Hi everyone. It has been a long time since my last post, this is because I don't think I have ever experienced a more demanding semester of education. On paper, what I am studying now seems like it would be a lot less work than what I study in Southampton. I do 3 modules here: Introduction to Political Theory, Introduction to Translation and Chilean History & Culture. That adds up to around 9 hours of classes per week, and one module less than when I am in Southampton. The fact that the modules are mostly introductions makes it sound a lot more basic too. The sad reality is however that I don't think there has been a week in the past 2 months where I haven't had at least one exam or essay or assignment. On top of that, I have to try to maintain my French, which so far has not gone as well as planned, and there also has to be time to fit in work for my Year Abroad Research Project (YARP). I haven't been able to start the YARP yet, but I have to start it by the middle of November, so that will be fun!
However, seen as there is a month of crazy antics to catch you all up on, I plan on writing another article this week. Even if it is a short one, it will still be an accomplishment and allow you to get the full gist of what I have been doing with my life!
So without further delay, I want to tell you about what is possibly one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been too, Valparaíso. I went there about a month ago with a group of friends from my house and some others. We were 2 British guys, a Guatemalan, 2 Mexicans, a Brazilian, an American, a Chilean and a Spaniard, looking like the new ethnically diverse cast of Skins!
However, seen as there is a month of crazy antics to catch you all up on, I plan on writing another article this week. Even if it is a short one, it will still be an accomplishment and allow you to get the full gist of what I have been doing with my life!
So without further delay, I want to tell you about what is possibly one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been too, Valparaíso. I went there about a month ago with a group of friends from my house and some others. We were 2 British guys, a Guatemalan, 2 Mexicans, a Brazilian, an American, a Chilean and a Spaniard, looking like the new ethnically diverse cast of Skins!
Here's a picture of the danger crew right here, tearing up the city with our swagtastic poses!
Just to give you an idea about the city and what it's known for, I'm going to recite to you what I learnt in my Chilean Culture & History class. Seen as my second exam for that class asked us the question, what happened in the last two centuries of Chilean history, I should know my stuff.
It is essentially a port city, and is known as Chile's capital of culture. After Chile became independent in 1818, Valparaíso became the base for the Chilean navy, and the central hub for international trade. Many immigrants would also stop over in the port, mainly from Europe and start up businesses in the country. The port had a significant role during the Califronia Gold Rush, when new gold reserves were found in California and a lot of other countries shifted their economic focus onto the imports and exports of gold, whereas Chile took advantage of this and kept its focus on the mines at the north side of the country and its production of wheat and barley. During this time, it became the only significant producer of such crops. However when the Panama Canal opened in 1914, ships had no need to come into Valparaíso as much easier transport routes were available.
By the end of the 20th century, Chile had almost given up on Valparaíso. The wealthy classes de-intrustrialised the city as they moved to the bigger and more significant and booming city of Santiago. However, the Fundación Valparaíso set up by North-American poet Todd Temkin carried out thorough redevelopment projects throughout the city in terms of restoring the tourist infrastructure of the city and administering festivals of jazz, opera, etc. Furthermore, the immigrants who arrived in Valparaíso during the city's boom as a trading port, established their own communities. These were mostly British, German, Italian. In establishing communities, they set up homes on the hills surrounding the city. They are reminiscent of Brazilian Favellas with steep, winding roads passing around the area making it difficult to create transport links. These immigrant neighbourhoods have now become one of the most distinct features of the city.
Just to give you an idea about the city and what it's known for, I'm going to recite to you what I learnt in my Chilean Culture & History class. Seen as my second exam for that class asked us the question, what happened in the last two centuries of Chilean history, I should know my stuff.
It is essentially a port city, and is known as Chile's capital of culture. After Chile became independent in 1818, Valparaíso became the base for the Chilean navy, and the central hub for international trade. Many immigrants would also stop over in the port, mainly from Europe and start up businesses in the country. The port had a significant role during the Califronia Gold Rush, when new gold reserves were found in California and a lot of other countries shifted their economic focus onto the imports and exports of gold, whereas Chile took advantage of this and kept its focus on the mines at the north side of the country and its production of wheat and barley. During this time, it became the only significant producer of such crops. However when the Panama Canal opened in 1914, ships had no need to come into Valparaíso as much easier transport routes were available.
