What do Jesus Christ Superstar and Othello have in common?

I've seen them both in Spanish!

What, did you think that just because I'm speaking a different language I'd go 5 months without seeing some theater?

I celebrated Easter Sunday by going to see Jesu Christo Superstar with some friends and had a blast. I absolutely love that musical and its soundtrack, so I was pumped to see it in Spanish. Apparently it's kind of a tradition here to put on around Easter, and you could tell because the crowd was really into it. Personally, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, singing along (under my breath ... mostly) to all the songs in English. The lyrics were translated pretty literally, so there were often times I could sing all or part of a line in Spanish. Now I want the soundtrack in Spanish too.

The show was pretty similar to both the movie and live version I've seen in English, although there were elements distinct to Chile. For example, before the song 'Simon Zealotes,' there was a short scene of Jesus' followers taunting a guard and driving him off stage, which I've never seen before; I think it represents well the attitude that marginalized Chileans hold towards authority figures and especially embodiments of the government.

Then last Thursday I went to Othello with my host mom, host sister, and a family friend of theirs. I was nervous, because Shakespeare in English is quite the undertaking, and I've never seen or even read this work of his. However the show was really good - both in terms of technical elements and acting, and I understood nearly everything (much more than I thought I would). It definitely proved the point that acting is more than saying the lines, and that expression, posture, body language, etc. really go a long way in creating a character and relaying situations.

I don't have anything specific on the horizon right now in terms of seeing more theatre, but it will definitely happen - after all, I'm not even half way done with the semester!

Public Transport ...

Gotta love it!

But in all seriousness, yes, I do. In a city as big as Santiago, you can't get around without it. But there's a difference between knowing the one bus stop and Metro route that gets you home, and knowing various routes that will get you out and back no matter where in the city you are. I'm the latter.

Mostly it boils down to the fact that I really do enjoy riding on public transportation. Why? I'm not sure. I do like the camaraderie of it all. I like that you never quite know what could happen. It's better for the environment. Plus, it's both cleaner and cheaper than anywhere I've been in the US, so all in all, what's not to like?

Then there's the control freak in me that can't stand not knowing where I am or where I'm going. With the Metro, it's easy. But that closes at 11 pm - not useful for a night out. So before we go out somewhere new, I always check on the bus map and write down notes if need be. And obviously it's also a matter of personal safety, and like anything it gets easier with practice.

Do my friends make fun of me when I announce that we need to walk 2 blocks west to catch the 505? Yep. Do they raise an eyebrow when I talk about distance in terms of the 4900 to 3500 block? Always. But who do they ask when they don't know how to get themselves home? Who do they call when they don't know how to get to the bar in the first place? And who do they thank when we don't have to pay for a cab? Yours truly. Obvi.

Truly knowing a city implies lots of things, and knowing how to orient and direct yourself is definitely one of them. And if absolutely nothing else, it makes me feel like a real Santiaguina!

Strike!

OK, so the question I often get about being here is the extent to which I keep up with the news/know what's going on in Chile. The answer: not a whole lot. BUT I have become really interested in the current education reform (or lack thereof) here, and not only because class gets cancelled ...

A little bit of background: Chile is a country with a big discrepancy when it comes to income distribution, and the school system reflects it. Similar to big cities in the US, the public education system is poor, but wealthy families can afford to send their children to private schools. However, this is even more important when it comes to college than in the US because of two things: The PSU entrance exam and the lack of scholarships. Here, university acceptance is based solely on the PSU test, a test similar to the SAT. Also, scholarships to university are few and far between, so going to a good high school is absolutely vital, yet nearly impossible unless you're from a well-off family.

In 2006, the high school students held a strike and took over the schools, canceling classes for over a month in protest. In the end however, the changes made to the system were more superficial than substantive: they lowered the cost of transportation for students and of taking the PSU, but no real structural changes came out of if.

Jump forward to last week:

Wednesday, April 1st: Congress passes the LGE (General Education Law), which has been in the works for 2 years to reform the education system. Unfortunately, the right wing coalition - La Alianza por Chile - managed to keep in a lot of their provisions, especially Article 46, which allows university graduates without teacher training to teach in their area of expertise. As a result, the new law still isn't very different than the law it replaces, enacted by dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

Thursday, April 2nd: La Universidad de Chile (aka La Chile) goes on strike. This is observed by the students of most departments, but especially at Campus Juan Gomez, where the Facultad de Humanidades is located and where my Ethnolinguistics class is held. Going on strike means the campus is open and the faculty and staff show up, but students don't attend class. They still hang out around campus a lot though.

Wednesday, April 8th: An assembly is held by university students to discuss the issue and course of action. It is led by FECH (The Federation of Students of La Chile) and CONFECH (The Federation of Chilean Students). Afterwards, around noon, over 3 thousand students and teachers took to the streets in protest.

Thursday, April 16th: A national strike is being organized. More than just La Chile, university and high school students, along with the National Labor Center, are being called on strike in order to show that they will not accept the LGE in its current state and to pressure President Michelle Bachelet into vetoing it.

In short, it's all very exciting and very unlike anything that would happen in the US, and especially at Georgetown. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Arte Moderno

Me encanta el arte moderno. Absolutemente. Siempre he sabido esto. Pero el domingo fui al Museo de Arte Contemporáneo y me di cuenta de la razón.

Algunas razones minores incluyen en hecho que arte moderno es sorprendiente, inovador, y sorprendiente. Para mi, esto es lo que constituye la creatividad, entonces para mi arte moderno es el tipo más creativo.  También se usa una gran variedad de materiales, y a menudo son materiales que no se parecen útiles para el arte, como juguetes o basura, pero sí son. Todo esto es parte de la razón que arte moderno tiene bastante poder y potencial para hacer un mensaje fuerte y crear cambio.

Pero la razón principal es simple. Me gusta el tipo de arte que siento que yo puedo hacer. Para muchos, esto es una crítica, y la razón porque no consideran arte moderno como arte. Pero para mi es el opuesto, porque cuando veo una obra que me impresiona mucho, me gusta sentirme que con los materiales y circunstancias correctas, yo podría hacer lo mismo, y por esta manera conecto mucho más con el arte.