Santiago, chile (5/16-26)

It’s only been a few days since I left Chile, yet I already catch myself fondly looking back at this country…my time felt special not only because it was the first stop on my circumnavigation, but also because of the friends and experiences that swept me away into a fascinating two weeks learning more about the history, politics, and culture of the country. But first, I will tell you how it all began.

I landed in Santiago and the first point of contact was my hostel. I had wanted to be in an area good for strolling around and exploring, but it turns out that its main attraction were the clubs that stay open late into the night, which made it almost impossible to fall asleep without earplugs (which I then reused for many many days, whoops!) But I also lucked out because two blocks away was the entrance to one of Santiago’s main parks – Cerro San Cristóbal – which I visited twice during my stay to soothe my compulsion of going on as many park adventures in the city as I could. Below is a photo of the view from the funicular (tiny cabin thing), with the Andes peaks casually in the background.

I remember this moment riding the funicular alone on my first full day in the city, realizing that I was actually *doing* this trip I had been imagining for so long. I watched the sunset that day from a little fort in the park that I had stumbled upon, feeling so grateful to be witnessing this totally new place in the world (and slightly crazed, knowing that I was completely alone too!).

Unfortunately, my wonder was soon replaced with worry. I was sleeping poorly and would wake up in the morning feeling a little terrified – How would I successfully use the metro to get to my interview at 11am? (answer: with the help of a very sweet mormon couple) How would my meeting go? Was I qualified enough to be doing this? Why is it cold and cloudy all of the sudden? What am I going to eat for breakfast? I wish I could easily understand all of the posters in Spanish! (ex. see below) I had 4 interviews on the schedule during my stay in Santiago and I was INTIMIDATED.

It turns out that these interviews brought me so much more than I expected. First of all, 3/4 necessitated a translator to help with my nonexistent Spanish, so I found two university students to help me with this dilemma (the first one I had coordinated with before leaving the US, the second one was a friend of a friend I made in Santiago). These two girls ended up being such kind and intelligent women that inspired me deeply. Also, my first interviewee, a professor of history at the Universidad Diego Portales, introduced me to four of his students who I spoke to after our interview, picking their genius brains for knowledge about how the younger generations view and engage with the remnants of the dictatorship. Through this, I met a very special friend – Thomas – who accompanied me to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, as well as the ex-detention center Londres 38. We had a lot in common and shared thoughts about everything from indie music, to the importance of memory, to our hopes for our futures. Here is us pictured below, the day before I left Santiago…without these new friends by my side, I don’t think that I would have learned half of what I did.

Yet even when I wasn’t trying to do research in Santiago, it seemed like around every corner hid a piece of memory about the coup. Actually, 2023 marks 50 years since Augusto Pinochet’s government overthrew the democratically elected Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. I would see the phrase “50 años del golpe” (50 years since the coup) everywhere from memory sites to art museums to graffiti. Other interesting political symbols included an eye, or faces with lack thereof, alluding to victims who lost an eye due to police brutality during the Estadillo Social (social protests) in 2019…

Also, Chile is currently in the process of rewriting their constitution as a result of the Estadillo Social, which is actually FROM the Pinochet era. As they say, “the past is never dead. it’s not even past”. However, since I was mostly talking with passionate students, experts on memory and history, and directors/researchers at sites of memory, I do think that these people were more passionate about history than the average person. After all, people voted for the right-wing party to win the most seats in the constitution re-writing process, despite that the party’s founder and leader has familial ties to the dictatorship. And when I asked one interviewee what he thought was the future of memory in Chile, he responded by saying “oblivion…” pretty dark. But on the other hand, there were so many other unexpected moments that proved memory to be alive. When I was visiting the ex-detention center Villa Grimaldi for an interview, I saw a few women working on a beautiful and intricate mural in the corner and I asked them what it was…one of the women then struck up a conversation and showed me her artwork, a beautiful yet haunting embroidered tapestry documenting all the names of the women who were disappeared at Villa Grimaldi. Her own husband had been killed by the dictatorship. Minutes later as I was taking a photo, a man walked up to me and introduced himself as an ex-detainee of the torture site. Both of these experiences left me without words, and I am still thinking about how many of the tortured and disappeared victims were young and passionate university students who lost their lives only because of their political beliefs…

To conclude, Santiago, my first city, was at times difficult and dark. But also enlightening, inspiring, and free – it showed me more than I could have imaged. My translator colleagues and friends helped tremendously, as did a certain solo adventure one evening when I stumbled upon a night market after taking a new route home…I spoke a few words to some of the teenagers selling jewelry, then wandered into a record store and conversed with the shop-keeper as we listened to beautiful Brazilian classical music on vinyl. In these moments the fear dissolved and I felt like myself again, feeling a sense of universality through the art, music, and energy that facilitates human connection anywhere you go.

I finish this post with a few photos taken at the Bahai Temple on the outskirts of the city, which I visited after Villa Grimaldi. The natural beauty, architecture, and serenity of the temple made it feel very special – as did the view of Santiago’s vastness below.