Chile's Indigenous Culture

The Mapuche are an indigenous group located in Chile, specifically in central and south Chile. The people of this group are very connected to earth and what it has to offer. They take advantage of the resources they are able to get from the earth and use them to their advantage. To this day, the Mapuche people must fight for their land in order to preserve their culture. While the government went ahead and took land away from them, they continue to fight for it as well as their independence. My freshmen year of college I studied this indigenous group and found out a lot about them. Viewing these videos was a really good review and refreshment of what I learned about the Mapuche people a few years ago.

While the Dakota Access Pipeline seems like an efficient way to transport barres of oil across states throughout the United States, it comes with many harmful impacts, including some on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, located in North and South Dakota. One effect that this pipeline could potentially have on this land is the contamination of water and damage to burial sites of the Standing Rock Sioux people. Not only does this pipeline propose an impact on the people of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, but it also leads to environmental issues too. This has taken an emotional tole on the people in the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has played a role in the actions they have participated in such as riots and protests, both violent and nonviolent.

The Mapuche tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have encountered similar issues that were carried out by government officials. They continue to fight for their territory, rights, and culture. The government has done nothing but ignore the rights of these tribes and diminish them. It is very sad to know what these indigenous people go through just to maintain and preserve their their tribe and culture.

Chilean History and Politics

Daniel Sparler Lecture: Sparler's lecture was jammed packed with information from Chile's geography to its history. Chile is loaded with so many interesting facts! One being that it is home to the Atacama desert, which in some parts, there has never been rainfall recorded. That is so crazy for me to think about because where we live, rain is so common and we do not think much of it. I cannot imagine a place that has never encountered rain. It almost makes me feel bad and like we in a way take rain for granted. Another interesting, but also scary that Chile is located on the ring of fire. I have experienced one earthquake in my life and it was a tiny one. I cannot imagine living in a place where earthquakes are so common and part of your weekly life. I hope we do not experience any while we are there!! One more fact that I thought was interesting from this lecture was that out of all of the countries in South America, Chile has the longest life expectancy rate. This was important to me because the theme this year at the summer camp is health and nutrition, so I think it is cool that Chile clearly has some healthy and long living citizens.
The Colony: This video was quite shocking to me. Colonia Dignidad, or the dignity colony is something I cannot imagine. The fact that the narrator starts the video off by saying "unspeakable things have happened here", puts the audience on edge from the very beginning. While I have learned about many of the governmental issues of the United States and other countries in Europe, I have never learned about Chile and it was shocking to hear about the harsh environments and punishments that these citizens went through.
Forgotten Terror in D.C: This video described the even of the assassination of Chilean minister Orlando Letelier and his assistant Ronnie Moffitt. This took place over 34 years ago in Washington D.C and was the only other act of terrorism to take place in the United States capital city besides the acts of terrorism on September 11th, 2001. When first shown on the news and seen by bystanders, it was said to be a car accident but was quickly ruled that there was a bomb attached to the car. This bombing has been said to have been on purpose by members of right-wing government groups in Chile, as Letelier was the target of this act due to his involvement in leftist Chilean government groups. Many say that this was without a doubt, a purposeful act to assassinate minister Orlando Letelier. What I find horrifying about this event is that I have never heard about it in my life until this video. I feel as though since it was one of the only acts of terrorism other than the September 11th attacks, it should be taught about in schools. I am also surprised that I have never heard anything about it because I live so close to D.C. and both my parents would have lived through this and I have never heard either of them speak about it. I am not surprised that the CIA has been reluctant to release much information or documentation, as the government typically does not inform the public of information from large cases such as this one.

Chilean Food

I do not normally eat beef or pork, but in circumstances in which we will be in with our host families cooking us meals and going out to eat with those options, I will eat it, as I do not want to be a hassle for the people I am staying with. Besides that, the video "Typical Chilean Snack", the Chorrillana looked so yummy and something I will definitely not mind trying. Also, it may be possible to substitute out the meat for something different, such as chicken, but if not, I am more than willing to try it. Same goes for el lomito. I love avocados and as I have tried it so many different ways,I am looking forward to trying it on el lomito. My mom loves wine and always has some in the house. As I was cleaning the kitchen the other day I noticed she had three bottles of wine that were from Chile. I thought that was really cool and brought it to her attention. I also showed her this video on the wines tonight and we learned about some of the wine she was drinking. I think that it is very interesting and unique for Chile to put so much care into their wine and creating it with such strict conditions, such as no pesticides and specific sanitary conditions. 

Chilean Slang and Body Language

I have been wanting to go on this trip to Chile since I was a freshmen, so now that I am finally going on it, I am so beyond excited! I am a little nervous about the flight. I have flown before, but never for more than 4 hours, so this will be new to me. My sister will be traveling to Thailand at the same time, so a bit of me feels sad about my mom being home alone during the holidays, but I know I will send her lots of pictures and bring back some presents! I have a little bit of worries when it comes to not being fluent in Spanish when I think about getting lost and looking for directions or trying to communicate when buying and it being difficult. While I am hoping that does not happen, sometimes worst case scenarios cross my mind. I am not fluent in Spanish but I have taken 5 years of it and also grew up with multiple friends who families spoke Spanish. I feel as though when I am around them I can make out some of what they are saying and expected some of that once arriving in Chile, but after watching these videos, I became very confused! I know that the Spanish we are taught in high school typically teach us pretty formal Spanish that no one really uses, but the fact that there are some words native to Chile like "Po", make it even more confusing for me, and possibly someone pretty fluent in Spanish.

Chilean Geography

Isabel Allende describes the four different regions throughout Chile, the Norte Grande, Norte Chico, Valle Central, and Zona Sur. While all four are located in the same country, they contain very different geographical aspects due to the elongated and narrow shape of the country. The Norte Grande consumes 1/4 of Chile, containing the Atacama Desert. This desert is the driest in the world. Here, it only rains a few times a year, but when it does, flowery meadows cover the land. Allende spoke about visits she took to this region and had vivid memories of how dehydrated she was and how chapped her lips were due to the dryness in the air. The second region, Norte Chico, or little North is what divides the dry north where the Atacama is located with the more fertile zones more south. Allende states that this zone is very spiritual and magical. Another aspect of this region is that it is home to La Silla, which is where the skies are so clear that not a single star can escape the eye. In the video, "Chile Land of Geographical Extremes", the narrator refers to this as the "window to the universe". The third region is Valle Central. This region is where Santiago is located, which is home to one third of the Chilean population. This area is also perfect for growing fruits such as grapes and apples, which leads to the creation of Chilean wine. The fourth and final region is Zona Sur, or the southern zone. This zone consists of many forests, lakes, rivers, and volcanoes. The forests here are amazing and over thousands of years old.

Here are some other interesting facts about Chile:

• It is the longest country at 2700 miles long
• It is the most narrow country at 110 miles wide
• It is located in the "Ring of Fire"
• Broken up into 15 regions 
• Top copper producer in the world 

Introduction

I'm Morgan Price, a junior and majoring in Elementary Education and minoring in TESL/TEFL. I signed up for this trip because I really want to teach English in other countries after I graduate. I really hope to gain experience working with non-native English speakers, as well as getting a deeper understanding of a different culture other than my own.