My House

By request of my mom, here are some shots of the house where I am currently living!


(entering the front door of our house, looking down the hall to the courtyard)


(down the hall from the living room to the front door... the doors on the sides lead to the rooms of Camilla, Carla, Dominique, and Angelica)


(formal living room/dining room, usually used as a study space)


("el living" i.e. the tv, hang out room)


(the courtyard-backyard-place)


(sigrid's room)


(el patio)


(laundry lines and at the end of the walk, Giorgio and Nacho's rooms, as well we one bathroom)


(el huaso, our dog)


(outside view of my room)


(the wall where I put up postcards and pictures... please send me more!!)


(mi pieza, or my room)

A little politics in the middle of it all

One topic that is avoided, yet inevitable in Chile is the rule and impact of Augusto Pinochet, the President of Chile from 1973 to 1990, who took power through a military coup from the socialist elected president, Salvador Allende. The opinions seem so varied in this discussion, yet you cannot ask people how they feel about it- you have to wait for them to talk about it. These are the opinions that I have found so far, and I believe I am interpreting them correctly.

There are some people, like A, who feel Pinochet was an oppressive dictator - like the Hilter of Chile. He harmed the country and it's people by taking away and violating human rights. The thousands of people that were killed and tortured cannot be excused at any point in time.

Then, there are the Machiavellians, like J. They believe that Pinochet followed "ends justify the means" to a T. For them, Pinochet is a savior, who not only improved Chile's economy, but helped it become more sustainable for the future. They don't seem to mind any of the accusations that have been brought against Pinochet, and believe, or seem to believe, that the deaths and tortures are excused by the benefits that Chile experienced. These people also seem to be of the higher class.

Current socialists in Chile also fit into the debate. G thinks that, for example, it is a horrible system to have all retirement completely privatized, something that Pinochet did. The tradition of Pinochet has pushed Chile to the right, the socialists claimed more to the right even of the U.S. They want to get away from this tradition and make Chile more liberal. And although the economy might be doing well for Chile, they don't think it is a fair system.

Finally, the last group that I know of, and where I think most Chileans fit in, is that yes, Chile's economy is good right now and it is probably thanks to Pinochet's economic choices as President. However, the cost of human life had nothing to do with improving the economy. To them, these changes and improvements could have been made without human rights violations.

Although I would love to know everyone's opinions about Chile's history and the past's relationship with the present and future, the topic is still a faux pas here. If you are in the wrong company you can easily make a mistake that leads to an awkward situation. Some people feel very strongly on both sides of the debate and from what I understand, having the wrong opinion can be socially dangerous.

Instead, I wait for it to be brought up by someone that I am talking with whether my (what I believe is a uneducated and unexperienced) opinion differs or if my opinion agrees, I will probably just nod my head and let them do the talking.

Who do I live with?

(Me, Domi[nique], Nacho, Camilla, Angelica, Giorgio)

A small party for Nacho's birthday. Missing from the photo: Gabriel (he doesn't like photos), Sigrid (in Peru at time of photo), and Carla (probably working or studying at time of photo).

Ahoy!!

Today I went to the 1st "Curso de Vela" in Concon at the Yacht Club.


(the yacht club)

The day started with Scarlett and I meeting in the center of Vina to take out the money necessary to pay for the class - which would end up being about $100 USD.

After visiting the bank on Av. Valparaiso, we tried to find a micro (bus) that would take us to Concon along the water, so that we could get off at the right place. After asking a couple of drivers, we finally found one, where the driver assured us that his micro would take us there.

We rode through Vina, through Renaca, and when we were the only ones left on the micro, the driver told us that he had forgotten to tell us when to get off. We hadn't been driving by the ocean, so we had no idea where to get off. He told us that we would need to catch a micro back in the same direction to get there. (Since micros are privately owned and not run by the government, the drivers always want you to get on their bus, which means they will basically tell you that they are going where ever you need to go).

We had no idea where we were or where we were going, so we figured we would walk along the ocean road - since it would be more likely that the club would be along there than up in the hills somewhere. After popping into an empanada shop to make sure that we were going in the right direction and that it was too far to walk, we knew that we had to catch a micro.

Only 20 minutes late, the other students were already learning how to rig the dingy. Two boats went out with two experienced sailors and two novices while the rest of us jumped in a motor boat to follow, watch and learn. Two by two, the people in the boats were switched out, and we were thrown into learning to sail.


