Human rights
Two girls make out on screen. Later the film cuts out and we don't see the end. Coincidence? The American film we are watching has been dubbed into Spanish.
The bus is slowly making its way up to Freedom pass, which I crossed in early December and gobbled down strawberries with Fanos after the sniffer dogs found our forgotten stash. Slow moving lorries hold up our passage which seem in constant competition with one another despite the fact that any progress they make by overtaking is negligible.
Curtains frame the front of the bus which is covered in a coating not to block out the sun but to advertise the bus company. It obscures the wonderful view of the high Andes ahead.
The kissing girls make me reflect on my time in Chile. My last moments in Chile were spent in the hustle and bustle of Santiago's main bus station, which is as hectic as it is sketchy. Haggered, toothless figures on crutches constantly ask for spare change: they have been stripped of their humanity.
I cough up my 400 pesos to go into one of the dirtiest and unhygenic public restrooms in my life. I won't delve into explanations - take my word for it. There, there are homophobic, misogynistic comments scribbled across the walls - and suddenly I get that now familiar feeling of being persecuted through a deep rooted prejudice that pervades Chilean society and rots it to the core. It is clear that society is advancing but slowly.
In Santiago I went to the Human Rights museum, which I highly recommend. In addition to free bathrooms, a luxury in this country, the museum (all in Spanish) sets out to address the mass persecution of the Pinochet regime in a global context of human rights violations. It is graphic and so rightly so. We must not cloud over the horrors of the past for to do so would watercolour history in sterilizing pastel shades and we would never learn from the terrible mistakes inflicted on the innocent by a cruel ruling elite, desperate for power at any cost. The song at the end of the museum in a video tries to do this: it's like the sound of music on steroids.
Why have I mentioned this? Because, I think many vestiges remain as dark patches in this country. Luckily, this has only been witnessed for me by bad customer service. Although never explicitly said there have been feelings of disdain projected at me for who I am . I have been fortunate in my life that only once have I been the victim of a direct prejudice which came from a Catholic extremist. Thankfully, at that time I was volunteering for a Catholic organisation who ensured that I was safe and understood that those views were not representative of the Catholic religion as a whole - and that is why we must not stereotype based on one point of view we encounter.
I enter two cafés. In the first I am served by an older man who serves the people in front of me, then serves me and his smile fades. I take my things and leave. The next café I try is run by three hard working smiling ladies who tell me to take a seat because I am very laden down with my bags and that they will bring me my coffee, juice and slice of pizza even though that is not what they normally do. I give them a tip and thank them for their help. These last moments in Chile are representative of the extremes I have witnessed in this deeply conservative country.
Could that man on the cash register have just been having a bad day? Absolutely not. I trust my gut, and I reflect on the differing service I've had here - and I trust my gut again - I've been using it for the last three months. And my instinct is usually right.
Just as I finish writing this post the lady beside me strikes up conversation with me. She is Chilean and lives in Argentina. She is cosmopolitan. She tells me how the poor in Chile can't afford to eat. And that despite the inflation in Argentina the working class can scrape a living. We tumble down the valley towards Mendoza, going from over 3000m to 800m. As we do, the friendly lady points out a huge reservoir and white water rafters who tumble down through the turbulent currents of the water. She then points to the right and tells me one of the most notorious prisons in Argentina is over that way, far away from anyone. The most dangerous are detained there. Apparently, they are constructing a new wing for young offenders. And back to money: for two thousand Chilean pesos she can buy a litre of orange juice in her country, in Argentina she can feed herself for three days. And wages are about the same.
An Argentine man strikes up conversation with me at immigration and tells me that the economy is messed up; that Chile is much more developed.
Is it a case of the grass being greener? Or have I just met "the divided" travelling on the same bus?
Something to think about it.
<<En Chile manda el rico>> She tells me
"In Chile the rich are respected more" Is the sentiment she transmits.
sábado el 26 de enero de 2019
En la carretera hacia Mendoza
The bus is slowly making its way up to Freedom pass, which I crossed in early December and gobbled down strawberries with Fanos after the sniffer dogs found our forgotten stash. Slow moving lorries hold up our passage which seem in constant competition with one another despite the fact that any progress they make by overtaking is negligible.
