HOHOHOHOHOme sweet home

Hehe. Just got into Santiago this morning, and it feels soooo good to be back! Hey, would you hate me if I said it's perfectly bright, sunny, cloud-free, pollution-less, and about 67 degrees on this Christmas Eve in the Southern Hemisphere? Don't. It's the season of love.

Did a tour of the Pucón area yesterday, and midway through (between seeing cascades at a nearby lake a river and taking a luxurious dip in the mineral hot springs in the rain), Rafael called to say there was a party in my house that night. Unfortunately, I was still about 10 hours away, so I'd have to have ditched the thermal baths and gotten on the bus, if I were to catch the tail end of the carrete...But it got me all excited to see my dear family that I decided to come back last night anyway. First I hung out with Fabricio, Katie and Lelia's housemate (the Ecuadorian), who works as a kayak/rafting guide in Pucón in the summers. All set with a few Kunzmann beers under my belt and a (bad) Jackie Chan movie (fortunately subtitled, not dubbed), I snoozed on the Executive Jac Bus (semi-bed) and tumbled into town around 7am.

Turns out I'm going to spend the holiday with Marcelo and his family, just a couple of hours north of here, since buses won't be running long distance tomorrow night, and I must be here to collect Andrew Sunday morning!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderufl Christmas (whether or not you celebrate it)! All my love from Santiago.

Afterglow

Woooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Tom said level 3 rivers are nothing to sneeze at, so even though I thought it was pretty tame, I'll take your congratulations for mastering the Rio Todos los Santos on a paddle raft. Woah, I was drenched as I sang down the wild river paddling to my heart's content (from the front of the boat), and I can't wait to do it again (level IV next time?)! I even swam a bit in its crazy current, it wasn't that cold, just exhilarating!

It was funny, because I ended up with a group of tourists from the US, Canada, and England--the first native English speakers I've hung out with on this trip (besides Alexana)--even better, three were Californians. Ahhhh. The guides were a silly Irishman (now Chilean, due to love and a child here) and Chilean from Varas.

Which reminds me...did I tell you my latest scheme for getting to live back down here? I have been thinking about coming back to Chile to work, after I pay off the debt my current adventures have incurred and before graduate school...and now I'm trying to figure out how to become a guide, probably in trekking. Sounds fun, huh? Shouldn't be that tricky, with my language skills, and it gives me another exuse to learn more about Chile (flora and fauna and geography and geology, etc.) while I'm missing it up North. Made some good connections in my travels, so maybe I'll have a good chance of doing that in the next year or so. Hey, then you'll really have to come down here and see what all the hype is.

Two days to Christmas (in my family, at least, Xmas Eve is more like Christmas for me than the "day of") and I still don't have plans. Gotta work on that.

Wow, this is the longest I've lived out of a backpack, and I am marvelling at the Australians and Europeans and Israelis who do this for months at a time. I'm looking forward to traveling with Andrew for another few weeks, but it'll be good to be home for a few days first to get a little stability. It's all adventure, but still, the emotional stability suffers enough when my life is more predicatable...

In another couple of hours I'll be on the bus for Villarica, which is another "resort" town, though more modest than its neighbor Pucón. Both towns (like Puerto Varas) are famous for adventure, so I'll probably be seeking out more addrenaline-pumping activities. They say it's just gorgeous there--more volcanoes and lakes and rivers, but closer to the city than Puerto Varas is to its natural attractions. Yum yum.

No Such Thing as Solita

"Andai solita?"
Sola, sí, solita no. Esto sólo existe en la mente de los fome.


My time in Chiloé went too fast--five days would have been plenty if I'd either a) had a good bike and the physical capacity to use it to explore the islands or b) given up on the bike idea and taken advantage of the buses properly. So I didn't get to the national park, which would have been fun (next time!), but on Sunday I did get to Dalcahue for the famous artesanía market and some seafood on the water in an ararchic little cafeteria. Then I took a little trip to a smaller island, Quinchao, to visit the tiny town of Achao. The church there on the plaza has the home-iest smell (like Mom's at Christmas...ahhh) and as often happens, I wished I was Catholic for a minute so I could appreciate it some more. The wood that all the churches are made of--alerce--is now protected because very few of them remain (there's a whole story about the exploitation in logging and reforestation using eucalyptus--bad idea). But it makes for very sturdy building material--those churches are over 140 years old and mostly in good shape.

