I always hope that these times of just being with the girls give them a sense of worth.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Chili for Chile!
Since arriving in Chile a little over two months ago, I've had a lot of time to ponder the concept of family. Some of the most powerful moments for me with the girls have involved my realization that their life at the hogar is not summer camp but rather real life. Many of them would prefer to live with their families despite whatever factor requires them to live in the institution. Daily exposure to this situation creates for me a growing sense of gratitude for my incredible family and for my unlimited access to them. I feel like I gush to my friends about my family a lot, and maybe that's annoying, but I think the gushing is warranted.
Along this vein, I'd like to share some photos with you of an event my dad organized. He's a minister at a UCC church in my hometown of North Yarmouth, Maine and recently helped the youth group organize a fundraiser for me called Chili for Chile! I'm giddy from seeing the photos and feel utterly overwhelmed by the love and care and hard work of the community. Although the idea of the kids organizing a fundraiser for me made me a little sqeamish at first, Dad reminded me that it's also about educating them and raising their awareness of the world around them.
So here we go! Here's the amazing cake!
Here are the organizers themselves, what an adorable and festive group!
Dad had his computer set up for a slideshow of my pictures thus far and displayed the binder filled with the print-outs of my blog he's been making and posting on a bulletin board at church.
The chili! It was a chili cook-off--I'm sure the competition was stiff to say the least. There were EIGHTEEN different types of chili, plus cornbread and rice, etc. Egad!
Raffle table!
The kids limbo-ed!
And a piñata, of course!
Mmmm.
I don't know how I got to be such a lucky person! I feel absolutely floored by all of this. I feel refreshed and almost as though I have a renewed sense of energy for the work because of this wave of love I've received. Time to pass it on.
Along this vein, I'd like to share some photos with you of an event my dad organized. He's a minister at a UCC church in my hometown of North Yarmouth, Maine and recently helped the youth group organize a fundraiser for me called Chili for Chile! I'm giddy from seeing the photos and feel utterly overwhelmed by the love and care and hard work of the community. Although the idea of the kids organizing a fundraiser for me made me a little sqeamish at first, Dad reminded me that it's also about educating them and raising their awareness of the world around them.
So here we go! Here's the amazing cake!
Here are the organizers themselves, what an adorable and festive group!
Dad had his computer set up for a slideshow of my pictures thus far and displayed the binder filled with the print-outs of my blog he's been making and posting on a bulletin board at church.
The chili! It was a chili cook-off--I'm sure the competition was stiff to say the least. There were EIGHTEEN different types of chili, plus cornbread and rice, etc. Egad!
Raffle table!
The kids limbo-ed!
And a piñata, of course!
Mmmm.
I don't know how I got to be such a lucky person! I feel absolutely floored by all of this. I feel refreshed and almost as though I have a renewed sense of energy for the work because of this wave of love I've received. Time to pass it on.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Jornada! Argentina! Progress!
As much as I love learning about Chilean culture and slang, sometimes the highlight of my day is learning a new British term or custom from my dear co-worker at Entre Todas, Chris Wiggins, or as we've taken to calling him, Lord Wiggins. "Oh look, that car is driving with its bonnet (hood) up," he'll say, or "You Americans are so obsessed with peanut butter, I just don't understand it!" His hates the way we say "awesome" so much and insists that things like a dish of ice cream or a choice '80s pop song simply cannot be awesome. This weekend, however, when a group of us headed to Mendoza, Argentina, Chris allowed me to use "awesome" to describe the scenery we saw from the bus along the way. The road cuts right through the Andes, so everywhere you look you see raw, rugged beauty. It's always good to be reminded of just how awe-inspiring nature can be. Here are a few shots from the drive:
Lovely parks and outdoor cafés fill Mendoza, which is also one of the eight wine capitols of the world (according to whom, I have no idea). We relaxed, ate good food, perused an artesan market, took tours of two wineries and an olive oil factory, and enjoyed the challenges of coordinating multiple groups of people in a foreign country with no cell phones! We spent two and half hours in a long line of buses at the border on our way back, but we managed to make our own fun:
The previous weekend also took place in a beautiful spot, Cajón del Maipo. The entire VE family headed to a beautiful retreat center for Jornada, our weekend retreat that takes place about a month and a half after each new class arrives. Over the course of the weekend we worked in groups, both large and small, discussing why we had come to Chile and VE, as well as relevant issues such as poverty and social exclusion. We also had time to ourselves to reflect on our experiences thus far. Sitting on a bench surrounded by mountains and flowering trees, I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to get my head on straight. We also participated in various group-building activities and challenges that brought me back to the days of summer camp, youth group, and a singing group a bunch of my closest friends and I were in throughout junior high and high school. It felt really great to revisit this type of activity where people are made to be a bit vulnerable but are therefore more open to learning about themselves and each other.
