A tranquil and relaxing start to winter in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar

Once again, it’s been a while since I last updated this blog, so I have a lot to talk about. I’ll try to make it as to-the-point as I can, but, well, you know how things go, so I apologize in advance for what will surely be a long post. I’m currently sitting in my room in Viña del Mar, the city I’ve been in for the past two weeks. I have somewhat of a view of downtown Viña del Mar, and I’ve moved my room around so that I can see that view from my bed, so I’m currently half writing this blog and half looking out at the Viña lights, high rise apartments, and billboards mostly filled with political campaign advertisements (the Chilean elections are coming up later this year). I have a single room in a ‘residencia’, which is basically a long term hostel geared toward university students, so there are 5 Chilean and 2 Colombian university students living here as well, along with the owner of the house, Juanita. There’s no heating here, and the winter nights and mornings get incredibly chilly in the house, and the “hot” water doesn’t really go above mildly warm, and the internet signal goes in and out. But other than those small details it’s been a great place to live so far, and I’m getting a lot of Spanish practice with Juanita and the other students here. She’s been an awesome host mom so far, an incredibly nice lady, and she’s always around and interested in what we’re up to, how we’re doing. Running this residencia is her full-time job, and she puts a lot of effort into getting to know all the residents and making them all feel at home. And she’s been really good with making me feel comfortable in the house as well—putting out extra food for me at mealtimes (Chileans really don’t eat enough for me) and giving me snacks to take to work for the day. Even though the 8 of us students filter in and out throughout the day and eat at different times, she makes time to sit down with all of us each day. I’ve watched “Friends” with her, she’s given me great travel tips, and is just a great mother to the house and is really making it an enjoyable place to live for me.

I’ve even had the chance to talk a lot about micro-entrepreneurship and micro-business in Chile with her, which is what my summer here is focusing on. For the past year or so she’s been participating in a micro-entrepreneur class similar to those we put on at Acción Emprendedora, and has gotten a lot of support in building her residencia business—grants so that she could buy a computer and improved hot water for the house, help with building a web site, advertising help, and other training that goes along with her business. Since that’s basically what we do at Acción, it’s been really interesting talking to her about her experiences thus far with her micro-business training, and it’s been great to hear all of the good things that have come to her from the training classes—it has given me true testament to the helpfulness of organizations like Acción.

So on to my work at Acción Emprendedora. The purpose of Acción is to help Chile’s micro-entrepreneurs with extra support. The micro-business sector is huge in Chile, and comprises well over three-quarters of the work force. We provide them support and training through classes on marketing, production, legalities, accounting, computer skills (word, excel, e-mail, internet) and have a large group of Chilean college students who act as “tutors” for our entrepreneurs and work one-on-one with them to help them develop their business. It’s basically free for them (a bit less than $10) for a 3 month course. We aim not for the poorest of the poor, but for the second-lowest quintile, those who we believe not only have the capacity and means to help themselves and their business, but also the ability to hire more and more employees with a successful business, thus helping not only themselves but those below them in society. Because of that, we measure our success with the percentage of our students who, after our class, build up their businesses to a point where they are able to hire more employees, and I believe that percentage right now is around 40%--relatively high, but with lots of room for improvement. One thing I really like about Acción and similar organizations is that we don’t give out “handouts” of money here, but rather education and opportunity so that our entrepreneurs can provide for themselves a sustainable future. We’re not any sort of “welfare” program, but rather believe in giving opportunity and education.

I’ve been working full-time for 2 weeks so far, and it’s been great. The three other people in the Valparaíso office—Diego, Jessica, and Macarena—are great to work with, and I’ve enjoyed my first 2 weeks. They treated me to a great lunch my first day of work, have taken me on a few mini-tours of the parts of Valparaíso close to the office, and are always offering me cookies, chocolate and other pastries—many of which are made by our micro-entrepreneurs! Although they, like most other Chileans speak incredibly fast and use SO MUCH Chilean slang (Diego, for instance, uses “cachai?”, a Chilean phrase for “you understand” almost every other word when he’s explaining something. Seriously), it’s a great office to work in. I started off just doing background research to build up my knowledge of the micro and small business sector in Chile—their role in the economy, the help they get from the government, what is being done by organizations like Acción, the problems they face, the people who make them up, etc. After I finished up my background research I started on one of my projects for the summer—building them a website forum so that their students and professors could more easily communicate with each other, and so that those of us who work at Acción could follow their questions and better tailor our classes and training around what we see as the main concerns. So I spent a few days putting together a website forum for them (in Spanish), organized by our different courses and professors. And since many of our students have very limited knowledge of how to use a computer, let alone a website forum, I spent the next few days writing 2 manuals (in Spanish)—one for our students and one for the administrators, on how to use the forum and do all the basic tasks they’ll need to know. I also attended one of our classes this past week because I think one of the most fulfilling things I can do this summer is to meet the entrepreneurs that we’re helping, and I was pleased to see my manual being handed out to them! It was a great feeling seeing my work actually making some kind of difference in the organization, especially after only a week or so. For the rest of my 6 weeks here I’ll mostly be focusing on a bigger project that is basically research into the Valparaíso market. The city of Valparaíso is split up into many different ‘cerros’, or hills, each with its own culture, church, center of commerce, and niches that need filling. Some, like Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción, are geared to tourism, and their industry is built around that. Some tailor themselves to the port, some to the local universities, etc. Although I’m still not 100% clear on the project (mostly a result of them explaining it to me in very fast Spanish), the other 2 interns and I will be working to study a number of these cerros, the micro-economy of each, and to develop ways that our micro-entrepreneurs can capitalize on the specific niches and develop successful businesses there. It looks like an incredibly interesting project, and it will be especially great because I won’t be spending all day in front of a computer screen, but rather going out into Valparaíso and studying the cerros firsthand—by going to them, talking to the people in them, meeting with store-owners and maybe some government officials. It should turn out to be a rewarding and interesting project!

