03 August 2010
There is so much to say and I don’t want to bore or confuse so setting it out like this tonight for ease
DOGS
There are a lot of street dogs in Valparaiso. They once had owners but they were let free for whatever reason. They walk around the streets in various states of health. Some chase cars, walk along the middle of the street, others follow those that are walking their own dogs. My family says that they don’t generally attack dogs on leashes which are good. I saw a mother hurrying her son away from one that was following them. People think that it is cruel to cull the dogs so they are left to roam. They can inject them to stop them reproducing but the government does not have the amount of money required to give all dogs injections so this is not done.
GRAFFITTI
The city is full of graffiti and it is the type that has names only not pictures generally. There are murals on some walls. Again the government does not have the money to paint over the names. The buildings that are privately owned are not forced by the council to beautify their buildings so private owners are not bothered to clean it up if they don’t have to as this would take away profits from the business.
LANGUAGE
My language is less than a five year olds. In some ways this is understandable. A five year old would have a lot more vocabulary than I but may have difficulty conceptualizing. My host niece came over today and we played ‘shopping’ which was great and I now know how to play ‘hide and seek’ in Spanish also loll She got real excited when I pretended to snore because I told her that I was tired. She loved the sound. My host mother and I were talking about what noises animals make e.g. sheep etc.
ANIMALES
Learnt today that the native animal of Chile is a Puma. It is a large brown cat that lives in the Andes Mountains. Native villages will shoot the animal even though it is close to extinction because it comes to steal their chickens and livestock.
Another native animal is the Condor. They used to make circular pens and place meat inside to lure these birds to them. Once they were eating they would then pounce on the bird and whack it to kill it and then eat it. The bird would be trapped in the circular pen and be unable to fly away as it needed a long run to take off and escape.
SAFETY
I am told that robbers target tourists and mug them for money. When carrying money do not carry a lot and wear your backpack at the front of your body with your hand holding it also. Robbers will be watching you closely. The ‘ascencar’ which is like a trolley that goes up the side of the hill is a known place for thieves. This is what I have been told I can use to get to my house so I think I’ll be taking the stairs or lots of precaution
HOST FAMILY
My family have an IHC daughter whom they take care of. Ana has a big family who comes over to help her look after Francesca. In Chile there is no social welfare system. If someone is sick ‘inferma’ the responsibility lies on the family to take care of them. In this case it is also the extended family that looks after her as there is no government help or support. It is really great to see how the family work together to help one another out. If Ana needs to leave the house to do simple things like shopping one of the brothers or sisters will pop around for a few hours to take care of her.
Been feeling a little car sick today. I am used to driving a car not being a passenger. I am also tired from staying up late last night so have promised myself I will sleep at 11pm so good night.