I got back to Ancud that night to be with the "family" for a last bit of lovin' (more yummy chicken dinner!) and met up with some Israelis--I meet more Israelis than people of any other nationality. We set out yesterday morning to see the penguins of Chiloé (which I meant to see the other day on bike, but we all know how that turned out). There are Magellan and Humbolt penguins there during the spring and summer months.

What do you know about penguins? If you want to dork out, check out what Sea World has to say: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Penguins/distribution.html They are lovely creatures.

They are out at sea all winter, and then the males come to the nest (always the same nest) and get it ready, and the lady penguins come later, then they lay two eggs. How cute is this: they take turns incubating the eggs, and then when the little baby penguins (guaguas--sounds like wawa--as Chileans call bebés) are born, they take turns watching the nest and then taking them out to fish.

We took a boat out to see their little colonies on little rocky islands off the coast of the Isla Grande, where the two varieties were living side by side (ahhh). There was also some other sea creature swimming around, which looked a bit like a sea lion but I don't know what it was called. It had been swimming and fishing and came back to the little island with a lobster, which it was not inclined to share with its buddies.

Mercedes made a feast of a lunch as a goodbye meal for me, and indeed it was sad to part with her, Milte and Francis--the former two cried! If you're ever in Ancud, you have to stay at the Hospedaje Austral.

Bueno, then I fought with the bus companies to let me put that damn bike on the bus to get back to Puerto Montt--I had to get it back to the dude yesterday. What a headache. But I promise, such vehicles can be such a source of pleasure...ahhhh.

Pulled my things together, called the Scoundrel Bike Owner and sorted out him getting me back some of my cash, and then took a colectivo mini-bus about an hour north, to Puerto Varas.

So this place is almost as touristy as Punta Arenas--full of gringos and almost as expensive (though not my hostel, for some reason)--and as beautiful as Puerto Natales: it's on Lake Llanquihue, which was formed by volcanic erruptions, and is surrounded by a few very dramatic volcanoes and the cordillera. There are many national parks nearby and lots of "adventure" things to do. I don't know--I really like it here. It feels super safe here because it's kinda yuppy, and it's just so pretty.

OK, I don't know why I didn't start with this, but I took a tour today along the lake and into the Parque Nacional Pérez Rosales and the Lago Todos los Santos and some small towns. I suppose it would have been nice, though of course after Torres del Paine, the park didn't really measure up to my expectations of natural wonder.

But seriously. The guide, a 35-yr-old Chilean from Puerto Montt (with a 19-yr-old son living in Swizerland), did nothing but hit on me all freaking day. It was me, four Chileans, and six French tourists (cool that so many Chileans travel, huh?). Yeah, that was annoying, but I got out ok.

Alright. So I have to get to bed so I can be in good shape for RAFTING in the morning. That's right, I'm going to face the wild rapids (level three river!) tomorrow. Can't climb the volcano, as it's just slightly out of my budget range (yeah, another reason it sucks to travel without a group--it would have been about $200, if the clouds lifted from the top of the volcano), so I decided to take another crazy risk. Wish me luck. I'm sure I'll have a blast, but just in case...may you know I LOVE YOU! ahhhh.

Déja vu

Well, just about this time last year, we received the bad news that an execution date had been set for California death row inmate and dear comrade Kevin Cooper. We got to working fast, and the state did not murder him in February. But now, they're at it again, and it's bad Christmas news. Even if you don't live in California, you can harass Ah-nold all you want, we need all the help we can get. Below I am posting the alert Crystal sent out--OH! and below that is my personal blog about what I'm up to, so read on:

The State of California has set an execution date of January 19th for death row inmate Donald Beardslee. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted him one more hearing, and there is a chance he could be saved from execution there. But anti-death penalty activists should start mobilizing now and show the state of California that we oppose this and all executions. The state Senate has just established a commission to study the flaws of the death penalty system--we need to demand a moratorium on ALL executions while this study is taking place! To read a news article on Beardslee visit:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/17/BAGN6ADC7M1.DTL

What can you do??

