Indiana University School of Journalism

I went to the Museo de las Artes Visuales, which presented an exhibition on love, and included modernist paintings and sculptures. I also did some shopping at the Mercado by Santa Lucía for some of Chile’s authentic lapis lazuli, since Chile is one of the few producers of this deep blue stone. Museum hopping and “lapis” shopping are two activities not to be missed when visiting Santiago.

Later that afternoon, we returned to the hotel where we met Patricia, our lovely and informative tour guide, for the last time. Reluctant to leave Patricia and her delightful homeland but excited to get home to share our adventures with friends and family, we packed the bus and headed to the airport.

Despite being awakened by a man who snored loudly throughout the 10-and-a-half hour plane ride and having my bags searched in Dallas because a dog sniffed out a kiwi I forgot to take out of my backpack, our journey home was a smooth one. Although I already miss the dazzling Andes Mountains, fresh fruit and seafood delicacies, and genuine Chilean hospitality, I am happy to be back home again in Indiana.

Our adventures in Chile were, to say the least, unforgettable. I know I can speak for my classmates and travel companions when I say that visiting Chile opened our eyes to different people, traditions, foods, experiences and ways of life. This trip was not only a wonderful way to finish our course on Latin American media, but it was also a perfect beginning to our education and careers as journalists who are understanding of the world.

First, we learned all about the history of wine in Chile. The Alegria family came from Spain and has owned the property since 1968. The two most important wines are Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been planted on the vineyard since before the Alegria family even came to Chile.

After we learned a little bit of the basics, we went inside the winery to continue understanding how grapes turn into delectable wines. Stepping into the winery was like stepping inside a grape. The smell was so pure and hypnotizing that I immediately understood the magic of making wine.

Senor Alegria explained the significance of each wine. He said that the most important thing to remember about wine is that it is meant to accompany food. Sauvignon, he said, is perfect for white meat, pasta and fish. Chardonnay is meant for delicate seafood dishes. Certain Cabernet Sauvignons also can go with white meats and lighter dishes. However, more robust versions of Cabernet should be paired with dark meats and rich foods. One wine Senor Alegria mentioned that was coming back into fashion is rose wine, which he said could make an ordinary pizza dinner special and memorable.

The next step of our winery education session was learning about the oak barrels the wine sits in after it goes through a 10-day fermentation process. He told us that putting wine in American and French oak must be monitored because it can tarnish the wine’s natural flavors. “I do not make oak soup, I make wine,” Alegria said.

Once we learned about the fermentation process, bottling and labeling of the wine, we tried different types produced at the Vinícola Cavas del Maipo vineyard. Each wine had a unique blend of flavors and captured our taste buds. Some of us then began to understand wine’s wonderful and important part of Chilean culture.

Upon arrival in Valparaiso we were greeted with the early morning sun, a fresh vegetable market and the crisp salty air that was brought in by gusts of wind from the sea. The day was most certainly not a day trip to the beach; in fact, several students packed light sweaters and jackets to combat the chilly morning. Although Santiago is the capital of Chile, Valparaiso is important because it serves as the home for the National Congress. This is especially critical because of the upcoming election year.

Photo by Lindsay Pollack

Students visited poet Pablo Neruda’s home in Valparaiso. It features a sea theme and circular staircases.

Imagine a sea coastal town where little homes painted in spectrum of colors dotting the mountainside. Now add hills and narrow street ways that can be comparable only to San Francisco and you have the bohemian little sea town of Valparaiso. After a dizzying bus ride of pin-like turns toward the top of the hills, we finally reached our first destination, one of several homes of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

The house itself is an eclectic reflection of the owner. Neruda, a proclaimed chauvinist as well as active politico in the times of the military dictatorship in Chile, saw his home Valparaiso as a ongoing "project." Each of the house’s five floors has a winding narrow staircase. Although Neruda owned several homes throughout Chile, his home in Valparaiso remained a quirky reminder of his nod to the life of sea man as well as his own vigor and enjoyment for life.

We arrived at Vina Del Mar for a late afternoon lunch. Vina Del Mar is a "sister-city" to Valparaiso, but serves as a strong contrast to the sea town. Valparaiso serves mainly those who work in sea industry and the small area of commerce for Valparaiso. Vina Del Mar caters more to tourism and weekend visitors from Santiago who own second homes there.

After a filling lunch, we were set free to visit the coastline and small beach. We took photographs along the coast, shopped for trinkets from the nearby vendors and avoided pickpockets (I’m not kidding).

