First Week Exploring Santiago (Katrina von Hahn and Sarah Peck)

When we landed in Santiago on the morning of January 4^th, we had a pretty seamless entrance into the country. We both went through customs without questions, put our luggage through their scanners, and organized for a radio taxi to take us to our Airbnb. It took about 25 minutes to get to Providencia (the neighborhood we’re living in), and the route from the airport allowed us to see different parts of downtown. Because our airbnb host was at work when we arrived, her mother met us to show us the apartment and give us the keys. This was already not the first time that Katrina’s Spanish came in handy. The taxi driver knew zero English as did the mother who met us. After getting a brief tour of how to use the laundry machine, an explanation of what a califont (heater!) is, and directions for the nearest grocery store, we were on our own!

The nearest store happened to be a Lider, which is owned by Walmart. We felt right at home with American brands, similar organization of the store, and the multitude of options. We bought some essentials for the next few days, and stopped at our (soon to be) favorite fruit stand for amazing (and cheap!) avocados, peaches, plums, and grapes. We got this all for less than 10 American dollars, which made it that much sweeter.

Our first afternoon was indicative of what the first week would entail: lots of exploring, walking, and eating. Throughout this week, we met up with one of Katrina’s Chilean friends who gave us a (SEVEN HOUR) walking tour of different barrios downtown, traveled to a beach city on the coast called Valparaiso/Viña del Mar, explored residential neighborhoods where students from the Croft School live, and conducted follow-up interviews with students and alumni.

After a week getting acclimated to our apartment, coming up with a daily routine, and allotting time for our research commitments, we feel like we’re already living our normal lives here. Because we’ve had a lot of time to explore on our own and reflect on even the smallest interactions, we have started to notice and discuss things that otherwise may be undetected. For example, English has become jarring to see, so when we noticed that the metro signs are all in Spanish AND English, we had a long conversation about public transportation for tourists. We noted that though the metro is pretty visitor-friendly, the bus has ZERO signage or audio to indicate where you are, what direction you’re going, or the upcoming stops. The bus is roughly 200 Chilean pesos cheaper than the metro, and is clearly intended for locals. Unlike the metro that is air conditioned, the buses are often crowded and very hot! Even if you speak Spanish, you must know the city fairly well or be comfortable asking the driver or passengers for assistance in order to get where you need to go.

We were excited that a few of our emails requesting follow-up interviews were answered, and we were able to set up three interviews for this first week. They were all eager to talk to us, meet us in person, and provide additional recommendations for our time in the city. After briefly explaining social aesthetics, they were enthusiastic about suggesting places that Croft students frequent. We both spent a lot of time reading transcripts and listening to audio of previous interviews, so it was especially exciting for us to meet these students and hear their voices and personalities come to life.

Amid all of the excitement, it’s easy to forget daily predicaments that can catch you by surprise. One day during a delicious lunch, Katrina’s permanent retainer broke, which led us on an unexpected quest for a dentist. Though this was obviously unplanned, her appointment allowed us to see a different part of the city (Vitacura), and see the inner workings of one of the most prestigious (private) Chilean hospitals. This prompted a long discussion about the income inequality and what public hospitals look like in the city. Despite our best efforts to look at Santiago objectively, this instance in particular facilitated a conversation where we compared this to our experiences with the health care system back home.

Even though Katrina speaks Spanish fluently and is comfortable in the city because of her semester abroad, we stand out physically in the city. Here, we’re considered tall. After a day at the beach when we both left with visible sunburns, our otherness was emphasized. One thing we’re both aware of is the pivotal role that our gender plays in our comfort level exploring the city. When we met up with Katrina’s friend (who is male), he explicitly asked us in several different parts of the city if we would be comfortable there without him as a buffer. At another point, he commented that we hadn’t been catcalled that day. We realized that this was a first for us here, and was probably due to his presence. While we are both aware that this is not unique to Chile, it feels more aggressive than our experiences in Toronto and New York. In our first week, we have seen some small instances of machismo that we’ve read about in academic settings. From our perspective, there’s an underlying assumption that men are entitled to our attention and they feel comfortable acting in ways that women would not for fear of being reprimanded. Any woman that would whistle at a man would be considered out of line, but a man living in a tent on a neighboring street loudly complained that Sarah “looked too serious” and should give him a smile.

Though a warm beach day was an obvious motivator, part of what we got out of our time visiting Valparaiso was a strong understanding of the history of this port city. During our day, we spoke a lot about its significance during colonial times. We also talked about its obvious European roots, its relevance to the country despite not being the capital, and its artistic energy. Valparaiso is famous for its graffiti, which is found throughout the city, and for being the hub of many artistic pursuits. For example, Pablo Neruda had a home in this city and admired the eccentricities scattered around the city. Our visit also gave us another Chilean city to compare Santiago to, and led to conversations about our feeling that Valparaiso, despite being a wonderful place to spend a few days, had less to offer in terms of a diversity of experiences.

We have a lot of conversations amongst the two of us about feeling like when we tell others what we’ve been doing it doesn’t sound momentous. That being said, we both think we are getting to know the city so well, and are gaining a more extensive understanding of the Croft and its students because of our time exploring. We have realized that seemingly small glimpses of Chilean life are already becoming indicative of the themes we’ll have to code when analyzing our data. For instance, income inequality, the reproduction of power, the Latin American value of “family first,” and Western influences are all surfacing from our day to day observations of Santiago life.