good intentions in the south

This weekend was... infinitely interesting. Our school organized a trip to go build houses in the earthquake affected regions in the south (in partnership with the non profit Un Techo Para Chile), so a lot of us, eager to help, signed up for the trip.
We were told to arrive at 9:45pm sharp to take the bus south, and didn´t actually leave until 1 am. Little did I know that this was a huge indication of how the rest of the weekend would pan out. We arrived in Chillán early Friday morning, and we were forced to wait on the bus for 3 hours because the organizers didn´t know where we were supposed to be dropped off. When we got to the school gym where we were staying, everyone was excited and changed into their work clothes and was ready to go build houses. Hours ticked by as we all just hung out in the gym, playing frisbee, sitting around, waiting for something to happen. By this time it was 1pm, so Jenna and I decided to go out and grab some lunch and walk around. When we returned, everyone was gone- of course the minute we decide to leave the gym, the rides come and pick people up.. So, we waited around some more, drove in a truck with the organizers for an hour, then came back to the gym. The other groups didn´t get much done either, because there were no posts for them to build the foundations with so they just dug the holes. We were supposed to all go over to the school where we were sleeping at 7, and in reality we finally got there and ate at midnight.
The next day, Saturday, we woke up early and had a ´nutritious´ breakfast of white bread and marmelade, and then we all got dropped off at our building sites. I was in a group with Jenna, Cassidy, William, and 2 chileans. We got to the house at 9:30 and greeted the sweet, old man and old woman, and then he showed us the spot where we were to build the house. It was a space 3.2 metres wide (when the house is 3 meteres wide), nestled inbetween a ditch and a cement wall. Hmm, we thought, is this a good idea? Looking at the supplies, we realized we didn´t even have a tape measure, and without a tape measure there wasn´t much we could do since we didn´t know where to dig the holes. It was 12:30 when we got the tape measure, and we got to work measuring out where we wanted our posts. We had no level, either, so we were just trying to use some string to make sure the posts were even. The ground was really hard to dig through, and each hole took forever to dig. So, the entire day was spent digging 15 holes, measuring them out with string and a tape measure that wasn´t long enough.
Our group was behind schedule since we got no work done on Friday, and Saturday was spent digging holes, so on Sunday we knew we had to hurry up and get the house done. After arriving at the site, the old man informed us that he had actually had a level the whole time! So we carried the super heavy pre-made floors over the ditch and set them on top of the posts. It wasn´t perfect, but considering that we didn´t have any of the right tools it was pretty good. We figured we had to redig 2 holes, and then we made some creative fixes for the other poles to make sure the floor was supported. We nailed in the floor and put up the walls to make sure that the floor was even enough for the walls to work out, and it was. So, we were moving along at a good pace, when the car with the overseers pulls up. The walk over to our site, and spend a few minutes squatting down, looking at the posts. They tell us that we have to dig up 2 more posts on the corners because the floor wasn´t completely covering them. We tried to tell them that it would be fine since there were 15 posts that would still support the floors. No, they said. During the next 6 hours, we gringos watched as they dug up every single post and moved it one centemeter, and when they finally put the floors back on, guess what- it was exactly the same as we had done it that morning!!!! frustration!!! So there we were, back to where we started. And then the sun set and we left the poor people with only a floor. That day, Sunday, we were supposed to have left to go back to Santiago at 1pm, then it was pushed to 5pm, then 12am... we finally got back to Santiago at 5 am.

So that is just the description of what happened this weekend, and I really don´t know how to feel about it.
It was so incredibly disorganized, to the point where on Friday we literally got nothing done. When we did get to the sites, everyone was lacking supplies, tools, parts of the houses, etc. Every time frame they gave us was ultimately pushed back at least 3 hours.

It was also one of the best cultural experiences I have had in Chile. The school group was made up of gringos and Chileans, and this was the first time I had actually met lots of people from my University here. We bonded by us showing them all the dirty Chilean words we know, and us teaching them all the dirty english words. We played games together, slept in the same rooms, ate together, and did lots of talking. They were all really sweet kids.
But on the other hand, I felt like it was also a sort of culture clash. Especially in the smaller house-building teams, there was a lot of tension between the exchange students and the locals.. For example, our spanish (especially construction vocabulary) is obviously not perfect, but that made the chileans think that we had absolutely no idea what we were talking about, and they tended to dismiss every suggestion or comment that we made. It was really frustrating for some people to try and communicate through the language barrier. On Sunday in our group, it was definitely like the Chileans took over our site, re did everything that we had accomplished, didn´t listen to any logic we were giving them, and they made us lose valuable time only to come up with the same results we did.
It was really, really frustrating the way everything was going, from the time wasting, lack of supplies, etc. But luckily, our group decided to look at the comedy of the situation, rather than get angry. By Sunday afternoon, we were all so disillusioned, frustrated, and had given up trying to convince the Chileans that the posts were fine and we could go ahead and finish the house.

