Chile's daily news sept. 5
Jose Cifuentes: A Great Chilean Air Force Journalist
Review: Spicy Chile, free walking tour in Santiago
Contemporary art fair to return to Chile
DNA profiles of family members taken of "The 21"
Chile's Daily News, Sept. 7
Workers given day off on Sept. 19
Your guide to the celebrations during Fiestas Patrias
Chile's Daily News: Sept. 8
Dramatic profits reported from ISAPRES
Sept. 11 in Chile: its history and what to expect
September 9, 2011
September 3, 2011
The best memory of the week
I had an amazing opportunity to go on assignment to the Andes this Wednesday so that I could cover a story about a group of students here for work. It was an early morning after a fun night of hanging out with the rest of the online writing team at a local restaurant.
Despite dog fights going on in the street outside my house, and cats yowling like they were wolves all night, at 6 a.m. sharp my alarm goes off and it's time to get up. Having had the worst day ever the day before, this was not something that I wanted to do. But it's exactly what I needed. Funny how that works huh?
Since I hadn't expected to go to the mountains at all while I was here, at least while it was still "winter," I pulled on layer after layer of clothes: 2 jeans, 1 sweat pant, a cami, a tank top, a short sleeve shirt, a jean jacket, a coat I borrowed from my host mom, and my hat. I felt like the abominable snowman, but it's cold enough in the city (40-50F lately), I didn't know what to expect from the mountains.
I took the bus to a random street in Las Condes, the barrio where I'm living, and then I walked to this address at 7:00 a.m. since Pat, my contact person for this story, told me I had to be there by 8 or she'd leave. Not knowing how long it would take, especially with my poor luck with the transportation system this past week, I wasn't going to risk it. I showed up earlier than expected but she seemed to be okay with that.
After about a half hour talking with her and hanging out in her apartment, which had a gorgeous view of the city (see above picture). We hopped in the car, picked up her friend Janet, and started the hour and a half trip to this ski place.
After going up very winding and narrow roads in a jerky manner (the cars here are all stick shifts) I finally arrived at La Parva, albeit a little light-headed, though I eventually adjusted to the altitude. Not too long after that a group of volunteers showed up from the International Association of Chile and The Friends of Helen Keller with lunch. They're all ex-pats so it was cool to spend the day a ski place with people from Holland, Germany, The US, and Britain.
Not too long after that the students showed up.
You'd think it was a typical class trip, with the way the kids were laughing, talking and playing in the snow but this one was different. These students from El Colegio de Hellen Keller are blind and they were here for their fourth and final day of learning to ski.
Yes, you read that right.
So how do blind children ski? Well it depends on how advanced they are with their skills. Some have their hands held by their instructor, some hold on to poles, and some can go by themselves while only responding to verbal commands to go left or go right.
AMAZING!
They were so happy. They had snowball fights, made snow angels, tasted snow, built snowmen, petted the ski center dog, all before they were even starting their lessons. My favorite was a little girl named Francisca, she was adorable. So chatty, funny, and very talented when it comes to singing. She opted for snowshoes because she is unable to go skiing. And she was also wise beyond her years.
It was a good reminder of why I do this, when the week before, I admit rather shamefully, that I was wondering
I've had a rough start here. It's been lonely. Being in a foreign country not knowing a single soul other than your host mom, and being a bit shy around new people at first, makes the experience rather difficult. But my rough start is nothing compared to what these inspiring children have dealt with and overcome throughout their lifetime. I re-learned to not take things for granted that day.
If you've come this far thanks for sticking with me. Please check out my story, if you haven't already:
Overcoming obstacles at Chile's La Parva ski center
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
Despite dog fights going on in the street outside my house, and cats yowling like they were wolves all night, at 6 a.m. sharp my alarm goes off and it's time to get up. Having had the worst day ever the day before, this was not something that I wanted to do. But it's exactly what I needed. Funny how that works huh?
 |
| The view from Pat's house |
I took the bus to a random street in Las Condes, the barrio where I'm living, and then I walked to this address at 7:00 a.m. since Pat, my contact person for this story, told me I had to be there by 8 or she'd leave. Not knowing how long it would take, especially with my poor luck with the transportation system this past week, I wasn't going to risk it. I showed up earlier than expected but she seemed to be okay with that.
After about a half hour talking with her and hanging out in her apartment, which had a gorgeous view of the city (see above picture). We hopped in the car, picked up her friend Janet, and started the hour and a half trip to this ski place.
