Alex Rebman Chile J Term Blog

Before leaving for Chile I was super nervous because I wasn't confident on my Spanish and a lot if this trip was very uncertain for me. I felt as though I was going in with open expectations but also had never left the country by myself so that was also creating nerves. I felt a little more prepared as I read through material and got more familiar with what I was walking into. I really enjoyed all the lessons and readings that I was given because I thought they were really interesting and helped me feel more invested in the Chilean culture. Packing wise, I packed lots and lots of shorts, tee shirts and summer clothes which made me happy. I had to dig through all the clothes I had in my dorm which took me a while but eventually I made it all work out. While I was there it was a lot hotter than I expected but I think that I properly packed and prepared for the trip over all even though going into it I didn't feel so good about it all.

Describe- All over Chile there is a simple way of greeting people. Whether you know them well or are meeting for the first time, you greet one another with a kiss on the cheek and big hug. They will speak to you and introduce themselves if they don’t already know you and then use that as their way of engaging you into a conversation. This was used in all areas, whether my host family, the school students, our Chilean teachers, or people we met along the way. Interpret- The Chileans have this greeting within their culture and is a standard way to greet someone. Odd looks were given if I didn’t go in for a hug or if I didn’t initiate it because it is an expectation that a hug and kiss are given. This hug and kiss is a way to warm up easily to one another and makes for an easy way to enter a conversation or meeting. I see it as something to present yourself as someone who is caring and open to talk and helps create and inviting feel to all of the people we met. Evaluate- I thought it was ...

The cueca is the national Chilean dance that is performed by anyone and is performed with a kerchief. This dance is often performed by the rural societies in the streets. Even though Pinochet and his regime named this originally the national dance, it later turned into an act of opposition against his regime. The tapping portion was done so that they could dance on his grave, which is ironic because he was cremated. This dance later evolved into a way to remember relatives who were taken during the regime and we almost a symbol of rebellion and freedom. When I watched the video there was lots of small movements and much use of the kerchief. These small movements added to one another and built up to Mae up the dance as a whole. As the video progressed, the partners seemed to stand fairly far away from one another and they all hugged at the end. From the article and the video I learned that all these movements formed together to make meaningful dance. The dancers can put so much emotion ...

Art comes in many forms and may be taken in many different directions. Through art people can express themselves and their thoughts and stories through a representation. In Chile much of the art seemed to express ones personal opinion on political matters as well as used for trying to get people to understand why they felt a certain way. Lots of art was created for the presidency of Allende and the Pinochet regime to express their emotions towards both. Also currently people like "Papas Fritas" (haha, french fries) have used art in a way of protesting, who burned documents of student loans for individuals at a local university. He then later displayed the ashes of these documents to the school in protest of making students pay this money while not even receiving a proper education. This was an act of "love" according to Papas Fritas because he was rebelling against Pinochet's dictatorship where these non-profit universities established themselves. In Chile it ...

Violeta Parra pioneered the "Chilean New Song" movement which brought back many classics. She contributed more about the social life of Chile as she wrote about a good life and the opportunity that is in front of the Chileans. This was ironic because she died by suicide, so even though she wrote about hope, she herself couldn't find her internal happiness. Víctor Jara was a singer who was influenced by Violeta Parra. He helped to elect Salvador Allende and wrote in order to help him get better publicity and reputation. Jara was very into politics as he was a main contributor to the elections results and solely wrote about the presidency. Unfortunately, Jara was killed due to this huge part he had in politics by the coup to follow Allende's presidency. Los Prisioneros is a punk/rock band who wrote songs that were very political and were meant to strike up conversations. They wrote about the Pinochet regime and lashed out against all of his laws that they found to be un...

https://vk.com/video244132350_171200778 The bear story is a well animated short film about a Chilean man who has been operated from his family. The film takes the audience through the grown bears journey and depicts what life was like in a real form, yet appropriate for all ages. This relates to Chile's history as is shows much brutality of the animals just like the brutality of the people of Chile fighting for their beliefs. There was brutality in the film as the bear was forced to work in the circus and was caged up and pushed around like he was nothing. Many individuals in Chile felt similar to this according to previous videos I watched, as they were under the rule of Allende. Here is where they felt they had little say or freedom in their life and often were unhappy. Many animations within the film also showed the bear getting beaten if he was not doing exactly what was required of him which again shows brutality of the government in Chile. I personally really liked this video...

