La Casona

Before I left Chile the first time I moved to La Casona. It was a wild 3 months of life living with some of the best people I ever met. 

Saying goodbye to the last people from USAC

And getting a kiss!

My small but amazing room in La Casona.

Enjoying the winter sun.

About to go to my least successful interview.

Hiking Cerro Pochoco

The alternative party to Casona.

Hiking in Cajon de Maipo.

Working at EcoHostel

La Noche de Cacerolazo

Last night, Santiago exploded in violent protest. Here is the story: for about 3 months the students have been protesting. The education system in Chile is lacking for where Chile is economically. The government spends only 4.4% of the national GDP on education. Further more public schools greatly lag behind their private counterparts. Private universities are not required to register to be non-profits and reinvest the money they earn into the school. Therefore, many of the private schools cut the quality of education to make a bigger profit, accepting any student who is willing to pay the tuition. On a weekly basis, the students have protested the government. Schools have been shut down and the marches have shut down traffic in Santiago. The President, Sebastian Pîñera, presented a proposal to reform education Monday which was unilaterally rejected by the center-left coalition and the students. When the students attempted to protest again yesterday morning, the police fire massive amounts of tear gas on the crowds. This violent repression caused the people of Chile to rise up. They took a piece of their history from the Dictatorship era and went to the streets beating pots and pans to let the government know they cannot be held down. The protest is called Cacerolazo.

The city was full of life. All around were the sounds of the beating of the pots and pans from every building. People crowded the streets. Lights at intersections were knocked out and micro buses abandoned.

The police packed the street. The Chilean government used its army of population control to patrol the streets. People lit garbage on fire and tore down street signs to block traffic. The police in return shot gas and water canons from the mobil guanacas (named because like the llama like animal they spit water) in to the fridged night. Some boys in masks thrown rocks and paint at the police officers in what was the making of a full out riot.

In the school next to my house, the outside fense was covered in the desks of the students on strike. The walls were covered in signs and grafiti supporting the girls protesting and change for a better future for Chileans.

¡El Pueblo

Unido

Jamas Será Vencido!

Al Sur

During my final time here in Chile, I convinced my very good friends Elias and Pancho to go with me to Bariloche, Argentina. Over time we added Benjamin and Thomas. Well, because of a little misplanning by me, when we showed up in Osorno in the south of Chile to take the connecting bus to Barlioche, it turns out the volcano that had been erupting in Southern Chile for 50 days had kind of closed the road. Instead we quickly changed and headed to Puerto Varas. From Puerto Varas we went and stayed en Lago de Todos Santos and Petrohue at the base of Volcan Osorno.

On the seond day during the rain we wanted to go hiking on the volcano. The boat dropped us off on a beach on the lake shore with no trail up the volcano. We follwed a stream coming of the mountain that formed a natural canyon. For about 4 hours we climeb until we reached the snow on top of the foothills of the volcano.

After 2 days of being soaking wet, we thought that the only rational thing to do was to go to an island that recieves 340 days of rain per year. As it turns out, instead we had a rare 3 days of sun in Chiloé.

We took advantage of the sun and went to the Parque Nacional de Chiloé. Hiking through the dense cold rain forest one can hear the pacific coast crashing against the deserted beach. The day was fantastic: the water was deep blue, the vultures soared in the breeze, and the the sand was warm against the feet. We used the day to film videos of us trying to sound like Wookies and rock throwing contests.

The vacation turned out well. The rain was a nice contrast to the sun and the Chilotes were welcoming and warming during the cold casi-Patagonian winter.