20th of August

I thought that I was going to run out of topics to write about, but I always have so much to say or experience on a daily basis. I am now a quarter of the way through my language immersion experience. I have been looking at my wall wisher questions again and realized that I am getting caught up in what I find interesting, and not directly answering the questions that you the students want to know. This will be my last indulgence and then I will try to tighten things up a little and be more direct.

SCHOOL
It’s a real defining moment of realizing how good you have it in NZ, when you walk into a school Library and see that you have more books at home than an entire school library. Schools here are under resourced. San Ignacio had only two book cases worth of books and this was a real shock to my system. They had a set of dictionaries but only enough for one class. I have not seen the other school’s library but I will ask. San Ignacio has one room set up with a data projector and one computer room to service the entire school. Students attend classes and afterwards go to another school to prepare them for University exams. They return home and spend time doing homework before they finally make it to bed.

San Ignacio - picture slideshow

http://www.sanignaciovina.cl/
Until 2003 the Colegio San Ignacio worked as a private school. From 2004 onwards it is recognized as subsidized private school with shared financing , which the education authority determines through Exempt Resolution No. 1481/2004 . This means that it charges students a fee to attend and it is also paid by the government. El Colegio San Ignacio de Viña del Mar, is aided with shared financing basis and attends three modalities of the educational system : Preschool Education Basic and General Education, Humanistic Science Education Media
1 .- The school is defined as a lay -Catholic , therefore has a Christian vision of man.
2 .- humanist scientist , works with the plans and programs of the Ministry of Education, and is defined as an establishment for the transition to higher education , responsibility assigned to parents and guardians , so that levels of demand on students are high to meet the targets.
3 .- It is respectful of the diversity of its students and strengthens national and family values , promoting healthy living within the school.
http://www.colegiosaintdominic.cl

WEALTH
One of the main differences between Chile and NZ is that in Chile, a teacher’s salary is not enough to afford to buy a house. Again this was a real shock to me. Diego and Daniela took me for a drive today to see the wealthy houses in Santiago. These are owned by managers or directors of companies. Most have electric fences surrounding them and look like forts. I have included some pictures and a short clip.

Wealthy Housing - picture slideshow

CLASSES OF SOCIETY / SOCIAL STRUCTURE
The sharpest distinctions between Chileans lie in classes. Chile’s early economy was based on agriculture and mining, and produced a society that was highly stratified on agriculture and mining. Chile still has social classes within its society today. As an example: Valparaiso is a Navy base. There are probably about 200 people out on the streets. I’m not sure of statistics, but this is what I have been told. People who join the navy are given a steady income. They are offered Army houses or accommodation with good facilities in a compound and health care. However, if you are poor, you will never rise to the rank of an officer or above. Regardless of your age your job is to cater to the needs of the officers. You do all the work but you may not go out on training missions. The people who are officers are born into that class, only they have the opportunities to become Captains etc. The first weekend I was in Valparaiso, I heard lots of ships horns blowing. It was deafening. The ‘Armada’ had been out on a training mission of about 4 – 5 months out at sea. It had travelled all the way down to Auckland believe it or not as one of the ports it stayed in. The ships is the harbor ALL salute the ‘Armada’ by blowing their horns as a sign of respect.
Maids Most middle class families and above have maids at their house. Depending on how wealthy you are, maids could come from once a week to clean or cook, to being a full time maid Monday – Sunday. If they are lucky they will get Sunday afternoon off after they have finished serving the family lunch. Some include looking after children and being a nanny ‘emleadas’. They are available at almost any hour if needed. My family are different – they used to have the maid eat meals with them, but most expect the maid to eat elsewhere after the family has been served. Most maids come from a poor or low income neighbourhood. This may be their only opportunity to earn money and their labour is relatively cheap. They leave their children with relatives, or use neighbourhood day care centres.
Families – Fathers I don’t see this in my house, I think they are quite liberal, this is only what I have been told. My host father and host mother are both great cooks. They both like to do this as it allows them to be creative. I am told that male roles are very strong. The father is the head of the house, the main earner. He is waited on first and has the last say in how things work. Inside the house it is the woman’s domain.
Some of the JOBS for the lower income earners that I have seen are people jumping on and off buses to sell goods like drinks or snacks. Young people in their teens or twenties performing tricks at the lights such as cheerleading rountines, acrobatics, juggling, washing car windows etc. These could be University students…. Older people walking amongst cars washing windows or selling snacks or appliances. A lot of people act as parking attendants whether they are allowed to not I don’t know. They help cars back in and out of tight places, or reverse into the traffic or help buses negotiate around tight street corners. You are expected to give them a tip for this service. People shinning shoes in the middle of the mall or street is common. Some people sell goods on the streets in small stalls they have set up. It is illegal to sell things on certain days. If they are caught they are fined. However they can’t live off one day’s pay so they sell what they can whenever they can. Today while having lunch, the door bell rang and a women was standing outside with a basket full of herbs that she was selling. It is constantly around you. Chile does not have the dole, so from what I have seen so far, people are supportive and help out and use these services as they can see the people struggling to live.

BUSES

In Japan they have an expression that buses ‘run’ as in sprout legs and go for it. It is an expression that I have never really realized the meaning of till I came to Chile. My first ride in a bus left me feeling sick and light headed. I had been warned, but it is always different being told and then experiencing it. Give me the train any day!
Buses, like most transport over here does not have a schedule. They are allocated a route and that is the one that they follow for the entire day. It made me wonder if they benefit from going around the route as many times as possible as the first driver I had, had his foot constantly planted to the floor on the , it literally ‘ran’ the whole way. They do not have bus stops. You stand on the side of the road and raise your hand to halt a bus. However, don’t expect it to stop completely unless there is a really long line of people wanting to get on. The bus driver will receive the fare, give you the correct change and pull into the traffic all in one continuous movement. This gives me a new meaning on using cellphones while driving in NZ – if only they could see the multi-tasking going on here. Sellers will hop on at various locations with produce. Bus drivers I have seen make no comment about the sellers getting on and off and they pay no fare. The last time I was on the bus a clown jumped on for a few stops and the produce man had the door opened for him and leapt out of the moving bus which was not going slow. Although to be truthful, I was watching the speedometer the whole way and it never moved off 20km so I am not sure how fast it was going. I know it must have been going faster than that! You hang on for dear life as it goes around corners. The roads vary in quality. Some of the traditional roads are cobblestones, some concrete, some tarseal and others a mixture of some or all three. To get off the bus you walk the rocky road to the front and request the driver to stop. I did hear the buzzer ring (it is continuously held down here) but I couldn’t find one. Just be warned if you ask the driver to stop – hold on, because they do so immediately! Riding the bus is a real experience not to be traded for anything 

Local Bus - picture slideshow