(some of the boats... but not the ones we sailed on)

Luckily, I was last and got to sail with the most experienced sailor there. After about two minutes in the boat, we caught some wind and I almost fell into the freezing water, and I probably would have if Mr. Experienced Sailor didn't know what he was doing and pull me to the other side of the boat.


(my extremely wet pants from various incidents in the boat)

Adding to sitting in a lake in the boat, every time the boom hit, I would duck under it, as you are supposed to. But, since my life vest was ripped and the foam was coming up above my head, I would get stuck on the boom. Very annoying and very frustrating. I was probably only in the boat for 7 minutes or so before time was up and we had to go back in.

Needless to say, I was quite upset. I was wet, cold, frustrated, and hadn't really done any sailing.

And then I thought, it is probably not worth it. The $100 dollars that I would spend on these lessons could probably be better spent in another way. Adding to that, I chose not to have classes on Fridays so that I could go places and do things, and if we have these classes on Fridays, the whole idea is defeated.

I think sailing lessons are a no.


(the continuing adventures of [E]Scarlett and Kristina)

Everybodys gone surfing....

(me and my 1st wet-suit experience)

Yesterday I got up probably the earliest I ever have in Chile (7:30 am) to meet Scarlett in Vina to go surfing. As we waiting on the corner of Valparaiso and Educador in Vina, Scarlett was explaining to me where we were going to go and some of the basics, since she knows how to surf and went when we had off on Wednesday. On the rather empty street, and colorful VW van came bumping along, and I knew it was our ride.

We jumped in the back with the surfboards and sand and headed off to Renaca to pick up two other surfers. Jean Paul and Antonio, friends of Pato, our teacher, threw their surfboards in the van, jumped in, and we were off to the beach.

As we rode north to the beach where we were going to surf, I basically thought that the trip was already worth it because of how fun the ride was. Jean Paul and Antonio were hilarious, making jokes, and generally being ridiculous for 9 o'clock in the morning.

When we finally got to the beach, we suited up. Although I had heard that getting wet-suits on was hard, I experienced a work out trying to get it on. But oh, it was so glorious to get into the normally freezing water and not feel cold. We trekked across the beach to the pier, where apparently the currents are not as strong, so it is much safer.


(the beach, called Ventana because a rock at the end of the beach looks like a window)


(the pier that we surfed by... rather far from where we parked)

Before getting in the water, Pato gave us an overview (although I think it was mainly for me) of how to lie on the board, paddle, and then get up. In the water, the first couple of times I needed a push to catch the waves, but I rode a couple in to get the feel of the board, etc. The next couple of times, I could catch the waves myself but I couldn't quite bring myself to stand up yet.

Finally, I felt comfortable enough to try to stand on the board. I caught a wave, lifted my chest off the board, and jumped up. I was pseudo-standing when the board hit the wave in a strange way and I heard a crack in my ankle. The next second, I had fallen off the board and I assumed the crack was just like cracking a knuckle - since it didn't hurt. Then, all of a sudden, there was pain - a lot of pain in my ankle. I pulled the leash off my leg as Pato helped me to the shore and all I could think was how sad it was that it happened on my first time trying to get up.

I took off my bootie, and saw that my ankle was starting to swell, so I waited on the beach and tried to explain in my best Spanish what I thought had happened... which was very hard.

Eventually, I walked back to the van with Antonio. On the walk back, he reminded me that he had asked what I would think of my first time surfing. I had told him that I would probably love it or hate it. But I told him that the feelings were actually more complicated than that, since I really did like it except for the fact that it put my ankle out of commission. Next time maybe I'll be able to get up on the board.


(our boards post surfing)


(Scarlett and me after the surfing)


(Pato, Jean Paul, Scarlett, Antonio and me)


(on the ride home, the Chileans thought it was crazy that we would eat palta (avocado) without anything on it and without it being on anything. Jean Paul thought it was sooo funny that he had to take a picture of the palta transaction)

My Tour of Santa Maria

The castle fenced in all the way around with a few select entrances lies only three blocks away from my house, yet I had never been inside the ominous gates. Only ever hearing about La Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria from Angelica and the students I live with who go there, the mystery was finally revealed to me today.

My friend Eric, who studies Civil Engineering there, took me on a tour today. Starting at the main staircase, that has a beautiful ocean view, we made our way up to the main building.

