Christmas time in the City

In North America, typical expressions like "White Christmas" are not fallacies. They are expectations because the weather is cooler (if not freezing), the snow is falling (or going to shortly), and it's winter. Here in Arica, however, it's a different story. Here are some photos that might just make your head spin as Christmas is celebrated slightly differently:



There is a llama in the manger and the 3 wise men are Aymara looking.



Santa must be boiling in the warm Arica summer.



The only depictions of a white Christmas involve pics. :(



And Santa gets help with horse power. :P

One Week Left

With one week left, we wanted to take a moment and remember the things that we'll miss here in Chile. This is a check list of things that we plan on experiencing before we leave, so check back periodically to check out the status of the list (and some things have already been completed since the list was written about one week ago):

(x) Pebre! (Yummy.)
(x) Sopapillas
(x) Palta (They're bigger and better here!)
(x) PAN!!!! (Getting my fill now!)
(x) Lucume ice cream
(x) Ramitoas (they're a type of potato chip)
(x) The friends I've made who are staying here
( ) Las playas
(x) El Mar
( ) Chirimoya (yummy!)
(x) Atacama stones
( ) The Lab/Museum
(x) Pastel de Choclo (still need to get more of that)
(x) Menus (three course meal cheap) :P
(x) Fish Market (love the smell)
(x) Sea Lions
( ) Pisco Sours
( ) Fresh mint mojitos!

Half the list down...not too shabby for one week to finish it.

La Playa Chinchorro

La Playa Chinchorro, or in English, Chinchorro Beach, is a popular beach for several reasons:

A) It's one of the largest beaches in Arica where one can partake in swimming, scuba diving, surfing, body boarding, skodooing, and more.

B) It's the original site where Max Uhle found the Chinchorro mummies. We can totally understand why the Chinchorro liked it so much since it's a beautiful beach and a great retreat. :)

While not the greatest place to go to on the weekends since it really is packed with people, we still had a fun time swimming and being attacked by the waves. Jump when the wave comes is the rule, otherwise you get to enjoy a mouthful of salty water. :P

Oh yeah, and this was just funny:



Christmas in the summer! What a quaint concept. ;)

Baile Folclorica

South American culture has a series of "traditional" dances originating from the Spanish colonial period, and these dances draw upon native and European influences. There are several different styles of these dances, known as Folclorica, and they correspond to holidays and musical styles.

Today we had an opportunity to see a dance troupe perform in the downtown. They did an amazing job at showcasing their craft and the tradition of the art through playing various roles (e.g. a man trying to cut in on a couple dancing and being shooed off by the gentleman of the duo, the wooing of a young girl, etc.) Here are pics and video:

Strike 1, Strike 2, and an Earthquake

We at Globetrotting Monkey Enterprises* are fully aware that we've been slacking off a little these last few weeks so here's a large update of everything that has been happening since we last posted (and we further admit in our slacking off we didn't take any pics, to which we apologize).

Strikes, they're not just in baseball: South America is known for many things: beautiful coastlines, archaeological sites, rich history, fantastic food, llamas, alpacas, and oh, strikes. For the last little while there has been a Teachers Strike going on (yet the students are continuing to go to class for all of you out there wishing you were here right now) and this past week was a National Workers Strike. This latter strike affected all governmental agencies, including but not limited to health care workers, retirement benefits, and the border patrol. The borders weren't closed, but they were a pain to get through. We're quite thankful we did Tacna before the strike occurred. Luckily, that one only lasted a week. The Teacher's Strike, however, continues. Both strikes were peaceful.

Earthquake, or as they say in Chile, "a trembling": Not sure if you've heard or read about it in the newspapers, online, or through the TV, but please disregard any reports of "major" earthquake. Yes, houses shook, dogs and cats barked, and we were all startled, but it wasn't as bad as the news agencies are making it. We, me the cute little monkey and the Bioarch, are fine, albeit exhausted since the earthquake occurred in the middle of the night. We're taking a nap as soon as we're done updating you.

Other than those two big pieces of news, it's tourist season here in Arica so we're meeting lots of people and making some friends along the way. Hello to those new friends and we hope you're enjoying your time in Chile and the updates here.

*Disclaimer: There is no real Globetrotting Monkey Enterprises. We just made that up to sound official and fun. That and we've probably underplayed the exhaustion we're experiencing at the moment. Nightey night!

Post 2 of Two: Conmemoración de los Fieles Difuntos

Conmemoración de los Fieles Difuntos (or "El Dia de los Muertos" or "Day of the Dead") is celebrated in all Latin American countries, and it is a celebration which is a mix of Catholicism and traditional beliefs and observes those who have passed away. It is celebrated in conjunction with Halloween and All Saints Day, and often involves picnicking in cemeteries and remembering and celebrating the lives of loved ones who have passed on.

We visited both the local, in town (Arica) cemetery and the one in the valley in San Miguel de Azapa. The atmospheres in both places were vastly different. The city cemetery, which serves mostly city residents, was quiet and somber, with most people sitting next to their loved ones graves and quietly grieving or reflecting. The valley cemetery, which serves mostly valley and hinterland residents, was much more lively and loud. Music was playing by several bands, people were celebrating and remembering the fun times, dancing, drinking beer, providing gifts and food to the deceased, etc. It was an interesting dynamic, particularly in the contrast between city (very Catholic) and the city (the opposite).

This day is a popular topic in Spanish classes, and we had the opportunity to participate and observe the holiday here in San Miguel de Azapa. Here are pics and video from today's events:

(Disclaimer: Applicable permissions were granted for pictures that are posted. In fact, many people asked for their pictures to be taken. And these pictures are only from the Valley celebrations, and not from the city celebrations.)

