Villa Grimaldi

      I had the privileged of touring the infamous Chilean torture camp, Villa Grimaldi, with survivor as my tour guide.  Pedro Matta studied Law at the Universidad de Chile in 1975. He was a politically active member of his university and supporter of the left-wing democrat, Salvador Allende.  Due to his political affiliation his was detained and tortured here at Villa Grimaldi.  He described to us the methods of torture used in order to force prisoners to divulge the names of others who were contra the Gobierno Militar de Augusto Pinochet.
     Up until the late 1980's Villa Grimaldi was utilized as an interrogation and torture center for the DINA, Pinochet's secret Chilean police.  This complex once housed over 4,500 detainees, and an unfortunate 230 "disappeared" and were never to be seen again.  Citizens who were considered too politically active, or anyone who protested against the fascist regime was detained, tortured, and even killed.  Decades after this unforgettable mark in history, Villa Grimaldi serves as a memorial to the victims of torture and the end of a traumatic period in Chile.

Up to 5 detainees were forced to live in these tiny sheds for weeks on end.

This rose garden commemorates each  detained woman who was sexual assaulted at Villa Grimaldi   

Those taken to this torture tower, almost never made it out alive. 

 

 

 

 

The juxtaposition between the torterous activity that took place in this compound and the now serene environment of Villa Grimaldi is something that I found eerie, but at the same time plesant. A complete oxymoron I know, but one can't help but feel a sense of tranquility here despite the grusome past of this compound.  My trip to Villa Grimaldi was nothing less than fulfilling and the sheer fact that I was able to experience this neagtive historical period through the eyes of a survivor, was more than I could have asked for. A speacial thank you to my tour guide Pedro Matta, for having the courage to share your story with me. 

Besos y Abrazos,

Rina      

Kangas, Caipirinhas y Copacabana!

     Rio de Janeiro, Brasil was just a travel "possibility" when I first arrived in South America, and luckily all it took was a little paperwork and a lot of money to make it happen.  My Semana Santa spent in Brasil was nothing but amazing.  Not only did I get to travel to the opposite side of the continent, but I had the chance to explore a new culture and with that a rather interesting introduction to a new language, Portugués.  My trip to Brasil will most definitely hold a high place on my "South American Adventure" list and I could not be happier that my visa brasileña lasts 10 years. Trip to Brasil anyone?


Hope you all enjoy the 2nd episode of OOCC!

Besos y Abrazos!

Rina :]

 

     

Olé Olé! Brasil Brasil!

      Tomorrow morning at 8:15 am I will be on a plane headed to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil with my fellow Santa Barbarian Ashley Kearney! This trip has been number one on my list of places to visit for quite some time and it is finally happening and I cannot begin to express how excited I am! We will be taking lots of pictures and even better my second episode of Olé Olé! Chile Chile!,  don't worry this time I will actually bring my camera battery. So until we meet again next week, Tchau! 

Beijos e Abraços,  

Rina :]

  

"Cavar, Cavar, Cavar, Cavar, Ya es Hora de Cerrar!"

     The Chilean economy is very dependent on the mining industry, but most importantly the mining of Chile's most important mineral, cobre (copper).  This past month I had the privilege of visiting the largest subterranean copper mine in the world,  El Teniente, located in the now deserted mining town of Sewell.  Mining at El Teniente was said to have started as early as the 1820's and we toured the city and the mine I was in awe by how much history there truly was.
     Early in the morning, my fellow EAP-ers and I took a bus 55 miles south to Sewell.  We changed buses at the welcome center and geared up, and when I say "gear up" I mean it.  After putting on our heavy duty mining boots, we shuffled to the bus only to find a bright orange mining jacket, gas mask, goggles and helmet with attachable head lamp, waiting for us to fashionably sport them.  As you could imagine I was looking quite chic, haha. Our bus took us about 6 miles into the mine, which is "upside down", not literally, but the main shafts of the mine go upwards not downwards.  The upper levels are mined and push the ore down shafts to the primary crushers, called chancadores, located underground near the main level of the mine.
     Our tour guide, Don Carlos demonstated to us how this process worked, as the large chunks     of ore fall down onto the central cone in the middle, it moves at a rapid pace breaking them up into more moveable pieces.  Later, fine crushing is done by two ball mills. The powdered ore is mixed with water and chemicals and sent to flotation tanks and then later smelted, and ahí esta Cobre!
     Later on our tour we were taken into La Caverna de Cristales, which was preserved from destrcution because of its spectacular nature.  Don Carlos explained to us that people come from all over the world just to enter the caverns because of their known healing powers and transmition of the buena onda, which we do love so much here in Chile. He was even kind enough to bestow us with a parting gift, our own piece of the million year old crystal which has never seen the light of day until now.
     Sewell also has a visiting center in the middle of the town in which people can explore and admire artifacts from the town itself as well many products that were manufactured using copper.  Although my favorite part of this museum was the change in minning fashion. As you can see our mining gear was not nearly as cool as this guy's over here, that is what I call mining of the future.    