There was also plenty of time for enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the retreat center and, of course, the pool! No shortage of silliness here:
On Friday night, right after midnight when it was officially my birthday, three of my friends presented me with a birthday Jornada survival kit including a loaf of gluten-free bread, a gluten-free cake mix, a pack of Starburst, a mix CD and two cards made by Entre Todas girls! I was pretty much floored and felt completely happy to be where I was. On Saturday night Brooke, one of the volunteers who cooked for us all weekend, made the cake which was presented to me complete with birthday candles and a roaring rendition of "Cumpleaños Feliz." Happiness.
My favorite activity of the weekend came on Saturday night at the last meeting of our smaller groups. We took turns holding a candle, each person making affirming comments to the person holding the candle. My group had great energy and zest from the get-go, so although this activity was really just a formal version of what we'd been doing all weekend, it was a wonderful time to share together.
On Sunday morning we took the traditional Jornada group pictures:
Woot!
Finally, in Entre Todas news, I've been feeling really pumped about the progress we've been making. This past week we implemented a few of our projects quite successfully. On Tuesday Chris and I took six girls to a large park with a soccer ball and frisbee in hand. Though the girls weren't all participating the whole time, each one participated at one point with a smile on her face! Taking the girls out of the hogar always garners positive results to some degree, but to see them running around, throwing a frisbee, etc, was really exciting. They had a blast running through the sprinklers set up to water the fields at the park and at one point all eight of us played a fierce game of Monkey in the Middle with the soccer ball.
On Wednesday we held the first installment of our cooking project with three girls. I started by telling them we would be making chocolate chip cookies and asking them to brainstorm on a piece of paper what ingredients they thought we'd need. To my surprise, they did this quite enthusiastically! After I handed out copies of the recipe, we had a discussion about why certain ingredients are important. As we calmly discussed the purpose of baking soda, I marveled in my mind how patient and engaged the girls were being. When we moved to the kitchen and began the actual cooking, I was shocked at how well the girls listened to me and how they allowed each other to participate equally. They were absolute gems throughout the whole process, and although I couldn't eat the cookies, Chris informs me they were "absolutely lush!" There was drama with some of the other girls who didn't get to participate--a couple of the girls who never, ever give us the time of day came up to the kitchen window and yelled at us for not telling everyone about the project. It shook me to have them yell like that, and we're still in the process of figuring out how to choose the other group we'll work with in the kitchen, but I know I need to not let their uneven emotions get to me. I have to remember that for those three girls, it was a brilliant day.
On Thursday, Chris and I stopped at a grocery store on our way to work to buy cookies and juice for a silent reading hour. I made a little sign for the door of the room where we read that said "Zona de Leer" (Reading Area) and for over an hour (!!!) we had three girls reading silently with us. They were excited about the juice and cookies, but they stayed long after the supplies had dwindled. Two of the girls even thanked me when they left the room! After the reading hour, the girls practiced a couple of their dances for the upcoming VE Art Festival. At one point they made me get up and dance with them which, of course, resulted in me getting made fun of a lot, but it felt really good to be silly with them in that way. I danced around for a long time with the six-year-old, spinning around on the floor, etc, generally giggling and being crazy with her, which she loves. After we danced she was clingy and snuggled with me for about twenty minutes--when she's sweet, she's unbelievably sweet, and I'm reminded that she's just a six-year-old who needs to be hugged. At Jornada I thought a lot about human touch, a theme I've frequently considered for a few years now. It's so complicated with these girls who live outside a family setting and don't have access to the kind of nurturing physical touch they need. They also most likely have had negative experiences with human touch and therefore have walls up to protect themselves.
Things have been feeling better, overall, though. A few of the girls I had trouble interacting with at first have really warmed up to me and a couple of the girls now greet me with hugs everyday. It's not perfect, of course, but for the moment I'm in a good place about it. Next week we'll be going on vacation with the girls for four or five days, so that will be a completely different experience, but I'm excited about it. Keep the progress coming.
