After a quick trip to the Chilean consulate in Chicago, I finally have my visa in hand (and my passport back--whew!). This week I also learned my placement region; I will be heading to Araucania! Araucania (there should be an accent on the i, but my keyboard doesn't cooperate like that) is in southern Chile, so I will have to take a 13-hr bus ride from Santiago to get there. It has the largest concentration of Mapuche people, the indigenous people of southern Chile & Argentina, of any region in Chile, and it is also the poorest region. Much of Araucania is agricultural but the capital city, Temuco, is the 4th largest city in Chile. [Disclaimer: these are the facts I keep citing but I got them all from wikipedia -- better research to come!].
I may have already mentioned that I initially requested to be placed in a mid-sized city in the central region. Needless to say, this placement will potentially be very opposite. I won't know my exact placement (town, host family, school) until my first week in Santiago, but I do already know of 3 other EODP volunteers in my region, and we can't all be in Temuco! So I'm keeping my mind open to the possibility of a rural setting. Maybe even a Mapuche school, that would be fascinating! The anthropologist in me knows that I'll love it wherever I am.
While I was in Chicago I was able to meet 3 other volunteers. It'll be so nice already knowing some people when we all get to Santiago! I'm getting very excited. Next week will be spent frantically rounding up everything I want to pack (and inevitably having to leave some of it behind) and making sure I see all my family and friends before I go!
P.S. in an effort to spice up this blog visually, I'm using a photo from Araucania I found online--to be replaced once I have some photos of my own!
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