Sorry I haven’t been blogging lately. It’s been a mixture of a lack of energy, things to blog about, and internet connection that has been preventing me from catalouging this very different experience. This is why we need a recap because I kind of don’t want to go into great detail about this last week. It’s not that it was bad per say, but mostly because I am lazy. Moving on … last week, I went to the Plaza de Armas (Plaza of Guns), saw a show called Paul y John, and roamed through this suburban wasteland.
1) The Plaza de Armas isn’t as dangerous as it sounds. It is the home to Chile’s most important buildings, not surprisingly a church and scary looking government offices. It is also full of artists selling their goods, puppeteers performing freaky versions of the ‘Punch and Judy Show’ en español, and indigenous Andean, musicians promoting their CDs.
Honestly, all I could think of when listening to the musicians was how they were keeping a great, guinea pig evil at bay. I’m really mature for my age ; if you didn’t get that guinea pig reference, you don’t watch South Park. Overall, Plaza de Armas is a beautiful site in the middle of city and very turística (touristy). Be careful when going there, though not with armas (guns), theft is common, especially if you are obviously a tourist.
2) My family took me to a show in an underground theatre beneath a mall a few days ago. Fun Fact: This was the same mall where I saw World War Z (Guerra Mundial Z). The show was entitled Paul y John. It told the story of these musicians’ relationships with women, fame, and the band during both the highs and lows of their careers. It was pretty cool. The costume people really made the actors look like the Beatles … well John at least. I’m pretty sure Paul McCartney never had a Latin tan or that much exorbitant, chest hair.
The most fascinating part of the show was the difference between the dialogue and music. The speaking was done in Spanish (of course), but at times, the actors would speak in English with heavy, Chilean accents. However, they all sang like Brits, perfectly in English. It was perplexing but also awesome. I’m fairly certain that they must have trained themselves extensively to really sound like they were from Liverpool. Buen hecho, chicos.
3) Lastly, I have been wandering the grounds of my neighborhood for about a week now. Honestly, I am living on a golf course … well three, there are three courses – three, individual courses. Three courses. There are also a lot of walls and houses with cubism architecture. I said before that Puente Alto (a past home) reminded me of Malvina Reynolds’ iconic warning, I mean song, “Little Boxes”, but I was wrong – very wrong. I have entered into her lyrics. Now that’s not a bad thing per say, as AFS has told us (its participants), basically since day one, “It’s not good or bad, it’s just different”. I should try to just see the big picture and realize that it is very in fact different.
However, to remind any reader who has no idea what the hell I am talking about, I have Reynold’s song posted. I think it goes without saying, but since I don’t want to get sued, I don’t own this song at all, definitely not my creative, self expression. Enjoy (by the way, that’s Malvina down there) …
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_2lGkEU4Xs]
Um, how often posts will be appear may vary from now on. But, as an update, I begin school in about a week. It is definitely going to be … different. Also, Recap is going to become a new tag for the blog. It will be this basic format as an opinion piece with three topics. More to come, maybe? Let’s hope the internet holds up!