Lovely parks and outdoor cafés fill Mendoza, which is also one of the eight wine capitols of the world (according to whom, I have no idea). We relaxed, ate good food, perused an artesan market, took tours of two wineries and an olive oil factory, and enjoyed the challenges of coordinating multiple groups of people in a foreign country with no cell phones! We spent two and half hours in a long line of buses at the border on our way back, but we managed to make our own fun:
The previous weekend also took place in a beautiful spot, Cajón del Maipo. The entire VE family headed to a beautiful retreat center for Jornada, our weekend retreat that takes place about a month and a half after each new class arrives. Over the course of the weekend we worked in groups, both large and small, discussing why we had come to Chile and VE, as well as relevant issues such as poverty and social exclusion. We also had time to ourselves to reflect on our experiences thus far. Sitting on a bench surrounded by mountains and flowering trees, I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to get my head on straight. We also participated in various group-building activities and challenges that brought me back to the days of summer camp, youth group, and a singing group a bunch of my closest friends and I were in throughout junior high and high school. It felt really great to revisit this type of activity where people are made to be a bit vulnerable but are therefore more open to learning about themselves and each other.There was also plenty of time for enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the retreat center and, of course, the pool! No shortage of silliness here:
On Friday night, right after midnight when it was officially my birthday, three of my friends presented me with a birthday Jornada survival kit including a loaf of gluten-free bread, a gluten-free cake mix, a pack of Starburst, a mix CD and two cards made by Entre Todas girls! I was pretty much floored and felt completely happy to be where I was. On Saturday night Brooke, one of the volunteers who cooked for us all weekend, made the cake which was presented to me complete with birthday candles and a roaring rendition of "Cumpleaños Feliz." Happiness.My favorite activity of the weekend came on Saturday night at the last meeting of our smaller groups. We took turns holding a candle, each person making affirming comments to the person holding the candle. My group had great energy and zest from the get-go, so although this activity was really just a formal version of what we'd been doing all weekend, it was a wonderful time to share together.
On Sunday morning we took the traditional Jornada group pictures:
Woot!Finally, in Entre Todas news, I've been feeling really pumped about the progress we've been making. This past week we implemented a few of our projects quite successfully. On Tuesday Chris and I took six girls to a large park with a soccer ball and frisbee in hand. Though the girls weren't all participating the whole time, each one participated at one point with a smile on her face! Taking the girls out of the hogar always garners positive results to some degree, but to see them running around, throwing a frisbee, etc, was really exciting. They had a blast running through the sprinklers set up to water the fields at the park and at one point all eight of us played a fierce game of Monkey in the Middle with the soccer ball.
On Wednesday we held the first installment of our cooking project with three girls. I started by telling them we would be making chocolate chip cookies and asking them to brainstorm on a piece of paper what ingredients they thought we'd need. To my surprise, they did this quite enthusiastically! After I handed out copies of the recipe, we had a discussion about why certain ingredients are important. As we calmly discussed the purpose of baking soda, I marveled in my mind how patient and engaged the girls were being. When we moved to the kitchen and began the actual cooking, I was shocked at how well the girls listened to me and how they allowed each other to participate equally. They were absolute gems throughout the whole process, and although I couldn't eat the cookies, Chris informs me they were "absolutely lush!" There was drama with some of the other girls who didn't get to participate--a couple of the girls who never, ever give us the time of day came up to the kitchen window and yelled at us for not telling everyone about the project. It shook me to have them yell like that, and we're still in the process of figuring out how to choose the other group we'll work with in the kitchen, but I know I need to not let their uneven emotions get to me. I have to remember that for those three girls, it was a brilliant day.
On Thursday, Chris and I stopped at a grocery store on our way to work to buy cookies and juice for a silent reading hour. I made a little sign for the door of the room where we read that said "Zona de Leer" (Reading Area) and for over an hour (!!!) we had three girls reading silently with us. They were excited about the juice and cookies, but they stayed long after the supplies had dwindled. Two of the girls even thanked me when they left the room! After the reading hour, the girls practiced a couple of their dances for the upcoming VE Art Festival. At one point they made me get up and dance with them which, of course, resulted in me getting made fun of a lot, but it felt really good to be silly with them in that way. I danced around for a long time with the six-year-old, spinning around on the floor, etc, generally giggling and being crazy with her, which she loves. After we danced she was clingy and snuggled with me for about twenty minutes--when she's sweet, she's unbelievably sweet, and I'm reminded that she's just a six-year-old who needs to be hugged. At Jornada I thought a lot about human touch, a theme I've frequently considered for a few years now. It's so complicated with these girls who live outside a family setting and don't have access to the kind of nurturing physical touch they need. They also most likely have had negative experiences with human touch and therefore have walls up to protect themselves.
