My First Chilean Earthquake

11. To mark the first month anniversary of my arrival, on August 23rd, tectonic plates beneath the country gave me my first earthquake experience in Chile and the second experience in my life (with the first being a California earthquake of 5.5). Everything ended well - don't worry! It simply served as a good learning experience; I know that I will stay calm in uncontrollable situations like earthquakes.

Here's what happened...

Half asleep, I heard intense rattling, of the window I was sitting next to and of unidentifiable sources outside. It was the same noise in New Mexico when the wind hits our metal terrace in the backyard at same time as the sound of heavy rain hitting our skylight. At first, I thought that it was heavy rain, but I quickly realized that it was not raining. Then, my memory is a mix of scenes. At some point, my Chilean sister calls out that this is a 'temblor' (meaning 'tremor'). My Chilean mom ascends the staircase to turn off the estufa. Then my sisters and I descend the staircase and stand huddled together as we observed the plants and windows, the only indications if the earth was still moving. In what seems like minutes later, the indoor plant, patio window, and TV finally stop shaking. 

My family began discussing the Richter scale number of the earthquake ('that was a strong one' and 'that felt like a 6' and 'huh, the earthquake moved up and down instead of the normal side to side'). They were right, which is no surprise considering their extensive expensive all their lives. As it is, we turned on the television immediately after. Turns out, the earthquake lasted 40 seconds, which my family told me is the 'average amount,' unlike the infamous 8.8 earthquake several years ago that apparently lasted several minutes. It was a 6.6 earthquake at its epicenter and, by the time it reached Santiago, it was 6.0. Extensive damage was not reported; the worst was that several regions in Santiago lost electricity for a few hours. By the morning, the earthquake became 'old news' and neither the news nor my family has talked about it since. The earthquake happened, as they usually do here, and Chileans take the event in stride. It was even a conversation starter the day after at school, where students asked each other, 'Where were you when it happened?' but that is about as much excitement and drama that an earthquake presents here. 

Chileans treat earthquakes as a part of their life, which it is. Chile is one of the most seismologically active countries in the world, sitting on a 'subduction zone,' named this way because a huge tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean constantly moves beneath the South American plate. In fact, one earthquake was felt today in the northern Atacama Desert (the most arid in the world) and there have been six measured earthquakes in this past week. This means that a 'temblor' is 'merely' an earthquake below 8.0, considered a 'mere tremor', versus a 'terremoto' which is an earthquake of the real deal that leads them to be more cautious and actually fearful. 

Isabel Allende wrote a remarkable phrase that has stayed with me: that Chileans are formed by the instability of the earth beneath them and that has strengthened their character is a unique way. I would have to agree.

August Photo Diary (Part 6) - Shopping with Friends and Zumba

9. Parque Arauco, one of the favorite shopping destinations among my friends and family, symbolizes everything West and extravagant. It has everything that one could possibly need and it probably a shopaholic's dream world. 

Considering my lack-of-adequate-clothes situation that I expressed in a previous blog post, I decided to go shopping for basic clothing one day. On another, I went out with friends to watch a late-night movie at the theater there and enjoyed the free concert in the plaza. And yet on another day, I went with my extended family to drink coffee and walk around. You get the idea; I have been there quite  a bit.

(Above: In the outside portion of the mall on the second floor is a waterfall. It is a good place to relax and find some quiet time outside of the crowd inside the mall.)

(Above: Another picture of the architecture of the place)

(Above: The mall offers everything, from distinctive products to a variety of price options. Obviously, those three stores pictured are on the luxury end of the spectrum.)

(Above: I had a craving for chocolate then, so I stopped by to buy an emergency stash. I found it cute to see the little balls of Lindt chocolate in such a great variety and sold in singles behind the counter. On a side note, it was funny to encounter the shop on the Designs floor of the mall designated for home design and decoration)

(Above: The food court is like any other, but I was happy to find a sushi express store that offered really cheap sushi)

(Above: On the left is a board advertising the Peruvian twists on sushi. The concept of 'Latin American sushi' caught my attention. It is always fun to find cultural twists on concepts I am used to.)

(Above: The remnants of my friends' KFC chicken, fries, and soapapillas. Yes, Chilean KFC offers soapapillas.)

(Above: Pictured is the finished sushi and finished box of Pizza Hut pizza. Ah, the joys of classic American pizza and cheap Japanese sushi)

10. Zumba has become one of my favorite physical activities so far. That, and bicycling, are helping me stay active and semi-healthy in light of the very rich food I am consuming (example: pictured above).