     I must say that the two aspects of this trip that I favored the most was number 1, many of the copper and mineral used to produced some of these material obejcts came from the Earth! I just think it is incredible, that the Earth could generate over millions of years such a magnificent stone or even create a mineral that would later be used to produce a 19th century copper diving helmet.
      Number 2, if you lived in Sewell, you worked here, you got married here, raised your family here, everything you could ever need was is in Sewell.  Families upon families worked in these mines, and a sort of generational pride among these miners and their work was formed, and I that is something I can truly appreciate.  There was once an uninterrupted rhythm here, a routine that people followed, a certain way of life and I am so glad I had the chance to discover that , especially because it is such a great part of Chile's history.  

Since I have been here in Chile I have discovered my newfound love for Disney movies in Español, I figured that I would end my mining experience with a song from Blanca Nieves y Los Siete Enanos. I hope you all enjoy!  

Besos y Abrazos! 

Rina :] 

     

     

     

"3 P's Por Favor... Punta, Puerto, Paine"

     A wise man, Mike Figueroa, once told me that your body can handle much more than you can imagine and it took me traveling 1554 miles to the south of Chile to figure out that he was absolutely right.  My trip to the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine proved to be just that, a test of physical and mental endurance.  I would have never in a million years imagined myself trekking 5 days, with a 22 pound bag, for almost 47 miles.  I use to think the Garcia Trail back home was hard, and that was only 2.5 miles roundtrip, sin backpack! But to my surprise I survived and there are no words to describe how amazing and fulfilling this trip was, hence,  I made an episode about it! Here is my 1st episode of Olé Olé! Chile Chile! Hope you all enjoy!

Besos y Abrazos!  

Rina   :]   

Fotos de La Patagonia:

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/miss-rhernandez/La%20Patagonia/

  

Vamos a la playa playa!

     Yes I am finally posting on my blog again! So I have been in Santiago for one whole month, and it has definitely flew by. I feel like I have been living here for such a long time already! Since I've been missing in action for a while, I have much to divulge about the adventures I've been having these past couple of weeks. Bear with me guys this is going to be a long post! My 1st weekend in Santiago was spent in Cajón de Maipo with other students from my program.  We all gathered at a resort nestled in the canyons for an orientation, pretty much just a discussion of the events that would be taking place over the next couple of weeks.  It was nice to get to explore a part of Chile that was polar opposite to the city.  It was here that I also met my best group of girlfriends, Katie, Ashley, Hannah, and Nikki, Las Cinco Gringas, as our Chilean friends call us. Over the course of that weekend I engaged in activities such as tanning, eating, hiking, eating, and more eating.  As you can tell it was a very stressful weekend haha. Although I did pretty much nothing for that entire 3 days, I was able to obtain a better understanding of Chilean food. Pan is pretty much a staple here in Chile, and for all that know me know that I absolutely LOVE eating bread, so I am in heaven!  For breakfast a typical meal would consist of pan, queso o mantequilla, y café, definitely not the Ihop breakfast we eat in the states, but still equally delicious. Lunch and dinner are completely different stories. There is almost always some type of ensalada, of course pan, a main course, and my favorite, postre! My host padre Dano is a chef, so we ate everything from sushi to vienesa italiano, which is a hot dog con tomate, mayo, y palta (which is avocado, but Chileans call it palta not aguacate). 
     So far I have liked everything I have tried, despite the fact that everything is covered in mayo.  Although my favorite thing of all... wait for it... the Churassco!  This is the Chilean hamburger, and believe me when I say that it is delicioso! A Churassco Italiano comes equipped with thin slices of steak, tomato, mayo, and lots of avocado all on a toasted bun, the cerveza is not normally included haha.  I could go on and on about how great Chilean food is, but the thing that I find the most interesting is the cultural aspect of eating. Mealtimes are a very important part of family life, and I almost always ate with my host family, something I thoroughly enjoyed. It gave us time to reflect on our days, spend time with each other and practice my Castellano.  We would usually eat dinner anytime bewteen 8 and 11 pm, which is completely normal here.  Speaking of late nights, being able to engage in the nightlife here means that you need to have time to sleep all day!

     My 3rd weekend here my friends and I planned our first independent trip to the beach towns of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar for our friend Hannah's birthday.  It was here that I gotmy first real taste of the Chilean nightlife.  Directly after school we caught a taxi to Centro Santiago to hop on our 2 o'clock bus to Valpo.  After arriving at our hostel and getting ready for the evening ahead of us, we set off to eat at an awesome seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean, Portofino.  Hannah's grandparents paid for our dinner as her birthday present and I must say it was the best seafood I have ever eaten.
     Everything was incredibly fresh and it was so nice to be able to order a drink with dinner, being that the drinking age here is 18.  After trying to shake off our food coma we went to a 5 story club called El Huevo.  I was ready to call it a night at 2 am, but it was almost 5 in the morning when we finally trekked back to our hostel.  I  was completely exhausted the following day and a trip to the beach was much needed.  We took a micro that cost about 400 pesos, comparable to about 85 cents, to the white sandy beaches of Reñaca which is located next to the comuna, Viña del Mar.  The water here is absolutely gorgeous, but freezing cold due to the northern flowing Humbodlt current. It is also not very safe to swim in because the current is so strong, but of course we did it anyways.