Once inside, I was awestruck by the beauty of the architecture, the landscaping, and the lack of street dogs and their droppings. It brought me back to my childhood and memories of Duke University. A little more modern, perhaps, but very similar...


(the main building of Santa Maria, from their website)


(the Allen Building at Duke University, from www.wikipedia.org)

There was also a rather bizarre disconnect for me. Santa Maria is so different from La Pontifical Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, where I study. Here, there was a campus with terraces, buildings all in one place, and a pool in the middle of one of the courtyards.

But it wasn't only the school setting that was different, the people were too. They seemed to be more preppy, more upper class. Maybe it was an illusion created by me and my vision of what the school 'seems to be.' But it did feel different.

In reality, Santa Maria is not much more expensive than other universities, but if there is a difference, it might stem from the fact that the students that go to school there are very serious about their studies and being successful.

The Mix-Tape.

On Tuesday night, I went out with a big group of people. Not because I have become some huge partier that goes out on Tuesdays, but because we had Wednesday off because of the ascension of the Virgin Mary... I think... or some Catholic holiday of the like.

We started off the night in Pancho's apartment, right where by I live, with only four people. Four soon grew to 13 before we headed out to Vina. We went to a club called "Alcanzaba," in the neighborhood of the Casino and the big McDonalds in Vina - the tourist center of Vina. I thought this could only mean that it would be lame, crowded with foreigners, and expensive.

It ended up being free to get in (a big plus) and not too touristy (since it isn't really the tourist season right now).

The most bizarre part of the experience must have been the music. When we arrived, it was electronic, typical club music - which I expected to continue the whole night. And then, all of a sudden, it was Reggaeton, which then seemed more appropriate for a club in Latin America. But the bizarre cycle continued. Reggaeton, Latin, Rap, Brit Pop, Techno, 60's swing music, Pop and other genres would rotate at about 4-5 song intervals throughout the night. I never thought I'd dance salsa and do the twist in one night at the same club.

But is this the style of this club or all dance locations in general? The verdict is still out, but I will definitely let everyone know if this mix tape gets played in other clubs as well.

More Classes

Yesterday at 10, I had the class I have been anticipating: Areas Silvestres en la V Region de Chile (or Wild Areas in the 5th Region of Chile). The class is a 'lab' that explores concepts of biology, such as biodiversity which is what we focused on yesterday, as well as the flora and fauna that can be found in a specific area of the 5th region. The profe told us that we would be focusing our outside lab work at the Laguna Verde, slightly south of Valparaiso.

We will be making various trips to the Laguna Verde, depending on weather and availability of buses, in order to observe the wildlife that we have chosen to do our final project on. I chose to focus on an animal in the area, which put in in a group with a Chilean named Ricardo and a gringo from Boston named Jeff. It was hard coming up with a plan for a project already, seeing as I have never been to the Laguna Verde, nor have any idea what kind of wildlife is there or even what type of habitat there is. But, we still made a general plan for what we would research, which is birds and their habitat, and can refine it as we learn more about the area.

Although each group is only getting to choose one animal, plant, or fungus to focus on, I hope that we learn in a general sense what flora and fauna exist at the Laguna Verde and in this region of Chile.

Right after this class, I had to hop on a micro and ride over to Vina for my art class: America Latin en Textos e Imagenes (Latin America in Texts and Images... these translations are so hard...). I got to class a little bit late and the profe was already talking about something I was completely unfamiliar with since I missed last week. We began watching a film about El Dorado, and Brittany had informed me that most of the class would be watching movies. However, upon getting the syllabus there are some texts that we have to read as well. I really need to read the syllabus for this class.

My final class for the day is called El Hombre y El Mar (Man and the Ocean), which is a general level oceanography class. Like universities in the United States that have general requirements so students will have a broader education, the general level classes in Chile are meant for non-majors to learn something basic about the subject. This means that none of the Chileans in the class are oceanography students (which means they know about as much as me! I think...) and that the class will not be as rigorous, because it is only worth two credits.

The class focused a lot on the basic overview of the characteristics of the ocean, etc. In general however, the class will be more about how 'man' interacts with the ocean and how they effect each other. For me, the interesting part will be to see how the Chileans observe the ocean and how they interact with it. Already in the first class, the profe talked a lot about ocean fishing, and which resources had been tapped and where other resources existed, which is clearly a big concern for Chile, since one of the biggest exports, along with copper, fruit, paper and pulp, chemicals, and wine, is fish and fish products.