positives: the country side was beautiful and all the leaves were changing for fall; the old man and woman who we were building the house for were so incredibly sweet and offered us so much food and coca cola; we met lots of new Chilean friends and I spoke lots of spanish; we had a lot of fun laughing at night in the crowded rooms; I got to spend time with people from my program; everyone had good intentions coming out there; I am always very humbled when I see how simply people live- he lived in a shack made out of sheet metal, yet they were so eager to share with us what they had and were so appreciative of our help and so excited to have us there at their house; our group had a fun time joking around on Sunday

negatives: disorganization, inefficient use of time, lack of tools, food they provided for all our meals= white bread, white pasta, white rice, and cookies; the non profit organization had 100 willing hands and yet because of their disorganization we only got 7 houses built (not to mention this organization is 12 years old and the earthquake happened 2 months ago); the old man was promised a house for Friday yet by Sunday we left him with a floor;

health observations

Yesterday I woke up early to support my roommates, Jenna and Joe, in the Santiago half marathon. It was a spectacular event, starting out on the lawn of the presidential palace. The t-shirts were all red, white, and blue depending on which race you were running, and they created the biggest Chilean flag with their shirts. The event was so full of Chilean pride, every two seconds someone would start a chant of C.H.I.L.E. CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE!! They were all amped up, commenting on how they as a country had banded together since the earthquake, and they were going to sobrevivir and come out stronger than ever. There were more than 20,000 participants, and first place prize was $20,000! For the men, the first place winner was from Kenya, the 2nd and 3rd were from Nigeria. It was really funny reading the marthon handbook, for the tips for before the marathon it said something like ´´instead of eating candy and sugar before the race, you should eat pasta´´... something very necessary to include in Chile.

Jenna and I have been talking and thinking a lot about nutrition in this country. For the past 2 years, since taking my nutrition course and of course since reading The China Study, I see the world with new eyes and I really notice people´s eating habits.. Being a vegan in this country is unheard of, and Chileans have a hard time understanding what a vegetarian is (they´ll hand you a plate and say- Oh! but it just has a little bit of meat in it¨).

The health myths and information and habits here can be somewhat shocking to me. For example, one day I was in the kitchen with my host mom eating grapes, and she said ´´Yes, I love grapes, but the bad thing is that they are very fattening´´ and then proceeded to make a sandwich with ham and cheese on white bread.. Or another time she served me some cactus fruit and said the same thing, ´´it´s delicious, but be careful because it will make you fat´´. I didn´t even know how to begin dispelling that rumor for her.. Living with the host family was a constant back and forth of me having to explain why I didn´t want any soda, why I preferred wheat bread, that yes I was satisfied eating a salad and fruit for dinner, why I was ok with eating the skin of the fruit, etc, and at times it made me feel like I was the weird one for my eating habits. I´m constantly having to explain myself. But I understand where they are coming from, because I used to view vegans/vegetarians with the same incredulousness. Jenna´s host mom used to serve her breakfasts that consisted of 4 pieces of white toast, 10 cookies, and eggs. Everything that they cook that has the potential to be healthy is then cooked in oil, covered with butter and salt. The recipe to make quinoa here recommends adding a cup of milk, eggs, and cream.

Looking at the menus here and then looking around at what people are eating is stunning. As I wrote earlier, the common dishes here are just a heart attack waiting to happen. The plate with fries, fried eggs, and beef... the footlong hotdogs with a cup of mayonaise... the constant cookies...white bread, white rice, white pasta... It´s also interesting to look at people´s grocery carts, full of this stuff that is just horrible for your health (same as when I worked at the Fiesta market in Austin). They need George standing at the beginning of the checkout line to take out everything in the cart that is unhealthy, which would basically empty out their carts.

So while i´m feeling disturbed at people´s eating habits, I realize that underneath the habits is a wider societal problem which I think is common in Latin America (and the US). It is a privilege for us at home to be able to afford whole wheat bread, organic fruits and veggies, etc. We pick health over cost, because we have been educated to know that food can be thought of as an investment in our health, what we eat is what we are and how we feel, and that eating well now will save us thousands in healthcare costs later.

