Tours of Valpo with Nicholas day 2

Our second outing to Valpo with Nicholas took us to the city’s 3 main cemeteries and the surrounding hills. One interesting aspect of the cementerios católicos and the cementerio de los disidentes (non-catholics) were their diversity, another reminder of the port’s multicultural heritage. Names on tombstones varied from German, Croatian, Italian, French, English, Spanish and other immigrant groups, and the hilltop setting makes a striking impression on those who visit.

Yet another impressive vista.

An interesting looking pub/restaurant

Jo and Nicholas

Valpo’s first Jail, in operation until the second half of the 20^th century, is now a cultural center.

More interesting graffiti

An few old churches in the area

Valpo and Muelle Baron as viewed from the other side of town.

Tours of Valpo with Nicholas- Day 1

Over the past month we’ve gone out on two Sunday tours of Valparaiso with Jo’s co-worker Nicholas, an energetic history teacher who has lived in the historic port his entire life. It was really interesting to learn about Valpo from a non-tourist perspective and see aspects of the city that we would have never seen alone.

Our first day out we visited the neighborhoods where Nicholas grew up. Apparently the city has changed a lot in that it isn’t as clean or safe as in years past, however, the landscape and architecture has been left untouched. When you look beyond the rusty roofs, the broken glass, and the graffiti you get a glimpse of the real Valpo, an eclectic mix of poor and middle class thrown together with no regard for social hierarchies amongst the seemingly endless cerros (hills). We tromped up and down the hills, explored buildings literally built into the hillsides and saw pieces of Valpo’s past and present.

An old wooden foot bridges now closed.

A 5 story series of residencies built in to the hillside, typical Valpo construction.

A historic mansion with vibrant color

The reconstruction of much of the city would be extremely expensive by today’s standards. The hills, the narrow crowded streets or in some cases no street access at all means that in many cases manual labor is the only option. These 3 to 4 foot concrete footers are a good example. They stop the hills from encroaching on the residencies below.

A strange and often surprising landscape

Some of the graffiti in the city is an eyesore but colorful pieces such as these often brighten up the landscape.

The colorful barrio Prefecto Lazero, traditionally inhabited by politicians and policemen

A view of the city from next to the Ascensor Florida

For 200 pesos you can ride the ascensor rather than trudge up this imposing hill.

Jo crossing one of the newer footbridges.

For a few bucks you can take a boat ride or “lancha” and see a little bit of a working harbor.

A sea lion or “lobo” just chillin’ on an abandoned boat.

This is how they repair the huge cargo and naval ships.

Nicholas and Jo

An impressive wooden door near the harbor.

Liceo Miraflores Alto Anniversary, October 22-26, 2007

Main courtyard where all the action happens!

Every year Chilean high schools commemorate their anniversary with a week-long celebration. Schools are divided into “cursos” with 40-45 students each. These students share the same schedule of classes for the entire year. My liceo is a technical industrial school with different career paths: mechanics, telecommunications, woodworking, electronics, welding, etc. During the anniversary, the “cursos” group into 6 “alianzas": blue, green, red, white, yellow and black. During the week, classes are pretty much suspended and there are various competitions and activities where alliance members compete to earn points. At the end of the week, points are totaled and a winner is named. The kids make huge banners, confetti, impromptu drums and each alliance chooses a queen, "ugly" king and mascot to represent them along with the alliance president that tries to keep everything in order.

Students watching the events on stage

Some of the alianza competitions were soccer, ping-pong and volleyball games, a mini marathon, a dance competition, an “American Idol” singing contest, tug – of – war, trivia, spelling contests, a skit, etc… There was also a students vs. staff soccer game which was totally entertaining! Alianza also lost points for rude or inappropriate behavior, which seemed to sort of help keep things from going totally out of control.

At the starting line - School marathon

Dance competition- Easter Island style

Staff members are asked to judge competitions. I was fortunate enough to be a judge of the American Idol and dance competitions as well as the presentation of the “reina y el rey feo” in formal wear (the queen and her ugly king). It really took me back to my days of being homecoming queen and on the dance team. :)
My favorite events were the skits and the king and queen in “recycled” attire. Lots of CDs and newspaper.

The grand finale on Thursday is the parade. Each alianza builds a float in its subsequent workshop. But these are not your typical Rose Parade floral floats. (Remember this is a technical industrial school! they have power tools and big machines!) The base of the float is a car and the rest is metal, glass, wood, etc…with moving parts. Sometimes they spit fire too! There was an eagle with flapping wings and the winning float was a transformer that actually transformed – very cool!

Totally cool winning Float: a transformer!

It was a pretty crazy week! The kids really get into the competition! It was nice to see the students working together to kick the other alianzas’ butts! On Friday there was a brief ceremony to award teachers who had been working at the school for 20, 25, 30 and 35 years. Wow.

A few of my students!

There was also a cueca dance performance and a luncheon. Overall it was a really cool
experience for me and a nice break from the daily routine of teaching!

Jo and some of the cueca dancers!