Cowboy Hats

On a field trip with my UC program, I was able to visit a traditional straw hat studio/workshop that makes hats for Chilean cowboys, or Huasos!  It is a small business with one main hat-maker and a few assistants.  The owner showed us the process, from soaking and braiding the straw to sewing and forming the hats.

The straw braiding is tedious work, and sometimes they get it pre-bradided.  The strands range from 3-piece braids to 12-piece braids!  The more strands in the braid, the finer the work.  Sometimes they need up to 50 meters of braided strands to make a hat!

Then, they sew the strands in concentric circles with a sewing machine to form the hat.  Some hats are left with their natural straw color, and some are dyed with either synthetic dyes for bright colors or natural dyes for earthy tones.

The Huasco styles range from the traditional wide-brimmed rigid rims to an Indiana Jones inspired hat! The very fine, flexible and most special hats were priced at $90,000 Chilean pesos - about $200 USD.

Indiana Jones!

The coolest part about the visit was seeing that traditional forms of artisanship still thrive in their respective localities.  On the way to and from the workshop, we saw men on the side of the road or in the fields wearing the hats - a mark of rural Chilean culture that still lives strong.

Spooky Santiago

Santiago's General Cemetery may be spooky by night, but it's actually sunny and beautiful on a fall afternoon! 

I've been to the huge cemetery twice now - it's a great place to stroll around.  The cemetery is a mirror image of the city, in its construction and economic significance.  There are streets and pathways in the cemetery that have most of the same names as in the city (commemorating all of Chile's historical figures, of course).  At the grand arched entrance, there is a chapel. After that, the huge family tombs and intricate stonework begin.  You can see tons of familiar names of all the well-to-do Chilean families, both historically and currently.  As you cross the 'avenues' the graves get smaller.  Once there are no more large tombs that look like little houses, there are individual graves.  As you progress, there are rented graves - ones that are only leased individually to families.  In this part there was even a section for circus performers - all the clowns, contortionists and tricksters buried together under a replica of a circus tent.  Special graves such as Salvador Allende's and Violeta Parra's are there as well.

Presidential Grave of Eduardo Frei

Salvador Allende's white tomb, seen in the background.

Siete Tazas (the Seven Teacups)

Siete Tazas Park in Central Chile was my camping destination this last weekend in April.  It was a weekend full of hitch hiking, chocolate, going with the flow, walking on crunchy leaves, skinny dipping, and genuine small town charm.  The Siete Tazas, or Seven Teacups, are pools formed in the rock along a river.  There are seven consecutive pools, and the water flows from one to the other with little waterfalls in between.  Magnificent!

The four of us bussed down to a small town called Molina to enter the park.  There aren't many busses into the cordillera during the offseason here (we are approaching winter), so we couldn't go until the next morning.  A local guy named Miguel offered to let us camp in his yard.  We were able to cook there, munch on the figs from his fig tree, and even had a little party and campfire with his friends.  It was amazing how we were so easily taken in by nice people. 

Hitching a ride

We climbed down into a pool to swim

Fall camping!

In Chile, you can always find four-legged companions.

In a pick up truck on the way home

I wrote a quick poem about our journey while camping:

Caminar, ajustar

por el camino de tierra

la promesa de las siete tazas

soplando por la cordillera.

A pie y con el dedo,

fuimos en un camión gigantesco

lentamente, por el campo,

observando hoja por hoja

la llegada del otoño fresco.

Encontramos una camioneta roja

y como en una carrera,

subimos por el bosque vivo.

Un encuentro con el vidrio frío

del río

nos hizo sentir presente,

las cuatro adentro de la taza potente. 

Ballet Reviewing

My latest article for Revolver Magazine was a review of a ballet at the Chilean National Ballet!  It was my first time reviewing an artistic thing, so the editing process was interesting for me.... I feel like I am learning new styles of writing.

This was the ballet that my friend Oscar did the interactive graphic set design for.  He was an electrical engineer, but stopped doing that to work on something more artistic: designing software for set design and light shows.  It was cool to see his work up there!

The day before the opening show, I got to interview the choreographer.  He was super nice and down-to-earth while we chatted in the back of the dark theater during the last dress rehearsal.  Then I got press passes for me and a photographer to attend the opening night!

Here's the article: http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/theater-dance/00934-lo-impermanente-chilean-national-ballet-goes-abstract

Earth Day March for Water

Monday was Earth Day, and Santiago observed the holiday with a big March for the recovery of Chile's water.  Water has been privately owned here for 32 years, and people all over the country are living with the consequences.  About 87 groups from all over the country were present at the march.  

For more info on the movement, read this article that I wrote last week for Revolver Magazine: http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/special-events/00931-flowing-towards-la-moneda-earth-day-march-water-rights

(you can click on these photos to see them in a larger view)