An Update

So its a bit of an embarrasment looking at the last post from May 2010! This blog has sat pretty much dormant despite all the wild turns in my life. A baby has been the main focus as of late. This all started as a travel blog back in 2004, but as my life here in Chile has become more "normal" and less of a constantly new experience I have struggled a bit to find what to talk about here. I hope to continue with an update here or there.

The majority of my blogging and writing is going into www.foodyChile.com check it out!

Boutique del Campo

So it's been a while since the last post. Most of my time has been spent building up a new store with my wife called the Boutique del Campo. Have a look here at our facebook page. We hope to soon have the full website (at least the alpha version) up and running. The Boutique del Campo combines natural foods, gourmet products, fresh produce, juices and more. It has been quite the experience putting it all together. We started focusing mostly on fresh produce due to some good contacts and opportunities at the time. This was back in November of last year. Since then the concept has grown and evolved and we are now putting more emphasis on the gourmet and prepared foods. I plan to launch a seperate blog soon that will delve more into the products and store. Stay tuned.

Get ready to laugh: Some Improv Comedy

Getting ready to go out and see my wife compete in an amateur improv comedy competition in Bellavista. The competition is one of the many events hosted by Lospleimovil, a comedy/theater group. There are several rounds of competition between four or five member teams. Caro's team lost the last one thanks do some pretty crappy officiating (yes a bad ref is even possible in improve comedy). Hopefully today she'll get a better judge.

Cordillera Chilena: Punta Lagunas

Continue out into the Cajon del Maipo, leaving the urban jungle of La Florida and Puente Alto behind, continue past Baños Morales and you'll get to Punta Lagunas, a group of cerros with an amazing view of several of the Cajun's glaciers and a peek of a few lagunas.

I'll be honest, despite the name, the Lagunas were the less impressive part of the hike. Rather it was the panoramic view of the region around, as well as a some 300 meter wall filled with fossils and at almost a perfect 90° angle. At a bit of 3100 meters, the hike isn't too difficult, although there are some exposed points that will give you a bit of vertigo if you don't prepare yourself. Plus the constant aftershocks make any sort of walking on mountains around boulders a bit more worrisome.

The Presidential Handoff in Chile: Goodbye Bachelet, Hello Piñera, Let the Earth Shake

 Piñera, his camera smirk/smile, and myself at Vendemia Santa Cruz

For the first time in over 50 years a member of Chile’s right wing alianza took the oath of office yesterday after being elected and the earth shook below. A billionaire airline tycoon, Sebastián Piñera, is now the president of Chile. But the entire changing of the guard has been overshadowed by the seismic activity. The big presidential hand off was no exception.

At about 11.30 am yesterday morning a 6.9 (also reported in the Chilean press as a 7.2 “aftershock” struck with a an epicenter near the coastline south of Valparaiso. It hit right as Piñera was taking his oath of office, and not too far away.

A tsunami warning was issued immediately afterwards the earthquake and people scrambled to higher ground. Taller buildings in Santiago were evacuated.

What a day to take office. But then again having to deal with a 8.8 earthquake in the last few days of office isn’t exactly an attractive proposition either.

Piñera’s assumption of president is rather significant. Chile’s right wing parties and the alliance the have formed, the Renovacion Nacional and the Union Democratica Independiente, haven’t had power since Pinochet was in control. But Piñera beat Eduardo Frei, with a pretty solid margin.

Piñera managed to win the election despite a high approval rating of Bachelet. The Concertación, the three center left group is made of three parities. The PPD, PS and the DC, wasn’t able to cash in on this popularity and the relatively smooth handling of a global financial crisis.

Piñera is a very wealthy man. He controls minority and majority stakes in some of Chile’s largest companies, among them the airlines LAN Chile, Chile’s most popular (and infamous) football team Colo Colo. He controls TVN, one of the largest Chilean broadcasters. His total wealth is somewhere up there around USD 1 billion.

His success as a business man has garnered him a lot of respect from many Chileans, not surprising considering the country’s now stable love of free market policies, even if they were instilled into the national character at gunpoint.

But Piñera’s name has also arisen in several investigations. He was fined in 2007 for using insider information to his benefit to sell stocks. Probably more dubious was his connection to the default of the Banco de Talca in 1982, while Piñera was general manager. He was cleared of wrong doing by the government, at that time the dictatorship that he supported.