By the end of the 20th century, Chile had almost given up on Valparaíso. The wealthy classes de-intrustrialised the city as they moved to the bigger and more significant and booming city of Santiago. However, the Fundación Valparaíso set up by North-American poet Todd Temkin carried out thorough redevelopment projects throughout the city in terms of restoring the tourist infrastructure of the city and administering festivals of jazz, opera, etc. Furthermore, the immigrants who arrived in Valparaíso during the city's boom as a trading port, established their own communities. These were mostly British, German, Italian. In establishing communities, they set up homes on the hills surrounding the city. They are reminiscent of Brazilian Favellas with steep, winding roads passing around the area making it difficult to create transport links. These immigrant neighbourhoods have now become one of the most distinct features of the city.
Here is a picture of one of the hill-top communities that I saw. We then went further and began to walk up, and from the pictures it is easy to get an idea of how steep the roads really are.
You can see in the above picture that the walls are covered in graffiti. It is interesting, but one of the main characteristics of contemporary Valparaíso is its graffiti. During the 1990s, there was an artistic movement where graffiti artists covered the city in their creations. But this movement has had a lot more impact than originally expected, to the point that art is considered one of the biggest cultural aspects of the city. In reality, this is actually the reason I really wanted to go on a visit to city to witness this artistic culture first hand.
So hopefully that gives you an idea about the city, and how it is mainly centred around its trade and art, but now I want to tell you about my experience.
I went in the last weekend of September and fortunately it was a very sunny day. We went there to see the art, the sea and also the house of famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who died in the 1970s, and since then his 3 houses in Chile have been converted into museums.
When we got to the city, we asked in the tourist office in the bus station for a map and for where we could find the Pablo Neruda house before setting off on our adventure. As we walked out of the bus terminal, the first thing we were greeted with was a spectacular view of one of the hill-top neighbourhoods and of the National Congress of Chile. Every Tuesday and Thursday meetings of Congress are carried out here which are open to the public to observe. Unfortunately, I went on a Saturday, so I did not have the opportunity to go.
I went in the last weekend of September and fortunately it was a very sunny day. We went there to see the art, the sea and also the house of famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who died in the 1970s, and since then his 3 houses in Chile have been converted into museums.
When we got to the city, we asked in the tourist office in the bus station for a map and for where we could find the Pablo Neruda house before setting off on our adventure. As we walked out of the bus terminal, the first thing we were greeted with was a spectacular view of one of the hill-top neighbourhoods and of the National Congress of Chile. Every Tuesday and Thursday meetings of Congress are carried out here which are open to the public to observe. Unfortunately, I went on a Saturday, so I did not have the opportunity to go.
Moving on from there, we were told that the poet's house was situated on top of one of the big hills of the city. Of course it was. Fortunately, we had 8 hours to spend in the city and so we did not have to move quickly up the hill. We could take as much time as we wanted, take in the beautiful graffiti and the views, stop to look at some of the market stalls and still arrive in plenty of time to look around the house and explore the city.
When we began our journey up the hill, we were joined on our adventure by a pair of dogs who were passing by together. They were so friendly, and such posers. They loved having their photos taken! They joined us for the majority of the trip, that is until we got to the top of the hill and they found a little park where they could lay on the grass in the sun, so they left us! It was a great friendship while it lasted, and although I hate big dogs, these one's were cool! That means a lot coming from me!
The sun was pounding down, and we were all shattered by the time we got to the top ofthe hill. Without water or food it was a tremendous effort to get up, but when we reached the top we realised it was worth it as we were welcomed by spectacular views of the sea and the city.
When we began our journey up the hill, we were joined on our adventure by a pair of dogs who were passing by together. They were so friendly, and such posers. They loved having their photos taken! They joined us for the majority of the trip, that is until we got to the top of the hill and they found a little park where they could lay on the grass in the sun, so they left us! It was a great friendship while it lasted, and although I hate big dogs, these one's were cool! That means a lot coming from me!