Things have been feeling better, overall, though. A few of the girls I had trouble interacting with at first have really warmed up to me and a couple of the girls now greet me with hugs everyday. It's not perfect, of course, but for the moment I'm in a good place about it. Next week we'll be going on vacation with the girls for four or five days, so that will be a completely different experience, but I'm excited about it. Keep the progress coming.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Swimming Pools and Rooftop Dance Parties
Summer in Santiago is in full swing! I know most of you are shivering in front of your woodstoves and radiators, and I do feel for you, but I’m going to complain about the heat for a little while. Feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you don’t care to expose yourself to such unappreciative rubbish. So okay, Santiago is so hot, I’ve started having the following experience on a daily basis: I’ll be sitting somewhere with my legs crossed and feel a little bug crawling on my leg. I’ll look down and notice that no, it’s not a bug, it’s a bead of sweat dripping from my knee pit. Yum.
However, Entre Todas knows how to beat the heat. The girls have a pool on their patio that’s some miracle of tarp-like material and PVC piping. It’s about six feet by ten feet and about three feet deep. Though the water becomes the color of phlegm within an hour of changing it, the girls spend hours swimming back and forth and splashing water onto unwitting passersby. One day last week, the tía who lives at Entre Todas led an activity with the girls using the pool for water games. The girls all whined and moaned about having to do an organized activity but it was amazing to see the benefits of the structure. The tía put on music and had the girls playing musical chairs with water balloons and running relays to find coins tossed on the bottom of the pool, etc. Though they’d never admit it, the girls loved the activity, and I was reminded that so much of their behavior is a result of the chaos of Entre Todas.
To supplement the little patio pool, we’ve taken a few pool-related field trips. The first took us to Peñaflor, a middle-of-nowhere town outside Santiago, to a bizarre camping/picnic site with a freezing, un-chlorinated pool. Tía Maggie, the cook at Entre Todas, came along and prepared an astounding feast for the girls on one of the little grills in the picnic area. Our next two trips were to a pool on Cerro San Cristobal (there are two pools on the hill, the other is the one my friend Ryan and I went to a few weekends ago). Entre Todas has some sort of deal with the pool people, so I think it was almost free for us to get in, but the pool normally costs almost ten U.S. dollars per person, so you can imagine the quality of the location and the excitement of the girls to be exposed to such a beautiful place. The girls behaved very well for the most part, with the exception of the six-year-old who started beating on a random little girl who clung to the edge of the pool, wide-eyed. When Chris and I tried to explain why she shouldn’t smack strangers, she went ahead and smacked us and splashed water in our faces. Warm fuzzies.
The second time we visited the pool, we took the teleférico (cable cars) up the hill with the girls as a special treat but the girls were all absolutely terrified. I'm sure they're all glad they got to experience the ride, but the two girls riding in my car clasped their hands together, screeching and frantically reciting prayers the entire time.
We got some big news at Entre Todas today during the tía’s meeting: one of the eighteen-year-olds is moving to a different hogar. She has severe learning disabilities and is frequently excluded and made fun of by the other girls, so Chris, Brooke, and I end up spending a lot of time with her. A change of location should be really good for her but trying to picture Entre Todas without her feels impossible. The tías called her into the meeting today to tell her and I couldn’t believe I was witnessing such a momentous announcement. She seemed overwhelmed but happy—I think living at Entre Todas has been really stressful for her. The tías said she’ll have the opportunity to go to school and maybe even work once she moves to the new hogar, so it’s truly an exciting time for her. We’ll miss her, though--none of the other girls ever talk about cannibalism or horror movies, it's a shame.
Chris, Brooke, and I have developed a schedule for the rest of the summer at Entre Todas that we’re all quite excited about. We’ve written project proposals and are in the process of acquiring funds from VE to execute the projects. On Mondays we’ll attend the tías’ meetings and work with the girls on VE’s reading program, “Vamos a Leer,” then on Tuesdays we’ll take six girls to a large park just outside the city center to play sports and generally get them out of the TV room and moving around. On Wednesdays we’ll do a cooking project with three girls at a time in the kitchen at Entre Todas, then Thursdays and Fridays will be consumed by R.O.A.R., a project designed to get the girls out of the hogar and into the city to help them learn about where they live. On Thursdays the girls will use the computers to research the week’s location, then on Fridays we’ll visit the locations. This week we’re going to a really cool interactive children’s museum, woot!
