Allende's Tomb
The weekend started on Friday with a required EAP brief chat and visit to Villa Grimaldi (a torture center during the Pinochet years) and the Cementario General (where Allende is buried and there are lots of monuments to the desparecidos during Pinochet, not to mention over 5 million graves). The tour was led by a very incredible and nice man who was actually tortured in Villa Grimaldi in the 1970s. It was definitely intense but very very interesting. Our guide began to cry on several occasions while describing his own past as well as some historical Chilean events such as President Salvador Allende's life and death as well as some first hand experiences within Villa Grimaldi. He told us he was tortured withe electricity to the extent that he could not bend his knees, however he regained all function. He told us that while many Chileans choose to not talk about these horrible years and the things that happened during the time period, he thinks it is very important to share the history and his story to ensure people never forget, have the knowledge, and ensure that it does not fade into not being an important, horrible, period that should never happen again. It was very awesome to learn more about the history of Chile that we know happened, but no one will talk about in a day to day or even school situation.
This is a memorial in the Cemetary for all the disappears and killed during the Pinochet years.
After the field trip, we had our weekly eating out night that we've come to refer to as Date Night. We went to dinner at a delicious restaurant in Parque Arauco, which is a very nice mall that always has live entertainment on the weekend evenings. We ate some delicious Italian food (starting our carbo laoding, not the we don't eat loads of carbs every day any how) outside in the plaza of the mall while chatting and listening to music. Some very nice Americans from Arkansas gave a MASSIVE piece of delicious chocolate cake for dessert which we proceeded to go a little crazy over, and then we saw Shutter Island which I think was the first scary movie I ever saw in theaters. It was very eery, but really good!
Yesterday, Saturday, we went over to the Marathon Expo to pick up our number, timing chips, and shirts. As soon as we walked into the giant station I was incredibly impressed and got super excited for the run! I honestly think this marathon was the most organized thing I've experienced in Chile and it was HUGE. We picked up our (very nice) stuff, took tons of pictures, bought a few souveneirs, and headed back home. Later, we headed over to Lindsey's for a Pasta Dinner! I ate loads of pasta with lots of friends before hitting the hay early to prepare for this morning!
Today was the Maratón de Santiago! This was definitely up there with the coolest things I've done while abroad! We woke up dark and early to head to the Presidential Palace (La Moneda) where the race both started and finished. Then, our group of 10 took off! I ran by myself the whole race listening to my ipod, but it was INCREDIBLE. It was definitely the biggest event I've ever participated in and the environment was amazing! It was so amazing to be running amongst 10,000+ runners who would random break out into super loud and proud "Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le-Viva Chile" chants. I even saw a blind person running the half marathon, how incredible is that! Not only was the event and environment and the scale of the morning incredible, but I also had a really good run especially based on the minimal training I did. I ran the entire 13.1 miles straight through, as opposed to my other 2 half marathons where I ran with intervals. It felt great! And, I only missed my PR by 2 minutes and kept up below a 10 minute mile pace the whole run! Overall, I am SO glad I did this while down here and it is something I know I will never forget for the rest of my life.
The rest of today has consisted of sitting on my booty and not moving, although we are going to California Cantina tonight for some free beers/sangria and nachos since we ran the marathon!
I'm really glad I've had such an incredible weekend down here because it's made it much easier to be missing the biggest night and weekend of the year for Kappa Kappa Psi tonight with Third Degree. I wish I could be there, but today has been a pretty amazing day for me down here as well. Besides, my face will definitely be there, just as it was in Big Bear this weekend with my KKPsi family whom I love SO MUCH!
It really feels like I live here now, after being here nearly 3 months. I think moving out and being on my own again has really helped facilitate this feeling. Things like waiting for the bus, taking the metro, eating copious amounts of avocado, and so much more just feel normal now. In addition, I'm joining a womens soccer league that basically is just games on Wednesdays and I'm REALLY excited! Two of my friends are on my team and the rest are Chileans, so not only will I be playing a sport I really love and miss, but it will also help me meet more people and experience more of Chile and the culture. I am so excited for this! We'll see how the fact that i haven't played for 4 years goes over.
I have so much to be excited for right now! I'm at the half way point, going to Buenos Aires and Uruguay in less then 2 weeks, I get to see my Daddy in just over 2.5 weeks, and May will undoubtedly be a month of travels and adventures (and school work)! Time is starting to fly by, ah!
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