The last 3 weeks have been, as I said, incredibly relaxing. I spend my days at work, my nights running, eating, watching TV, reading, and going to bed early. If I get out of work early I’ll head to the beach and read for a few hours as the waves crash against the rocks beside me. And the weekends are much the same—lots of walking around the surrounding neighborhoods, more reading at the beach, exploring the trails at nearby Quinta Vergara or Parque Sausalito. But it’s been extremely enjoyable and it’s so nice to, for once, have a moment to relax, think, and sleep.
My host mom's birthday
A few weekends ago I took the bus up north to the towns of Zapallar and Cachagua. My host mom told me there was a penguin island/reserve up in Cachagua, and a few of the housemates told me that Zapallar was a beautiful area, so I decide to take a day trip to visit those two towns. You can take one of the local buses about 3 hours north to Zapallar, a very ‘cuico’ (rich and snobby) town on the water’s edge, with a beautiful beach to relax on. I spent a few hours there just hanging out, looking for some inexpensive food (but it turns out the only inexpensive stuff there is a cheese empanada), and exploring the rocks that went out in the ocean. It was definitely an extremely beautiful beach, and you could look behind you and see hillsides lined with mansions of Chile’s elite. But other than the gazing at the beautiful sight and climbing some rocks for a few hours, I hopped on another bus that brought me about 5 miles south to the tiny town of Cachagua.
Zapallar Beach
So after getting dropped off the bus somewhere in town and spending about half an hour trying to find my way to the beach I found the reserve (I mean, it wasn’t really hard to find the reserve once I found the entrance to the beach…the town is so small that there’s only one beach), but I was a bit disappointed in the lack of penguin-watching that could be done. On clear days there are boats you can take around the island to get closer to the penguins, but it was a windy day so there were no boats in the water. But I did manage to see one! Although it was a bit far away from me, but I definitely saw a penguin, which I am very proud to say. And I have the pictures to prove it. But it was a beautiful beach and day nonetheless, and I really enjoyed the beaches of those two towns.
The next weekend was Fourth of July—my second Fourth of July in a row that I’m spending abroad. I mean…I’m not complaining one bit about “having” to be abroad two summers in a row…but I do miss the fireworks and patriotism a bit…But a few of us gringos from Acción went out to dinner (at a restaurant called Africa, actually), and then headed off to the birthday party of my boss, Diego at his house in Valparaíso, which was a lot of fun (including Michael Jackson playing on a projector screen for a lot of the night…). So…last year I spent my 4th at an American Diner in Chennai, India with a bunch of French people. This year it was at a restaurant called Africa, in Chile…I wonder where I’ll be for it next year…
Work has been going extremely well, too. I’m really enjoying my internship here, and have gotten to see a lot of the city of Valparaíso while working as well. Our main project for the summer is to do an in-depth study of 3 cerros (hill communities) of Valparaíso to understand the micro-economies of each in order to understand the ways in which Acción can develop associations and programs to improve the lives of the micro-entrepreneurs who work and live in those cerros. Our 3 cerros are split into one with potential, one with medium potential, and one with very little obvious potential and very little economic activity. So, after spending a week or so doing a lot of background research on the history/facts of Valparaíso, and learning more about the situation of micro-entrepreneurs here, we set out to decide which cerros were best for studying—aka spending a few days walking around cerros that interested us and talking to entrepreneurs to get a better feel for the community, and to see if it would be worth studying. And once we chose our 3 cerros, we spent the last week exploring those more in-depth—going pretty much door to door speaking with the store-owners in the area, and asking them about their businesses, community, struggles, associations with other businesses, and assistance they get. It’s surprising just how much assistance Chile has for micro-entrepreneurs—many of the people we talked to had been helped financially with micro-grants and loans, training, or even just micro-entrepreneur social groups put together by the government. Chile is truly a country supported by its micro-entrepreneurs (there are vendors and tiny stores popping up everywhere, very different from the US system where everything is very formal and most of the businesses seem to be large companies). But here, grocery shopping is done at a variety of stores instead of one supermarket—one goes to the corner bread-bakery, the vegetable market, the mini-market down the street. There are an incredible amount of small-business owners and entrepreneurs here as well as a great deal of government and non-governmental assistance to help them along the way. For the next 2.5 we’re going to keep doing a great deal of work around the city, and to really spend the entire day talking with entrepreneurs in our 3 cerros. Hopefully, by the end of the process, we’ll have some great ideas for programs Acción will be able to implement in Valparaíso, as well as a deep knowledge of the city—both in its touristy parts but also the more residential, true communities. A few more Chilean interns have arrived at Acción as well, and they’ve been really nice so far. It’s been really great talking with them so far, and I’m really glad I’m having the chance to meet so many Chileans while I’m down here.
