At a loose end one weekend, the three of us decided to complete the trio of Pablo Neruda’s houses by visiting his favourite house in Isla Negra. The house is located in a town which shares the same name and is very popular with tourists, particularly from other parts of Chile and is located about an hour and a half away from Valparaíso.
The house was all on one floor, but very spread out and spacious. The best part about Neruda’s house however was the amazing view out over the ocean, beaches and waves crashing on the rocks. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by a Spanish speaking guide who when we said we were from Scotland, she responded in perfect English. It later transpired that she was an Australian who after a gap year in Chile had decided to return and call the country home. After visiting the house, we later went to eat some of the area’s amazing seafood, before taking the bus back to Valpo.
One of my hardest subjects or ‘ramos’ in Chile is Lengua Española (Spanish Language). Although it is for native speakers, I take it due to the fact that I believe it will be very useful for the fourth-year dissertation, as some of it will be written in Spanish. Our most recent assessment was a debate on Eugenics, also known as Human Genetic Modification. I was slightly worried when I heard the topic as I did not know much about it, even in English! However, we were split into groups for the task and the Chileans in my group were all very helpful. The debate was slightly different to debates in Scotland. as each team has two or three people arguing their case and the others are either rebutting the opposing side’s arguments. Each team also has a moderator who introduces and summarises the main points of each side of the debate. I was one of the people arguing against Eugenics, however we had to prepare both sides of the debate as we only found out on the day whether we were for or against the motion. Our team did well and we got a 5.6 (roughly equivalent to a B/B+).
Before we set off for Chile, one of the lecturers who is very familiar with Chile said that strikes and student protests were very commonplace. Until now, we had not had any strikes and classes went on as normal. However as a result of conflict between the native Mapuche and security forces, the students voted to go on two separate strikes which has led to the cancellation of classes!
Hugh's Voyages and Discoveries 