Every weekend, our sector of town hosts a Zumba session in the morning, which attracts 30 people or so, in the beautiful large central park. (Note: Another aspect I love about Chile... the abundance of green parks) I love starting my morning dancing (rather awkwardly) with many strangers as we all do the same silly, upbeat movements. It makes me feel productive and more awake. Zumba also serves as a good connection between my US life and this one because everything is the same but not, all at the same time. (In fact, the idea that 'everything is the same but not' basically characterizes my current student exchange experience.)

We have two instructors - a male one who shouts encouragements and somehow manages to sing along quite well to all the pop music while doing intense cardio movements and a female instructor who simply dances. The following are pictures of the place.

Ciao!

August Photo Diary (Part 5) - More Food, at the Feria and Supermarket!

8. Food happens to be one of my favorite subjects in the world. In fact, my Chilean sister and I recently spent two hours comparing our food preferences and discussing the merits of different types of dessert and fruit as we head into Independence Day celebrations this upcoming week. 

Here are just a few of the highlights of my food adventures so far...

The Neighborhood Farmer's Market

(Above: Very close to our house is a farmer's market of a dozen or so vendors who congregate there to sell fruits and vegetables two days a week. Here is my smiling face thinking of eating the fruit once we get home.)

(Above: I am enjoying the variety of fruit here and, to add to that, fresh fruit at these farmer's markets is cheaper and, obviously, better than the fruit sold at supermarkets. How cool is that?! In the US, it is common to hold onto the 'logical' concept that the higher the quality, the higher the price of the product.) 

(Above: Pictured is cherimoya fruit, thought to be native to the Andes. It has a mix of two tastes, sweet but with a hint of bitterness. I have only tasted its juice so far, but I am looking forward to tasting the fruit soon, as well. Cherimoya and 'tuna' (prickly pear), are two fruits that I have discovered while here.

 The Supermarket

(Above: One of the food aisles at Jumbo, one of the two largest supermarket chains in Chile. The second is Lider, which is the company that Walmart owns.)

(Above: Yogurt is a staple in my family's diet. This is how much we buy for one week and still it is not enough. The way all Chileans buy yogurt - by placing them on the side of the cart - caught my attention and now I find it quite ingenious.)

(Above: This entire aisle - I kid you not - is all instant coffee and all under the monopoly of Nescafe. All Chileans seem to drink instantaneous Nescafe coffee, it seems.)

(Above: Bread is also a huge staple in the Chilean diet, most especially white freshly baked bread. There are so many varieties... marraqueta, which has the same texture as a French baguette, hallulla, which is a flat round bread, sopaipilla, which is fried dough, and amasado, a round bread resembling biscuit. This great amount of refined carbohydrates must not be that healthy, but it definitely is cool to see how many varieties of bread that can exist.)

(Above: Although practically every part of the supermarket resembled an American Wal-Mart, this part in the grocery section caught my interest: once you have picked your fruit/vegetable and need to have it weighed, instead of using a scale yourself, you stand in line for a man to weigh your fruit, tie the bag, and place a sticker indicating weight. I suppose this is due to the fact that the cashiers do not have scales and I think that it is helpful to create jobs, but it seems to add extra steps to the process and use up many people's time.)

(Above: A picture of our shopping cart. It is quite indicative of the food we eat. Always yogurt, purified water, both without and with gas, snacks in the form of cookies and granola bars, etc.)

La Feria

... which is my favorite of the three.

The feria is a farmer's market located in the poorer downtown sector of Santiago that caters towards restaurants. It sells fruits and vegetables in wholesale and, while it was not kept very clean, it gave me a look at another side of Chilean culture and, of course, I got to interact with food, which I love doing! This was definitely the opposite of the modern Santiago that I live in, but I loved the warehouse and outdoors dynamic of the market. 

I woke up at 6am that day to leave the house at 6:15, before sunrise, with my Chilean mom. It was freezing cold, but one of the most fun and diverse experiences I have had in the country.

The market is divided into two: the warehouse section that where vendors sell small quantities of fresh fruit, dried fruit, and vegetables. These vendors obtain their products from farmers. Meanwhile, outside in the lot, farmers sell their own products through a negotiations (note: bargaining) process with the buyers. These vendors are, on the whole, friendly. They remembered my Chilean mom, gave her cheek kisses, and were relaxed in their attitude.

Another interesting aspect is that we saw numerous unlicensed street vendors. They were usually from Peru (due to the large number of poor immigrants from there) who were not paying the Chilean government to sell there. So, we saw women (mostly) selling grilled meat on shishkebobs and a woman selling fresh orange juice. The woman selling fresh orange juice even talked quietly about how she had made plans about maintaining her equipment when she would need to run from the police to avoid being caught and fined.

