Feliz día papa

Happy Fathers Day, dads! Special shout out to MY totally awesome dad- I wish I could be there with you to celebrate today, but it was great to talk to you yesterday, dad!

All is well here- today is a beautiful day, but for a bit it was raining like crazy here. At first I was mocking them for their insane preparation for the rain, but it flooded in some places and it was raining really hard. In Santiago there were/have been/are people protesting an issue with their homes (complicated), but the point was that they were publicly and visibly protesting by staying in tents along this usually fairly low river (el río Mapocho) and with all the rain, the river is flooding and they were in danger of losing their tents, everything...they were on the news in ponchos, sopping wet, but they refused to leave because they want to continue making their point. The carabineros (chilean police) have been violently removing them from the area. It's crazy.

The rain made me a little stir crazy, and my lack of concrete things to do have made me antsy- who would have thought that I would miss HAVING to be productive? Thursday was good though, I met up with a contact of Alvaro's that he met through a feminist group, and she was super cool. She took me up to a clinic where she is volunteering with some nursing students, offering advice to women who come into their "maternity ward" (a tiny hallway in the clinic that they've claimed as theirs) about their pregnancies, motherhood, etc. Their main project is promoting breast feeding these days, and I helped them come up with a list of advantages from A-Z why it was better to "dar de pecho". Afterwards, I went out with Dani (Alvaro's friend) for lunch, and we met up with a "gringa" friend of hers (she studied at Swarthmore, but her mom is Chilean so she has dual citizenship) who was super cool. She even gave me a contact for teaching English, and when I emailed her contact the lady said that she was JUSTAMENTE looking for a new profesora, so I'm interviewing with her on Monday at 3pm. Obviously, I will probably manipulate some words to make my Charlas work seem a bit more applicable, although I think it's applicable without too much manipulation. Either way, it was great to get out on my own, meet some new people, and to get the contact. I feel bad for Dani- she's very progressive, and I think she would have really thriven in a less conservative country. She's doing her Anthropology thesis as a cartography (visual drawing/map) of the various masculinities in Valpo- in this area, she knows a guy who is super macho, much softer, gay, a vegan bodybuilder and spoken poet, etc.) and she started talking a lot about queer theory and what kind of programming she would like to do. When I told her about the activities that the LGBTQ clubs that I know have done, she was enthralled, and I think she would really like to have been able to participate in some, though Chile is so socially consdervative it's not really expected.

The other good thing is that I'm starting my garden (!). My one post-grad goal (aside from employment, yadda yadda yadda) was to grow some of my own food (moving around too much and not owning the rental homes before always kept me from creating a garden in Tacoma). Yesterday I planted seeds of tomato, green onion, raddish, broccoli, cherry tomato, pepper, and beans, and I bought starter plants of oregano, white and purple cabbage, mint, parsley, cilantro, chives, and toronjil- not sure what that is in English. Once the rain stops, I want to plant garlic too.

Yesterday both Alvaro el papa and Alvarito and I went into the "interior", passing through Olmue, Quillota, and Limache in search of "tierra de hoja"- basically, just good dirt to use in the garden. We had a nice lunch, eating "chifa"- Chinese food- and then went on the search, heading out into the campo. One guy said that this guy named Vega sold dirt, and when we stopped to ask someone else where Vega was, he replied that HE was Vega! Then, it turned out, the entire neighborhood was a Vega. So he directed us up to el viejo chico, who turned out to be not selling any dirt. So we left a little frustrated, but the whole adventure reminded me of my time in Ecuador where you just had to go around from place to place asking how to get around. We went through Olmue long enough to drink some mate, eat some sopaipillas (fried bread with some corn- basically, delish), and play some foosball. Eventually we found dirt (and firewood) that was significantly cheaper than it was in the Viña home and garden superstore, and went home with lots of fresh marmelades, manjar, and a book that Alvaro el papa found at a small feria. The whole ordeal took up the full day, but it was cool to see a new part of Chile.

Today it's sunny, and hopefully I'll go out to walk for a bit, and I need to water my seedlings and plants. I hope that everyone has a good Fathers Day, and that you're all well and enjoying yourselves. love love