Tear gas, no class, leaky a*$

     Monday, Mike and I had our first big day at school at the Pontificia.  It's about a 30 minute trip down the hill and through the woods from our apt.  Rachel finally arrived late on Monday night via Brazil, which you should avoid as they have reciprocity fees - fees we charge them, so in return they charge us:-) that can make your journey a pain, I'd avoid it if you don't plan on staying...

  

      Anyway, Tuesday classes started.  Our classes are very well organized, the best I've had since my masters program at CSUS...  I really like both professors, they're really well organized, and our culture prof is hilarious, it's always nice to hear someone else's perspective on things.  An example, concering the dogs in the streets here -  A student suggested that he wanted to start a shelter for all the dogs in the streets to protect them.  Her response was, "Why would you incarcerate dogs that are free, well fed, and healthy now to... save them?    Reminds me of growing up, when you could just let your dog out the door...  Oh, the good ol' days.  I'm gonna like that class.

So class on Wednesday was canceled due to student protests over tuition costs at public universities, and it was a solidarity protest with all university students joining in, apparently with union dock workers and miners joining the effort and shut down much of the country's productivity yesterday...  Apparently, when they do it, it's planned, but the police here(carabineros), use a type of tear gas banned in all other countries - awesome!... As the students also took over the university buildings, some people 100ish were arrested... And for us, it meant no class!  We got a taste of leftover tear gas when we showed up yesterday before being sent home.  Dang, that crap burns.  I still had issues with what was still left when I showed up today and it sticks with you for a while...  So, it was a day of relaxing, playing some spades, and sampling the local nectar.   BTW, today everything went back to normal, kids in class, people working.  It really is perfectly safe here!   It's just a young democracy exercising it's right to voice an opinion.  It's refreshing, actually, to see.  Well, minus the serious eyes and nose burning.  I'm telling you, it sucks.  

our place is behind the neon green house

we're 3/4 the way up,
after climbing the hill to get here!

So our walk home everyday takes 10 million times longer than going to class.  Valparaiso is a UNESCO heritage site, reknowned for it's beautiful hanging houses and it's old school elevators on the steep, narrow, and winding pathways and streets of the big cerros or large hills/mountains.   It also means we have a serious hike to get home, no joke.  It's also an earthquake zone, yay!  Another negative is that when fires start, they can really spread badly.  150 houses burnt just last year alone.  The bonus:  the views - and we're pretty safe from tsunamis where we're at.  Factoid: We were told that everyone thinks that the women from Valparaiso have the nicest legs because they walk these hills!

    A few details about Valparaiso that are interesting.  It is a popular town for artists and it's very bohemian feel to the town. People do what they please as long as you aren't bothering others and no one seems to care, and they genuinely care about everyone's best regard.  As Bart, my landlord said for the rules of the house - there are no rules.  That also applies to town, everyone is very helpful and outgoing, not in a rush, cars, and actually stop for you.  Interesting tidbits:  McDonalds tried to come here, but no one would eat there, so they closed.  It was also sacked by Sir Francis Drake - El Draque in Spanish.

Along with the numerous artists that live here, Valparaiso is the second most recognized city in Latinamerica for it's graffiti art, as you can see in the pictures I post.  

It's also has lots of artwork in a style that you see in Antonio Gaudi's work in Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain called trencadis, which is using lots of broken glass and tile to create mosaics.  I'm a big fan, and anyone who knows Gaudi knows he was too.

So, the mystery food for the week is this stuff, which frankly, looks like umbilical cord tied in a bundle, to be blunt.  But what it is - cochayuyo.  It's a seaweed that grows in the coves around here that people eat, but it just looks nasty.  I'll try lots of things, but I think this is off my list.                                                           

As my title hinted to, I have had a touch of the food poisoning after eating at a restaurant that actually got good reviews from Lonely Planet.  This is the second year in a row I've had it, and I didn't like it in Ecuador.  I'm better now, but I don't enjoy the process, but it's part of traveling.                                      

Now what to explore this weekend?  Definitely the Pablo Neruda house, what else???  I'll keep ya posted!  By the way, in the picture to the left - that's one poinsettia plant.  