In non-Entre Todas news, this past weekend I had a joint birthday party with my roommate Julia and my friend Lindsay. Their birthdays are the 12th and 30th, both also in 1985. We lucked out on our location—the people who drove Lindsay and I to Valparaiso for New Year’s Eve live in an apartment building with a rooftop terrace outfitted for BBQ’s, complete with two huge grills, two sinks and a bathroom. They were kind enough to reserve the terrace for our party. The views from the terrace are amazing and the party was a huge success—we probably had forty-five or fifty people there. Those numbers just wouldn’t have fit in a tiny Chilean apartment! Below you’ll find pictures of the view and also of the birthday girls, complete with our matching MC Hammer pants. These types of pants are a) heinous, b) huge here in Santiago, and c) incredibly comfortable, so we decided having matching ones for our party was a must. The party also served as Julia’s goodbye party as she leaves for the States on the 22nd. But I don’t really want to talk about that.
That's all for now, I hope you all are doing well and staying warm!
However, Entre Todas knows how to beat the heat. The girls have a pool on their patio that’s some miracle of tarp-like material and PVC piping. It’s about six feet by ten feet and about three feet deep. Though the water becomes the color of phlegm within an hour of changing it, the girls spend hours swimming back and forth and splashing water onto unwitting passersby. One day last week, the tía who lives at Entre Todas led an activity with the girls using the pool for water games. The girls all whined and moaned about having to do an organized activity but it was amazing to see the benefits of the structure. The tía put on music and had the girls playing musical chairs with water balloons and running relays to find coins tossed on the bottom of the pool, etc. Though they’d never admit it, the girls loved the activity, and I was reminded that so much of their behavior is a result of the chaos of Entre Todas.
To supplement the little patio pool, we’ve taken a few pool-related field trips. The first took us to Peñaflor, a middle-of-nowhere town outside Santiago, to a bizarre camping/picnic site with a freezing, un-chlorinated pool. Tía Maggie, the cook at Entre Todas, came along and prepared an astounding feast for the girls on one of the little grills in the picnic area. Our next two trips were to a pool on Cerro San Cristobal (there are two pools on the hill, the other is the one my friend Ryan and I went to a few weekends ago). Entre Todas has some sort of deal with the pool people, so I think it was almost free for us to get in, but the pool normally costs almost ten U.S. dollars per person, so you can imagine the quality of the location and the excitement of the girls to be exposed to such a beautiful place. The girls behaved very well for the most part, with the exception of the six-year-old who started beating on a random little girl who clung to the edge of the pool, wide-eyed. When Chris and I tried to explain why she shouldn’t smack strangers, she went ahead and smacked us and splashed water in our faces. Warm fuzzies.
The second time we visited the pool, we took the teleférico (cable cars) up the hill with the girls as a special treat but the girls were all absolutely terrified. I'm sure they're all glad they got to experience the ride, but the two girls riding in my car clasped their hands together, screeching and frantically reciting prayers the entire time.
We got some big news at Entre Todas today during the tía’s meeting: one of the eighteen-year-olds is moving to a different hogar. She has severe learning disabilities and is frequently excluded and made fun of by the other girls, so Chris, Brooke, and I end up spending a lot of time with her. A change of location should be really good for her but trying to picture Entre Todas without her feels impossible. The tías called her into the meeting today to tell her and I couldn’t believe I was witnessing such a momentous announcement. She seemed overwhelmed but happy—I think living at Entre Todas has been really stressful for her. The tías said she’ll have the opportunity to go to school and maybe even work once she moves to the new hogar, so it’s truly an exciting time for her. We’ll miss her, though--none of the other girls ever talk about cannibalism or horror movies, it's a shame.
