-El Fundo Panul
-the opera "The Magic Flute"
-Earthquake
-final thoughts on Santiago.
El Fundo Panul:
Last Friday I went to El Fundo Panul with some Stanford friends. We got the idea from an article that Professor Hadly sent out, which is linked here. While the article indicates that the locals are trying hard to prevent urban sprawl in the area, we did not really notice this being the case. First, almost no one knew where it was, including our taxi driver, so it is not at all well marked or well known. Second, there appears to be a farm at the entrance. When we walked farther up there was a greater preponderance of native fauna, but we also definitely saw eucalyptus and other species that are common to Mediterranean climates around the world.
One of the cows on the farm.
Beehives.
The view of the city from the trail.The Magic Flute:
We actually saw The Magic Flute in early November. The only explanation for why I have yet to post on it is that immediately afterwards I had to finish midterms, and then we went on the Bing Trip, and by the time the Bing Trip was over I had forgotten about posting it. We saw The Magic Flute at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, which is a gorgeous theater with lots of box seats (we were seated in main area). It was very well done, and in particular the parts of the Queen of the Night, Papageno, and Sarastro were very well sung. In the Queen of the Night's second aria, she has a series of very high notes in short succession, that quite frequently is flubbed. Going into the opera I was dreading that song because it might be messed up, but the lady who sang the part of the Queen of the Night, Claudia Pereira, hit every note. Our coordinator, Rodrigo, who has sung professionally and has perfect pitch, confirmed that she sang every note correctly.
Earthquake:
On Saturday afternoon during lunch (3:15-3:20 pm or so) we experienced a tremor. It was an interesting experience, especially because the one person in my host household who was particularly frightened by it was my host mother. This may be explained by the fact that of the four of us, she is the only one who has actually experienced a very big, destructive earthquake firsthand. One of my friends whom I talked to at the airport said that while sitting eating lunch with his host family, he could see out the window that other apartment buildings across the street were moving from side to side. I found an article that stated that this earthquake was at a magnitude of 4.0 in Santiago, and that the epicenter was 65 miles to the northeast.
Final thoughts on Santiago:
In a number of ways, Santiago is an odd city. Many United States brands and songs are imported, and there is a definite sense of trying to become like the United States, as part of trying to become a first world nation. At the same time, there are old cultural factors that still remain important. People may jostle each other to get on and off the metro, but they offer their seats to and clear the way for elderly people. Some people still hold onto old superstitions (a new one I learned this week: if you pass salt directly to another person instead of setting it down on the table next to them, you will have a fight with them), but technologies like cable television and the internet are fast taking hold. Santiago has reduced smog levels by decreasing numbers of buses following the same routes, but the people complain about the crowding on the metro and the long wait for buses, instead of being thankful for the cleaner air. I would be very interested to head back in 5 to 10 years to see how much Santiago changes.
We actually saw The Magic Flute in early November. The only explanation for why I have yet to post on it is that immediately afterwards I had to finish midterms, and then we went on the Bing Trip, and by the time the Bing Trip was over I had forgotten about posting it. We saw The Magic Flute at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, which is a gorgeous theater with lots of box seats (we were seated in main area). It was very well done, and in particular the parts of the Queen of the Night, Papageno, and Sarastro were very well sung. In the Queen of the Night's second aria, she has a series of very high notes in short succession, that quite frequently is flubbed. Going into the opera I was dreading that song because it might be messed up, but the lady who sang the part of the Queen of the Night, Claudia Pereira, hit every note. Our coordinator, Rodrigo, who has sung professionally and has perfect pitch, confirmed that she sang every note correctly.
Earthquake:
On Saturday afternoon during lunch (3:15-3:20 pm or so) we experienced a tremor. It was an interesting experience, especially because the one person in my host household who was particularly frightened by it was my host mother. This may be explained by the fact that of the four of us, she is the only one who has actually experienced a very big, destructive earthquake firsthand. One of my friends whom I talked to at the airport said that while sitting eating lunch with his host family, he could see out the window that other apartment buildings across the street were moving from side to side. I found an article that stated that this earthquake was at a magnitude of 4.0 in Santiago, and that the epicenter was 65 miles to the northeast.
Final thoughts on Santiago:
In a number of ways, Santiago is an odd city. Many United States brands and songs are imported, and there is a definite sense of trying to become like the United States, as part of trying to become a first world nation. At the same time, there are old cultural factors that still remain important. People may jostle each other to get on and off the metro, but they offer their seats to and clear the way for elderly people. Some people still hold onto old superstitions (a new one I learned this week: if you pass salt directly to another person instead of setting it down on the table next to them, you will have a fight with them), but technologies like cable television and the internet are fast taking hold. Santiago has reduced smog levels by decreasing numbers of buses following the same routes, but the people complain about the crowding on the metro and the long wait for buses, instead of being thankful for the cleaner air. I would be very interested to head back in 5 to 10 years to see how much Santiago changes.