Santiago to Valparaiso

The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of... Santiago?

view from the balcony

So it's Chile this summer! After last summer in Ecuador, I felt I wouldn't enjoy another full summer in Cuenca, Ecuador. My friends and I had explored the idea of Chile in the past, but hadn't found anywhere to take classes that were new and or not for beginning students. Then one day, Mike stumbled upon la Universidad Pontifica de Valparaiso for classes. Valpo is where I really wanted go in the first place, so I'm excited(I had a student who stayed there in the past and highly recommended it, and a profe who visited as well). Mike also found us an awesome apartment to stay in while we're there, so thanks Migs!

Rachel will be here on Monday night, assuming all goes well. So we're taking a class on Chilean culture, Latin American cinema and literature, and I will add a third class on socio-politics of the 20th and 21st century Latin America. I need the hours, so I'll be busy, but that will keep me out of trouble. Hmm, maybe...

                                                                                                                                                                                           Thursday, we kept it low-key, I got to experience the Santiago subway, which is awesome by the way.

Fudge...

We could borrow some ideas from them as far as public transport, they've got that crap down...

Funicular/elevator

Santiago from Cerro(hill) Bellavista

We hit the a scenic overlook of Santiago, and grabbed some lunch in the Bellavista area of Santiago. It was very trendy, full of cool restaurants, shops, and bars - and reminded me of Palermo in Buenos Aires. I imagine it's gotta be hoppin' in the evenings and weekends.

So Friday, after a nice senior moment joyride from our taxi driver(who tried to take us to the airport instead of the bus station) and a bus ride, we got to Valparaiso, Chile. Nice drive, and wineries all over along the way. That's gonna have to be done. I heard they all serve "grape soda" for free or really cheap, or something like that. Valpo has beautiful colorful houses all over the hillsides, our place being one of them, rehabbed by the current owners, who live in a place in front of ours. What a view. Plus it's owned by a freaky-deaky Dutchman. Well, maybe not so freaky... that we know about. So sorry Santiago, you lose.

We grabbed some food at Tu Tucan, down from the house, and you can't tell me that this chorrillana dish was for one. Maybe 2, and still, it's a crap load of food.

chorrillana - meat, onions, fries, heartattack...

The music in this country is about as random selection of English language music as I could pull out my arse... We were serenaded at breakfast by Simply Red - Holding Back the Years, and Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor, and Bjork, and the theme song from An American Tale movie. It's been 7 hours and 15 days, and a couple decades, damn you Sinead for being in my head for the last 2 days. Now when I hear that Lisa Loeb and David Hasselhoff are coming live in concert, and the shows are sold out, I guess I won't be that surprised. Oh, I also heard ELO "It's a Living Thing" in a rockabilly version in the grocery store, followed by the Corrs. In their words, I'm speechless.
                                                                                                                                                                                                    So I heard Lisa Loeb today, no joke... and ELO again, they really like them... and the Christopher Cross song from Tootsie. I have nothing left to say. But it is refreshing knowing you'll never guess what will play next.
                                                                                                                                                                                                    We tried to get our bearings for Valpo, and walked down to the dock area and walked along the seawall area.

Puerto de Valparaiso(taken by Michael Princer)

Nice, smelled like fish, and there is a ton of freight that passes through here. I like watching the big ships roll in.







We grabbed lunch at Don Vittorio. Anthony Bourdain ate there, so we figured it couldn't be bad, and it was excellent! To warm up, we ordered the yellow mussels(macha al parmesano) in parmesan. Darn good eatin'.

machas(yellow mussels) al parmesano

Cangrio a lo pobre(left), pastel de jaiba(right)

I added a shrimp and cheese empanada, as I heard they were excellent, the cangrio(ling/kingflick fish)a lo pobre(with fries and eggs cooked with onion). It was the best fish I've had in a while. I also tried the pastel de jaiba(crab pie-ish), which was awesome. Darn good eatin', but I'm done for the day.

On the way back, by luck, we stumbled upon the yearly Inti Raymi celebration / Festival of the Sun, which is a celebration that is more well known in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador as they have a higher indigenous population.

Cabezudos!(taken by Michael Princer)

                                                                                                                                                       It always takes place around this time of year, the 20s of June. I've been to it in Cuzco as well, but this was a just a parade and dancing through the streets that did last for 3 hours or so, and I imagine on through the evening as well, but not as spiritually moving.Tomorrow it's off to figure out how to get to school and whatever is to the right of the apartment as we walk down...

Attack of the Chilean vampires

Big moon tonight!