Chris, Brooke, and I have developed a schedule for the rest of the summer at Entre Todas that we’re all quite excited about. We’ve written project proposals and are in the process of acquiring funds from VE to execute the projects. On Mondays we’ll attend the tías’ meetings and work with the girls on VE’s reading program, “Vamos a Leer,” then on Tuesdays we’ll take six girls to a large park just outside the city center to play sports and generally get them out of the TV room and moving around. On Wednesdays we’ll do a cooking project with three girls at a time in the kitchen at Entre Todas, then Thursdays and Fridays will be consumed by R.O.A.R., a project designed to get the girls out of the hogar and into the city to help them learn about where they live. On Thursdays the girls will use the computers to research the week’s location, then on Fridays we’ll visit the locations. This week we’re going to a really cool interactive children’s museum, woot!
In non-Entre Todas news, this past weekend I had a joint birthday party with my roommate Julia and my friend Lindsay. Their birthdays are the 12th and 30th, both also in 1985. We lucked out on our location—the people who drove Lindsay and I to Valparaiso for New Year’s Eve live in an apartment building with a rooftop terrace outfitted for BBQ’s, complete with two huge grills, two sinks and a bathroom. They were kind enough to reserve the terrace for our party. The views from the terrace are amazing and the party was a huge success—we probably had forty-five or fifty people there. Those numbers just wouldn’t have fit in a tiny Chilean apartment! Below you’ll find pictures of the view and also of the birthday girls, complete with our matching MC Hammer pants. These types of pants are a) heinous, b) huge here in Santiago, and c) incredibly comfortable, so we decided having matching ones for our party was a must. The party also served as Julia’s goodbye party as she leaves for the States on the 22nd. But I don’t really want to talk about that.
That's all for now, I hope you all are doing well and staying warm!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Bagged yogurt, anyone?
Now that I’ve been in Chile for about a month and half, I’ve had time to observe some of the quirks of the environment around me. I’ve collected a few of my observations here for your reading pleasure.
~Chileans like to package condiments and other squishy foods in bags. It’s uncommon to find mayonnaise, tomato sauce and ketchup in any other type of container and not unusual to see bagged yogurt or even bagged cleaning products. Some of the bags have spouts; many others seem to expect that the consumer will use sixteen ounces of mayo in one sitting.
~The Metro stations here, as in New York or elsewhere, feel like saunas in the summer. However, here in Chile they’ve rigged up fans that blow a fine mist of cool water onto the travelers below. At one station in a more affluent area there’s an entire heavenly hallway of them.
~Chileans serve little cookies at every meeting and event, yet I’ve found it impossible thus far to find a cookie sheet to purchase.
~I see at least three pregnant women every day.
~Though making actual coffee does not take a whole lot of effort, Chileans are head over heals for Nescafé, or instant “coffee.” It would be okay if Nescafé were actually coffee-flavored, but it’s more like a distant cousin. That the rest of the family tries to avoid.
~Shirts with English text are quite common and always entertaining. Here are a few examples:
“I’m the most beautiful star in the firmament”
“Menthol. Cologne. Perfume.”
And, of course, various illogical uses of the words "sexy," "baby," "party," etc.
~Speaking of shirts, every teenage boy in Chile seems to own an Iron Maiden shirt.
~Chileans will go out of their way to give you directions or help you find what you need. Their hospitality is generous, almost to the point of aggressiveness. They’ll also tell you that the place you’re going is too far and too dangerous. They’ll tell you that you’re going to freeze, so here, take this jacket. Some of the paranoia may stem from the circumstances in which they lived during the Pinochet dictatorship. The focus, though, should be on their generosity. If a shop owner doesn’t have what you’re looking for, he or she will step out onto the street to point you in the direction of where you’ll find the desired item. But please, be careful on your way there.
~All Chileans have one or two sizable pockmarks on their left arms from childhood vaccinations. This was utterly fascinating to me until my co-worker at Entre Todas, Chris, who’s from England, showed me his left arm and told me that all English people have the same marks. It still blows my mind, though, to think that a simple shot could leave such a significant life-long scar.
More of these to come!
~Chileans like to package condiments and other squishy foods in bags. It’s uncommon to find mayonnaise, tomato sauce and ketchup in any other type of container and not unusual to see bagged yogurt or even bagged cleaning products. Some of the bags have spouts; many others seem to expect that the consumer will use sixteen ounces of mayo in one sitting.
~The Metro stations here, as in New York or elsewhere, feel like saunas in the summer. However, here in Chile they’ve rigged up fans that blow a fine mist of cool water onto the travelers below. At one station in a more affluent area there’s an entire heavenly hallway of them.
~Chileans serve little cookies at every meeting and event, yet I’ve found it impossible thus far to find a cookie sheet to purchase.