(Above: A man unloading countless bags of potatoes, which are a staple probably due to the heavy German cultural influence. Look at the gorgeous cordillera in the background! My phone camera, in which I was slyly taking pictures, never does it justice,)

(Above: There was also a fish market selling seafood of every type. Octopus hanging from wires - how horrible - can be seen. Other seafood included squid and various types of fish like salmon and merluz. This lot was quite modern, which surprised me, because it had an elevated stone landing and a space in the back to wash and cut the fish. The downside of standing in front of a fish market: it most definitely smelled like raw fish.)

(Above: A look at the market. People were either shopping for themselves or acting as the in-between for families or restaurants. Pictured is our cart, full of tons of oranges, spinach, and fruits. At some point in the process, I was carrying around four dozen eggs, for fear that they would break if placed in the cart.)

(Above: After four hours of shopping around the large lot, we stacked all the food into every crevice of our car and drove home.)

(Above: A look at the amount of food we bought. Pictured is only half of the actual amount, which will last our family a month)

Food indicates much about a culture, so I am glad to have gone on these various food adventures!

Hasta luego! 

August Photo Diary (Part 4) - World Press Photo Exhibition

7. The day after adventuring around Downtown Santiago at night and visiting La Moneda and the Centro Cultural, our entire family went to the World Press Photo Exhibition in downtown. The exhibition is a part of an international tour from the Amsterdam-based annual photography contest. To me, the idea of the exhibition is to tell the story of the year in the eyes of ordinary people. 

It explains why I thought it particularly cool that they created a space specifically for Chileans to contribute their own photography out front...

The quality of the photos and juxtaposition of the different colors was impressive, especially given that many contributors are not professional photographers or the like. I also enjoyed seeing Chile in the eyes of locals; it gave the exhibition a more local feel since its photos span the world's events this past year. Below are pictures of some stray dogs (that are very common everywhere) who hung around the front sleepily. I thought they were cute and out-of-place, so I took pictures...

 Inside, needless to say, the pictures were gorgeous. It is one of those situations where the most horrible things seem beautiful in appearance. What irony.

(Above: photo of a town with heavy industry effects)

(Above: the first part of the building with photos dealing with nature. The gorgeous orange and blue hues of the two photos on the right depict environmental pollution seen aerially. I could hardly believe it.)

(Above: There was a sports section that was really fantastic. This photo caught my attention and I lingered there for an extra few minutes)

(Above: I am pictured standing next to the photo of the year won by an American. It depicts African migrants in Somalia trying to find phone signal to contact their family. This was one of the many examples of evocative photos at the exposition.)

(Above: My younger Chilean sister and I at the entrance of the exhibition)

Overall, I greatly liked the exhibition. I liked that it gave a chance for 'ordinary' photographers to participate and that it demonstrated the ability of photography to convey issues and evoke strong emotions from the receptor. At times, the pictures were unnecessarily crude, depicting violence and cruelty without shame or shielding, and those were more difficult to see. 

Food!

Then, we went out to eat nearby at a tourist-y restaurant that was beautiful, nestled in a quaint neighborhood near one of Pablo Neruda's homes. It was the first time in Chile that I heard so many conversations in English! Anyways, the restaurant was gorgeous, all in tones of dark brown with a high ceiling and two stories. 

(Above: The restaurant was odd in this respect: it made food in double the normal size but with the same delicious quality and cheap price. Pictured is my order: bread with fried merluza fish, avocado, and tomato. As expected, I could not finish the plate.)

(Above: My Chilean dad ordered Soapapillas - fried and crunchy, which is different from the version I am used to - with caramelized mushrooms, eggplant, steak, and fried potatoes. Definitely not good for your heart, but super rico!)

(Above: my Chilean sister ordered cheeseburger with blue cheese... and out came two! I tried a bit and it was marvelous... The sweetness of the cheese melded perfectly with the beef and the hardier texture of the bread.)

To end, it was a fantastic food and intellectual-stimulating day, which ended even better because it started to rain, making the day picture-perfect!

(Above: a woman walking through the rain. Notice how the colors of the building look more delightful in the rain? Or maybe that is just me...)

August Photo Diary (Part 3) - Centro Cultural and Downtown Santiago

5. After going for a tour in La Moneda Palace, we went to the Centro Cultural (Cultural Center) located directly underneath the palace.

