Isla Negra and Valparaiso

Like I have probably said before the program that I am with... Institute for Study Abroad through Butler University, a few times in the semester does little day trips to different areas around Santiago in the hopes of helping us learn more about the culture and the country. On this Saturday in November the IFSA program put together a trip to two towns on the coast of Chile, Isla Negra (Black Island) and Valparaiso. Just to clear up any confusion that might already be starting Isla Negra is not actually an Island and to be totally honest it isn't even close to a real Island. I have no idea how it got its name, but I was a little disappointed when I figured this out, so I didn't want to get your hopes up as well.

In my blog about Valle de Elqui, I talked about Gabriela Mistral, the first Chilean to receive a Nobel Prize (literature - 1945). Well, if Gabriela Mistral was the first and not the only, there must be another Chilean Nobel Laureate huh? You are correct. Pablo Neruda, definitely the most famous Chilean author, was the second and final Chilean to receive a Nobel Prize again in Literature (1971). Neruda's poetry is beloved all around this country. My new host mother loves Neruda and has two books that comprise most of his works. Neruda, like most of the poets in Chile was from the left wing of the political perspective. Besides being a well known poet he also worked as a Chilean diplomat and politician. He was a member of the Chilean Communist party. He died shortly after the Chilean coup in 1973.

Isla Negra is famous because it was host to Neruda's beach home which has now been converted into a museum. Neruda had many odd collections in his life and this house has many of the collections preserved and on display. Photos of Isla Negra should be on Flickr if you look.

My criticism of Pablo Neruda is that he didn't practice what he preached. Most communists/socialists try to live simple lives because they believe that wealth should be shared. Well, Neruda had three homes in Chile... one in Santiago, one in Isla Negra, and one in Valapariso. It seems a little extravagant to me especially for a poet. More over these homes had no real practical purpose. It is not like he had to have a Valapariso home or the Isla Negra home. I feel it is different when people have properties because they spend considerable time at each place. For example if a US Senator has a home in his home state as well as a home in Washington DC, because he/she spends a lot of time working in Washington.

After we visited Isla Negra, we visited Valapariso a port city that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took a tour of the city and learned about its history. The city is quite remarkable really. It is placed on a hill thus everyone lives farther up the hill and works at the lower part of the city. This meant that it was hard to walk up and down the hills every day (especially since Chileans go home for lunch and return to work in the afternoon). Since this was a difficulty Funiculars and Elevators were built around the city. In most places a ride on one of these funiculars costs about 100 pesos or about 25 cents. It is probably one of the main reasons Valapariso was accepted as a world heritage site. They are quite unique.

The city is also very colorful. If you look on the side of the hill, it seems like every house is a different shade of a bright color. This is because historically, the seamen who lived in the city would paint their house a bright color so that when they were out on the boat they could pick it out on the hill side. On the right side of the blog there is a link to the wikipedia site about Valapariso. I hope you check it out because you could see pictures and learn more about the city.

The tour was very nice and that evening we returned to Santiago. I was wore out by all of the traveling, so I ate dinner and went to bed.

It is a little funny because all of my blogs end with me going to bed. The truth is I don't go out that much in Santiago A.) because it is expensive and I would rather spend my money on other things and B.) I just get tired from the days here. It seems like it is so much more work because unlike UST, you have to take public transportation or walk all over the city to get to your classes or really to do anything. This wears a person out!! =)