Piñera’s 2010 campaign took on a mix of Obama’s “change” with some old fashioned Pat Buchanan or Ronny Reagan tough on crime talking points. In the end it was his positioning as the candidate of change that allowed him to win. The incumbent Concertación was not able to produce a new candidate, rather relied on an ex president, Eduardo Frei, who now is at best an elderly statesman. Despite the popularity that Bachelet enjoyed, it wasn’t enough to convince people that the status quo was the line to walk.

Personally I have some sort of distrust of Piñera. I don’t trust him to make good decisions as a statesman. Too much time as a shrewd businessman can skew one’s sense of public good. I’m not saying that just because one is a successful businessman they are somehow corrupt or evil. Hardly. But when one already has all the money and plenty of influence, what exactly is it about being president that they feel they lack? The influence? Is he into the idea of himself as some sort of guru? Some sort of neo-liberal Chavez? I can’t trust the guy. But in the end I think this is what happens when a political party has been in power too long, even if democratically elected. It entrenches the bureaucracy, the stale institutionalism that is all too prevalent in Chile. It does need a serious shaking up.

I actually met Sebastían Piñera once last year. I had been drinking wine at the Santa Cruz Vendemia (wine grape harvest) Festival and he ran up to shake hands. I snapped a foto of him. He looks much different in person, much shorter and smaller than on TV. His head is a bit too big and his arms really long. I think if we wrestled I could pin him no problem. But that’s besides the point right?

So here we are. The era of Piñera. Lets see how he handles this mess and devastation these earthquakes have left.

Flatland Reflections on a Chilean Quake

 Curico on March 3rd

In Iowa the ground will grow about anything. It’s the solid foundation of all life, a constant in a complex equation. So naturally when my apartment building here in Santiago began to shake back and forth last Saturday (Feb 28) screaming of steel and concrete grinding together the world that I had once knew -that concept of the earth being solid and firm- it all ended in the doorframe of my apartment.

It took me over five years to finally get a taste of a Chilean earthquake. I expected sooner or later it would hit me considering the seismic activity all along the country. Chile’s geography, it’s rugged, mountainous landscape, defines it as a country. It has a bit of everything. The 5000 mile long slice of land wedged between towering summits over 24000 feet and a cold, rugged pacific beach is made of glaciers, deserts, forests, rivers, lakes and volcanoes. All along the expansive Placa de Nazca fault line.

At 8.8 on the Richter scale the quake registered as the one of the strongest since they started measuring. There is something about that earth moving that ruptures your notions of what is protection and what is just another layer between you and the harsh natural world. That ceiling, that roof, the wall of your house can all be ripped apart like paper. The single strongest sensation that I got while huddling in the doorframe of my bedroom. (Not under my blankets thanks to my wife who knew how to react.), was how small and feeble our sense of order really is. The chaos outside afterwards reinforced that feeling. No lights. A dark, damaged city of nearly 6 million people. The intersections were filled with cars playing chicken with each other to get to their destination. You could even see some of the constellations above.

The quake struck at around 3:30am, just off the coast of the Maule region, some 200 km from Santiago. The litoral central is the center of Chile’s Agricultural district, dotted with small communities and a few cities, such as Concepción, where some of the worst destruction was focused. The coast got the worst, with a tsunami follwed in the hours after the quake and taking houses, cars and lives out to sea.

In all the quake lasted 3 minutes. Actually a long time to be shaken violently. But it’s the aftermath that really is startling. The fact that entire cities have been altered forever is hard to grasp. The entire supply of the most basic goods is thrown into question. When doubts of the source of upcoming meals arise, people react by getting as much as they can while they can. For some this means filling shopping carts in the supermarket and waiting the long lines. But People start stealing. Some because they have to, others because they are just thieves. Images on the Chilean TV stations of people looting washing machines. Gymnasiums where the liftin machines and weights have all been stolen. The worst of humanity comes to the surface.

But so does the best. In a mere four days 40-year TV and fundraising veteran Don Francisco organized a massive telethon that raised around USD 60 million. There have also been countless smaller initiatives. On Saturday (March 6) the city was full of all sorts of different fundraising and donating drives. From nurses taking your blood pressure to massages in the Plaza de Armas, lots of music, haircuts for donations and old fashioned peer pressure at the supermarket line urging shoppers to donate some non perishable goods.

Even the mobs that looted Concepción seemed to come together that weekend, leaving thousands of dollars of looted goods in common plazas and along the street.

In Santiago things are more or less normal. There are several neighborhoods that received damage from the quake, especially in the northwest of the city. But for the most part basic services were restored within a few days. People have been out to have drinks, eat food and reflect on all the madness. But the central southern region of the country is a much different reality.

