Students Say The Darndest Things

I've wanted to keep a running journal of the things my students say but generally end up forgetting the little nuggets of joy before I get home at the end of the day. Last week, however, I was presented with two beauties that just wouldn't fade in my memory. The first...a classic... was a student trying to communicate that she had looked up extra information about a topic we'd been covering.

"I know this one, I know this.....I found it in the google"

She said it with a straight face and I absolutely lost it. I love how far google has come as a word in the last however many years. Someone needs to put it to music...like our friend f*#k here.

The second may be one of the funniest things that has happened to me down here in Chile. During a discussion between two students, one had a killer comeback and absolutely crushed the first student's BS argument. This led to me bellowing out a heyooooo as well all laughed at the righteous smackdown. What blew me away wasn't the great english being exchanged, or the rare, true-humor in english. No, It was what happened next. The student with the smackdown...clearly on fire, looked at me as I was finishing my heyooooo and said,

"thunder, thunder, thundercats....heyoooo"

Insert death by laughter.....by me....here

why sweater vests aren't a good idea for dogs

chile is a catholic country. though many chileans could tell you less than i could about catholicism, they still get about 10 days off a year due to various catholic saints' days.

religious polemics aside, the culture here presents a very touching side regarding charity and family. i've heard stories of random people holding up and turning over very drunk people so they don't choke on their own pewk. homeless people are well-fed and supplied with ample drink.

and the dogs... the dogs have sweater vests for the winter (even the homeless ones). of course they pee all over them which is kind of gross. but regardless, they're well-fed and you know, supplied with ample... these dogs are really loved too. i've seen packs of dogs that would lay down their lives for the people who care for them: care for them with love, maybe nothing else.

not only that but people are so respectful of the dogs. at least when i'm looking.
when you talk to a chilean about the dogs, they might actually feel bad about their state. they treat them almost as if they have the same right to be there as any other person. i've seen men physically halted, stumped by a dog's dislike of him. like, instead of anger, complete surprise.."huh i wonder why this dog is barking ferociously at me?" and a side note on the dogs, they are so freaking cute (some of them) that it's hard to not touch them. and touch them you shouldn't because the emotional attachment a deprived being can form at the touch of a hat is absolutely incredible- i've seen it. don't touch them unless you want to take them home.

also, i had never seen a dog look across a street and then cross it (when it was safe) before i came to santiago. literally, these stray dogs cross the street like humans would.

i found out long ago that jokes about children being annoying and troublesome don't go over well with really any chilean, young or old. in fact, many examples in english classes have included loving children, wanting to work with children and of course indecisively, asserting they will have children. there isn't even an iota of like, maybe i'll have kids. it's more like when i do...

abortion is illegal in this country. i found out it costs about a million pesos (about $1,900) to obtain illegally which is a ton for someone who low or even middle class. if you get pregnant and you are unmarried, it seems that the family compensates and in most cases supports the single mother (providing room, board and daycare services). informally, the father will even pay child support. in the US, indecent men will quit their jobs so their child support payment gets lowered.
when people see children on the street, men and women alike will stop to gawk and make cutsey comments.

just the other day, scott and i were with our friend silvia. a young child fell off a stool and the chileans nearby were making consoling comments of "awwww." next to us was a group of gringoes. i could hear them saying, as the child continued to cry, "control your child." now this brings up two issues: one being the fact that gringoes (like me) think that no one here can understand english and secondly, young, traveling gringoes aren't necessarily staring parenthood in the face.

i had a student the other day ask me if my family came with me to live in chile! haha so cute.

for a long time i didn't know why chileans in a largish group would force you off a sidewalk if you tried to pass them walking alone... i just didn't understand it. at home, the individual on the sidewalk would get first priority (after all they are taking up the least amount of space). i should have known that the family/group mentality was part of the reason...
it is this idea. "we the group are stronger than the sum of our individual parts... together we are more important than any individual alone... if you find yourself to be alone trying to walk on the sidewalk, you're better off finding a group and doing it that way, cachai?"

there are countless ways that family has influenced culture here. i'll write up a few more when they come to me. it's fascinating, really.