After going up very winding and narrow roads in a jerky manner (the cars here are all stick shifts) I finally arrived at La Parva, albeit a little light-headed, though I eventually adjusted to the altitude. Not too long after that a group of volunteers showed up from the International Association of Chile and The Friends of Helen Keller with lunch. They're all ex-pats so it was cool to spend the day a ski place with people from Holland, Germany, The US, and Britain.
Not too long after that the students showed up.
You'd think it was a typical class trip, with the way the kids were laughing, talking and playing in the snow but this one was different. These students from El Colegio de Hellen Keller are blind and they were here for their fourth and final day of learning to ski.
Yes, you read that right.
 |
| Ski instructor Fernanda helps Eric with his skis Copyright: Avery Cropp |
AMAZING!
 |
| Francisca plays in the snow Copyright: Avery Cropp |
"Why the hell did I even come here?"
I can tell this story. That's why I've come here.
I can tell this story. That's why I've come here.
I've had a rough start here. It's been lonely. Being in a foreign country not knowing a single soul other than your host mom, and being a bit shy around new people at first, makes the experience rather difficult. But my rough start is nothing compared to what these inspiring children have dealt with and overcome throughout their lifetime. I re-learned to not take things for granted that day.
If you've come this far thanks for sticking with me. Please check out my story, if you haven't already:
Overcoming obstacles at Chile's La Parva ski center
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
What I've been up to this week
August 27, 2011
August 24, 2011
So there's this thing called an internship...and it rules my life
Hey all!
As I expected my internship rules my life while I'm here. But what I've experienced in just three days has been pretty awesome.
My first day of work I was given a super quick orientation. I met the other intern who is here right now, her name is Katie and I relearned that the world gets smaller every day. She's from Minnesota, she lived in Rochester, and went to the U of M. How crazy is that! She's studied here before so she's kind of my insider's guide to Chile. She's pretty cool.
After our orientation Katie and I were asked to edit some articles. Then we were given an address, told to go to a press conference, and that was it. "Go do." seems to be the theme at this place which works wonderfully for me. So we go to this press conference, we don't know exactly what we're there for but we were told that we were going to this thing called SANFIC, an international film festival that takes place here every year. It turns out that this press conference is for Willem Dafoe (the guy who plays the Green Goblin in the Spiderman movies) and his wife Giada Colagrande who have made a new movie called "A Woman" that is premiering at this festival. After about an hour we had what we needed, I took the notes, Katie got some sound and pictures on her Iphone and we were ready to go. The writing's all Katie, but it was fun to be there. Like Katie said: that was pretty cool for a first assignment. "A Woman" Press Conference
Yesterday I conducted my first interview in Spanish with Fran Caselli, a chilean designer who is trying to teach people in Santiago the art of the weaving loom so it doesn't get lost to the pages of history. It was a very interesting interview and she understood all that I asked. Rescuing an almost lost art
Today we were told to stay home because there were major protests in the area during this strike of labor workers and the US embassy was concerned that it could get violent, it did. The boss is American so he decided he'd rather keep everyone safe than make us travel across town to the office. So, I played social media specialist all day from home, watching media outlets here, watching twitter, translating information to English and posting it on the site to help keep the public informed. It was hard work but worth it. Chile Timeline Thankfully my editor was able to pick up the timeline after 5 so that I could write my news brief for tomorrow and try to enjoy the rest of my evening.
I've put up one news brief so far and the other one will run tomorrow but below is the one that ran this morning. Chile's Daily News: August 24, 2011
I think I've learned a lot more and done a lot more in three days than other people have done at some of their internships so I think I'm right where I need to be. It's exhausting but it's fun.
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
As I expected my internship rules my life while I'm here. But what I've experienced in just three days has been pretty awesome.
My first day of work I was given a super quick orientation. I met the other intern who is here right now, her name is Katie and I relearned that the world gets smaller every day. She's from Minnesota, she lived in Rochester, and went to the U of M. How crazy is that! She's studied here before so she's kind of my insider's guide to Chile. She's pretty cool.
After our orientation Katie and I were asked to edit some articles. Then we were given an address, told to go to a press conference, and that was it. "Go do." seems to be the theme at this place which works wonderfully for me. So we go to this press conference, we don't know exactly what we're there for but we were told that we were going to this thing called SANFIC, an international film festival that takes place here every year. It turns out that this press conference is for Willem Dafoe (the guy who plays the Green Goblin in the Spiderman movies) and his wife Giada Colagrande who have made a new movie called "A Woman" that is premiering at this festival. After about an hour we had what we needed, I took the notes, Katie got some sound and pictures on her Iphone and we were ready to go. The writing's all Katie, but it was fun to be there. Like Katie said: that was pretty cool for a first assignment. "A Woman" Press Conference
Yesterday I conducted my first interview in Spanish with Fran Caselli, a chilean designer who is trying to teach people in Santiago the art of the weaving loom so it doesn't get lost to the pages of history. It was a very interesting interview and she understood all that I asked. Rescuing an almost lost art
Today we were told to stay home because there were major protests in the area during this strike of labor workers and the US embassy was concerned that it could get violent, it did. The boss is American so he decided he'd rather keep everyone safe than make us travel across town to the office. So, I played social media specialist all day from home, watching media outlets here, watching twitter, translating information to English and posting it on the site to help keep the public informed. It was hard work but worth it. Chile Timeline Thankfully my editor was able to pick up the timeline after 5 so that I could write my news brief for tomorrow and try to enjoy the rest of my evening.
