September 3-4: "Un Poeta Es Un Pequeño Dios"

Word of the day: entretenido- fun or interesting (often shortened to entrete)

It's been quite the busy weekend! In a good way. Quick update on it all:

Friday
-After many weeks of emails back and forth, I finally met with the coordinator for my internship. I took the bus out to the Un Techo Para Chile Office in San Joaquin, a much poorer community than I had been in for a while which was eye opening and made me realize how easy it is to become comfortably situated in upper class Chilean life without any frequent visceral reminders of poverty. Today also reminded me how big the city is and how little I actually know of it: I was only 2 comunas away(there are 37 communas), but it took me about 40 minutes to get where I was going. I'm going to be teaching a computer course to the directors (all female) of a project known as Mano a Mano in a community next to the one where I live called Peñalolen. I'm hoping the internship will provide a really interesting look at class, Chilean NGOs and community democracy projects! More updates soon.

-Went to a famous Chilean bar known as "La Piojera" (The Lousy One) with my tandem partner and some of his friends to get "terremotos," a very Chilean drink. I feel like I've met so many more Chileans in the last week, which has been really great!

-We went out for Peruvian food for my host mom's birthday. I've been lucky to have a family with a great sense of humor and it was really enjoyable. Chileans are so funny about their relationship with Peru: even though there is a fair deal of discrimination against Peruvians, ironically Peruvian restaurants represent some of the best cuisine in Santiago. In my opinion, this is because Peruvian cuisine actually uses spices, something Chilean food is generally lacking in.

-I went on a double date last night with my friend Emily (which was slightly confusing) and 2 Chileans. We went salsa dancing, which was quite entertaining and generally had a great time.

Saturday
-We went on "The Poet's Route" to visit homes of poets along the Chilean coast. We visited Cartagena, a old summer hot spot of the Chilean elite in the 1940s and 1950s. We started out visiting the grave of Vincent Huidobro, a famous Chilean poet whose philosophy of "creationism" in poetry is pretty well summed up in the line: "Un poeta es un pequeño dios" (A poet is a little god". Meaning: poetry can be whatever you want it to be- run wild!
Much of Cartagena's beauty has decayed over time due to lack of preservation as the elite have moved on to other places, but it still has its share of beautiful architecture, including the lovely Villa Lucia museum, a house filled with old objects and paintings from the town's heyday. Most recently the house belonged to Chilean artist Aldolfo Couve. It was incredibly sunny and there were gorgeous views of the ocean.

-After a filling lunch of fresh fish, we visited Pablo Neruda's most famous home, Isla Negra, a little bit further up the coast. There were gorgeous, gorgeous views of the waves and it was incredibly how varied and creative the items he owned were- everything from giant paper mache horses to a collection of ship prows to sea shells to african masks. A true global citizen right there. Have to say: although the scenery was definitely the best of his 3 houses, the way the collection was displayed felt way less "homey" and natural than the other 2. The tour was also less natural: the guide didn't tell as many stories and anecdotes as in some of the other places so I felt like I learned less about Neruda as a person from the experience, aside from what the objects said about him. Still worth it though.

-Then, we went by the home of famous 95 year old "anti-poet" Nicanor Parra. He happened to be at home! It was slightly awkward because I felt like we were intruding (it was his private home after all) but he was totally interested in talking to us, going on for quite sometime about about racism in the US, Obama, his experiences in England and Shakespeare. It was kind of surreal to be talking to someone in real life who's poetry I've read in classes.

Sunday
-Went to some activities for the day of Cultural Patrimony, near the Plaza de Armas, a beautiful central plaza in the downtown. I hadn't been by in a while, so it was nice to have a visit and to be out in fresh air on a sunny warm day.

-I tried to go a concert by Fernando Milagros, a Chilean guitarrist I really like, but we couldn't find the place where it was! At the very least, we got quite a bit of exercise. And on the way home, I found some really neat areas right by my house that have beautiful cobblestone streets. Getting to see something new every day, even if it's not what I expect!