Week 2!!!!

So, I can't believe I've only been here a week...it seems like it's been so much longer. Lots to tell, so get ready for a long one:

Yesterday (Friday), we attended lectures on Chilean cinema and music. The cinema was...interesting. Up until very recently, Chile did not have a lot of it's own movies. Most were imported from the U.S. However, the movies they do have nowadays are relatively cheap (often 1 million USD or less), but fantastic given the amazing talent of the people working in the developing Chilean movie industry. Movies of note: Machuca, el Chacotero Sentimental (which I would not recommend for family viewing, but it makes a very strong statement on social sexual taboos and has a very romantic ending).
In regards to music, Chile spent most of the last century listening to Elvis Presley and other American rock bands, with some Chilean folklore sprinkled in between. There were actually two strains of Chilean music that developed independently. One was the folklore, called Nueva Cancion (New Song). This was mainly simple guitarr-vocal music with political and social themes (think Peter, Paul, and Mary). Very nice, and very moving. The other was Chilean Rock. As I said, it started out being American rock sung in English by Chilean singers, but soon evolved into rock with Spanish lyrics, and finally with Chilean themes. The rock styles were about a decade off from the American ones (so, the 70s music in Chile sounds a lot like the 60s music in the US, the 80s music sounds like the 70s, etc.). Musicians of note:

Violetta Parra
Victor Jarra
Los Jaiva

After that, we went to a Chilean restaurant, El Peyo (don't know what that means) and sampled traditional Chilean food (shellfish, fish, rice, sopaipillas (like fried dough)) while listening to some examples of the folklore we learned about earlier in the day. I have a great video of our program director doing a kareoke for one of the songs. Apparently, all Chileans sing and they all know all the words to these songs. Way to go for oral-literature based culture!!

Other things we did this week...

I got to watch Bridget Jones' Diary II (in Spanish) with my host family. If that movie could get any better, it would be to watch it in Spanish. It was, as usual, awesome. Tonight, Paula and I went out to watch Batman - also awesome. Umm...and I took a trip to Bellavista some time earlier this week and window shopped the artesania (artisans). It's also very good for the street vendors...great deals :)

Anyway, pictures and videos coming soon. Love you all!!