Curtains frame the front of the bus which is covered in a coating not to block out the sun but to advertise the bus company. It obscures the wonderful view of the high Andes ahead.
The kissing girls make me reflect on my time in Chile. My last moments in Chile were spent in the hustle and bustle of Santiago's main bus station, which is as hectic as it is sketchy. Haggered, toothless figures on crutches constantly ask for spare change: they have been stripped of their humanity.
I cough up my 400 pesos to go into one of the dirtiest and unhygenic public restrooms in my life. I won't delve into explanations - take my word for it. There, there are homophobic, misogynistic comments scribbled across the walls - and suddenly I get that now familiar feeling of being persecuted through a deep rooted prejudice that pervades Chilean society and rots it to the core. It is clear that society is advancing but slowly.
In Santiago I went to the Human Rights museum, which I highly recommend. In addition to free bathrooms, a luxury in this country, the museum (all in Spanish) sets out to address the mass persecution of the Pinochet regime in a global context of human rights violations. It is graphic and so rightly so. We must not cloud over the horrors of the past for to do so would watercolour history in sterilizing pastel shades and we would never learn from the terrible mistakes inflicted on the innocent by a cruel ruling elite, desperate for power at any cost. The song at the end of the museum in a video tries to do this: it's like the sound of music on steroids.
Why have I mentioned this? Because, I think many vestiges remain as dark patches in this country. Luckily, this has only been witnessed for me by bad customer service. Although never explicitly said there have been feelings of disdain projected at me for who I am . I have been fortunate in my life that only once have I been the victim of a direct prejudice which came from a Catholic extremist. Thankfully, at that time I was volunteering for a Catholic organisation who ensured that I was safe and understood that those views were not representative of the Catholic religion as a whole - and that is why we must not stereotype based on one point of view we encounter.
I enter two cafés. In the first I am served by an older man who serves the people in front of me, then serves me and his smile fades. I take my things and leave. The next café I try is run by three hard working smiling ladies who tell me to take a seat because I am very laden down with my bags and that they will bring me my coffee, juice and slice of pizza even though that is not what they normally do. I give them a tip and thank them for their help. These last moments in Chile are representative of the extremes I have witnessed in this deeply conservative country.
Could that man on the cash register have just been having a bad day? Absolutely not. I trust my gut, and I reflect on the differing service I've had here - and I trust my gut again - I've been using it for the last three months. And my instinct is usually right.
Just as I finish writing this post the lady beside me strikes up conversation with me. She is Chilean and lives in Argentina. She is cosmopolitan. She tells me how the poor in Chile can't afford to eat. And that despite the inflation in Argentina the working class can scrape a living. We tumble down the valley towards Mendoza, going from over 3000m to 800m. As we do, the friendly lady points out a huge reservoir and white water rafters who tumble down through the turbulent currents of the water. She then points to the right and tells me one of the most notorious prisons in Argentina is over that way, far away from anyone. The most dangerous are detained there. Apparently, they are constructing a new wing for young offenders. And back to money: for two thousand Chilean pesos she can buy a litre of orange juice in her country, in Argentina she can feed herself for three days. And wages are about the same.
An Argentine man strikes up conversation with me at immigration and tells me that the economy is messed up; that Chile is much more developed.
Is it a case of the grass being greener? Or have I just met "the divided" travelling on the same bus?
Something to think about it.
<<En Chile manda el rico>> She tells me
"In Chile the rich are respected more" Is the sentiment she transmits.
Homophobic and misogynistic graffiti scribbled in Chile: "Sexual harassment is a lesbian conspiracy. One day will arrive when you won't even be able to look at a lady in the eye."
More: "Puffs and dykes are the scourge of Chile."
The museum of Human Rights, Santiago de Chile: On the third floor the museum takes a new narrative, a temporary exhibition, documenting the racial discrimination in Chile of the native Mapuches, chronicling expressions evident in Chile from Pinochet's time to nowadays.
"Have you ever heard anyone say these?"
From Pinochet's infamous:
"The Mapuche don't exist because we are all Chilean now."
To the nowadays ubiquitous:
"What have [the Mapuche] ever done for us?"
I'm sure the [ bracketed ] group can be replaced by any minority group and the same would apply in many places all over the world.
Something to consider.
En la carretera hacia Mendoza
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