All the destruction is hard to believe. Massive boats moved inland. Entire neighborhoods wiped off the map by tsunamis. Brand new apartment buildings lying on their side like cast away legos. If the photos are intense, the reality must be overwhelming. One friend of mine returned recently from reporting on the tragedy in Concepción and told me he doesn’t know how he can return to his “normal” life of office work here in Santiago. Witnessing the collective loss isn’t easy for an observer, so it must be hell for those affected directly.

When the quake hit I was sleeping and without even knowing what was going on I was between the doorway, almost sure that my apartment would come down. The sheer force and violence of the earth’s movements are enough to unsettle anyone. I look and think back about what was going on in the days leading up to the earthquake, it all seems a bit trivial now. The continuing aftershocks only keep the anxiety going. Last week the ground shook my world, leaving something that is a little less certain, a little less secure, but just as intense and as beautiful as before.

Cordillera Chilena: Cerro Canoitas

Finally made it back up a cerro after a long work induced pause. This time I went with a group of about 20 people up Cerro Canoitas, located about 15KM up Camino Farellones, just a few minutes past the start of the zona de curvas that leads up to the ski resorts. The hike was pretty easy, starting at around 1800 meters up to 2600 meters. Not much of a trail though, more of a web of rabbit trails, some of which blazed by this guy below. (I must add that he was freed, not eaten nor sold for his fur). Add to that about three false summits and a very loose shale that made the decent a bit more difficult and painful. The summit was great though, with a view of El Plomo and of the city below. I would only recommend it for those who have an idea where to find the trail head (somewhere there are some GPS coordinates on the internet) and don't mind scrambling towards the peak and back down again.

Photos from 09 I should've published: La Plaza de Bogotá

In October of last year I traveled to Bogotá for work. During the trip I took a short tour of the main wholesale fruit market of the capital. It's full of all sort of tropical and imported fruit. I entered along with a receiver of the exporter where I work. It has its dirtiness and chaos, as does any fruit market in Latin America (in the north the are still crazy but a bit cleaner), but it is now a safe place. My guide for the day, who has worked in the market, or as it is referred to there, La Plaza, for more than 10 years, says today it is a safe and relatively good place to be working. Not the case 10 years ago when it was run by competing cartels.

Today it is the principal reception market for imported fruit that arrives to the port of Buenaventura.

In the photo above a worker is packaging plantains, that large banana looking fruit that is so delicious when fried. Ever tried one? They go great with pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw.

Photos of 09

So here are a few of the many photos I've been wanting to put up for a while.

 

I'll start off with a shot from just outside of La Grita, Venezuela. La Grita is a prime farming region that supplies a great deal of the rest of the coutry with vegetables. The crops are planted literally into the side of the mountain, some of them extremely steep! Small (1-2 hectare) plots with  carrots, brocoli lettuce, strawberries and onion, among others are nestled into every growable nichesand corner. Above is from a little pond in some of the higher fields.

Solstice and those dreaded standardized tests

So today is December 21st, the longest (or shortest depending on which hemisphere you are in) day of the year. I've always wanted to be in one of those pyramids in Egypt where the light shines perfectly through that one hole and then through the use of ancient mirrors and other wonders lightens up the inside and you can see ghosts. I think that's how it works. But I'm spending this one in Chile, where the December Solistice means its summertime and despite the cold spring, it is defintely feeling hot like summer should.

December 21 this year also means a day of reakoning for those Chileans who took the standardised test to get into the university. The PSU. It's one of those dreaded tests that dictates you future and the future of your children and their offspring. Do poorly and you'll be flipping burgers, do well and you'll be walking streets paved with gold and own a bit of them too. Well maybe its not that harsh but it feels something about so. We of course have our share of college entry exams in the US. I believe I took the SAT but didn't really care since I was going into the army right after high school. When I did finally go back to school I went first to a community college where you just have to have write a check that doesn't bounce (ok maybe you had to send transcripts and show your HS diploma) and then transferred to the university.

In Chile the whole university route is quite strict in the sense that what you choose at 18 will have a long standing mark on your professional life. Plus the degrees run about 6 years here. I'm very grateful that I was able to take the approach my father suggested: just get it done with, worry about what I will do for work later on. As a result I chose a major that I thought I would enjoy: studio art. It was a lot of fun and somehow I've managed to find work and even break into other areas without the degree that might have been required if I were Chilean.

