Half a month

Lots of stuff happened in the last month. Stuff like: halloween, a mine tour, some quizzes, the Nike 10k, group projects, a wedding, and the coldest night of my life.

Chronologically the Nike 10k happened first. It was a huge race- 10k people running 10km. Nike puts it on and shuts down a sizable section of the city on a Sunday. We ran a route that went up the sides of the Río Mapocho in the heart of the city, crossing it twice to make it a circuit. In the all the runs I have done in the states, everyone who spectates cheers, and they cheer for everyone. Here, I came into the last 500 meters in awe of the silent families and friends lining the sides of the finish. They didn't even cheer for the people they were there to see. It was like a funeral procession minus the dirge. The race was super fun, but I learned firsthand the risk one takes running moderate distances with shirts with big plasticy prints on the chest. Think nipple chafing/scabs.

Then I was invited by my friend Jocelyn to a wedding! It was a fun experience, which involved a short mass, dinner and dance party. The mass started at 10pm, so as usual it was a late night. Most of the traditions are the same, down to the rice throwing, cake, first dance, and garter/bouquet toss. I was blown away by the dancing. The latin influence means lots of salsa, merengue, and reggaeton. The reggaeton came out real late at night, and brought out some great moments of older couples dancing as racily as the younger crowd. Then the costumes came out. The bride and groom walk around with masks on carrying trays of masquerade masks, plastic printed hats, and leis. That really knocked down any last inhibitions. Once you're goofy enough to wear that crap, you're probably having a good time:



The UW program went to the largest underground mine in the world, Chile's El Teniente copper mine. Honestly it was pretty lame. I had been to Tower Soudan in Tower, Minnesota, and it was kind of the same. Lowlight: eating with the miners in their mess hall. Pretty crappy food.

Halloween meant a costume party, complete with carved pumpkins- but not orange ones. Halloween only arrived in Chile about 5 years ago. Clearly it's another US import; one more consumer holiday. On the local news the night before, they had a segment where people could call in and voice their opinion on this question: Should Chile celebrate Halloween? I heard two responses, one for Halloween and one against it. On one hand, it's innocent fun plus candy, and Satan is involved (+). On the other, it's not really part of the culture, focuses on silly themes and feeding kids tons of candy, and is just kind of dumb (-). I had a good time in any case. Here's wedding and Halloween pics.



I spent this weekend in Cajón del Maipo again. This time Ramiro and I drove out there. Camping at some hot springs, we took a 4 hour night soak under the stars and among the mountains. Then we spent to coldest night ever in my tent, a summer tent, I now realize. The condensation froze on the tent walls. So did my feet. We woke up and on the way out got stuck in a mud puddle (muddle?) in Ramiro's little Chevy. With insane luck, we had just passed a miner, who I walked to. His job is to tell other miners when to not blast, so the rubble doesn't land on passing cars. He called up a truck on his walkie talkie, and we got dragged out of the mud. What could have been an all day wait was a 30 minute setback. It felt like revenge after the cold night. Then we hiked in El Morado national monument. It was one of the best places I have ever been. We crossed snow and streams and arrived at the base of some mountains where there is a lake. It was about a four hour trip up and back, just insane. Photos here.

Now I'm wrapping up school things with essays, projects, and presentations. I can't wait to be done with class. It's not that hard here, but it can be really hard to study when there's a foreign city outside your room.