deaths

it's crazy hearing about all those who have died so far this year...
since i've been gone, utah phillips, michael jackson, farah fawcett, ted kennedy, patrick swayze, walter conkrite, natasha richardson and apparently a 21 year-old dog (the world's oldest) have all died in 2009.

feels kind of strange. i swear i didn't know this many people who died last year.

perception

over 100 arrested for "war crimes" from pinochet's time

today is the anniversary of the day when pinochet took over santiago by means of a military coup 36 years ago. almost 20 years after his rule ended, under a liberal female president, the world expects chile to hold those henchmen accountable now that it is well recovered.

what does the rest of the world think? pinochet was a bad bad man who killed many people and no one likes him and they're glad he's gone.

the issue, in chile though, is much more complicated. many people here in fact loved pinochet. and at first i thought these people must be rich. in fact no, some poor people loved him too. because while they didn't necessarily benefit monetarily, the country was considered more secure after the coup took hold. people were scared of the government and certainly less "flaite," less violent.

some have suggested this mass arrest is merely a game, that the judge who issued the warrants has no real intent of throwing these people in jail; it's just a show to make chile look favorable in today's political forum. one of the proponents of this theory points out that the judges are the same ones on the bench from 30 years ago...

not everyone loves pinochet...
i wondered why then, is every sept. 11 considered to be a potentially violent day? sept. 11 is mostly when pinochet opposers protest his legacy. in the past kids have been known to cut electricity in various areas of the city, protests have erupted quickly and turned to violence. in rare occasions, people have died. but it seems to get less violent every year.

an aside- my thought is, protest violence and dictatorship with more violence?

so if sept. 11 protesters clearly have no problem with violence then what exactly are they challenging? well, the reality is that this day has become about delinquents more than anything else. many of the kids who come out to wreak havoc have in fact been born after 1990 (the last year of pinochet's rule).

according to the chileans i've spoken to; sept. 11 is more of an excuse to be rebellious and dangerous than an organized fight against "the man."

at any rate, i doubt well see much. well be out in las condes for the weekend, far away from centro, the most energetic area for protests and things.

immigration

scott got stuck at the "border" two weekends ago. because he and i both miscalculated his 90 day stay (or entirely forgot to count it all together) he was kept from leaving the country from the santiago national airport. definitely scared when he called me at home, i spoke with the international police officer who was dealing with him. now, i've heard of immigration/visa blunders from others living as foreigners in chile. these people (not americans) didn't stress nearly as much as scott and i did in those minutes. coming from working near immigration issues in domestic violence, i know how high the stakes are...

so i'm apologizing, trying to assure the officer that it was not with mal intent that scott screwed up. trying to be as formal, polite, and apologetic as i could i talked while a very nice officer on the other end tried to reassure that things would be ok if he reported to an office for foreigners on monday. i thought initially, how can this be true? don't countries find a way to kick you out, especially if you mess up?

so when he returned we figured out exactly how long his stay had been. 91 days!!! that is, if you count the day he entered the country as one whole day, not half of a day leading to the next. so, we lost the 80 dollar LAN flight to Mendoza and were looking at paying a fine as well. fortunately, he was not fined. i couldn't believe how happy i was to find out they ONLY GIVE YOU A SLAP ON THE WRIST for doing this once. he will have to leave the country again, and within 10 days but he can reenter the same day.

scott probably should be writing this... but he described the fear he felt at that minute he was "caught" as kind of paralyzing. here he was, in a foreign country, speaking in a foreign language to a person who was now leading him into a separate room and he knew he was in "trouble" whatever that means. he had remarked something about how it gave him some perspective about what immigrants-illegal or otherwise- must feel like...

Distorted Beauty

This has been a topic that I've thought about for a while now. It seemed like every time I wanted to illustrate how pervasive advertising and media can be in relation to self-image, my words and statistics would just fall flat. If a picture is worth a thousand words....