Gotta get back into running...

The week before I left the states, I had really gotten into running. And I have been doing it here, but rather sparingly. I need to get back into the habit.

I run from our house, down the hill towards the ocean. I run along Av. España towards Viña del Mar. Usually I run for about 25 - 30 minutes until I reach the Sheraton at the end of Av. Alvares in Viña and run back. Today I needed to do a long run, so I continued past the Sheraton on Av. Marina and into Vina. I got to about 6 Norte when I turned around and headed back. In Vina, the route was a lot nicer because the street along side was much smaller. In all, my run took about an hour and 25 minutes.


(a map of Valparaiso, including where I live, study [partly], and run)


(a map of Vina, including my usual and longer running routes. The longer distance I need to go, the more I'll just continue up thee coast!)

Although getting beeped at and getting various comments is very common, I still like this route. Alongside the ocean, I can always stop to take a look. Running here is also good because I only need to cross two streets the entire time. I can't wait to run further to Renaca and maybe ConCon....

Classes, finally!

After being in Chile for three weeks, I finally got to have a class.

The first one ended up being "Geografia General de Chile," or General Geography of Chile. After a huge fiasco of finding the right room and time, since apparently it is perfectly normal to change those things without telling the students, we got there and only two students other than the international students that were there. Apparently, most of them had another required class at the same time, which they didn't realize because of the time change. What a mess.

When the professor went on to explain what the class would be about, there was a large pedagogic element to the class. She made it clear that most of the Chileans in the class were taking this course in order to be able to teach it. This wasn't really something that interested me. The experience of the class got about a 2 out of 5 in my book, and I don't think I will be taking it.

The next class I attended was the "Introduccion al Montanismo," which is probably best translated as Introduction to Mountaineering, and it really captured my interest. Most of the grade is based on three excursions that we will be taking as a class to various types of terrain in the area. We will be learning everything from knot tying to the basics of survival. I am very excited about this class and will definitely be taking it.

On Thursday, I had "Introduccion al Cuento Chileano," or "Introduction to the Chilean [Short] Story." I assume that we will be reading short stories that the professor finds particularly important to the literary world of Chile, but in the first class, he simply went over a lot of history. I wasn't really psyched about this class, but I figure that I will take it anyway since it will probably be useful and will most likely transfer back for Spanish credits in my Modern Languages and Linguistics major.

There are still three classes that I have yet to visit, but I am fairly certain that I want to take them anyway.

Getting ready for classes and attending them has been quite a mess, which I may feel for strongly coming from a very structured system. However, I don't believe that Chileans involved in the University system think it is perfect. Talking with Sigrid, she said that there has been some call for reforms. Although Chilean universities are supposed to be some of the best in Latin America, many professors cannot be professors full time because it doesn't provide them with enough income. This means that they cannot be focused on their classes.

According to Country Studies and the U.S. Library of Congress, the Pinochet government opened up the path for many more higher-education institutions in Chile, which meant that there were many more Universities than before. However, there was also, "an increase in part-time faculty teaching, a decline in full-time faculty salaries, and a much greater dispersion of resources needed by important facilities, such as laboratories and libraries."

Clearly I'm not educated enough on the subject to guess when and if reforms will happen, but I think that it is more likely for reforms to happen at individual institutions that want to improve themselves rather than it being a government reform. For example, the Technical University that the other students at the pension attend seems to be much more strict and focused than the Catholic University. This is a choice that the university made in order to be one of the three best engineering schools in Latin America.

Wine... with bananas?!?

Yesterday, Sigrid and I met up with Cari in the center of Valparaiso to go get coffee. Ascending Cerro Concepcion in an acensor, we looked for a cafe that Cari wanted to go to, Color Café. When we got there, it was either closed or closed down. We tried to continue on to Cerro Alegre, which is the next Cerro over, where there are lots of cute cafés. We ended up at epif, a vegetarian café that was rather empty at 8:00, but is apparently more happening at 1:00 in the morning. I had a delicious cortado, similar to a latté which was made of brewed coffee, instead of the instant coffee that is much more common here.