The change of pace and scenery has been great. I’m really enjoying living somewhere new, and Valparaíso and Viña del Mar are wonderful cities to live and work in. The metro I take to and from work is an above-ground one, and takes me right along the ocean for a beautiful view every day. And it’s been great escaping the Santiago smog—I’ve been able to run a lot here, something I couldn’t do in Santiago because the smog was just too unhealthy for you. But finally being able to run again is something I love, and I’ve had some enjoyable runs in the past two weeks (plus, after a run the shower in my house doesn’t feel quite as cold). There’s a beautiful park just down the street from my house called Quinta Vergara that extends for miles and miles with eucalyptus groves, dirt trails, and amazing views of the city and ocean. It, more than anything, makes me feel like I’m right back in Santa Barbara, and I plan on running there as much as I can and to try and explore as many of those trails as I can in my remaining time here.

It’s weird to think that exactly a year ago I was in India, just getting over culture shock and my initial fears of the country. It’s also very weird to think about how different the two countries and cultures are—India’s colorful and vibrant culture versus the still hard-to-define and at times a bit dull Chilean culture—not to mention the fact that I’ve gone from the absolute hottest summer of my life in India to the coldest winter of my life here. I can’t believe I’m not even 20 years old and I’ve already had these 2 amazing experiences!

Well, that’s where I’ll leave off for today. I’ve now been in Chile for 3 months (to the day, actually), and have about 7 weeks left. I feel like I have so much left to see and do, so much more Spanish to learn, so much more work for my internship, and many more experiences to be had. Hopefully I’ll have many more good stories to tell you by the time I next write this blog!

Vamos, Vamos chilenos, esta noche tenemos que ganar!

Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve updated. The good news is that I’m done with my finals! So long, sophomore year. It’s been great, but now I have to enter the years of upperclassmen-ness, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. These past two years have flown by too quickly, and I don’t want to think about that fact that I will, unless I go to grad school immediately, have to enter the real world two years from now. And the fact that I’ll come back to Stanford in the fall and be an upperclassmen, be the person looked up to and asked for help, is just a weird thought. But, since the past two weeks have been riddled by finals (a presentation on Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a presentation on the Nueva Canción Chilena, a 15-minute Spanish skit, an in-class final, a take home final, and a 15 page research paper (written in Spanish) about the history and inequality of the Chilean education system), I haven’t updated my blog at all, so I 1) apologize for keeping everyone out of the loop on my life and 2) have a lot to talk about.

My quarter abroad is officially over. The rest of the Stanford students have left to their respective summer destinations, I’ve moved out of my host family’s apartment, and I’m now laying in my new bed in my house in Viña del Mar, very close to where I’ll be working this summer in Valparaíso. I’m living this summer in a residencia, which is basically a hostel where people stay in for long periods of time. It’s owned and run by a very nice lady, who lives here with her 2 kids about my age. And there are 7 college students who are living here with me—5 Chileans and 2 Colombians. I’ve met most of the housemates and they all seem really cool, and I think I’m really going to love living here. It’s going to be a very social environment, everyone eats meals together, there’s a living room to watch TV, so I’m really happy about that. I’m going to get to speak a lot of Spanish these next few months, which I’m also really happy about. With the Stanford students here, it was really easy to revert to speaking English because it’s so much more comfortable. But this summer, I’ll be speaking Spanish all day at my internship and all night at my house, where I’m going to push myself to be extra social so that I’m always talking. I want to completely and utterly immerse myself in the language this summer. My Spanish has improved since I’ve arrived in Chile, but not nearly enough to a point that I’m happy with. I mean, I can converse, I can understand mostly everything (when people speak clearly) and I can, most of the time, get my point across. I’ve even dreamt in Spanish a few times. But I really want to leave here comfortable and fluent, and I know this summer is going to do wonders for that.