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com 1] Out Your Inner Hater: Claim your fears and negative perspectves about yourself by completing the sentence, "Right now, I feel like I really hate my____". By owning where you're at instead of hating yourself for hating yourself, and adding guilt onto shame, you can begin to see other, more positive avenues more clearly. 2] Question Your Motives: Ask yourself if this wallowing is making any progress towards your stated goals of confidence, inner strength, peace, and rational self-improvement? Hint: probably not. So why do you continue with it if it's not serving you to get where you want to go? Hmmmmm? 3] Use It...or Lose It!: Apply your natural stubbornness to either take action to change the things you can, or surrender the fight against that which is, and turn your mind towards more positive ways to move towards health, happiness and prosperity. And, as the old saying goes...have the wisdom to know the difference.

health care in chile

i bought international health insurance before i came to chile. super cheap, super restrictive (no family planning, no checkups, no birth control, limited reimbursement, no dental option, no vision coverage, no coverage for sports, activities, etc.- pretty much just if i get hit by a bus). when i got sick a couple of weeks ago, i ended up needing to see a doctor for a prescription, at the very least. so, after fooling around for too long via internet to try and get pre-approval so i could use my insurance at all, i became a little frustrated... it was like i was back in the US after almost 6 months. i swear they try to make it as hard as possible so you'll eventually give up and stop asking for what you're owed. though i am glad and lucky as hell, after hearing how horrible actual coverage can be in the US, that my previous insurance company covered, relatively easily, my $25,000 appendicitis adventure.

so, i had to decide, hospital or cliníca... hospitals are mostly public, very crowded and not advisable for serious ailments. lucky for me, i was pretty sure i had a sinus infection. i decided to go to a cliníca anyway. wow! 55 US dollars buys you a stress-free visit with a specialist! no sidemen, no frantic medical professionals. he takes a couple minutes to introduce himself (and i quickly realize he was the guy in the elevator who zipped up my bag telling me i needed to be careful because someone might steal from me) and then after a brief physical examination he confirms that i have a sinus infection. he was throwing out the random english words he knows; you know, what a doctor might know, body parts and stuff. he goes to write me a prescription for an antibiotic. unaccustomed to not being asked twenty times about what i'm allergic to, i offered, "tengo alergías"... and after i tell him amoxycilin and ceclor, he puts his hands on his face and says "oh no!" he was writing me a script for ceclor.. which would have been bad, very bad. so after a brief discussion about how the US is coming up with new drugs all the time (so the thieving, filthy rich drug companies can make money off their limited 5 year patents) and chile doesn't have the new drugs the US does, the doctor asks me what antibiotic he should prescribe. i start to get nervous, feeling like i might fail in the mission he has bestowed on me.

the extent of financial paperwork for a medical apt. in chile...
receipt from the cliníca- you should have seen how they spelled my name before i corrected them.
something like "coitalin szoutoonm."

he asks me how i would best be able to figure this out. my thought was... talk to the medical professionals in my life (mom, nancy, leslie, liders). of course no one was available. so calling them wasn't going to work. i could look on facebook? look on gchat? was he really going to let me use his computer? crazy, i thought. he sees me getting nervous and anxious to resolve this quickly because surely he must have to be moving onto a new patient within the next 5 minutes. problem solved, time to move on kind of thing. he tells me to relax and then i tell him i'm used to the united states' way and he smiles warmly. he understands; he confirms in a sort of way that he knows exactly how the US medical establishment works.... which is not well.

so anyway, i'm on this doctor's computer googling what i could. i ended up with zithromax which is called "trex" here. he's satisfied but doesn't feel it wouldn't have done quite the job of amoxycilin or ceclor... he writes me a prescription and also adds the nasal spray and decongestant on there. when i ask him what i could expect a antibiotic to cost without insurance, he asked me how much money i had. i explained i had 40 USD for everything. at this point he says that i need to start the antibiotic today so i should give that priority but that additionally i should stop by his office across town and he would just give me the rest, for free! so i thanked him. told him what a great experience it was for me.

as i am moving toward the exit, i hear someone trying to get my attention from behind me. the doctor was running towards me with 2 bags of medicine and nasal spray. he explained he just found them in his office. he didn't know he had them. he GAVE me two days worth of antibiotic leaving me only to have to buy one box from the pharmacy.

office visit: 55 bucks (includes free follow-up)
antibiotics: 20 bucks
accompanying medicines: free
hassle-free/uninterrupted/private and leisurely appointment with a specialist: well i don't have to say it, you know...

