Return to Chile

This past weekend, I took a side trip from Buenos Aires to revisit Santiago and Valparaíso, Chile. I spent 8 weeks last summer in Santiago in the Harvard Summer Internship Program (SIP).

[if interested, you can check out my blog from my time there].

I realized a bit before I left that it would be my first international flight without the US as either the origin or destination. I have traveled between countries before (Spain-France), but never by plane.

(picture: view of the Andes coming in to the Santiago airport)


It was easy enough though (and less total time in customs without a US side!). I took LAN airlines and was very impressed – for a 2 hour flight I got a croissant with ham and cheese, coffee, AND orange juice. Maybe it was because it was international, but I am definitely not used to actually getting fed on non-overnight trips...

After negotiating the airport and public transportation, I met up with my supervisor from last summer, Andrea. We had coffee and then she took me shopping for an alpaca sweater, something I regretted not buying last year (the trip was successful! One more comfy sweater to wear during my time in the cold).

Here's a picture of the two of us together. Unfortunately, this is the only person I actually managed to get a photo with during my time in Chile, as I'm usually too nervous to just hand out my iPhone to anyone.



That night, I stayed with my friend Winnie's boss from last summer, Carolina, and her husband Tomi. Winnie and I had gone on a wine tour with them last summer, and they had visited Harvard last fall, so it was fun to see them again.

We went to Ica, a Peruvian restaurant, where I had a wonderful dish of Ají de Gallina (apparently a typical Peruvian dish, made up of chicken, potatoes, rice, and a slightly spicy sauce) and this drink. Yummmm.

Staying with them that night was my first really cold experience of the summer. Reminder #1 why I chose Argentina over Chile this summer!

The next day, I went to the Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT), as I had read a very informative book on domestic work in Latin America put out by them and the editor works in their headquarters, which is their Chilean office. I unfortunately wasn't able to actually talk with her, but interviewed her assistant and was given lots of books and pamphlets. Amazing how I can just show up somewhere and be able to do so much (although, if people would reply to their emails more often, I wouldn't have to just show up unannounced...). Also glad that I thought to visit them while I was in Chile, as it wasn't part of my initial plan.

Around noon, I made my way to Valparaíso, where my cousin Patrick is working for a year teaching English at a university there. I spent a lovely afternoon and evening with him and his friend Leah, who is studying abroad there for a semester (she will be a senior at Colorado College this fall). Leah and I made "apple crisp" without having any idea how to actually make apple crisp, or how to work the oven – it turned out edible despite it all! Patrick lives in a house with a mixture of US and Chilean roommates, so I met a variety of interesting characters while there.

Patrick and I split a Choriana for dinner (the food on the first line, not the porn star or the dogs), although when I say "split", it was definitely more of a 70-30 or 80-20 kind of deal :P The Choriana was much better than the one I had the last time I was in Valpo last year, less like the Google images and more like an actual semi-healthy meal. Very good.

We walked around Cerro Alegre (happy hill? although it sounds kind of silly in English) for a while, then went to bed, as I had to catch an early bus to Santiago in the morning and Patrick had class to teach.

(pictures are from the coast of Valparaíso/Viña del Mar)


The next day I spent with my host family. Their extended family all came over to see me for Saturday lunch, and it was great spending time with them again, but was also reminder #2 for why I chose not to return for the summer (for those of you not familiar with the situation: host mom uses me as a therapist, host dad hits on me, host sister has mental issues).

That evening, I met up with two of my former English students. It was great to see them again, and they gave me lovely presents (knitted hat & socks from one because he knew I was always cold in Chile, and chocolate from another). I reciprocated with peanut butter, US candy, and Harvard clothing.
(picture: typical Santiago: gray, polluted, and cold)

Sunday I had breakfast with my host family (quesillo! I had forgotten how much I love that stuff! It's this semi-firm white cheese that is soooo good with toast & jam), then made my way back to Buenos Aires without event.

In all, a very fun weekend. Looking forward to more trips in the six weekends I have remaining, one of which will definitely be to visit my other cousin currently in South America – my dad's cousin Melissa who is currently studying abroad in Córdoba.

Brianna