I absolutely loved my host family. I had a mother, who went to the city everyday to work as a cook: a father, who was the community's leader and worked in the fields during the day; a 19-year old brother, who works as a chauffeur in the city and helps his dad around the farm; and a 7-year-old sister, who attends the local school. I also lived with Susan, another student on my program. Our host parents were really easy to talk to and were able to have some really quality time with them. We played so much soccer with our sister and the other local kids. We also made empanadas and sopapillas with our mom.
This is our house and piece of land:
Our family also had other fields for their potatoes, beans, and horse.
This is our family with empanadas:
This was our extremely adorable little sister:
We lived in an absolutely gorgeous community that had one road running through it. All of the gringos lived in houses along that road so walking between our houses was quite easy. We took walks with our host siblings almost every day and taught chilean kids how to appreciate a long walk in the country.
The one main road:
I had some really interesting conversations with both my host family and other students on the trip during our time in the campo. I had a long talk with my host mom about relationships and family dynamics. It was fascinating to hear her perspective and it made me realize, in conjunction with other experiences I had during my time in the south, that we are really all the same. The average person is trying to make a living while making time for other important things in life, usually family. The challenges that my host family faces really aren't that different from families all over the world. Susan and I also talked with our brother about the leadership position that our dad holds. He is the Lonko of the community, which means that he is consulted on pretty much anything that happens among the community. Students need his permission to leave the community to go to school and ceremonies require him to start them. The position of Lonko is supposed to be passed through the family line, but following that line in today's modern world seems to be quite difficult. Our brother told us that he would unlikely take on the role because he will most likely have to move into the city for work, which leaves Nelly, our 7-year-old sister who likes to draw, play Go Fish, and spells my name Llesi. He said that there would be no problem with her being a girl, but I would be very interested to see how that works out. Overall the reality of less kids and urbanization, among with others, are obviously changing how these traditions with continue. I also had some lovely talks with Susan about all sorts of things and I felt lucky to have her with me to process and appreciate our experience there.
Academically, we studied a wide variety of things in the south that all related to the historical, current, and future realities and challenges that the Mapuche people face. Particularly, we had lectures on the role of women in the society, the history of the indigenous rights movement in Chile, the relation between the Pueblo Mapuche and the neoliberal economic model, Mapuche music, and Mapuche spirituality. Overall the lectures were interesting but sometimes were quite repetitive. One of my favorite parts was visiting a intercultural school where the students learn normal chilean curriculum with a very large emphasis on Mapuche roots and traditions. All students are required to learn Mapudungun and all the tracks available to students have a deep connection to the Mapuche culture. We talked to administrators, professors, and students at the school and they all had interesting things to say. All of the students we talked to had aspirations of going to university and them returning to their respective communities to give back. It was all so incredible to see. Unfortunately,it is the only school of its kind in the nation.
While in Pucon, I CLIMBED A HUGE, ACTIVE, SNOW-COVERED VOLCANO! It's name is Villarrica and it was so incredibly awesome. I went with 3 other girls and we were with a group with 2 guides, a brazilian, and 2 british women. We need ice picks, spiked clamp-ons for our boots, and sledding dippers to do it, but it was awesome! We loved our guides and had an amazing day as we hiked above the clouds!!!
Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the very top due to toxic gasses. We would have made it considering our pace and how much time/energy we had. We were a little bummed, but the fun of sledding down a volcano made us forget our sadness quite quickly.
Now I am back in Valparaiso after an awesome 2 weeks. However, I leave tomorrow for Santiago where I will be doing my month-long research project. I have had a couple of really nice days back in Valpo to see people and hang out a bit while doing the basics to start my project. I love this city, but I need to venture to the capital to carry out my project. I have talked to my advisor, who is female, communist-party, politician and we have a meeting set for Friday so I will see how that goes. It looks like I will also be living with very far-left-leaning family so I cannot claim to be embarking on an unbiased academic adventure. I am a little nervous about leaving Valpo, a city I love and know with lots of friends, but I know my project and a new adventure is worth it. Plus, Santiago holds almost half the population of Chile so to understand the country, I feel like I need to understand the city. It is just another adventure that will push me beyond my comfort zone, and that is the whole point of study abroad so HERE I GO!
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