1. Join the Bay Area Anti-Death Penalty Coalition Emergency meeting Tuesday, January 4th, 6:30 pm, Haymarket Books Library, 110 Capp street, San Francisco. We want to show our opposition to this execution and try to stop it. Planning is already in the works for a press conference/rally the week before the scheduled execution. Want to help plan this or other events before the 4th, have more ideas about what we could do? Call 510-938-2033 or e-mail camconnect101@yahoo.com.

2. Write a letter to the editor You can visit: https://calmail.berkeley.edu/Redirect/dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/By_Region/U_S__States/California/Complete_List/ For a list of all the California newspapers. Find one in your area, and go to their website for how to send in a letter to the editor. You can address Beardslee, the commission, or the death penalty in general. For materials on these subjects, visit www.2flawed2fix.org

3. Call/E-mail/Fax your representatives Contact Governor Schwarzenegger and tell him that you are opposed to the execution.Phone: 916-445-2841Fax: 916-445-4633To send an Electronic Mail please visit:http://www.govmail.ca.gov

4. Circulate this e-mail to all your friends, family, and co-workers. Stay in touch with activists by visiting www.2flawed2fix.org for news and updates.

**********************the blog of the day***********************

Got "home" but muerta (dead, tired in this case) last night and napped for awhile while I finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which I picked up at a book exchange at the hostel in Puerto Montt (excellent book and too quick of a read, unfortunately) and rested for awhile. The family got home after 11, and we had a lovely dinner, including some champagne I picked up, which was quite a hit. Even though I won't be with my family, family for Christmas, I have had so many special moments with surrogate families in South America, that it's actually OK. It's all about reaching beyond what you know, and though goddess knows (HA!) it's been a rough trek for me, it's all about growing (ahhhh).

Woke up at a reasonable hour today and took breakfast with Tía Milde (I forgot to mention, tía means "auntie" and is used instead of the more formal doña for a woman who is older and kind of auntie-like) and Abuelita Mercedes. I had to get to the bottom of the bicycle problem so that I could be sure I got my $8/day worth (turns out you can rent a bike on the island for about $5/day and it's a much better idea), so I called the scoundrel and he told me to go get the bike fixed (it shouldn't be more than $5) and we'd talk on Monday when I'm back on the mainland. I went and filed a complaint against him at the Sernatur (Servicio Nacional de Turismo) office in town, and hopefully I can get my money back.

Anyway, I was a little upset about all that mess, and I was invited to take lunch with the family again, so we ate well (lunch is the most important meal of the day here, breakfast is pésimo), and I decided to head out into the world at 4:30--on the bus to Castro, which is the other big city on the island.

I got here around 6:30 and found a good hostel (hey, can't beat $6 with cable TV) and took a little walk around town. Since it's Saturday, the big arts/seafood market was closed, as well as just about every other tourist attraction, so I just took a walk along the waterfront.

Here's what I like about Castro, even though it's urban: along the water, all the houses look normal from the street (though they are very, very humble), and in the back, they are held up by stilts. Can you imagine falling asleep to the sound of waves every night right below you (ahhh, the romantic gringo vision--I'm sure it's got it's drawbacks, like, say, tsunamis)...Also, all the houses on the island are very colorful and picturesque. With the lovely hills, it kind of looks like what I imagine Ireland must be like. Super green with dashes of color on the little houses.

Tomorrow I go to the market and churches and museums here and maybe a little tour to the national park a little ways from here. Then it's back up a little distance north to Dancahue, where there is a famous crafts market on Sunday mornings. From there, I'll take is a ferry over to a little island called Quinchao (all these indigenous names are hard to remember, huh?), which I think will be more like "typical" Chiloé, since it's rural. I think I might spend the night there and then head back through Ancud on Monday to collect the sad bicycle and the rest of my things. It's funny running around with my panniers (the bike bags) and no bike, but oh well. I'd like to go to a peña tonight, where there is typical chilote folk music, but safety first--I think it's some bad TV for me instead! Maybe I'll find the tango channel, which is almost like the autochthonous culture, right?

