Notes from Chile - Homeward Bound

Wall grafitti from Valparaiso showing one of the acensors (elevators) that take you up in this city of steep hills.

We have no excuse for our absence with this blog. We began it with the best of intentions but once school began we disappeared under the work. Now it seems in a few short days we will wind our way back home. Thanks to all the friends who have kept up the emails and encouragements. You have helped us to maintain our sense of purpose and resilience. For both are important aspects when managing through cultural ambiguity. There has been much to learn and understand in too little a time. We have been fortunate though. Unlike tourism where you view a culture from the peripheral, employment has allowed us to be active participants in the lives of our colleagues, students and friends. The last few blog entries from Chile are our attempts to share with you some of our key learning, our impressions – right or wrong, our frustrations and our joys. Read what interest you and skip what does not.

People Make the Difference

Chile is a place of great geography: from the Araucaria forest in the high Andes to the Torres de Paine in the South, not to forget Pumalin, Chiloe, Valdivia, Valpariso, Villarrica among a few of the great places we have travelled. We have used every free moment to experience this inspirational country. But in every occasion we have been privileged to meet and to know many good people. People we will not forget. People who made our brief stay special. We hope we will meet you again and we hope will come to our country so we might return the hospitality. There are so many friends we would like to say thank you to so we made a slideshow of of a few of these great people. If we missed you it is because we lacked a picture so send us one.

The Araucaria

For some strange reason, we (U.S.) know this tree as the monkey puzzle. But in Chile and Argentina, it is the majestic Araucaria the sacred tree of the Mapuche people. It grows in the Andes, the higher the better. The trees have a characteristic drape to their limbs which when viewed along a ridgeline from afar gives the Andes an almost tropical, other worldly appearance.
The Araucaria is an evergreen and can grow to towering heights. The trees are either male or female. The female tree produce the largest cones I have ever seen. Some are up to 12 inches.
The cone is full of pinions which are the seeds of the tree and also a valuable source of food for the Mapuche Indians. The tree grows ever so slowly so a mature tree is very, very old – several thousand of years old. We had the privilege to walk through an Araucaria forest in the high Andes near the Argentina border. It will remain on the highlights of this trip for me. On the sidebar are some pictures of these glorious trees.

A Typical Day

Nothing is as you plan it and that is what makes living abroad both interesting and a challenge. I ended up working mega hours with the Teachers of English program. All teachers of English must pass four years of English before they can student teach. I taught one section of 32 third-year students. I also taught the writing to the other 58 third-year students. Blaine spent his time in research and teaching seminars on best known instructional practices. Looking back, I am not sure what we expected but it felt a whole lot like work - especially the grading.

Usually we were up by 7am and off to teach a class by 10am. The University was an easy 10 minute walk. We often walked it several times a day just to be able to come home for lunch or whatever. Everyone walks everywhere.Walking is the best part of Chile. The streets are always filled with people going about their business. It is not unusual to meet someone you know and spend some time chatting with them. Lunch is a "civilized" two hour break that often stretches to three hours for shopping or going about your personal business. The work day is generally over around 6 or 7 when we would go to the gym or shopping. Dinner is at the second civilized hour - around 8-9pm. Awfully late! We never did get used to the late dinners although I could live by the long lunches.

The best of all of this experience for me was my students. The first day I greeted them, they were timid, sotic, nervous. They had no advance notice they were getting a "foreigner" as a teacher. In reflection, I am amazed and privileged at how naturally they entrusted me with their education. We spent a lot of time interacting. They have informed me my student- centered teaching style is what confused them at first. But they relaxed and opened up. And I think, I hope, they learned a lot of good English and some different teaching practices. Take a look at them now. They are not a shy group now!

Students and Teachers Strike For a Better Education

An interesting feature of high school and university life is the “paro” and the “toma”. From the Spanish verb parar – to stop or to stand up (for something), a paro is when the students stop attending classes because of some discords with the school administration or the government over education funding or priorities. During paro, teachers must show up for class, wait ten minutes for students who are not going to be there, and then go about our business for the rest of the time. Many students would like to attend classes but peer pressure is overwhelming. Thus school might as well be cancelled until the paro is settled. Students are nonetheless expected to continue studying the class materials using as their guide the “cronograma” which is sort of equivalent to a class schedule in the U.S. syllable.
A paro is not as harsh as a toma. Toma, from the Spanish verb tomar – to take, is when the students literally take over a building or campus. During a toma, classes are officially cancelled for the teachers. However, the students are still expected to keep up with their studies. The politically active students seem to be a small but committed minority. For them, this is a time to make speeches and participate in marches. For the rest, they go back home, work, or party – but they do not study. The time of paro and toma is essentially lost for educational purposes.
Our university was in paro and/or toma for 5 weeks beginning in around May 19. We did not see students again until June 23. This was a national event. Public and semi-private schools all over Chile were on stike and some schools continue to be. The teachers even took time off to march on the national congress and show support through demonstrations in cities around Chile.

U of Catolica in toma

The debate with the government over how schools are funded continues even now. It is one of the most important issues facing Chile. As one protestor’s sign eloquently stated: “When Pinochet sold the schools, he sold our future.” We have included a blog entry on the education system and current reform efforts. And w have put together a slide show of the paros, tomas, and marches.