The following day we took a taxi to the house of 1971 Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda.  His home, La Sebastiana, is now a museum that sits high above the city of Valparaiso.  In each of its five stories, visitors may discover the lifestyle and absurdity that was Pablo Neruda.  Not to mention the view is absolutely breathtaking.  My favorite part of the house were the ornaments, a great detail that makes this place extraordinarily unique. Neruda also has 2 other homes in Chile, which I cannot wait to visit.  After our extremely fun yet exhausting weekend, we headed back to our hostel to gather our belongings for the journey back to Santiago.  For being our 1st trip I would say that it was a great success and I am extremely excited to see what the next adventure with these crazy girls will be!

     Friends and Family! I will be posting links to my Photobucket so that you can look at all of my pictures from my various trips.  The password is sanitago, for future refernce. Thank you for taking the time to enjoy this experience 

with me! :]

Chau Chau!

      Rina 

Here are the Links to my pictures, enjoy! 
 
 - Cajón de Maipo: http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/miss-rhernandez/Cajon%20de%20Maipo/       

- Valparaiso y Viña del Mar: http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/miss-rhernandez/Valparaiso%20y%20Vina%20del%20Mar/












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" Bienvenido a Chile! "

     After a 13 hour flight I finally arrived en Santiago de Chile.  After our hour long journey through immigration and customs we were finally on our way to el Hostel Internacional, which was located en el centro de Santiago.  I did not have the chance to interact much with the Chileans once I arrived here, but I most definitely made up for that during el almuerzo.  After attempting to understand the menu, I came to the realization that I had no idea what any of this food was besides huevos y hamburguesas. Our waitress spoke no english and after being utterly confused by everything she was saying I settled with hambuguesa a la pobre con platano frito... which is basically hamburger meat with fried egg and fried bananas on the side.  My hostel roommate and I roamed around downtown Santiago to do a little exploring as well as buy some much needed supplies.  We ran into a couple of other girls from our hostel and ended up touring a modern art museum que se llama el Centro Cultrual Palacio de la Moneda. This museum is designed to place Santiago in the international cultural circuit by allowing participative and formative access for all citizens to the cultural and audio-visual richness of the nation.  

Esta una exhibicion en el museo que representa la union de Norte y Sudamerica.   

(This is an exhibit in the museum that represents the union of North and South America). 

This is supposed to represent the coast of California, but as you can tell it isn't very visually accurate haha. 

     As we trekked back to the hostel I began to reflect on the limited conversations that I had had with those that I met and this feeling of "What am I even doing here?!" came over me.  The more I tried to converse in spanish, the more discouraged I began to feel.  Almost every Chilean I met spoke at a light-speed pace and a lot of the vocabulary that I was familiar with was non-existent.  I was expecting people to speak to me in English when they heard me struggling, but I continued to receive looks of bewilderment, which only added to the stress that was already building up.  Unfortunately, I went to bed that night with a heavy heart and questions of how I was ever going to endure the next 6 months. 

The room that I stayed at en el Hostel Internacional.  

The lobby

The common area outside of my window.

     I awoke the next morning feeling a bit better, but I was still worried about how I was going to communicate with my host family.  We arrived at La Catolica, which is where I will be studying for the semester, to meet our host families.  We filed into the schools monastery and I stood there waiting for my host parents to come find me.  I seriously felt like a puppy waiting to be adopted haha.  I was met by a young man who looked like he could almost be as young as me. This was my host padre y se llama Daniel.  He is 29 years old and married to my host madre, Alejandra, who is only 25 by the way.  Daniel is a chef and Ale is a psychologist for children and adolescents, they have been married for 3 years and I am their 1st host child, a new experience for both them and myself.  We had lunch together at their apartment, my home for the next month.  It is located en el barrio Nunoa, a quiet neighborhood which is a short 15 minute walk from school. I am very happy about this because by 10 am it is already almost 90 degrees outside.  After Ale came home from work they took me to purchase a Chilean cell phone and we went grocery shopping together.  Daniel cooked us an amazing dinner with carne, papas y ensalada.  We listened to an array of music during dinner, from 50 cent to the Eagles.  I could not be more happy with the host family that I have, not only are they cool, but they are also the most friendly and sweet people I have ever met.  Spending time with my new family was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits and I am most definitely looking forward to an amazing 6 months here in Santiago, Chile! :] 

Here is my bedroom. I also have my own bathroom which is a major plus! 

Mis padres jovenes, Ale y Daniel :] 

Our view during la cena.