Oooh and Ouch

So it's my second day on the beautiful, lush, green island of Chiloé, in the 10th Region of Chile. It was raining last night when my POS bike and I arrived on a bus from Puerto Montt and a very sweet señora from a nearby hostel took me in.

How can I explain how different things are here? I already said a big about the informal economy here, but there's so much more about the culture that is informal--so she gave me a special rate on a room because she needed more boarders, and she was so excited to have another 'hija' (daughter) to take care of (she calls me gringuita--little gringa: did I tell you how much they use diminuitives here? and that gringo can be used affectionately?) . She went over my little map of the islands with me and pointed out a good route for me: "you have your own airplane, you can see all you want, when people pay $60 to see the same" (an approximate translation of her Chilean speech).

She let me use the kitchen (mmmm, I'm still working on the millions of packets of rice I bought for travelling) and then her wonderful elderly mother hung out with me and served me chicken soup (yeah, I'm afraid I've gone to the other side--fish and chicken only--ok, turkey would be ok too...) and we drank tea together. It was like being at home with family.

So I rested well, falling asleep to the patter of rain and the other gringo upstairs tromping around--his shower caused it to rain in my room, in fact, so I had to change rooms--and woke up to the rooster crowing and sunshine (a bit of a miracle around here--I'm lucky to have sun). I slept late because I so needed it--even though there was a lot I wanted to see today, but I needed the energy. Had a typical Chilean breakfast--tecito y pancito (little tea with little bread) and headed out on what I discovered was...

the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden! It has what is probably a BMX saddle, which is hard as a rock, so I rode BMX style (off the saddle--is that really BMX style?) and worried a whole lot about my shaky front wheel. At first I was all excited because I am just doing this all in a way I would never consider at home--I rented the bike from a guy the Municipal Tourism Office referred me to (again, super-informal), and I was remembering a friend of Tom's who did bicyle touring across the country on his Schwinn ten-speed, which is hardly a touring bike. So I thought, well, I'll be fine with a crappy bike (Bianchi isn't quite the same here as there) and chain lock and panniers and helmet (that "crappy" applies to the bike and all of the above accessories), and without all my geeky clothes.

Well, so far I'm 'fine,' but my ass has never been so sore, which is why I cut the adventures a bit short today and didn't make it to the penguin colony. Qué lata.

So I started my warmup in town (Ancud, at the North of the Isla Grande de Chiloé) and saw the San Antonio fort (at the top of a hill that was none too fun to climb on two wheels), where the crillollos (Europeans born in America) fought the Spanish.

Then I checked out the museum, which is said to be the best on the island, and I believe it. They had interesting exhibits about the geology and human history on the island, which goes back 6000 years. Also some modern art from the islands and sculptures depicting the mythical creatures of the island--geographical islolation here has helped chilotes cultivate a rich mythological tradition: there's Trauco, who is a naughty gnome the locals attribute bastard pregnancies to; my favorite is Pincoya, the goddess of plenty who determines if fishermen will make it home with a good catch or suffer at sea.

I met a couple of lovely little girls there, sisters from Arica (far, far north) and Santiago, who addressed me with the formal "usted" and called me tía. I could have hung out with them all day, but I had other adventures to seek.

It was a harsh 13 km to Quetalmahue, mostly paved and great for cross country mountain biking--if you have a decent bike. But it was along the coast the whole way, which, on a clear day, is breathtaking. Yeah, that's great except I needed all the breath I could get. Luckily hiking this week helped me get in passable physical condition.

It really was a trip that you don't see on the tours, though tours have their values. But it was pure country, with very simple people working and occassionally greeting me (usually with piropos--crazy fools, I was not a beautiful sight today). Had lunch at a little restaurant--some sierra, which I think is Chilean sea bass, and french fries, which I normally don't eat--but, did you know that Darwin believed that potatoes originated on this very island? It might be true, because that's about all that grows here, and the potatoes are super yummy.
So I'm bummed I didn't make it to the penguins, but I'm going to have to find a little bike shop tomorrow so I can see more and not suffer quite so much.

