Chile en Septiembre

The view of Viña from Reñaca on a hot September day

 

Hola a todos! I can’t believe it’s already September.  It seems that the season here has changed from winter to summer overnight.  Instead of bundling up in 2 coats, a scarf and a hat, I can walk outside in a t-shirt and jeans and be sweating.  You can probably guess that I am welcoming this change with open arms.  September is a very important month for Chileans.  September 11^th 1973, marks the military overthrow and death of Salvador Allende.  It’s really interesting to hear the varying opinions of different Chileans I meet regarding this still-sore subject.  I was also surprised to hear my host mom and her friends talk about September 11^th, 2001.  Like most Americans, they all remembered exactly where they were, what they were doing and how they felt when they heard the news of the Twin Towers.  However, September does have an upside for Chileans.  Fiestas Patrias—Chilean independence day is coming up on the 18^th.  Ever since my first week here, it became obvious to me that Chileans love love love celebrating this day.  I am looking forward to a weekend full of family, friends, asados and pisco :)

Sam's mom made her a big, chilean, delicious birthday lunch

With 3 21^st birthdays in our group in a span of 5 days, it goes with out saying that we’ve had a very festive past week.  But besides celebrating cumpleaños, my week was filled with other adventures as well.  Last Friday a group of us decided to take an excursion to some sand dunes about 15 minutes away from Viña.  It wasn’t exactly the best planned trip, so after much confusion, disorientation and uphill hiking we finally arrived.  So worth it.  The view of the ocean from the top of the dunes was breathtaking.  Pictures don’t even do it justice. 

The glorious view from the sand dunes, ConCon, Chile

Moai outside of Museo Fonck

Another interesting highlight was a trip to Museo Fonck—a museum dedicated to the indigenous cultures of Easter Island, Peru and Chile.  Our art history professor, Jorge, toured us through it and proved to me that he literally knows everything there is to know about any indigenous culture in the area off the top of his head. It had tons of fascinating ancient artifacts, and it’s even home to an original Moai (Easter Island head).  

As part of our St. Ben’s program, we are required to perform a certain amount of volunteer hours at organizations throughout the city.  I am working at Sanitorio Marítimo, which is a live-in hospital for children and young adults with severe brain disabilities.  It is a rarity to find a patient that can walk, much less talk. Most of the patients have lived there the majority of their lives and were taken from their homes due to neglect, abuse or an inability of their families to deal with their conditions.  There is no other place like it in all of Chile and there is constantly a waiting list of people to be admitted.  Needless to say, it is heavy and it is sad.  Although it was my decision to volunteer at this organization, I was still a little nervous what it would be like because it is so out of my comfort zone. But, I had my first actual volunteer session this week and it went really well.  The people that work there are all saints and I feel really good about creating companionship with this people that have been forgotten or ignored by society.  I look forward to getting to know the patients better throughout the rest of the semester.

Our group leaves tomorrow for a 3 day excursion to the capital, Santiago.  We will return just in time to start celebrating Chile’s independence :)  Besitos and abrazos a todos! Adios!