~I see at least three pregnant women every day.
~Though making actual coffee does not take a whole lot of effort, Chileans are head over heals for Nescafé, or instant “coffee.” It would be okay if Nescafé were actually coffee-flavored, but it’s more like a distant cousin. That the rest of the family tries to avoid.
~Shirts with English text are quite common and always entertaining. Here are a few examples:
“I’m the most beautiful star in the firmament”
“Menthol. Cologne. Perfume.”
And, of course, various illogical uses of the words "sexy," "baby," "party," etc.
~Speaking of shirts, every teenage boy in Chile seems to own an Iron Maiden shirt.
~Chileans will go out of their way to give you directions or help you find what you need. Their hospitality is generous, almost to the point of aggressiveness. They’ll also tell you that the place you’re going is too far and too dangerous. They’ll tell you that you’re going to freeze, so here, take this jacket. Some of the paranoia may stem from the circumstances in which they lived during the Pinochet dictatorship. The focus, though, should be on their generosity. If a shop owner doesn’t have what you’re looking for, he or she will step out onto the street to point you in the direction of where you’ll find the desired item. But please, be careful on your way there.
~All Chileans have one or two sizable pockmarks on their left arms from childhood vaccinations. This was utterly fascinating to me until my co-worker at Entre Todas, Chris, who’s from England, showed me his left arm and told me that all English people have the same marks. It still blows my mind, though, to think that a simple shot could leave such a significant life-long scar.
More of these to come!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le, Viva Chile!
Happy New Year from Santiago!
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!
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!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
A Chilean Christmas
Between the 85-degree heat and a midnight BBQ at Entre Todas, this Christmas was a world (or at least a hemisphere) away from my past Christmas experiences. Here in Chile they celebrate on Christmas Eve with a big dinner and gifts, then Christmas Day, though no one works, seems to be more of a normal day, perhaps with a special dinner. Chris and I, along with a couple of veteran volunteers, Ann and Quique, arrived at Entre Todas late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. Quique’s parents and brother had traveled to Chile from Spain for the holidays and came along for the celebration. Quique’s family jumped right in, talking and playing beautifully with the girls. It became obvious how deeply they crave that family energy and atmosphere, so I think having them there made a significant positive impact on the day.
We spent the evening drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing with Frisbees and taking pictures of the girls who all got dolled up for the evening with fancy hair and make-up. They were, for the most part, in great moods, so playing and goofing around was really fun. A few of them had teary moments, but by the time Quique and his parents started firing up the grill, everyone seemed happy. At about 11:45 p.m. we sat down for dinner. After dinner Ann dressed up as Santa and handed out the girls’ gifts. It breaks my heart a little to see them open presents here—there have been a few rounds of presents already throughout the past week—since the gifts are all, for the most part, the same. Once the first girl opens her present, the rest of the girls know basically what they’ll receive. They still open them excitedly, though, and love receiving new clothes and chapstick, etc.
After gift time, the tía on duty told the girls they could stay up until 4:00 a.m., an announcement which was met by huge cheers. Chris, Quique, and Quique’s family made their way out the door at around 1:30 or 2:00, then Ann and I stayed and watched Shrek the Halls in Spanish with the girls and left around 3:00. During our cab ride home we marveled at the day, wondering how it would have gone without us. It seems to me that the single tía on duty simply could not have managed the meal preparations in the kitchen as well as running the grill outside, let alone spending time with the girls. By bringing the chalk and Frisbees and, most importantly, seven(!) extra bodies, we helped the day be more fun than an average day at Entre Todas, and that feels really, really good.
On Christmas morning, Ann, my friend Lindsay and I made a pancake breakfast and watched A Christmas Story. It was the perfect way to spend the morning—it even felt a tiny bit like Christmas! I then went back to Entre Todas for a few hours, although the girls were exhausted so we mostly just watched TV. Chris and I headed straight from Entre Todas to the volunteer house where we held a hilarious Christmas dinner. The plan was to make a vegetarian, gluten-free lasagna, have roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and everyone else would bring sides and desserts. For some reason, everyone thought grocery stores would be open on Christmas Day, but everyone was wrong. Paul, who had been in charge of providing chicken, did not get to the store before Christmas Day and so instead ordered Dominoes pizza for his contribution, which mysteriously came with two quarts of ice cream and four liters of Coke. I had managed to buy the gluten-free lasagna noodles (finding those here in Chile was a Christmas miracle in and of itself) the day before, and Chris and Jessica, the other vegetarians, bought sauce and veggies, but no one bought cheese. Lindsay had purchased ten pounds of potatoes but no cream or milk to mash them with. Needless to say, we were all a little concerned about feeding the twelve to fifteen people we had promised to feed. By the grace of someone or something, however, we managed to find a tiny little market open and bought cheese for the lasagna and milk for the potatoes.