I'm headed back to the hostel right now and am having dinner with the family tonight--how sweet is that? (more chicken) and need to rest up a bit and get presentable.

Chiloé is magical, and I can't wait to see more of it. It's famous for these wooden churches built by the jesuits (though they weren't sent out to built the churches out of wood and kind of got in trouble for it)--funny thing for me to get excited about, I know, but they're pretty and full of good energy--and the mythology and artesanía (crafts) that's usually woolen goods. And lots of potatoes of various kinds. And very, very warm people. Lots of backpackers just stay in people's houses as they travel--you just have to ask for a pedacito (little piece) of floor for your little sleeping bag and can you use a little water and leave your little backpack ouside...this is as typical Chilean as you can get. Actually, lots of places on the islands (there are many, not just this big one) don't even have electricity. It's precioso.

Taking lots of pictures and thinking of you. OH! If I don't have your address, send it to me so I can send a post-card to you. I'll be in Chiloé until Monday and then I head further north, to Puerto Vargas (just above Puerto Montt) and Pucón and Villarica, which are famous for adventure sports. I surrender the pathetic bike in Puerto Montt and will probably do some little tours there to see some of the national parks. (¿Cachai my use of diminutives now, even in English?--oh, cachai comes from the English verb 'to catch' and like, do ya get it, you following me--they are rather obsessed with making sure people are paying attention to what they're saying, but it's really more rhetorical than anything else, ¿cachai?)

All the best--I promise I am safe and even have two new Moms to take care of me here!

Pinochet Indictment for the Condor Killings

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/dec2004/pino-d14.shtml

Pinochet arrested in Chile on "Condor" killingsBy Bill Van Auken
14 December 2004

Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet was indicted Monday and placed under house arrest in connection with Operation Condor, a conspiracy hatched by US-backed military regimes in Latin America in the 1970s to hunt down and murder their political opponents.The ruling handed down by Judge Juan Guzman found the 89-year-old retired general fit to stand trial and charged him with the "permanent kidnapping" of nine people who disappeared in the dictatorship's torture centers, and the murder of one.

While the victims of Condor amount to only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of Latin American workers, students and intellectuals who were murdered by the dictatorships, they were representative of a generation that was subjected to ruthless repression. Among them were opponents of the Pinochet regime who had fled persecution into what they thought was the safety of exile, only to be arrested and sent back to Chile and their deaths.This killing spree was justified as a "war on terrorism" that respected no national boundaries and was aimed at exterminating all those who resisted military rule.

The conspiracy was followed closely by the CIA and the US State Department, which provided covert support.What cleared the way for Pinochet's prosecution was Guzman's ruling that the ex-dictator is mentally competent to stand trial.The 70-page finding issued by the judge consists of two parts: the first reviews medical and other evidence on Pinochet's mental and physical state; the second details the crimes carried out by his regime and the biographies of some of its victims. (See: "The victims of Operation Condor").

For over six years, since his arrest in London on a Spanish extradition warrant charging him with crimes against humanity, the ex-dictator has managed to evade prosecution by claiming that he was incapable of defending himself in a court of law because of senile dementia. The Labor government of Prime Minister Tony Blair used that as the pretext for freeing him to return to Chile after a year and a half under British house arrest.

Similarly, an indictment brought against him in 2001 in connection with the so-called "Caravan of Death" was dropped after Chile's high court ruled that he was "crazy or demented," and therefore unfit to stand trial. The case involved a hand-picked military death squad that was formed shortly after Pinochet seized power in the September 11, 1973 coup that overthrew the democratically elected leftist government of Salvador Allende. The death squad was sent across the country to murder political prisoners.

Guzman based his ruling on new medical exams administered to Pinochet after the Chilean Supreme Court stripped him of immunity in the Condor case last August.The Chilean judge also cited a controversial interview that Pinochet granted a Spanish-language television station in Miami last year, in which he provided a lucid defense of his actions when he ruled Chile as both president and chief of the army.

