Late Night from BsAs

Hola (again) from BsAs!

after 4 days in this hotel I have just learned that they sell one hour internet cards for 6 pesos (about $2). So even though it's very late I am taking advantage of this opportunity. Of course I can just post reflections in their most cursory formats.

there are three days worth of experiences here

from Buenos Aires

Hi all...

I've been in Buenos Aires for since Saturday evening and it's been a great experience. Sunday we had a bus tour of the main barrios of the city: Congresso, Monserrat, San Telmo, La Boca, Palermo, Retiro and Recolleta. Some great sites and many wonderful stories.

Today was another day devoted to human rights. We met one of the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. She lost a son to the military dictorship in 1975. What's particularly interesting is how these mothers have come together and organized. Of course they're a bit of an international phenomenon at this point. Still their resolve, their commitment to the memory of their children is moving.

I've recorded some video footage which trys to capture the story a little more directly. Let's see if this works. It's just me doing a narrative, about 9 mins.

(ok... the video posting doesn't seem to work right now, I'll try again soon)

Link to Pictures from Chile (updated)

I have posted some pictures online, please try this link.

I'll be editing these pictures over time; providing descriptions for some, adding and perhaps even deleting a few. Even though some of these pictures aren't the best, when in doubt I'd prefer to include than exclude.

Human Rights...

What a day...

we started with an excellent lecture from a human rights lawyer here in Chile. Very insightful perspective on pre-dictatorship polarization in society, the coup itself, then the introduction of a systemic torture apparatus. That lecture was followed by a tour of the ¨park of peace¨, a former torture center, that was led by a torture survivor. Very powerful stuff. A valuable experience but left us all (i think i can safely say all of us, or nearly so) exhausted.

tomorrow we return to the relative banality of trade policies and economic integration in South America.

then it´s on to Buenos Aires.

on snails and avocados

Good lecture this morning from a woman from the federal trade office on Chile´s trade policies since 1990 (the end of the dictorship). Apparently free trade works for a ¨an open market of 15 million people at the end of the world¨. (her words)

Then we headed north about 90 minutes to an agricultural area.

{it´s really winter now. very chilly and raining all day. so it would have been nice to have some sun and a little warmth, but that´s the southern cone in June. }

We visited two farms. The first raised snails primarily for export to France. Over a million of these things on a very small plot of land. Very interesting process. Apparently they´re expecting great things, like snail consumption to rise since it´s high in protein and low in fat. So get ready to start eating more snails.

The second farm produces flowers and avocados. Also an interesting set of processes. I have now seen where guacamole really comes from.

Long bus ride back to the city. Terrible traffic. Also the truckers here are on strike, more on that later.

adios for now.

from Santiago

Big city time. Plus the official program is underway so the heavy lifting has begun.

First thing, I´m having to chase down internet kiosks and cafes in the Provencia (sic¿) neighborhood of Santiago. There are two free computers in the hotel, but they are very slow. You can get wireless, for $10-day, and I¨m too cheap to make a daily diet for that. So for now it´s strange little places that charge 50 cents for 15 minutes.

I´m looking forward to uploading some pics soon.

Right now I´ll briefly comment on the Allende- Pinochet episode. There´s been some attention given to that in our lectures, plus we visited the famous palace, La Moneda, where in 1973 the coup took place and Allende ¨committed suicide¨ (the official story, even now, though I sorta have my doubts).

I was a young man at the time and I should be able to say I remember all that. But like most young men, I wasn´t paying close attention to global affairs.

Anyway, I´ve found myself oddly (i think so) moved by this piece of history, how it happened and what followed. I¨m also interested in learning more how this nation ¨moves on¨. Later this week we will visit one of the sites where opponents of the military government were tortured.

It´s odd to say I¨m looking forward to that... maybe just very curious.

Last item of the dia, the Andes are absolutely spectacular!

Hola from Valparaiso

A quick note that I arrived in Chile yesterday despite American Airlines best attempts to keep me from getting here (actually we were delayed only 90mins, but it seemed much longer).

it is chilly here, but of course, it is winter.

The computer in this grand old house (converted mansion) of a hotel is old, very slow and with a spanish keyboard, so this post will be mercifully short.

Tomorrow it is back to Santiago and the beginning of the CIEE program.

be well all