Post 1 of Two: Tacna, Peru

Hola, chicos y chicas! This weekend was another whirlwind weekend, but first, we have to apologize for not posting last weekend. Monkeys and bioarchs are allowed breaks, right? Well, we took one last weekend. And we made up for it in a big way this weekend: Tacna, Peru; Halloween Party; and Conmemoración de los Fieles Difuntos (aka, "El Dia de los Muertos" or "Day of the Dead" in English.) We will only be posting pics from two of the three events (the Halloween pics are posted elsewhere for the viewing pleasure of the party goers only). First...Tacna.

Tacna, Peru, is another boarder town, much like Arica, Chile, but obviously in Peru. It's not necessarily popular on the tourist circuit but it is known for having cheap medical care, books and commercial goods, and good food. We finally got authentic Chinese (YUMMY!) We were going to visit some of the museums in Tacna, which boasts both History and Archaeology Museums amongst others, but sadly everything was closed. So instead we hung out in the downtown doing a little shopping and sight seeing. Here are pics from the trip:

Cuz it's all about the cuisine

This is the third of three posts today. Be sure to check out all of them!

Despite being sick over the last weekend, we were well enough to enjoy some traditional Chilean cuisine. On the menu this week was stomach, which fellow Bolivian (?)/Brazilian (?) grad student, Nancy, introduced us to, and I have to admit that it wasn't half bad. Neither was the potato was mistook as stomach. :P Then, again on Nancy's recommendation, we had a corn cake, which is the equivalent of a corn bread version of a chicken pot pie. A little bland, but apparently it was just prepared incorrectly. And, because we're on the coast, we had a seafood ceviche like meal! Oh, and Octavio, Bernardo's assistant, introduced us to Chilean dulce! The one we had was a pastry made with lots of sugar. Yummy! Had to resist the urge to buy more today at the market. Bon appetite! Looking forward to eating more delicious Chilean food soon. :)



And Natalia reminded us that the Mango juice we had at the seafood restaurant was delicious, which reminded us that we also drank two different types of Chilean pop: Papaya and Bilz (cherry). Interesting but not anything we're hooked on. But that Mango juice, that's a different story. Could definitely go for some more of that! :P

Sea lions, pelicans, and Toto!

This is the second of three posts. Be sure to check out the others!

Hola, amigos! This post is dedicated to the sea creatures we saw yesterday at the port. A thank you goes out to Natalia for showing us the sea lions and pelicans. Despite your dislike of the water fowl, we still liked them. And the sea lions were just too cool!

Enjoy!











And this picture (see below) is of a brave dog that kept wanting to attack the large, male sea lion. Cute but stupid idea.

And no, the sea lion did not show the dog who was boss, nor the dog the sea lion.

Military Museum

This is one of three posts today. Be sure to check them all out!

Today's adventure involved climbing El Morro, the cliff that juts out of the ocean on the coast of Arica, and on top of El Morro is the Military Museum and Memorial. El Morro is the site of a great battle amongst Peru, Chile, and Bolivia over land now controlled by Peru and Chile. The Battle of El Morro was a huge victory for Chile and has been memorialized by the Chilean government in the museum that now sits on the site of the battle.














El Morro is also the site of Chinchorro burials, although these are not featured at this site but at another museum being constructed. It is our hope to visit it sometime as an invitation has been extended, but it's only open for VIP visitors during the week, which is when we work. Two months to go so hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a visit.

Whirlwind Weekend

First, Happy Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving! And for the latter of the two holidays, we, with new friends Natalia and Oswaldo, went out for "Thanksgiving" dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Done on behalf of Carlie, who swears South American chinese is some of the best. It was an interesting take on Asian cuisine, we'll give it that.

And after, we wandered the streets of Arica and happened upon a protest:



The protest is a hunger strike in response to arsenic, lead, and other heavy metal poisoning that happened years ago. It's a 14 day hunger strike, and they were in the middle of it.

Saturday night was spent exploring the Arica night life with Natalia and Oswaldo. It was definitely a night to remember. It looks like we'll be doing that a few more times before we return to North America.

And today was supposed to be spent climbing El Morro, but the bioarch has come down with a head cold. Darn the crazy weather and time changes. Yes, time has changed here, and because it's spring here, the time has jumped an hour ahead. Fun, fun having to adjust to that, and we expect it to be even more fun when we return. Two to three hour time adjustments might hurt a little.

But until next time...don't monkey around too much. That's our job. ;P

A day in the life...

The job of an archaeologist/bioarchaeologist is to discern from the arfefacts of the past what life of the ancient people, groups, societies was like. While it seems like a simple feat, it can be quite difficult a lot of the time, and in those cases (or for other reasons), we call in experts. This weeks experts took the form of fishermen who explained to scholars at the museum what the fishing gear of the past may have been used for. Here are pics and videos from the experience:






Warning: Videos are in spanish, and no, there are no subtitles.

Shaken, not stirred

As many of you may have heard by now, there was an earthquake in Peru yesterday that was felt all the way in Chile and Bolivia. It only lasted a few seconds and was more seen and heard than felt (we're in a lab with shelves that when shook make lots of noise). We're fine, myself, the monkey, and the bioarch tag along, and we're still boogeying along on the project. There will be a better update later on this weekend probably of all the other adventures that have taken place in the lab cuz it's been a very busy week for us. Take care of yourselves and we'll do the same!

Yeah, we figured we'd open with those lovely images. There is a restaurant across from the museum, and the owner of said restaurant owns a dog. She recently gave birth to 7 puppies, and they've been a joy to play with after the long lab days. And here's video of 5 of the seven in action (as two are disobedient and like to play in the road).