But for your average Santagiuno even thinking that route is hard. Its not just the pressure from the family, from friends, from that always watching mass of society, it comes from within. How will you find work with an art degree from a good university, much less from a tier two school? Better to go with that Ingeniero Comercial route.

So the whole process starts with those dreaded PSU scores that were delivered today at noon. I hope things went well for everyone who took one all though it never works like that. But boy am I glad that Kirkwood Community College didn't ask me to take anything like that to get in. Who knows where I might be had it worked out like that.

All that social media stuff

I had a friend here in Chile who recently left for the states to work at a power company as a "social media expert." I don't know what he does with his days or how a power company can better their business with social media like facebook, twitter or a blog. I suppose its about tracking their image and being aware of what people are saying, and maybe, just maybe having some sort of influence over it all.

I've long been interested in all that good stuff that allows you to post about your life through different media. But I'm hardly in control or manage to post on any sort of social media platform with any sort of frequency. The last post I wrote was months ago and gives you an idea of how long my absences have become.

When this blog started back in 2004 it was easier. I had just arrived in Chile and everything seemed so new and interesting. Just going to teach English classes was food for thought. But as time passes I've become more accustomed to my surroundings and need to reach deeper in order to keep my interest in the blog, let alone that of you...a devoted and returning reader.

But then came along facebook, then twitter, and those other strange sounding inventions that are supposed to make our lives better or at least more public. I guess you could call it a good thing even if privacy is obsolete. I have a twitter account and have tweeted once I think, but still people continue to follow. Not in any great quantity but here and there. Facebook has proved to be extremely useful, especially when it comes to keeping touch with my family and friends, who are scattered around the world in places as disperse as Iowa, Michigan, Germany and even the Philippines.

However the downside of Facebook is that the more I post or upload photos there, the less I seem to do it on the blog. In the end I would rather focus on the blog, it is mine, it has been around now for a while and in some ways it better reflects me. Facebook though guarantees a certain level of distribution of your thoughts.

So here is what I'm thinking: update with Twitter which goes then to the facebook page, write on the blog and link it from facebook, share the best photos on both the blog and on facebook.

So the dilemma continues. Any ideas?

Thus ends another trip

So once again a long planned, long anticipated trip has come to an end. I spent the last three and a half weeks in Europe, visting family of my maternal grandfather and grandmother in two separate, amazing and large family reunions.

Some of these people I met on my first two trips to Germany, one 13 years ago the other 17 years ago. Things have obviously changed. My generation is quickly moving into the middle position, although there is only now one cousin expecting the next generation.

Some of the things that stand out from the trip:

Randomly running into my 86 year old grandfather in one of Germany's oldest breweries in Munich, the Hofbrauhaus. I had no idea he had arrived in Germany yet when on a trip to the bathroom between the liter sized steins, I almost bumped into him. We were both surprised. He had just finished his second liter with a group of random high school students from Illinois

The places themselves where the reunions were held were incredible. Kinsegg, located near Fussen and the Rosshof, south of Frankfurtwere picturesque settings for these gatherings. The sheer quantity of people was also impressive. Some 130-140 at the first and 40 at the second. Its nice to go to a country one hardly knows and have that sort of network already there.

I think about half my time I spent admiring the food. Both the renions had an excellent spread of Kuchens, sausages, salads, breads, sauces…makes me hungry just thinking of it. No better way to share time with those closest than over a plate of top grade grub.

And most of all the atitude of hospitality from our German hosts. I wish I spoke some German and it wasn't easy for all to communicate at all times, but there was a mutual, communal willingness among the group to welcome and share our lives and stories. Couldn't ask for better.

More photos to come!

Andergraun

Chile's punks are hard core. The documentary "Andergraun" (a jarbaled version of "Underground" in Chilean) follows three punk bands in Valdivia. These bands are real Do-It-Yourself, no frills, lets go out and tag the walls and put up flyers for our next show that we drew type bands. While I'm not the biggest punk fan, I enjoyed the movie. It's the dream of starting a band in its purest form, or maybe rawest would be a better way to describe it.

Check out what I wrote about it on Revolver.

San Carlos de Apoquindo

Last Saturday was a rarity. The weather was perfect: clear, warm with a good strong sun. Something that one learns to relish during a dreary Santiago winter. So we loaded up and headed to San Carlos de Apoquindo. The area is owned by the Universidad Catolica and serves as a sports/activities complex. They have everything from a football stadium to a polo field. But for me the best part is the network of trails that you can hike or bike. The main route leads you up to Alto Naranjo, one of the hills that make the route up to Cerro Provincia. But there are a number of other trails at San Carlos that will take you to some great look outs over the city.