The sun was pounding down, and we were all shattered by the time we got to the top ofthe hill. Without water or food it was a tremendous effort to get up, but when we reached the top we realised it was worth it as we were welcomed by spectacular views of the sea and the city.
The poet's house, La Sebastiana was magnificent. I have seen two of the three of his houses now, and both of which I have seen fantastically capture his character. He modified his own houses to reflect his own personal tastes and interests. This house in particular was a 5-floor masterpiece in the shape of a boat. It offered us all a great insight into the life of the poet, and you get to see first-hand the inspiration behind some of his poetry.
After this, we were hungry so we went looking for a restaurant near the town centre. As the city is renowned for being a port, fish is a very big deal there, and in fact, a lot of the restaurants pride themselves on the type of fish they are able to offer. Unfortunately for me, a week before going to Valparaíso, I fell ill with food-poisoning after having eaten Sopa de Mariscos (Shellfish Soup). I won't go into details, but the result of my food-posioning did involve an embarrassingly gross moment in a metro station next to what I think was about a 6 year-old child after failing to make it home in time. My life is tragic. But long story short, I have decided that I never want to eat seafood again as long as I live. I settled for chicken and rice...in a seafood restaurant, but I was happy enough to do this.
To get to the restaurant, we had to take what was possibly the most dangerously, hilarious and fun bus rides I have ever been on. The safety regulations were so non-existent that it was funny. It was a very small, and stuffy bus driving at full speed down very steep and windy roads - a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, disaster didn't strike, but I did almost fall out of my seat a few times. I had to sit next to a little kid, and I was holding on for dear life so that I might not fall on them and knock them out of their seat. Fortunately this didn't happen, but given how tragic my life can be, I had to reason to expect that this would transpire.
After our meal, we moved on to go to the top of the biggest hill in the city, and to get on top of this hill, you have to take one of the Funicular Elevators. There was not much to do up on the hill apart from take in the breath-taking views and take a break from exploring and chill with a nice cold pint in one of the bars. We did both of these things. We must have spent about 30 minutes just taking group photos and selfies, but it was totally worth it, and the freezing cold pint was amazing. A perfect way to end an awesome, boiling day.
After this, we were hungry so we went looking for a restaurant near the town centre. As the city is renowned for being a port, fish is a very big deal there, and in fact, a lot of the restaurants pride themselves on the type of fish they are able to offer. Unfortunately for me, a week before going to Valparaíso, I fell ill with food-poisoning after having eaten Sopa de Mariscos (Shellfish Soup). I won't go into details, but the result of my food-posioning did involve an embarrassingly gross moment in a metro station next to what I think was about a 6 year-old child after failing to make it home in time. My life is tragic. But long story short, I have decided that I never want to eat seafood again as long as I live. I settled for chicken and rice...in a seafood restaurant, but I was happy enough to do this.
To get to the restaurant, we had to take what was possibly the most dangerously, hilarious and fun bus rides I have ever been on. The safety regulations were so non-existent that it was funny. It was a very small, and stuffy bus driving at full speed down very steep and windy roads - a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, disaster didn't strike, but I did almost fall out of my seat a few times. I had to sit next to a little kid, and I was holding on for dear life so that I might not fall on them and knock them out of their seat. Fortunately this didn't happen, but given how tragic my life can be, I had to reason to expect that this would transpire.
After our meal, we moved on to go to the top of the biggest hill in the city, and to get on top of this hill, you have to take one of the Funicular Elevators. There was not much to do up on the hill apart from take in the breath-taking views and take a break from exploring and chill with a nice cold pint in one of the bars. We did both of these things. We must have spent about 30 minutes just taking group photos and selfies, but it was totally worth it, and the freezing cold pint was amazing. A perfect way to end an awesome, boiling day.
I will be returning to Valparaíso soon to take part in a Start-UP Weekend. Given my super huge interest in business, I could not pass up the opportunity to go. I have participated in one in the UK, and it was incredible, so I look forward to doing it again...in Spanish!
I will be writing another article soon about my Parachuting experience and my travels down to the South of Chile! Until then!
I will be writing another article soon about my Parachuting experience and my travels down to the South of Chile! Until then!