29/01/13: Los Carabineros
Members of the police force of Chile are known as carabineros. Honestly, this police force is equipped like an army. They have on-road mini tanks, armored buses, and tons of anti-strike weapons. The day that we went to the contemporary music performance, we saw a lot of these guys (and gals) in strike gear with helmets and shields stealthily heading toward La Alameda, the main avenue of Santiago. We followed them, thinking that a student protest was taking place. However, we were wrong--a rather small workers' strike was taking place. What seemed an odd show of force on the part of the carabineros--multiple armored buses, approximately 50 in sight patrolling the area, a guanaco (water cannon) in the distance--was in the end a response to a small, harmless gathering of protestors. Seriously, these guys are scary.
14/01/13: Las Comunas
Like New York City is divided into burroughs, Santiago is divided into comunas. I live in the comuna of Ñuñoa (pink immediately right of the central red), known for its residential and commercial districts as well as its live music and night life! There are 37 comunas in total, and most are very easily accessible by metro transit and/or bus.
11/01/13: Chilenismos, Parte 1
As one of our first homework assignments for our Spanish class here, we had to ask the younger members of our family to give us the five most important Chilenismos (Chilean slang) in their vocabulary. At Alejandro's (Menina's son-in-law) birthday asado (BBQ), we all had a lively time discussing the words and the meanings of each. Here are the top five that my host cousins gave me:
Hueon/Hueona/Huea: Familiar term for a friend or talking about someone; for guys and girls; the third variation is used for objects (this made me crack up)
Po: The Chilean version of the American "like;" break in speech similar to um
Cachai: Entiendes/Ves; "Understand?"
Bakan: Cool
Hueon/Hueona/Huea: Familiar term for a friend or talking about someone; for guys and girls; the third variation is used for objects (this made me crack up)
Po: The Chilean version of the American "like;" break in speech similar to um
Cachai: Entiendes/Ves; "Understand?"
Bakan: Cool