Discovering the Plaza Ñuñoa.

I like where I live. Ñuñoa is a community in Santiago located just south of Providencia. It is mostly residential, lots of trees, only recently have taller buildings made there way to the community, unfortunately taking away some of the great views of the San Ramon group of mountains towards the east.

As a muncipality Ñuñoa also has a lot going for it. Its the only community in Santiago that has a recyclng pick up service. It also has a free bus in the mornings (though it doesn't get quite far enough). There are a lot of free music shows in several of the plazas, including the Plaza Ñuñoa, near where I live.

The Plaza Ñuñoa also offers some great night entertainment: breweries, theater, live music, good happy hour specials all make it an attractive destination at night.

Revista Revolver just published a short guide I wrote to the night scene in Ñuñoa. I didn't go too far in depth into the places, and I probably left out a few goodies (La Isla, Butapest, to name a couple), but it gives you an idea of what is possible if you're looking to get to know the Plaza a bit more.

Republika 550 - After four years they've gotten run out

Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Republika 550, an abandoned house that had been taken over by a cooperative of artists and used to over a whole bunch of art and performance related workshops. Check out the orginal article here.

Well today I saw in a couple of papers that the house had been "retaken," ie raided by police and the cooperative that has been using it, Akí, booted out. It's too bad but to me not that surprising. There was a lot of good that was being done there. There were a whole lot of activities going on and all for free. From clowns, painting, theater, urban graffiti to dance and more. For a moment, after all the legal steps were taken to kick the group out, there was some hope that maybe there would be some sort of arrangement. But it seemed at best a long shot. A stuttering bureaucratic state agency in charge of administrating this state owned, but abandoned houses; and a revolutionary/anarchist blend of artist activists who denounced regularly "the system" all coming together didn't seem too realistic.

The house its self needs a lot of work, and although Akí found a lot of creative ways to use the space, as well as cleaned up a decent amount of trash and done some redecorating, a much larger restoration effort is needed for that place. It's a beautiful house, but has been sitting there for too long without much upkeep. I wonder if had they been a bit more active in not just using it but improving it, things might be different.

But in any case I hope some of the creative energy invested into the place over the last four years will convince whoever is in charge of it now that a cultural center open to the public is the way to go forward.

We'll see.

Revolver Night tonight in Centro Arte Alameda

Tonight is the one year anniversary and "official" launch of Revista Revolver, an online mag that covers music & culture here in Santiago (and Chile in general). It starts at 9.30pm at the Centro Arte Alameda. I'll be there at the door and pouring some wine (while it lasts). Then we got a couple live bands and a DJ. Come check it out, the CAA is a pretty cool place, has a bar upstairs and is only a block or so from Metro Baquedano.

4th of July at Santiago Radio

In search of a more festive 4th of July atmosphere than Ñuñoa on a dreary saturday I headed to Santiago Radio's new studio, located in Barrio Suecia on Bucacrest 118. I visited Nick aka Nico Jah, and Jimmy Jam, probably Santiago's only english language reggae DJs, while they played some music over the internet broadcast.

The new studio is a huge step up from their garage styled operation in the back yard of Steve Anderson's Santiago Times in Bellavista. DirecTV is even providing sponsorship (big flat screen) in order to reach more gringos with a "English Spoken here" campaign. The place still is in the works, but should be open around August 1st. Check out their link above.

The new studio will also serve as a Café with a small setup of tables and couches for snacks and conversationl.

Back to the Basketball

Today I played basketball for the first time in about 15 months. The last time I fell badly and dislocated my ankle from my leg. It was ugly, painful and put me in crutches for a month, physical therapy for weeks and off the court, bike, trails, even the sidewalk! But I've recoved. There is of course a need to be careful. I can't go for every rebound like Dennis Rodman used to do. But I can once again play. Feels great.

Looking Down on the City

Photo by Kyle Weaver

It's been about a month and a half since I made it up to the top of San Ramon with a great group of guys. We ended up being eight, and managed to start the first day, about a six hour hike, pretty late around 4pm. The darkness turned it into an 8 hour climb this night. The end of the hike wasn't exactly pleasent. I struggled on each step up and the darkness only played more tricks on my tired mind and body. But on above me were the Andes, lit up by a lightening storm ever so and then. And the view over the valley as I passed the last bit of rock obstacles near the top shortly before midnight was grandiose. 6 million people and all their lights, all over a kilometer below me.