One comparison that’s been apparent to me in the past few days has been one of great cultural pride contrasted with significant Americanization. I wasn’t really expecting Chile to be too Americanized—I figured it had its own history, its own culture, and had been warned that the general sentiment was pretty anti-American (although I later learned this applied more to the Bush Administration than to Americans in general—and people here tend to like Obama.) Besides, I figured, Chile is one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America, so it had no reason to idolize the US as a place of prosperity. So I was surprised to come here and find that I could only buy American brands of shampoo and toothpaste.
Santiago is scattered with McDonald’s, Burger King, and Starbucks franchises—although at McDonald’s, they serve avocado. TV shows from the States (such as the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the Fairly OddParents, and That’s So Raven) are on television all the time. I took a cab to a neighborhood called Nunoa to meet some friends, and Radar by Britney Spears was playing on the radio. (Digression: the cab company was able to understand my location and where I needed to go! Success!)
Our class went to visit a colegio (primary school, first grade through eighth) on Friday for our first “educational excursion.” The school was located in La Victoria, a poverty-stricken area of Santiago with an amazing view of the Andes mountains. The school boasts academic excellence in a community ridden with drug abuse, alcoholism, and neglect.
The kids danced the cueca (a traditional Chilean dance) for us and then asked if we knew the Jonas Brothers. They showed us their math and reading workbooks and their Hannah Montana pencils. They shared drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friend Igor (Eeyore.)
The biggest sense of Chilean pride I’ve seen thus far is that of support for La Roja, the Chilean futbol (soccer) team. Yesterday we played in a World Cup qualifier game, and everyone in the entire country (or, everyone in our program and their homestay families) watched us tie with Venezuela 2-2. This was a huge problem, as Chile is ranked #2 in Latin America, and Venezuela #6—and the country is currently in recovery…but we’re playing Brazil on Wednesday (ranked #1) which should be an exciting match.
But pride is also evident in smaller ways—for example, yesterday it rained excessively, and Mercedes and I cooked sopaipillas, which are little cakes made from squash dough and covered in honey and orange peel sauce. “It’s tradition to cook these when it rains,” she told me, “so when we go to the supermarket there probably won’t be a lot of squash left.” When we got there, there was some squash, but not a lot—so I guess it didn’t matter that we were surrounded by Hellman’s mayonnaise or Coca-Cola. People all over were making sopaipillas and sitting at home and watching the game.
(I have taken a lot of photos and posted them on Facebook—so if we’re not Facebook friends, you can check them out here.)
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