I can’t believe I’ve been in Chile for almost 4 months now. I wouldn’t say it’s starting to feel like home to me, but it has stopped feeling foreign. Although I’m not sure I would characterize myself as fluent, talking to people has stopped being such a challenge. And I’ve gotten used to the ins and outs of the food, the culture, the bus system, the street signs, the stores, and it’s starting to become more second nature to me. I’ve started jotting down a list of things I’m going to miss, as well as things I’m not going to miss when I leave here (in less than a month!), so here are few things I’ve thought of so far.
I’m definitely going to miss the street performers. Especially in rush-hour Santiago traffic, at almost every intersection there would be some kind of performer—incredible jugglers, dancers in front of the cars, musicians, singers and rappers in the buses. Some are doing it for their job. Some are doing it for charity. Some are doing it just for fun or to make a few extra pesos with their friends. Everywhere you go you’ll find these performers—at the intersection by my house last week there were teenage girls going a dance routine together. In the plaza where I eat lunch by work there have been one-man bands. It brightens my day every time a musician walks into one of my buses. And I was so amazed with the juggling skills I would see in the Santiago intersections every day! It’s something that I’ve really loved about Chile, and I’m really going to miss how mundane the streets in the US are going to be.
I’m also going to miss all of the stray dogs. I mean, it’s obviously not fun seeing a lot of sick, dirty and hungry dogs everywhere. But a lot of them look strangely well-fed, clean and healthy. And they, like dogs do, provide a good sense of companionship even when you’re just walking around. For the past few days, when I’ve gone to the beach to read, the same dog has come up to me and laid down about 5 feet away to nap. I guess he lives at or near the beach, because he came up to me 2 days in a row, but I’m hoping when I go back soon he’ll be there again! It’s nice seeing the same faces around, and I’m beginning to recognize some of the other neighbor dogs as well. On a run I took a few days ago, a dog followed me for over two miles, seeming so happy to be able to go out and run with someone. He followed me up steep hills, sometimes getting so close to me that I’d accidentally kick him when he came up behind my feet. But he kept right with me and followed me as I explored the trails in Quinta Vergara—even crossing a creek with me and climbing over logs. I stopped and petted him for a few minutes as I did my stretches about a mile into the run, and he seemed to love it, and kept following me even more closely after that—that is, until we passed a few other dogs on the way, when he decided to play with them instead of me…I can’t say I wasn’t a bit sad when we separated.
Well, I think that’s pretty much my life right now. Some mundane experiences like being followed by a dog on a run, watching street performers, and getting full nights of sleep. I don’t remember the last time I’ve been this relaxed, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had this much time on my hands to read for pleasure, take walks, and hang out at the beach. It’s been very enjoyable so far! But I can’t wait until I can go back to an overly-busy schedule back at school. In less than a month I’ll be back in the US (29 days…not that I’m counting). But until then, there are 3 more weeks of work, many entrepreneurs to talk to, a few day trips to Santiago, and a trip to Easter Island with Joanna! There’s quite a lot of work to do still for our project, so I’m sure the next 3 weeks will not be quite as relaxing as the last 5 have been, but I’m sure they’ll be just as enjoyable. Chau, amigos!