It’s crazy to think how much I’ve done in the last 11 weeks in Chile. I’ve swam in the ocean, hiked in the Andes, river rafted through the Andes, climbed a volcano in the south, surfed the sand dunes in the north, watched a tango show in Buenos Aires, took a 17 hour bus ride through the south, explored the ins and outs of Santiago, spent relaxing weekends with my host family…the list goes on. I truly have not spent an entire weekend in Santiago yet. Not even my first weekend—there’s always been at least one day that I’ve spent in a different city. It’s a bit sad, and a bit relieving, to know that this summer will be completely the opposite. I’m almost completely out of money, so I will be living a very relaxing and quiet life. But I’m completely excited for that—not traveling every weekend will give me the chance to spend more time at the house speaking Spanish, to read books that I’ve been meaning to read for a while, and to just plain relax before the craziness of next year begins. And living a more regular lifestyle will help me live more like a true Chilean, as opposed to a gringo tourist, so that will be good as well.

I left off a few weeks ago about to leave for Chiloe, an island in the south of Chile, so I’ll start off this time recounting my Chilote adventures. Chiloe is South America’s second largest island (after Tierra del Fuego), and lies about halfway between Santiago and the southern tip of Chile on the northern end of the Patagonia region. We took an early morning plane to Puerto Montt, the closest big city on the mainland, and then a 4 hour bus and ferry, to Castro, the biggest city on the island. The relative seclusion of Chiloe has enabled it to stick to more traditional roots—I felt a bit like I had walked back a few dozen years in time. Chilote people still believe, somewhat heavily, in mythology, and the myths of the island somewhat dominate a lot of their culture. And the climate there—constantly raining or cloudy, gives it a bit of a mysterious and mystical feel. Thanks to the rain, the land is completely green, and there are hills, farms and beaches everywhere. The island is split up into quite a few small, spread out fishing villages and wooden rowboats dominate the coastline. It’s a somewhat different culture and lifestyle than mainland Chile—as I said, it’s about 50 years back in time, the houses are extremely colorful, there are beautiful wooden churches spread throughout the island, and a very coastal feel. The cuisine is dominated by seafood (seafood empanadas, seafood soup, etc.) Many of the houses on the waterfront are put up on stilts that make them a very beautiful (and picturesque) sight to see. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. We spent the first day walking around Castro, admiring the stilted houses and the colorful wooden boats, and getting to know the city. The next day we set out to some local artisans markets, explored some of the beaches, had breakfast at a local market and took a ferry to some of the smaller islands that make up Chiloe. The rest of the group left that night to go to the national park on the western side of the island, but I headed back early to Santiago to get ready for finals and to give a presentation in one of my classes. It’s a long story, but I ended up taking a 17 hour bus ride back to Santiago instead of flying, so that was fun. I mean, how many people can say they’ve taken a 17 hour bus ride through southern Chile? Alone? But it really wasn’t that exciting. Thankfully, my bus didn’t break down (it would have been the 3^rd time), and I slept most of the way there.

For the past 2 weeks since then I’ve mostly been working, working, working. Don’t get me wrong—it hasn’t been nearly as stressful or work-heavy as a normal school quarter, but it’s been a lot of work nonetheless. Other than spending last Saturday in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar searching out a place to live for the summer, I’ve just stayed in Santiago and worked on finals, just finishing last Friday.

Oh, except for going to the Chile vs. Bolivia World Cup qualifying game last Wednesday! That was definitely one of my favorite experiences so far in Chile. From buying cheap Chilean flags and futbol jerseys outside the stadium to chanting “Vamos, Vamos chilenos, esta noche tenemos que ganar!” with 70000 Chileans, to seeing the Chilean team win 4-0 and pretty much guarantee themselves a spot in the World Cup, it was an amazing night. And quite an eye into Chilean culture as well. For one, it reminded me of how intolerant Chileans are. For example, one of their cheers went like this (in Spanish, of course): the Chileans were all jumping up and down (all 70000 of them) and started saying, “anyone who isn’t jumping is a Bolivian maricón”. Maricón is a very negative term for homosexual, so it was basically a group of 70000 Chileans calling the Bolivians maricónes. Oh, if that happened in the US…They did the jumping chant again other times, and one time changed it to something like “Jump if you have an ocean”, making fun of the fact that Bolivia lost all of its coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific over a hundred years ago, a loss that continues to plague Bolivia’s economy. So other than making fun of Bolivian maricónes and lack of coastline, watching the game was an incredible and exciting sight. I’ll try to put up some pictures of the game in a few days. After watching that game, I really feel a lot more Chilean and a lot less gringo. I mean, I was cheering for Chile with everyone else, mostly singing and cheering along with the Chileans for the whole night and celebrated when Chile won. It made me feel quite a bit like I was really a part of the Chilean culture, and not just a tourist. It was an incredible experience and I’m hoping to go to another game by the time I leave on August 16^th.

Okay, well that’s where I’ll leave it for today, I think that’s enough for you guys to read. After a 2 day break from finals, I’m starting my internship tomorrow at 9AM, which I’m really excited about. Still not sure exactly what to expect or what I’ll be doing, but I’m positive it will be a great experience! I’ll not only get to meet the people I’m working with, but a lot of the micro-business owners we work with, and get a very different glimpse into Chile that way. I’ll update in the next few days with more info on my first few days in my new home and work, so stay tuned!