http://www.filmjournal.com/machuca I would have to agree with this review done by the Film Journal, of the movie Machuca. The review explain how the naive children are unaware of their changing surroundings, politically, due to Allende who has taken over power. This holds true in the beginning of the movie as the children spend much time together and often influence one another to go to rallies that they may not necessarily agree with, or rather that their family agrees with. Another part of the review that stuck out to me was how at the end they discuss how the rough times in Chile led the boys to become more involved and start to pin against one other. One specific event that made Gonzalo realize that Machuca is not all he really says he is. When Gonzalo's sister dies, he really is confronted with the hard true of the violence being brought to their country, and how this is dividing the people. Gonzalo is also shown Machuca's true colors when he sees him hiding behind his mo...

In Chile, there is a struggle from the Mapuche group to their territory rights. The Mapuche individuals are the largest indigenous ethnic group to inhabit Chile, while still a minority. From their ancestries, the current family members are trying to preserve their ethnicity, language, but most importantly their ancestral land. The government has begun to take over land and use it as their own without permission and has forced families away from their previous homes. This land was crucial to a family because they farmed the land and grew what was needed. This is a constant fight for the families to try and get their land back and keep it from getting taken any further. This can be related to the Dakota Access Pipelines because these pipelines were put in place underground, transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The struggle here is that the land that this pipe controls is also were the 'Standing Rock Sioux' has a sacred burial ground. According to this tribe, th...

While watching the two videos, Daniel Sparler's and Al Jazeera Correspondent, I learned so much about Chile because going into this I knew very little. In the Daniel Sparler's history lecture, Sparler took us through how the government came to be in Chile. Much was taught about how Chile moved from a democracy to being under Allende's rule. Through Allende's time running for leadership, the United States had high involvement in the elections. The CIA especially put forth the most effort in trying to make the media portray Allende as an unreliable individual and even put lots of money into harming Chile's economy in order to provoke a reaction out of Allende. Through all of this Allende remained strong and would not radicalize his people by making them violent and armed. The CIA eventually had plans to kidnap Allende, which unexpectedly led to his death. From here the country moved into the Pinochet dictatorship where he was later voted out in the "No" refe...

In the videos, the Chorrillana was a dish that had French fries, meat, onion, and some type egg on top of it. This was a staple food in the Chile for a snack and often was used as an appetizer. This is a dish that is full of carbs and is seen as one of their normal and common foods. Personally I wold not like this dish because I am vegetarian, but even though I don't see it as common I can see how Chilean food influenced this dish. In the Anthony Bourdain video, he travelled around to different areas in Chile to local places to enjoy and talk about common Chilean foods. One of his first places he visited was "the coffee with legs phenomena" which described the coffee culture in Chile that is also now being influenced by Starbucks. He also showed the large pork legs that they cook and serve in whole. As the video went on there was lots of pork and meat incorporated with all their dishes. Later they visited a market where they got cooke barley and peaches in a soup dish. ...

Going into this trip I am feeling all sorts of emotions. I am really excited to be in Chile and out of the States, also being able to experience the world beyond myself really excites me. I am also excited for staying with a host family and really getting a sense of the Chilean culture. However, I am pretty nervous to be somewhere that I don't speak their language well, and on top of that definitely don't know all their slang. Additionally I am a pretty picky eater so I think I am nervous to try some of the foods while I am there that are unfamiliar. According to the videos, Dino touched on 10 slang terms in each video that are commonly used in Chile. Dino takes the phrases and words and describes how they are used in the Chilean language and in what context you should use them or may hear them being used. While interpreting what he says, he goes over them well so that he emphasizes the tools necessary to successfully interact with our host families and those we may encounter. ...

Isabel Allende goes through several regions within Chile and how they differ from area to area. First, she describes how there are 4 regions in which Chile is divided into, while there are even further division amongst the provinces. She talks about the "Norte Chico" which is considered the more arid and dried out part of Chile. Little can be grown here, with little economical support from agriculture. Then she goes to talk about the region of "Valle Central" where the most produce can be found and the land is very fertile. This region is home to Santiago which has much commerce and a large part of the population. The last region spoken of is the "Zone Sur" which has been known as the tropics of Chile, from the wet climate and forest infested land. This was reflected in the videos really pointed out how diverse the land of Chile is, and Allende spoke of this. The videos made a point that there is the most dry and most wet areas that are found in Chile and ...