Here, the focus is on cost over health, so since white bread and white rice are cheaper than integral, they will pick the cheapest option. Granted, our health/nutritional information growing up in the states recommends lots of meat and dairy, at least now there is more of a focus on unprocessed fruits, veggies, and whole grain over white. But I´m not sure what the health information here could be (¨it is recommended that a balanced meal of sausage, mayonaise, and potatoes be the base of every diet´´...). Plus it has to do with the eating habits that your parents show you, and there seems to be such a link from the Machista attitude here to be Meat=manly, that any radical ideas about being a vegetarian (especially for a boy) would be immediately dismissed.

I was noticing how they can eat all of these things, yet everyone seems to be pretty thin... how could that be? So, I looked online and found this article http://http://www.bcn.cl/carpeta_temas_profundidad/obesidad-infantil-en-chile

which confirmed my suspicions, that although they may look thin, that does not mean healthy.

Childhood obesity rates are growing quickly here, where 21.1% of children are overweight. The article says this is due to the 3 recess periods during class, where kids and their parents are used to eating packets of cookies, fried food, etc (comida chatarra= home style cooking), and that during these snack times children eat more than half of their needed calories for the day (through sugary cookies and grease). The article recommends adressing this through education for the parents and the children.

The statistics for adults are also poor, where 60% of the population is overweight; 40% have high cholesterol; 88.8% of Chilean are sedentary, and this jumps to 97% of uneducated men; cancer rates are rising, and half of these cases can be blamed on diet. Goals set in 2000 to lower childhood obesity have not been met, and the health ministers are pushing for stricter measures.

So, how do you change the eating habits of an entire population and try to convince them that a plate of veggies is equally delicious as a hot dog? How do you overcome the meat=manly sentiment? How do you get simple health information to the public so that they will no longer think of fruits as fattening?

This is a problem that all Westernized/Developed/Developing countries are facing right now. As people´s disposable income is increasing, they are adopting the Western diet because it symbolizes afluence. And, as they adopt the Western diet, the health statistics for the country become increasingly poor, with a rise in heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, etc. With the rise in these diseases, the healthcare costs rise, and the country is losing valuable money taking care of these preventable diseases.

Well, obviously the answer in the US would be to put an end to lobbying, so that the dairy, pharmaceutical and meat lobbies would cease to have such great influence on our country´s health policies, nutritional standards, educational material, etc. We would end the subsidies that support the meat and dairy industries so that the true cost of meat would be reflected. Our ´´food pyramid´´ would be focused on whole foods and whole grains...

I have been so inspired by people like Colin Campbell (author of the China Study), Rip Esselstyn (author of The Engine 2 Diet), and John Mackey´s new employee health incentive program for Whole Foods... and it feels like the movement is gaining strength, but if places like the United States still have a long way to go, how can poorer countries around the world preserve their health? Ideally, the countries would start implementing better nutrition programs now, and focus on preventative education in the first place. But then comes the problem that legislation does not equal implementation and does not carry more weight than people´s culture and customs.

Ahhhh, just some obvservations I had. I don´t know what the solution is here, but i´ll keep pondering

Wifredo Lam

Wifredo Lam, Cuba, 1902-1982

José Clemente Orozco

José Clemente Orozco, Mexico, 1883-1949

Xul Solar

Xul Solar, Argentina, 1887-1963

Tarsila do Amaral

Tarsila do Amaral, Brazil 1886-1973

Dr. Atl

Art class has been wonderful for introducing me to the wide range of Latin American artists, and i've been lucky enough to get to visit many of Santiago's great museums

Dr. Atl, Mexico 1875-1964

Chilean 102, rated R

Last night our electricity went out, so while we were waiting for our chocolate chip cookies to bake we all sat around and came up with a list of new Chilenismos. With the help of Chico, our human dictionary/translator, we(he) thought of over 100 in less than 20 minutes.