Education Reform the Chileno Way

Professors from around the region marching in Temuco
on the day of the national strike for education reform
Under Pinochet, almost all aspects of education from preschool through college were privatized. There still exist public schools but these are woefully underfunded. Public schools are overcrowded with at least 40 -50 students to a class including in the primary grades. Students are two to a desk and share books. Buildings are run down and often unsanitary, unheated, and depressing. Teachers are underpaid and ill prepared for the realities of the classroom. This sounds like an over-exaggeration but unfortunately it is not. The downward spiral seems to have begun in earnest during the 70’s when education was sold off to private enterprise. Now, Chile finds itself at an inflection point over education reform.
Private schools have all the benefits of money that is lacking in the public schools. But along with privatizing the standards also disappeared. Anyone with enough cash, connections, and good business and marketing skills can start a school. We noticed a department in a government building downtown that specializes in helping you start a new school. In between the two extremes, there is a mixture of semi-public funded/private school. University of Catolica in Temuco were we were based is one of the semi-private schools. The problem with public funding when it is given is there is a lack of strict accountability to how it is spent.

LOCE is the name of the new law.

This sign is saying NO! LOCE

As you can imagine those graduating from private schools have good test scores and are able to enter the better universities and to have a greater chance of success as they pursue their careers. The disparity magnifies as you travel further from metropolitan areas. It just does not pay to start a private school in the countryside. Middle class families make tremendous sacrifices to educate their children. For farmers and laborers in the countryside, they simply do not have the means to pay. If at all possible, they send their children to the city to live with a relative to be educated. Thus a subtle but pervasive class system prevails.
In many ways Chile is a developed country with tremendous international potential in the exportation of raw materials (assorted minerals, copper, wood) and agricultural goods (rice, fruit, fish). But in this one critical area – education –the country straddles between its future potential and unclear goals.
In this year the government has proposed a new law to fix some of these problems. Unfortunately, it does nothing to end the privatizing of education which many feel is the main source of their problems. Many Chilenos have objected to the inertia demonstrated by their leaders. In true Chileno style teachers and students have taken to the street in protest. It appears the battle will be a long one.

School of Social Work at the U of Catolica on Strike

Do You Have Your Boleta (Receipt)?

An interesting artifact of the Pinochet years is that EVERYTHING is privatized. Everything! For example, curb side parking along pubic streets is a concession. Every street has someone who “manages” the parking. This person’s main function is to ensure that you are charged the appropriate amount for parking. He might help you get in or out of your spot but that requires an extra tip. The parking person is paid a percentage of how much he is able to collect. He reports to a boss who owns several streets, who reports to a boss who owns several bosses, and the pyramid is built. Everywhere you go someone is collecting something for their share of whatever you are using or buying. Thus, save your boleta (receipt) because the next person might ask you to pay for the same service and you need your proof.

This is probably my most favorite boleta of all times. It is the receipt from the "Tunel de las Raices". About 80 km due east of Temuco, this tunnel cuts through the heart of the Andes between Manzanar and Lonquimay. As you travel the 4km under the mountain range, you leave the lush, wet greenness of the western Andes and encounter the barren, dry pampas range of the eastern Andes.

Imagine our surprise when we found out the interstate is also a concession section by section. Ruta 5 looks just like our Interstate 5 except that every 100 – 150 KM you stop to pay a toll of about $3.50 for a car. Now I am not entirely sure how this works but apparently the concession owners maintains their section and in return keep a portion of the fees. And you better have your boleta because there are toll booths along the way to catch people trying to slip onto the interstate from a back road. When you finally leave the interstate, your boleta is surrendered, time stamped and given back to you. Don’t ask me why; the whole process is a curiosity.

Boletas are also a way to provide employment for large numbers of people. Let’s say you want to buy shampoo. First you go to the counter where the various shampoos are kept BEHIND the counter. No touching, the sales clerk will help you. You select a shampoo and are given a boleta. Next you go stand in line to pay your boleta. Upon doing so the cashier gives you a new boleta. This you take to the area where your shampoo is being wrapped. You surrender boleta #2, are given your shampoo – and you guessed it: you are given boleta #3. It is important to plan enough time for even the simplest purchases and be sure you get your boleta.

Fullbrighter Conducts Reseach on Social Habits at Thermal Baths

I am sure some Fullbright scholar has researched the thermal activity and its potential as there are only about 500 active volcanoes in Chile. But we did make it our special mission to personally experience the hospitality industry of thermal hot springs. Our goal was to visit every thermal bath within a day’s drive of Temuco. Last count we had been to 10 thermals of the approximate 15 in our region. And these are only about half of those available in all of Chile, a country of volcanoes. Chileans have perfected the hospitality of thermal hot springs. These places are beautiful designed and managed by friendly, kind people. The guests are the same. Everyone has come to relax, to enjoy themselves, to find calmness. Bathing in boiling water does not make for loud, excitable partying. Fortunately for Chilenos there is no Environmental Protection Agency as construction of some of these places clearly required major alterations to the natural surroundings. We loved the thermal baths. On the side bar is a slide show of some of our favorite spots.