colo colo

my first soccer game in chile couldn't have been with a more intense team. colo colo is a club team in chile, but by their following you'd think they were a national team. the moment you stepped into the stadium you just knew the energy was there. fans all moved to the same beats and were singing in unison to the same songs.

now most of the songs were profane, as pancho confirmed. the fans are devout, for sure, but first and foremost south american. what do i mean by this? well remember when the colombian player got shot after the '94 world cup (escobar) after scoring an own-goal? ok well it's not that bad but you could follow the positive encouragement as a field player brought the ball up the field and then watch it quickly dissipate as the opportunity to score becomes lost. praise-> profanity. the players must be used to it i guess.

scott and i know to watch ourselves on days when colo colo plays, especially when they play u. de chile. it can be dangerous as previously explained in other blog posts. but how do you watch yourself inside the stadium? for starters they separate the stadium sections according to fan status. behind the goal in one section are the real rowdy fans. in the two sections next to that one are less, but still crazy fans. next over was our section (towards mid-field) where it's certainly safer but entirely energetic. the kicker is this: they block off two entire sections surrounding the visitor's section (complete opposite of crazy fan sections)!! not only this but they have carabineros guarding the area throughout the game. they literally don't sell tickets, don't make money on those sections, because of safety. incredible

close to half-time our section radically filled up with rowdy youths. mind you, at this point colo colo's losing to a "nobody" team (according to pancho) and i'm kind of nervous. or at least, alert i should say. these kids take pride in rushing the carabineros after the game's well into the first-half. so they fight their way past the carabineros (who are beating them down with their sticks and whatnot). i have to say, having walked through tear-gas the cabs. threw down the other day i know they don't mess around... anyway these kids got in to watch their team, brandishing fresh black and blues, lumpy bruises, all having refused to pay the 12USD entrance fee. so bad ass right? more like so lame....

so right, anyway, the main point is aside from some decent, not amazing, soccer, the energy was so palpable. sexism so palpable as well. most of the slurs yelled at players were negative comments against women (i won't repeat here but definitely comparable to when we call men who are "weak"... female genatalia.) although i have to say these comments seemed far worse especially as they were accompanied by vulgar hand gestures. i know there are a lot of female colo colo fans. i don't know, maybe they don't take it personally.... good for them.

anyway, if you think i am the only one who takes the women anatomy bashing and denigration personally i shall direct you to scott. after the game, we went to the nearby mall to hang out until public transportation was a little less crowded. when he witnessed a group of drunk colo colo fans hissing and jeering at a very pissed-off and unappreciative looking girl, he said something to them about. as pancho said later, weon i thought we were going to have a fight on our hands. anyway, as scott was calling them out on their sh$*, they immediately assumed because he wasn't down with harassing women that he must be a fan of the rival team (u. de chile).
logic? anyway, the boys went from angry to best friends when scott informed them, no i'm down with colo colo, i just think you're being inappropriate. what a feminist boyfriend i have!

...by the way, colo colo literally scored at the buzzer tying the game (1-1)...

Chilean Karaoke

In San Pedro, we stayed at a very interesting campground. This place seemed to be pretty nice and offered everything from the use of a kitchen to hot showers. They even had a BBQ we could use. What we didn't know was that while using the kitchen, we'd be one thin door away from where the family lived. And in that space, they had their fun with 'at home chilean karaoke'. Please note Brian's comment on the corazon!

Street Performers Do It Right

We get to see a variety of street performers every day and saw plenty with Brian. These guys stuck out because not only did we get some video of them performing...but we saw them the next day in another part of town wearing different colored shirts. Hard workers. I'm not really sure what the draw of the little guy breaking it down dirty style toward the end is but it seemed to work as most people(including me) gave them money at the end. I was less than impressed with their excitement though. It seemed like the whole time that they were putting on this little drum/dance spectacular, you could see on their faces that they were loathing what they were doing. And immediately as they finished their dance they were waking out to the crowd wearing "pay me please, this is so miserable...yeah put the money in there...you know what to do" faces on. Anyway, this is pretty standard fare and always fun to watch.