Neruda had a narwal horn

What!? It's Sunday and Olivia has actually posted a blog on time! Wow, let us rejoice. 

This week has flown by! I know that tends to be a reoccurring sentiment, but it surely doesn't make it any less true. This week was full of enjoying spring that has finally made its way to Santiago. Today was in the mid 80s and this coming week is looking to be just as cozy. That means it's time for my June era toenail polish to bid farewell as the Chacos and Birks move to the front of my closet. Trufa (my cafe of choice) removed the tent sides from their outdoor dining area allowing the warm air to sneak in as I sat with friends for 3 hours on Wednesday. And everything about that afternoon was made better by the sandwich I had! Baguette. Serrano ham (about which we had a long discussion, and in fact not all Serrano ham is from the Real Deal Iberian Pig™ fed with acorns. Do your research before purchasing). Watercress covered with a dijon mustard and olive oil dressing that reminded me of MooMoo/Daddy's salad dressing. Top 3 "reminders of home" from this entire trip. WOW what a sandwich. Anyway. I was talking about warm weather. My puffy jackets are remaining behind the door, and my sweaters are doing little other than taking up closet space. All of the laundry dried on the balcony rack in less than a day. We (especially when with Maria) give ourselves extra time to walk to class because we know there will be at least 5 different new flowers that have bloomed since our last journey that must endure having our gringo noses stuffed within their petals. My favorite weather. 

After over three months in the country, I finally made it to one of Santiago's biggest attractions: el Museo de Bellas Artes. It is parked in the center of Parque Forestal (one of my favorite spots in the city), the greenway that runs parallel to the Rio Mapocho. Looking up at its neoclassical architecture facing a park full of trees and wide walking/biking paths, at first glance you wouldn't sound crazy if you thought you were in Paris. With its all glass ceiling it looks awfully similar to a little baby version of the Gran Palais or Musée d'Orsay (Google it!). And as a matter of fact, that was the exact goal of its construction. The museum was opened to celebrate Chile's centennial in 1910 when European art and architecture was idealized in South America. You can find a very similar phenomenon in Buenos Aires. In fact, copying French culture was so present that instead of filling the museum with authentic pieces of art (Chilean or not), it was filled with replicas of famous works located in Europe. There were 147 pieces of art in the first exposition and less than a dozen of them were originals. I find this so gosh darn odd, especially because it continues to this day. The center room that you walk into holds the museum's "original" collection of copies and you just stare at famous marble statues that just are not real. Think David's head. Funky feeling as you stand in the center of the most famous art museum in Chile. 

And while we are being frank (because what else do I do here?), I wasn't a huge fan of the museum. Most of the collections and expositions felt more like modern art than fine art, and there was only one piece that I really loved (below). So maybe skip Bellas Artes if you come to Santiago. 

It was in a volcano exhibit (??) but it was wild up close in person. It really felt as though they were floating.

Santiago or Paris? Lmk (featuring fake statues in the bottom)

Our main event from the week however was not a mediocre museum outing but rather a trip to Isla Negra, Pablo Neruda's most beloved house (out of his three all of which are about an hour and a half away from each other). He wrote some of his most famous works, including Canto General, looking out onto the Pacific from his boat/train design influenced house. We went through the same self guided tour system with audio players that we had when we visited Neruda's other home La Sebastiana in Valparaíso back in July. The man had SO much stuff! The first stop on the tour is in his living room which is chock full of ship figureheads. There were easily over 10 wooden bodies popping out of the walls or hanging from the ceiling. Not my style. 

My favorite part of the house was Neruda's snail shell collection that also included conch shells and a FULL NARWAL HORN!!!! Are you kidding me?!? What!?!?! This guy was such a weird collector. He also had a life sized wooden/paper mache horse that he saved from an old toy in his childhood city of Temuco (which just happens to be where my host family is from). I cannot imagine actually living in that house because it was 85% things and 15% habitable. 

The famous Isla Negra bells that Neruda chimed when he came home

But as wild as his hoarding practices were, the house has a breathtaking view of the ocean, and he is buried facing the sea that inspired him so intensely. As a matter of fact, it came out in the news this week that Neruda may not have died of cancer two weeks after the golpe de estado after all. In fact, he was most likely poisoned by Pinochet's minions when he was being transferred to Santiago's Clínica Santa María (which I just so happened to have received medical attention from #bronchitis2017) for treatment. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41702706). I'm sure more information will continue to come out on that this week. 

View from Neruda's grave where he rests alongside his wife.

After visiting Neruda's house, we took a little detour to another plot of land that Pablo had bought back in the 1900s but never built anything on. It is now a beautiful park with cliffs and gorgeous blooming flowers. One of the highlights of the day.

After lunch we went to the beach! It was chilly!

Our final stop for the day after being unable to go visit the tomb of Vicente Huidobro was the Centro de Conservación Marina in Las Cruces, just up the road from Neruda's house. It is beautiful research center on the coast run by la Universidad Católica (reppin!). In addition to multiple research projects, the program oversees Chile's first protected marine area (1 square km of ocean in which fishing is prohibited). It was so interesting to hear about the stark contrasts between the protected area and the open fishing areas just beyond it the biggest of which are the sizes of the marine species, the presence of shore birds, and the health of the kelp which of course provides food, oxygen, safety, etc to the environment. Since the creation of this protected area (which did not go over well with the fishing community at first), there are now over 700 managed areas where fishing is controlled (set up by fishermen!) and nationally protected areas where fishing is prohibited along the 4,270km of Chilean coastline. Yay to positive conservation practices! After our presentation, we went to a little marine petting zoo where I got to hold my first sea cucumber (those things are WILD) and make some starfish friends. It was an awesome way to end the day before heading back to Santiago. 

Tucked within this week of warm weather and a beautiful field trip was a little bit of sadness. My wonderful host mom who is normally nothing but peppy and positive came home late on Wednesday and knocked somberly on my door. My host grandmother, Mamita Elsa, was re-diagnosed with kidney cancer for the third time. The future of treatment is still unknown as her doctors are just focused now on doing tests and more biopsies. This diagnosis put a lot of things in prospective for me. 1) I am so incredibly thankful to have 4 FANTASTIC grandparents in my life who are so generous and loving and supportive and healthy. One of them just happens to be the inspiration behind this whole gosh darnit blog in the first place! I love you all :) 2) Watching Pati breakdown hurt so much because of how much I have come to love her and Mamita Elsa. Since September, Mamita Elsa survived a dangerous surgery and Polo (Pati's very serious boyfriend) lost his father. Over and over again I hear about how difficult 2017 has been, and though neither of us are excited about being separated on December 15th, she is certainly excited for this year to be over. 

They went away for the weekend to Viña del Mar and Pati told me 10 times about what I need to do in case of an earthquake, offered her bed to me if I preferred a queen for a couple of nights, and told me that I was welcome to anything in her closet (even though I am more or less double her height). Mamita Elsa jokes with me if I ever come home late, can easily finish a 40oz bottle of Corona on her own, and, just likes me, is just so utterly content sitting at the kitchen table looking out onto the Andes and the Costanera Center to the northeast of our apartment in silence. All of this together has made the fact that we have less than 2 months remaining (only about half of which I will be in Santiago at home) so much more painful and difficult. And it has made me realize anything, it is that returning to Chile in the near future is less and less of a dream and more and more of a requirement. How incredibly lucky am I to have such an unbreakable bond with a family that I lived over 5,235 miles away from before July. 

Give extra hugs to all the people you love today.

Sending mine to all of you xoxoxo

Olivia/Liv/Boo 

Spanish Word of the Blog: berro = watercress

Still thinking about that sandwich.