Photo by Lindsay Pollack

Broadcasters prepare the 6:30 p.m. news show at UCV-TV. The station is the oldest in Chile.

We then made our way to our final destination, UCV-TV, the oldest television station in Chile. From the outside, the building served as a stark contrast to the pristine commercial appeal of the CNN building we visited earlier this week. In fact, the building located in Vina Del Mar looked like a large tin shed with very few windows and no explicitly clear signage of UCV-TV anywhere.

But once entering into the studio, we saw a hotbed of activity and commotion as the producers and directors were preparing for their 6:30 p.m. news broadcast. We got a firsthand view of several studios, the directors’ room, editing and production studios. Although not all of us are following a broadcast path, we appreciated the delivery of news firsthand and the tremendous amount of work that goes into the daily behind-the-scenes production of one single news broadcast.

As we headed back to Santiago, we realized our time here is coming to an end. But for the time being, we sat back and enjoyed the long winding road back to the city with lights.

Photo by Sara Ko

Students heard from leaders at CNN, which just launched in Chile in December. As she heard them introduce themselves, student Samantha Felix realized the two presenters were men she’d discussed in her class research paper on CNN Chile.

When we arrived, we were introduced to two men on staff at CNN Chile. The first man, Rodrigo Fernandez, is the director of technology and operations for CNN Chile. He was followed by CNN veteran, Rolando Santos, the senior vice president for Turner Latin America and the senior strategic adviser in charge of supervising the launch of CNN Chile last December.

Hearing these men speak their names, I recognized them from my research paper as two of the most important men related to the launch of CNN Chile. They are real, I thought to myself.

Regaining composure, I listened to Santos explain why he and Fernandez chose the Latin American country of Chile over others. He said three vital factors must come into play: finding good partners who know they are solely there to fund the project and not control it; the ability to do CNN style news without a lot of censorship; and a high interest in media. Chile provided these three things and much more.

Santos also began handing out advice like the free pens we received at the end of the visit. He spoke of experience and literacy, but more important, education. Santos told us everything we would learn today about technology would be obsolete in five years, but not to worry because we should learn what we need for the present and keep moving forward.

Finally, Santos gave us professional advice as well as lessons learned in life. He said karma is true. He told us to uphold a good reputation within our social and professional networks and the karma of behaving appropriately would pay off in the end. He then advised us the network of people we go to school with today will be our “life partners,” implying that we will most likely meet again in the field of journalism. Third, he said that this network was smarter than us as individuals and may not always have our best interests at heart, especially if we are competing. So he advised us to stay sharp and smart. Finally and simply put, he said be true to yourself.

With this great wave of excitement behind us and our 15 seconds of fame on CNN Chile in a background shot of the newsroom, we headed for Paula, a magazine for young women.

Photo by Sara Ko

Students listen to a presentation in Spanish, translated by student Vanessa Valentin, at Paula magazine. The publication weathered the constraints of Chile’s dictatorship but now has more freedom to pursue its mission as a women’s magazine.

One of the oldest women’s magazines in Chile, Paula is known for the controversial coverage of women’s issues in a fairly conservative country. Paula was oppressed during the dictatorship. Once the dictatorship ended, the staff began writing the stories they were known for, in the way they wanted.

The publishers and editors want to be known for their extensive and knowledgeable content more than for their fashion and beauty tips. Though it is seen as a fashion magazine, thanks to the models on every cover, it maintains its status as a high quality content women’s magazine. This entire presentation at Paula was in Spanish and, luckily enough for us, Vanessa Valentin, my roommate and fellow student, translated effortlessly.

As a future journalist, I found it is hard not to appreciate this day. Not only has the beauty of Santiago captured my heart, but so have the stories of local media to continue with to strive for greatness through the good and the bad times. The human struggle keeps us all connected and even though I am thousands of miles away from home, I still feel at home here in the great country of Chile.

Photo by Scott Myrick

The Santiago group visited with students at Universidad Catolica. They compared notes on politics and journalism.

We sat down to chat with the former editor of El Mercurio. He talked to us about how the newspaper is adapting to online and things they are changing to boost readership and money. He said prior to 2001, the circulation was increasing by less than 1 percent every year. After changing to the new design and format in 2001, readership has been increasing by much more each year.

Ironically, El Mercurio had been working on a new format for over a year, which they planned to debut on Sept. 12, 2001. However, big news broke in America, and the front page was covered with a picture of the World Trade Center. Since that day, El Mercurio has been sticking with the design.

We toured the grounds of El Mercurio, which occupies over 100 acres. We were told that it is prime real estate, and the newspaper might be moving in a few years. However, it is extremely costly to build new printing presses.

