My life is a 7

Well, only two months after the start of classes, school has finally started here. And by that I mean I had to write my first essay. Actually, the very first real school-related work I had to do was for my papermaking class, of all things. It was also my first experience with the Chilean grading system, which is based on a 1-7 scale. I mean, that makes sense right? Who doesn’t consider a 7 to be the highest one can hope to achieve? 10? Who needs a 10? I’m going to start using the system in my daily life—“on a scale of 1 to 7, how excited are you for the weekend?” “On a scale of 1 to 7, how hungry are you?” “On a scale of 1 to 7, how scary was the movie?” Chileans are clever and innovative and it’s clearly the wave of the future.

In other news, last weekend I experienced the crunchy side of Chile. Crunchy meaning hippy-granola type, unrelated to food in any way. It was the Mil Tambores (1000 Drums) festival here in Valparaíso, which is a big cultural, environmental, music and all-around hippy fest. 

The crowd on Cerro Alegre

Apparently in past years it has taken place in the flat downtown “plan” part of the city but this year it was moved to the cerros, in an apparent attempt to lessen the inconvenience to storeowners and innocent passersby. I went with some friends to the festival during the day on Friday and it was lots of fun. There were lots and lots of people, mostly young people but also families and older people. There was a big parade of all the drum and dance groups and more dreadlocks than I’ve seen in a long time. 

Cute kid, gnarly dreads

Painting your body for Mother Earth was encouraged

In many ways it reminded me of Seattle, although such festivals in Seattle usually do not involve policemen carrying rifles or people burning things in the street at night. Happily I avoided this part of the festival and spent the night watching a movie with my host siblings instead. 

The festival wasn't just a bunch of crazy kids drinking and smoking and vandalizing things though. As I said, it's a musical, cultural and environmental event and this year it also had a decidedly political side. For over 80 days, 34 Mapuche prisoners have been on a hunger strike protesting their imprisonment under the anti-terrorist law and demanding a fair trial in a civil court (under the anti-terrorist law they are tried in a military court). 

the Mapuche flag

The Mapuche are the largest indigenous group in Chile and the relationship between the Chilean government and the Mapuche has been contentious for basically all of Chilean history. At best they have been ignored, at worst, they have been murdered, abused and denied their ancestral lands. The Mapuche today are engaged in a struggle to recover land taken from them by the Chilean government. The actions are often violent, including setting fire to crops and farm equipment. The anti-terrorist law, a Pinochet-era relic, is used exclusively against the Mapuche and carries harsh sentences, including life in prison. 

The hunger strike has brought the issue to national attention (although somewhat overshadowed by the news of the miners) and there have been demonstrations throughout Chile. Several congressmen have even joined the strike. However, it keeps dragging on, the prisoners keep losing weight and the possibility of one or more of the prisoners dying before the strike is resolved is beginning to seem like a very real, and very tragic, possibility. For this reason, Mil Tambores included a focus on Mapuche music, culture, and political rights. As a group of Mapuche danced in the street, the surrounding crowd shouted "Libertad, libertad para la comunidad Mapuche" ("freedom, freedom for the Mapuche community"). I am hoping for a swift (if over 80 days can be called swift) resolution to the current issue and then a long and careful consideration of Mapuche political and cultural rights. It is undoubtedly a complicated issue but simply ending the hunger strike is only the first necessary step to improving the situation.