Human rights groups and relatives of those who were murdered or disappeared under Pinochet's rule welcomed the decision and predicted it would be difficult to overturn.Eduardo Contreras, a lawyer representing the relatives, told the Chilean daily El Mercurio that the ruling "represents the culmination of many years of work." He added that "Operation Condor is undoubtedly the most emblematic case because of its international dimension and because of the clear involvement of the dictator."

Guzman said Monday he has evidence that Pinochet attended the meetings in November 1975 where military intelligence and secret police officers from six countries, comprising two-thirds of Latin America's population, met in Santiago to launch their sinister operation. Represented at this meeting, in addition to Chile, were Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Military regimes in Ecuador and Peru later joined the conspiracy.

The indictment states simply: "Beginning in 1974, an operation was organized to create a link between the intelligence services of some countries in the Southern Cone of this continent with the precise and specific aim of combating and repressing the supposed enemies of their respective governments and that, to that end, they mounted this plan or project that became known as 'Condor.'"It then reviews the identity of the victims who, having fled the Pinochet dictatorship, were kidnapped in neighboring countries and brought back to face death, most of them in Villa Grimaldi, the clandestine detention and torture center run by DINA, the Chilean secret police.

The Chilean court's decision will have definite reverberations in Washington. If Pinochet is ultimately tried for these crimes, the US government may well find itself in the dock. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who remains a close confidante of the Bush administration, is directly implicated in the 1973 coup and US support for the savage repression that followed. Others who held high positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations at the time of Operation Condor and share complicity in these crimes include Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Charges of crimes against humanity have been brought against Pinochet not only in his own country, but also in Spain, France and elsewhere. The unraveling of his defense strategy cannot be viewed as a welcome development by a government in Washington that is carrying out its own war crimes from Iraq to Guantanamo.

Among those who have spoken out, calling for Pinochet's prosecution, is Manuel Contreras, the former head of DINA, who was convicted and imprisoned for crimes carried out under the Chilean dictatorship, including the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Ronni Moffitt on the streets of Washington. The killing was part of Operation Condor.Contreras, who was a paid asset of the US Central Intelligence Agency, insists that Pinochet was responsible for directing the operations of DINA.

(NOTE: Contreras is a bloody murderer--some say he even pushed Pinochet to be harder on the left--Pinochet had to demote him because he was embarrasingly hard-core. See book about Chile, A Nation of Enemies)

In addition to the Operation Condor case, Pinochet was stripped of immunity from prosecution earlier this month in connection with the 1974 car bomb assassination in Argentina of General Carlos Prats and his wife. Prats, a former head of the Chilean army, had opposed the 1973 coup and fled into exile.

The ex-dictator is also facing a criminal investigation into his multi-million-dollar secret accounts at the Riggs Bank in Washington, which were uncovered by a US Senate committee's investigation of the bank's illicit practices.

HA! Back from the Ends of the Earth!

Saludos!

Just got into Puerto Montt, which is an insane port city at the mouth of a bay in the 10th Region of Chile. Was just in the 12th Region, which is for reals very, very close to freakin' Antartica! I have so, so many adventures to tell you about--

The most dramatic landscapes you can imagine: in the Chilean Patagonia
Some of the most beautiful and amusing people I have ever met
The comedy they brought into my life
Bad-ass hiking & dropping some pounds, finally
Adorable penguins (sorry, Andrew, you shoulda been there)

I am now headed to continue the vacation, realizing a dream--a bike tour of the Chiloé islands and some of the parks in the Lakes District. Alexana just went back up to Santiago and I'm off to find more travelling companions. Wish me luck. I promise to be safe (no La Paz repeat)!

Oh, and did you hear the good news about Pinochet? That huevón finally got arrested for the Condor slayings! Since I just got back to civilization, I don't have a good sense of what all is going on, but I assure you this is Progress.

More later--I get back to Santiago (free internet there=completing the blog) around Christmas and meet up with my punk-ass brother for a 2 1/2 week circuit through Argentina (including Montevideo, Uruguay and a national park in Paraguay), getting back to Chicago on Jan. 13th. Oh dear, what will I do about this blog when I am no longer "yendo a Chile" (as in Corrie "va a (goes to) Chile")?

Hope you are well. You should be here with me! Merry, merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!