After the tour of the printing plant, the group traveled over to Universidad Catolica to eat lunch and meet Chilean college students. We paired up and attempted to speak to each other. Topics ranged from journalism to Barack Obama to the Chilean education system to perceptions of Americans and Chileans.

Speaking with the students from Chile gave us a perspective we have been missing thus far. While we studied Chile and Latin America over the course of eight weeks, these students had real experiences and insights into why Chile is the way it is. After completing a research paper about Michelle Bachelet and the Chilean election in 2004, it was interesting to see what the students thought about her and how she runs the country.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Chile, especially Bella Vista, a bohemain area in town.

Tomorrow we are visiting CNN and Paula magazine. It will be interesting to see how the Chilean CNN differs from the American CNN, and how Paula magazine differs from the inserts El Mercurio includes in its newspaper every day.

 

After we were divided into groups of three, we received a list of places, people and things to photograph around Santiago. Some of them didn’t take too much time to find, such as stray dogs or traditional Chilean food, but some required a little more thought, like someone with blue eyes or coming up with an aspect of our group that made us stand out from anyone else.

Well, that last one was not so hard for my group. As soon as Whitney, Sam and I left the hotel to start our journey, we knew what made us unique: we all have blonde hair, which you don’t see very often in Santiago.

Each group spent the day walking around the city, snapping photos of various landmarks, buildings and occasionally ourselves. We bumped into a few of the groups along the way, sharing stories about conversations we had with people. Some of us also found out that we are really out of shape after having to walk up Santa Lucia to take a picture at the top.

Overall, the day served as a fun way to learn more about the city, speak Spanish and get some great photos. After returning to the hotel, we showed our photos to everyone. We photographed a wide range of topics, from a gay rights protest to a lunch at the Chilean version of McDonalds (still tasted very American).

As for not going to El Mercado Central, some still did. One group in particular used it to set themselves apart from the others: they held the fish, which impressed even those working the stands. Maybe there’s a future outside journalism for some of us students in Santiago.

Photo by Nicole Hamilton

Students went horseback riding in the Andes Mountains.

That is where I found myself at four o’clock this afternoon during our two-hour horseback riding adventure to the top of the Andes Mountains. Our non-English speaking tour guides thought my panic was hysterical. The way up was exhilarating, but the way down was absolutely terrifying. I found peace in quietly humming Disney tunes to Toto until we arrived safely at the bottom. In case you were wondering, it has been the highlight of my trip so far, but zip-lining over the Maipo River, looking out onto the mountains while dining in a bungalow-style restaurant, and running through a pitch-black broken down railroad tunnel all come in a very close second place.

Today was packed with outdoor adventures. The bus ride to the Andes took about an hour and a half, but we stopped in a teeny tiny town called San Jose de Maipo along the way. The mountains and the town also were (not surprisingly) full of stray dogs and really no other wildlife. We kept our eyes open in case we spotted a condor, Chile’s national bird, but to no avail.

Condors are like vultures except larger. Their wingspans can reach up to six feet and they are the world’s largest flying land birds. Unfortunately, they are almost extinct because, in combination with being killed by humans, they lay only one to two eggs each year and most baby condors die from falling as they try to learn how to fly. This was just one of the many interesting facts our tour guide, Patricia, shared with us today.

On our tour of the mountains, we stopped at Maipo Canyon. Maipo Canyon used to produce most of Chile’s wine, but is now the source of Santiago’s drinking water. We also saw the snowcapped Maipo Volcano in the distance. The last time it erupted was over 2,000 years ago.

 

Photo by Nicole Hamilton

Students have been impressed with Chilean sunsets.

Trying to describe the beauty of the picture perfect landscape we saw today is like trying to find sunglasses at the bottom of a murky lake: virtually impossible. Even the 1,000 pictures we collectively took as a class don’t do it justice. The Andes Mountains are just one of those places you have to visit during your lifetime.

After a long yet satisfying day, everyone was exhausted on the trip back to the hotel, but the sunset this evening made it hard to fall asleep. The pink sky reflected off the puffy, orange sherbet spotted clouds, but I cannot complain. It was the most beautiful sunset I’ve seen in the Chilean sky thus far and I don’t know when I’ll see another one even slightly comparable.

Photo by Ashley Lewis

Students visited a market in search of lunch.

The university is architecturally beautiful. Green courtyards, tall palm trees and religious statues led the way to the lecture halls. As we walked, we passed a media career fair. A professor greeted us, joyfully asking “are you the Americans?” We, of course, smiled and nodded “Si!” Another professor gave us a quick tour of the building before leading us to a classroom. Students from the university were there waiting for us to arrive. A guest speaker discussed the new transparency laws that are soon to be in order for the media in Latin America.