Though she had never mashed potatoes before, Lindsay’s potatoes were beyond delicious. And the lasagna, which I was convinced would be a disaster, ended up being not only the world’s first round lasagna, but also amazingly delicious. While assembling the lasagna, we couldn’t find the rectangular pan but found a sufficiently deep round one, so set about trimming noodles to fit and made a beautiful creation. When we opened the oven to light it, however, there sat the rectangular pan. Ah, Chile. Everyone else who came brought chips and ice cream because gas stations were the only stores open by the time they headed to the house. There was certainly nothing traditional about the meal but we were well fed and well amused. After dinner we held a lively Yankee swap, then gave in to our food comas. It really was a lovely day.
We spent the evening drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing with Frisbees and taking pictures of the girls who all got dolled up for the evening with fancy hair and make-up. They were, for the most part, in great moods, so playing and goofing around was really fun. A few of them had teary moments, but by the time Quique and his parents started firing up the grill, everyone seemed happy. At about 11:45 p.m. we sat down for dinner. After dinner Ann dressed up as Santa and handed out the girls’ gifts. It breaks my heart a little to see them open presents here—there have been a few rounds of presents already throughout the past week—since the gifts are all, for the most part, the same. Once the first girl opens her present, the rest of the girls know basically what they’ll receive. They still open them excitedly, though, and love receiving new clothes and chapstick, etc.
After gift time, the tía on duty told the girls they could stay up until 4:00 a.m., an announcement which was met by huge cheers. Chris, Quique, and Quique’s family made their way out the door at around 1:30 or 2:00, then Ann and I stayed and watched Shrek the Halls in Spanish with the girls and left around 3:00. During our cab ride home we marveled at the day, wondering how it would have gone without us. It seems to me that the single tía on duty simply could not have managed the meal preparations in the kitchen as well as running the grill outside, let alone spending time with the girls. By bringing the chalk and Frisbees and, most importantly, seven(!) extra bodies, we helped the day be more fun than an average day at Entre Todas, and that feels really, really good.
On Christmas morning, Ann, my friend Lindsay and I made a pancake breakfast and watched A Christmas Story. It was the perfect way to spend the morning—it even felt a tiny bit like Christmas! I then went back to Entre Todas for a few hours, although the girls were exhausted so we mostly just watched TV. Chris and I headed straight from Entre Todas to the volunteer house where we held a hilarious Christmas dinner. The plan was to make a vegetarian, gluten-free lasagna, have roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and everyone else would bring sides and desserts. For some reason, everyone thought grocery stores would be open on Christmas Day, but everyone was wrong. Paul, who had been in charge of providing chicken, did not get to the store before Christmas Day and so instead ordered Dominoes pizza for his contribution, which mysteriously came with two quarts of ice cream and four liters of Coke. I had managed to buy the gluten-free lasagna noodles (finding those here in Chile was a Christmas miracle in and of itself) the day before, and Chris and Jessica, the other vegetarians, bought sauce and veggies, but no one bought cheese. Lindsay had purchased ten pounds of potatoes but no cream or milk to mash them with. Needless to say, we were all a little concerned about feeding the twelve to fifteen people we had promised to feed. By the grace of someone or something, however, we managed to find a tiny little market open and bought cheese for the lasagna and milk for the potatoes.
Though she had never mashed potatoes before, Lindsay’s potatoes were beyond delicious. And the lasagna, which I was convinced would be a disaster, ended up being not only the world’s first round lasagna, but also amazingly delicious. While assembling the lasagna, we couldn’t find the rectangular pan but found a sufficiently deep round one, so set about trimming noodles to fit and made a beautiful creation. When we opened the oven to light it, however, there sat the rectangular pan. Ah, Chile. Everyone else who came brought chips and ice cream because gas stations were the only stores open by the time they headed to the house. There was certainly nothing traditional about the meal but we were well fed and well amused. After dinner we held a lively Yankee swap, then gave in to our food comas. It really was a lovely day.
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