que pesaaao- what a pain
chuta la wea- damn it
peo- fart
vayense a la chuta- go to hell
chancho- burp
bajai?- are you going downstairs?
pololo, pololeando- boyfriend, dating
guagua- baby
culliado-f#cked
copete, carrete, carreteando- drink, party, partying
chuuucha-expression for surprise, or damn
cachai?- get it?
bakán, zorra- awesome
salvaao-problem solved
concha tu madre- motherf#cker
obviooo- obviously
pela-bitch
ojo-watch out, going into a dangerous situation
maraca-slut
mina- cute girl
quedó la media cagada- left everything messed up
pacos- police men
taco- traffic jam
pito- joint
pendejos/as- preteens
porfiaao- stubborn
plaache!- kind of like shoot
pisquetta- pisco and cola
guata- stomach
se me apagó la tele- drank too much
ponsear- preteen pokemone orgy party (not literal orgy, but very promiscuous)
curado, borrado, volado- drunk, very drunk, high
eh! eh! eh! eh!- can be chanted at any time, for any reason
fóme- boring
ni cagado- no way
chato- bored
macabeo- boy who is whipped by his girl
seco- good at what he does
ronando- rum
a la raco/a- over dramatic
mear- go pee
ñata- big nose
maricón, cola- homosexual
jumbroso- whiny
andate a la chucha/cresta- go to hell
callate por la cresta- shut the hell up
caleta, qualquier- a lot, a ton
al tiro, al toque- right now
el choco- mullet
heelladolaodlado- ubiquitos call used by the ice cream man
penca- not worth it
´se te quema el arroz´- reffering to a homosexual
tilla- shoe
polera- t shirt
´po- can be added on to the end of any phrase
los tolómpas- pants
chitecos- under garments
pecho é paloma- big, buff muscle men
rico/ rica- hot body
linda- nice face
´vuelve a la concha tu madre´- you should have never been born
wena- good
el viejito pasquero- santa claus
weveo- bothersome
callámpa- worthless
mañeosa- bratty
wena- hi
el after- party after the clubs close in the morning
la previa- pre party for the clubs
piola- chill, cool
traanqui- chill
caliente- horny
calmao- wait
la raja- awesome
el sobre- bed
wacho, perro- amigo, weon
loco- not your friend, fool
viejo verde- pedophile
hacer pero muerto- walk out on the check
guático- strange, weird
pátas negras- lover

words used to describe sex, sexual acts, etc- la aberjita, poto, culo, gatillar, peinar la alfombra, mamón, sobajeo, correrse la paja, culliar, afilar, los cocos, tula, pechula, pico, pichula, pendejos, moco, sapo, chocha, cornetta, irse cortado, gomas

would you like a receipt?

How to buy a soda in Chile-
Approach counter 1, ask for your soda, repeat yourself. Walk over to counter 2 while the attendant from counter 1 yells to counter 2 what you ordered and how much you need to pay. Wait while attendant 2 writes out at least two reciepts for your soda, stamps them, and hands them to you. Walk back to counter 1 (or sometimes a third counter) and hand the attendant your stamped reciept. Recieve something that is not what you had asked for, start process over again.
Seriously, the amount of reciepts you recieve in this country is ridiculous. The smaller stores don't use cash registers, so they have to write out each individual item they sell on a receipt. You even get a reciept when you pay 20 cents to use the restroom. Yesterday we saw a receipt pasted on the front of the bus announcing that the driver had taken a break within the past 24 hours. My bags are full of receipts, and if you try and rush out of the store without your piece of paper the attendant will call after you as if you have just forgotten your birth certificate on the counter. Why? Why do you need 3 people to do the job of 1 person? Why do I have to wait in several different lines to buy a coke?
Even at the big department stores, I will approach the counter with my item and my money only to be looked at like i'm an idiot and told "no, you have to pay for that over there" - clothing, accessories, and makeup are all purchased at different registers.
When I tried to join the YMCA, I seriously got dizzy from going around in so many circles to each different desk where each person had to do one little task to let me join the gym.
It is enough to make me go insane! But, then I just have to remember that in the US we have completely different priorities and concepts of service. In the US, we are obsessed with efficiency because time is money and we've got more important places to be. Here, i'm not sure, but it's a little different relationship between gringo-Chilean. It's possibly because they are now closer to our level economically, so they don't feel like they need to "suck up" or treat gringos with kindness, but almost every service encounter i've had here makes me want to cry sometimes. They can be so harsh, as opposed to the states where everything is answered with a smile.. So this is just a lesson for me in patience, and learning to take a deep breath and not let tiny little things like this aggrivate me. At least we have a Starbucks down the street here where they are super fast and super friendly and there is no nescafe in sight..

Chilean 101

This is Chilean 101, once you have these phrases down you can manage pretty well.

'Ya, po' weon, nos tenemos que ir al tiro a esta wea´
We must go there right now.

'Ayer me agaré a una minna, weon, pero justo estaba mi polola y cacho todo'
Yesterday I met a cool girl, but my girlfriend was there and she saw everything.

'weon, cachai esa wea?'
Did you see that?

'weon, te tinka ir a tomar unos copetes, y despues nos vamos a carretear'
Do you want to go grab some drinks and then go out?

'estos flaites culliados me pelaron la billetera'
Some guys stole my wallet.

'weon, 'toy terrible cagado, no se que chucha voy a hacer mañana con esa wea'
I am screwed, and I don´t know what i'll do about it tomorrow.

got it?