After epif, we tried to find our way down the hill and ended up at another café that specializes in wine/fruit drinks. Cari and Sigrid asked me if I was interested in vino con platano (wine with banana). I wasn't exactly sure what they meant, but I figured I could try it. I actually wasn't even sure what it was until it arrived at our table. It ended up being like a smoothie for cocktail hour. The wine (either white or red) is put in a blender with two fruits of your choice (depending on what they have and what is in season) and mixed together for your enjoyment. We took red wine with oranges and bananas, and it wasn't as strange as I had expected.

And I will tell any of you, before I am accused of only hanging out with gringos, that Sigrid and Cari are really determined to speak Spanish when we are together. This I am very grateful for, since their Spanish is really good and they help explain things that Chileans wouldn't think to have to explain.

Sand Dunes and Ice Cream

(down the other side of the dunes)


(guy renting boards out of his truck)


(at the top of the dunes)


(Sarah boarding down the dunes)


(sitting on the sand dunes in Renaca)


(princesses! the crowns are actually for Children's Day)


(delicious ice creams to make moods better!)


(eating ice cream at Bravissimo with Angelica, Gimena, and Gimena's niece, among others)

Activities

To continue on, I have been trying to think of all the activities that I want to get involved in.

For one, there is rugby. In Vina, there is a Sporting Club that has a team. But, Sigrid played on the team last semester and didn't have the best experience. However, there are other teams in the area that I am looking into. Sigrid has a friend who plays for the University de la Plancha team. I think we might go to practices on both teams, to see what feels better.

I also want to volunteer at TAC, a community center for kids in Valparaiso. I still have to talk to Lizette about the details of what is required to be a volunteer there and what I would be doing. It is something that interested me slightly when I first heard about, but has interested me more and more as I spend time here.

Scarlett, being pseudo-California girl, is very interested in surfing, and has found a place that rents gear, offers lessons and provides transportation for about $30 - which is a great deal for a day of surfing. Hopefully we can get out there and do it sometime soon, even though it is still rather cold out.

There are also sailing lessons that are offered in ConCon. According to an ISA year-student, the lessons are two hours long, once a week for eight weeks, and only cost $100. Although it might be a bit of money to spend on leisure activities, I figured that if it is something we are interested in doing, it will probably be cheaper to try it here than back in the U.S.

So these are some of the things that I want to try, and we will have to see what happens.

With great sadness . . .

. . . I write this post.

This morning, the ISA group gathered at the Teatro Municipal in Central Vina to go a tour and excursion around Vina, Renaca, and ConCon. As we walked around Vina, one topic kept coming up in conversation - the disappearance of Michaela while on a hike with five other ISA students on Friday. Although we did pass some interesting historic parts of Vina, most of the time we spent felt as if it was on the Micro Bus to Renaca to see the sand dunes.

When we arrived at the sand dunes, half of the group had already arrived and was already boarding down the dunes. It was like snowboarding and sledding down the giant dunes, and it was fun.

But when we were called together right before we were to leave, Lorna from ISA delivered unbearably shocking and horrifying news, that left everyone speechless. The police had found Michaela this morning, after she had fallen off a cliff and died. The details are unknown to me and how I am feeling is too much to write about right now. It is a tragedy beyond proportion that she had to leave us before our experience had even really begun and although I did not know her well, I will miss her.

This is where everyone was...

On Thursday night, we (Sigrid, Gabriel, Sebastian, Carrie, Pancho, Jose, and I) wanted to go to the Thursday night place, El Huevo. Literally meaning The Egg, El Huevo is a four floor dance club in the middle of downtown Valparaiso. On Thursdays, you can get in free before 10:00 pm, and it will only cost you $1.000 pesos (about two bucks) before 1:00 pm, which makes it very popular.

We wanted to leave around 8:00 or 8:30 so that we could get in line and be in before 10, since it is common that the line may take 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get through. However, we ended up leaving at around 10:00, and by the time we got to El Huevo, the line was around the corner, down the block, and around the next corner - the longest line any of the Chileans had ever seen to get in. To me, it looked as if all of the youth in Valparaiso had decided tonight was the night that they wanted to get in to El Huevo.

After taking a look at the line, we decided to go take some beers at a bar and come back later to see if the line was better. We ended up going to "El Gato en la Ventana, " or the Cat in the Window, which is a bar that has folk music. Although we may have been too late for El Huevo, we were way too early for this bar and ended up being the only ones in there for a while.