Two first-year students from the university introduced themselves to us. They were friendly and openly discussed their take on American music. Their favorites including Backstreet Boys, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West and Britney Spears (but only before her whole mental meltdown).

After our meeting at the university, we walked to the central market for lunch. The smell of fresh fish was in the air. As we entered, the salesmen quickly attempted to persuade us to sit down to eat at their particular restaurants. We circled the area and finally took a seat with help from our waiter, Jorgita. He was very nice and knew English so we felt like we were in good hands. He even showed us some salsa moves. We did not really know what was on the menu so we kept it simple and stuck with what was familiar: salmon and French fries.

We had the rest of the day to explore the wonderful city of Santiago. The class split up into groups, mostly headed towards different areas to shop. The markets had authentic Chilean items from hand painted notebooks to copper bracelets. Postcards were also a must.

The groups hopped on the metro to head back to the hotel. After freshening up and changing clothes, we made our way to dinner. A quaint pizza shop was calling our names. We quickly ordered individual pizzas and Coca-Cola (which come in glasses – so cool!). We searched the streets of la Provencia in the hopes of finding the happening spots for young people. Men along the streets passed out flyers for numerous discotecas. We finally chose made our way to Morena, the club with the loudest music and largest group of people dancing.

Ahh, it was a great night in chilly Chile. The Andes Mountains await us in the morning so it’s time to get some beauty sleep. Adios amigos!

Photo by Natalie Avon

One of thousands of stray dogs in Santiago caught the students’ attention.

The orange-red sky was met by the dark, almost ominous, mountains below, leaving me and many other passengers speechless and taking many photos. After a nine and half hour flight, we all just wanted to finally be in Chile. However, we had to wait on the plane for another 10 minutes because of animals on the runway. (The flight attendant said later she didn’t know what kind of animals).

We met our tour guide for the week, Patricia, and we were off to our hotel. The city is divided into districts, with a river running it that is polluted. I even saw a Lazyboy just sitting in the river. The city itself is cleaned continually, in part to keep the dust down. Because there is little to no wind in Santiago, the air is polluted from dirt on the streets if they aren’t cleaned.

Our first tour of the city started on one of the busiest streets, crowded with thousands of people and many restaurants and stores. We stopped at a cafe called "Coffee with Legs," where patrons stand at the tables to drink their beverages. It is called "coffee with legs" because the women workers have very short, tight dresses, quite different from Starbucks workers.

We headed over to the Cathedral Santuario Del Sagario de Nuestra Senora Del Carmen, located in the center of city. We were astonished by the number of stray dogs we saw throughout the city. Patricia later told us the city has problem with the number of stray dogs, about 70,000 in Santiago alone and 200,000 throughout Chile. The government, she said, is looking to pass a law dealing with the problem of stray dogs.

From the cathedral, we went to the Palacio de la Moneda, or the Presidential Palace. The plaza surrounding the palace was closed for the day because of the many protests throughout the city. Today, the bus drivers were protesting the laws imposed under President Michelle Bachelet.

Photo by Natalie Avon

Monuments surround plazas in Santiago. Most honor past presidents and historical figures.

After the Presidential Palace, we were off to the San Cristobal Hill, among the hills that surround the city of Santiago and provide great views. We all boarded the funicular, which is a tram that takes people up the hill on a rope pulley system. Many of us were scared because the funicular looked as though it hadn’t been updated in a couple decades. The ride, which is similar to going up a hill on a rollercoaster only much slower, was nerve-wracking. There are five open-air compartments in the train that we stood in as we went up, then down. The view of the city is amazing, but today was foggy and hazy.

While on top of the hill, some of us experienced our first Chilean food. The Chilean empanada, which is similar to a calzone, is a dough-like pocket filled with ground meet and onions. There was also a vegetarian empanada, filled with corn, tomatoes, potato cheese.

In Chile, dinner is later in the night, usually around 9 p.m. We arrived at Los Buenos Muchachos for a dinner that featured red and white Chilean wine and a offered choices of ham, beef or shellfish, with sauces and papas fritas (fries).

While we were eating, we were treated to a show. Dancers and singers performed Chilean songs from each part of the country.

It was a long and tiring day, but what a way to start our trip off. Learning about the culture, history, geography and structure of the city helped us understand and get acquainted with Santiago. Let’s just hope the rest of the trip can live up to the excitement of the first day.