Word of the Day: media odisea- My friend used this expression a while ago, and it's not really related to anything today, but I figured I'd put it up.
media, en Chilensis, means something extreme. And odisea means odyssey. As in Homer.
media+odisea implies "Wow, that place we went to was in the middle of nowhere and it took forever to get there! What a hike"
Today was pretty standard. I walked to law class, which I guess is a media odisea if you don't like taking hour and a half walks, but that's my thing, so it was cool. We've been learning about humanitarian interventions for conflicts, a subject on which surprisingly little international law exists. Then, I hung out at a cool café in Lastarria, a "hip" neighborhood, which is probably my favorite in Santiago. It was right on the corner with views of this really modern arts center constructed from copper and also prime views of some of the best street art (also known as graffiti) in Santiago. The tables were all covered in collages and the whole place had a rocker vibe and played some excellent early nineties/alternative stuff, which was certainly overdue. Think Beachhouse, Pavement, some 90s girl band and Cansei de Ser Sexy, a brazilian rock band.
Salsa class has become very trying. I've definitely improved, but the prof has started throwing in these impossible moves that don't look very graceful and appear much more like martial arts or self defense than anything else. I'm half expecting that any day now he will make an announcement that he's not actually a Cuban exile but rather an ex-member of the Israeli Armed forces who has secretly been teaching us Krav Maga. Either way, it can't hurt.
I ended up going for a walk by the metro stop El Golf today, the start of the real barrio alto, or at least it's beating heart: the financial sector. It was well, way more beautiful than I expected. It was overcast and misty out and you could barely see the mountains, but made the crystaline blue high tech modernity of the skyscrapers more prominent. It was so clean and new everywhere and the streets were lined with trees and fascinating sculptures. I realized I hadn't gotten a dose of what upper class Chile is really like in a while, despite my frequent ranting about it. My host mom had been complaining about this the other day "They take you to all these ugly ugly places!" Her statement did have some truth to it. They've spent a lot of time showing us the poor parts of Chile in the program, which are hugely important for us to see. But it's also important to see the wealthy wealthy wealthy Chile, lest one forget why Chile has one of the highest level of inequality in the Americas (Gini coefficient between .50 and .54 for any econ types). It is kind of interesting to think about to: I'm pretty sure that foreign students who come to the US to study are never brought to poor areas, not that there aren't an overabundance of structurally disadvantaged zones in the US. There are certain safety reasons for this I'm sure, unfortunately having to do with race for the most part , but the fact remains that I've been in many places in Chile who's US equivalent I've never been to. Interesting to think about.
No comments:
Post a Comment