Changing Seasons, Running for Cancer, Educational Protests, and Trekking

As I have mentioned before, May in South America means November in North America. AKA Fall. Temperatures are still mild to warm in the day and in the sun, but definitely chilly and cold at night and in the morning. It is also more of a damp cold so that is a lot different than the dry cold in Colorado. A few weeks ago, my roommate Abby, her boyfriend Seba, and I all took a drive through the "cuica" (ritzy) part of town Las Condes and saw all the gorgeous houses and the pretty trees changing colors.  Sometimes in the States I love to just drive around without a destination. That is exactly what we did and I loved it. You get to see things you never would be able to see if you were driving from Point A to Point B. There is also a gorgeous park right by my apartment called Cerro Santa Lucia that has a great view of the changing seasons. The proof is in the pudding:

Another thing that I love to do in the States is participate in races. I have done Race for the Cure, the Bolder Boulder, a half marathon, the Rugged Maniac, and I would love more than anything to participate in the Denver Brain Tumor Walk to support my good friend Rachel and her Team Breland. She has a brain tumor but she by no means lets that get in her way of living her life (I aspire to live like her).  Harald Ulriksen, an Australian with Chilean parents, has lost several family members to cancer and has decided to run 3700 km throughout Chile to raise money and awareness for kids with cancer in an event called Run Chile. As he makes his way down the ridiculously long and super skinny country of Chile, he of course had to make a stop in the capital city. At DuocUC, there were announcements of this race in Santiago. Another professor (Trisha) and I decided to participate in this race. All you had to do was donate a minimum of $1000 CLP ($2). Most races in the States cost AT LEAST $20 so I thought hey the LEAST I could do is donate some of my money. Trisha and I arrived Plaza Italia (the central part of Santiago) around 10:00 am to participate in the pre-race events. There was dancing, aerobics, music, stretching and all sorts of fun stuff as we waited for Harald to arrive. He arrived (after running MORE than a marathon each day since April) and he made a speech. He was so appreciative for all of us who came out to support him and his cause. Then, the race began. I started my watch and we were off. 12 minutes later, we successfully ran 3km. Even though it was a short race, it was just as awesome as the races I've done in the States. After the race, I got some free Vitamin Water and a free leg massage (WOO!) Dancing, stretching, and music continued after the race as well. One thing I didn't like about this day was that I DIDN'T BRING MY CAMERA! I ALWAYS bring my camera everywhere but this time I didn't want to run with it or drop it or get it stolen. But sometimes memories make the best photos. I did, however, take a picture from the website about the event:

So the race and the rest of the day were fabulous. The day ended with delicious and spicy Thai food and drinking on the balcony of an apartment of someone who works for the UN (need I say the apartment was GORGEOUS?) with other professors from my university. 

Before I left, I had heard several stories about Chilean students protesting the educational system in Chile. I wasn't sure if these protests were going to have a huge affect on my job as a teacher (they have not and most likely will not). This "Penguin revolution" (Penguin because of the uniforms the students wear) has gained huge popularity in Santiago.  (Click the link for more info from Wikipedia). Basically, the students are protesting the largely privatized educational system in Chile. Only 45% of Chilean high school students study in traditional public schools. This past Wednesday, there was a giant "marcha" of students wanting to make their voices heard. Trisha (another TIP at my school) and I decided to go. There were approximately 80,000 people (students, professors, grandparents, parents) who marched from Plaza Italia to Mercado Central. Along the way, I heard chants such as "Lo que el pueblo necesita, educación gratuita" (What the country needs is free education) "Él que no salta es el Paco" (He who doesn't jump is the police) and "Iba a caer, iba a caer, educación de Pinochet" (Pinochet's education system was going to fall). I saw signs such as "Basta de abuso, la educación es un derecho" (Stop the abuse, education is a right) and "Chile no es una mercancia"(Chile is not a commodity). Finally, the march ended with students climbing on top of bus stops and jumping to make their voices heard. I literally thought the bus stops were going to collapse. While it sounds like it was crazy, there were tons of "Carabineros" (riot police) and for the most part it was completely under control. As a professor, I was glad to participate because I can see some drastic differences in my students' educational background.  Overall, it was a great experience to see who all is fighting for educational rights and I hope that the Chilean government can make a change for the better. 

Having a real job and work schedule, I thoroughly look forward to my days off. Yesterday was a "fería" day (Mondays are my long day from 10:00 am to 8:30 pm so I was thrilled when I realized I didn't have to work). Abby, Seba and I decided to go trekking. We arrived at "Las Aguas de Ramón" around 10:30 in the morning. We signed in and decided to take "Tramo 3" or the longest, most difficult path. The path consisted of lots of "subir y bajar" (going up and down) with some pretty spectacular views. We saw a smaller waterfall and then realized we were hiking to an even bigger waterfall. It took us about 4 hours to hike up to the biggest and last waterfall and it was totally worth it. The water was freezing cold because it is all ice-melt. Seba decided to fill his water bottle up with the water and it was so fresh and pure and cold after being so hot from hiking. Then, we began our hike back down which was much quicker and shorter. I decided to "jump for joy" as we began our hike. We saw several cows, Seba decided to "moo" at several of them, and we constantly kept slipping on the loose dirt (none of us fell or got seriously injured). 2 hours later, we arrived to Seba's car and immediately went to eat delicious Chinese food (that was, after all, one of the only restaurants that was open on this day off). 

So as you can tell a lot has happened since I last wrote. I will try to update more often so I don't have such a long post. Keep on keepin' on :)