Around 12:30 or 1:00, the live music started. It was a duo playing folk music in the Andean tradition, which I was pleasantly surprised by. By the time the music started, the bar was pretty packed, but we had gotten great seats to the show. After the music was over, we stayed for a little while longer, talking and listening to the music that was on recording.

At this point, I really have to thank my parents for being so worldly and introducing me to the music of Buena Vista Social Club. The music that they play and that I have been exposed to in that genre is not just their music, it is typical music in the story of Latin America. And when that music came on, I was able to sit there and sing along, just like the Chileans. I thought to myself, I'm not completely foreign to this culture.

Where is everyone?

This week, classes were supposed to start on Wednesday. I received an email from the history department saying that their classes wouldn't start until next week, which mean t that my first class on Wednesday wouldn't be happening. So Wednesday afternoon I geared myself up for going to a geography class called "Introduccion al Montanismo," which translates as introduction to mountainism. I'm not really sure what mountainism is, or what the class is about, but we have a month to decide which classes we want to take. About a block from class, I saw three ISA students walking and they told me that their class had been cancelled... or better said, no one had showed up to the class.

Yesterday, I was supposed to have a literature class called "Introduccion al Cuento Chileano," or introduccion to Chilean stories. A lot of the people in the class were gringos, but some Chilean students showed up as well. But, after about twenty minutes, no professor showed up, so we made a list of names that would be taken to the department.

I walked home for lunch, planning to return for another geography class, "Geografia de Chile," which Sigrid was also planning on taking. We walked to class together, which does take about 30 minutes, only to find an empty classroom. When we asked whether there would be class, they told us that since it is the first day, no students go to class since they don't think they will miss anything important. Then, the professor doesn't show up since none of the students are going to be there. The only people that end up showing up are the gringos that didn't get the message.

This whole experience was very surprising. At first I though, well, why didn't anyone tell me to not go to classes the first week? Then I thought, if no one shows up the first week, then the second week is really the first week, and you won't do anything during that class, so why go? Then you will never end up having class... And, isn't so unproductive to cancel one class when you only have it once a week? The whole thing got pretty frustrating to me as I was contemplating all these questions. In the end, I really just wish someone had told me so I didn't have to go all the way to school just to turn around and go home again.

Ah yes, this is culture shock, isn't it?

Of Fortunes and Misfortunes

On Monday, after a run with Sigrid and a trip to Jumbo, I went with Gabriel, Sebastian, and their friend Nono to pick up Sebastian's gringa girlfriend, Carrie. Nono is from Antofagasta, in the north, and so they wanted to take him on a tour of the city, so he could take pictures of all the great views.

We began by going up Cerro Alegre, where I had already been with the ISA group on Friday, to get some great views of the city and the port. After taking photos, we continued on up the hills by car. It is well known that the further you go up the hills, the poorer the neighborhoods get. For a while, it felt like a bizarre "ride" of some sort. We passed by the shacks that sat on the hills, the kids playing soccer on a dirt field with sticks as goal posts, and all the trash and dilapidated structures. You don't walk around up here - I was told it was too dangerous. We didn't get out until their was a noticeable change in the buildings - safer ground.

Lizette, the ISA director in Valparaiso, keeps telling us that these areas are the "real" Chile, and that we cannot leave them out of our experience here. According to the CIA Factbook, 7.8% of Chileans are unemployed and 18.2% live below the poverty line, compared with 4.8% and 12% of Americans, respectively. Although Chile's rates are only slightly higher, to what extent have we seen American poverty? We, the ISA students, should all realize that we are living in middle class families, but how many of us actually leave the sphere of the middle class in the U.S. more than just to pass through a neighborhood? I feel privileged to have worked at My Sister's Place homeless shelter in Baltimore and with Habitat Camp and the kids from D.C. and the shelter in Prince George's County, but I would not have done these things with out the initiatives of others. You can always view that other part of society through a window and imagine what it is like and what those people are like. Sure, you will think you have an idea but in my experience, viewing them is never the same as hearing and reflecting on their experiences. Will the ISA students simply view other, more uncomfortable parts of Chile through a window or will they get involved? Will I?


(looking down on Valparaiso from a hill)


(a paseo on the nicer part of a cerro, or hill)


(we happened by the only Lutheran church in all Valparaiso... left over from the Germans)