(Above: picture of the street across from La Moneda. These street 'stores' are common. They sell magazines, packaged snacks like chocolate and nuts, and lots of cigarettes)

(Above: looking down into the Centro Cultural entrance from La Moneda)

(Above: Me standing next to the water structure connecting La Moneda and the Centro Cultural)

(Above: At the entrance, there was a mythological art piece displayed. I tried to imitate its face. And failed.)

(Above: The entire space of the Centro Cultural was modernistic and sleek, surrounded by white walls, glass windows, and high ceilings with skylights. There were different rooms for expositions, one of which was focused entirely on Chile's indigenous culture, which is not recognized much. Here I am standing next to a map of Chile on the wall depicting the different indigenous groups in the country, as well as, the distinctive qualities of their pottery. The presentation of Chile as a horizontal country struck me as different, which made me see the country differently. Also, it called me attention how similar the method and style of pottery is compared to pottery in the southwest of the United States.)

(Above: We ate at Cafe Torres, a cafe that over the years has hosted many Chilean politicians' meetings. The food was really simple, with nothing special. I wanted to try a 'President Pinera Sandwich,' a sandwich of arugula and smoked salmon that was a favorite of the previous president's, but the restaurant had run out of ingredients. Instead, we ordered a 'churrasco italiano,' a steak sandwich that was made 'italian' because it had tomato and avocado.)

(Above: Torta mil hojas, literally 'one thousand sheet cakes,' all made of manjar, a really sweet sugar made from milk. The texture was really cool, but it was too sweet for me)

(Above: There was a cool architectural exhibit from universities all around Chile with models of ecological-friendly homes. The ideas were innovative and the models were beautiful to look at. There were even tiny people in the homes!)

(Above: In one of the many stores on the third floor is a postcards/bookmarks. Pictured above is a Kloketen, which was a part of a male initiation rite of the Ona Indians, a group of hunter and gatherers many many years ago.)

(Above: Another store, which offered indigenous jewelry and ponchos)

(Above: This is a part of one of the rooms on the first floor dedicated to the cinematic arts. The room exhibited national film archives. It was great to see the many films that have influenced and were influenced by Chilean culture)

(Above: One of the posters outside the building caught my attention, given how controversial the topic still is and how contemporary it is. The poster portrayed a documentary about the Chilean student movement a few years back - and still continuing - to bring about educational reform. A great number of Chilean students all over the country marched out of the classes to protest the poor educational quality, becoming known as the 'pinguinos' for their uniforms. I would really love to see this documentary in the near future)

(Above: Another exhibition was of mythological and real creatures in the animal world, all made of wood. It was interesting for me to hear Chilean myths and legends and get to see the unique Chilean animals, like the Chilla Fox and pudu)

(Above: Two more animals of the exhibit)

6. Then we wandered around Downtown Santiago, in the very central of the sector.

(Above: Here I am at the entrance of the Air Force. The building was beautiful and did not at all look like what one would usually imagine as the headquarters for a part of the military.)

(Above: This is the carpet of the Air Force Entrance. I had no idea that the building was for the Air Force until I found this.)

(Above: This is a window of the Air Force building. Marvel at how gorgeous the architecture is from the Spanish colonial times!)

(Above: Isn't it beautiful at night, with the streets and buildings?)

(Above: One of the streets)

(Above: This is a window that is a part of the historical and old buildings downtown. It is considered a monument because it is a colonial-era home of the landownders)

(Above: numerous buildings had a plaque explaining its historical importance. Many of them, like the one pictured above, spoke of the Junta de Gobierno in the early 1800s, which was a group of elite Chileans who were the first to help Chile make its own political decisions outside of much of Spain's control)

(Above: Along the sidewalks were these medal guys leading us to the historical monuments as a part of a personal tour of the city. It was very much a Santiago version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.)

(Above: We also passed by a street wherein every store was an optics-related show, either of optometry or to sell glasses. This street is actually known as the optics street.)

(Above: On a whim, we entered an old, beautiful church.)

(Above: Inside the church, practically every wall had an elaborate sculpture of a saint and the name of a family. In the olden days, rich families would pay to have their family name written on the walls and the dead buried there. This tradition makes me feel uncomfortable, but it still was interesting to see the strength of Spanish influence and religious practices on Chilean lives)

(Above: We happened to be there for mass, so pictured is the priest giving his sermon. On a side note, there was a man playing the organ and singing beautifully. I felt that we were in Europe due to his deep soulful voice.)

(Above: It was ironic to witness a student protest on our drive home after being fixated by the movie poster about the Chilean student educational movement. The students were led by Carabineros and shouted quite loudly. That's another first: witnessing my first Chilean protest.)

Until next time... Ciao!