I've put up one news brief so far and the other one will run tomorrow but below is the one that ran this morning. Chile's Daily News: August 24, 2011
I think I've learned a lot more and done a lot more in three days than other people have done at some of their internships so I think I'm right where I need to be. It's exhausting but it's fun.
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
August 20, 2011
Hola de Santiago!
18 hours.
2 flights.
A sunrise over the Andes that made them look like they were on fire this morning.
3 hours to go through immigration and customs.
Many separate conversations with a multitude of Chileans.
And I am finally all set up at my host mom's house in Santiago.
I'll tell you one thing about Chilean's they do love to talk. And the accent is a little hard to pick up on at first as this other blog tells you. I have had conversations with people on my plane; 3 with my host mom, Josefina's, relatives who were picking up another member of the family at the airport; and one very long conversation with the lady that is responsible for leading me to her this afternoon. They've all told me I speak very well, like a Chilean, which makes me pretty proud of myself. Apparently it's better than being told I talk like a Peruvian, which was something my friend Elise told me is meant as an insult here.
Though I needed an english break this afternoon and reached for one of my books I brought with me, talking is good; it's keeping my mouth moving which is helping my body stay warm. It's freezing here right now.I am literally writing to you all right now under the covers on my bed, with a few more extra blankets, a sweater and a jacket and I'm still cold. The Minnesota 54F is a lot different than a Chile 54F. Granted it's about 9 p.m. here and the sun's down so that makes a definite difference, but still, brrrrr. No humidity here to give that extra cushion.
Thankfully though, as you can see in the next link, it's going to warm up soon. There's a shot at 70F people!I was told that tomorrow is the start of spring here. How wierd is that?
I do have an estufa in my room which is kind of like a portable radiator, but I can't seem to find the matches that go with it. Josefina lit it for me earlier, but now I can't find them. She's resting right now since she came to the airport to pick me up early this morning. She's really tired and I don't want to disturb her. The least I can do is let her sleep after she did that for me.
I already love Josefina. She's super sweet and funny too. She loves to cook, she made a wonderful lunch of arroz con pollo which we swapped stories over for awhile, and I've already promised her I'd make her my specialty, Tortilla Espanola, while I'm here. I think we'll get along swimmingly.
Well I've got to go. I'm leaving to go to the mall with Josefina in a little while to buy a local cell phone and a BIP! card that will help me get around the city while I'm here. Our adventure tomorrow is finding out how to get to my internship. Apparently there's a micro route (city bus) that stops close by Josefina's house and takes me all the way to work without having to change buses at all.
I'll mark that down as
Avery Cropp: 1
Directional Dysfunctionality: 0
if that proves to be true.
Until Next Time,
Avery
2 flights.
A sunrise over the Andes that made them look like they were on fire this morning.
3 hours to go through immigration and customs.
Many separate conversations with a multitude of Chileans.
And I am finally all set up at my host mom's house in Santiago.
World fact book
Though I needed an english break this afternoon and reached for one of my books I brought with me, talking is good; it's keeping my mouth moving which is helping my body stay warm. It's freezing here right now.I am literally writing to you all right now under the covers on my bed, with a few more extra blankets, a sweater and a jacket and I'm still cold. The Minnesota 54F is a lot different than a Chile 54F. Granted it's about 9 p.m. here and the sun's down so that makes a definite difference, but still, brrrrr. No humidity here to give that extra cushion.
Thankfully though, as you can see in the next link, it's going to warm up soon. There's a shot at 70F people!I was told that tomorrow is the start of spring here. How wierd is that?
I do have an estufa in my room which is kind of like a portable radiator, but I can't seem to find the matches that go with it. Josefina lit it for me earlier, but now I can't find them. She's resting right now since she came to the airport to pick me up early this morning. She's really tired and I don't want to disturb her. The least I can do is let her sleep after she did that for me.
I already love Josefina. She's super sweet and funny too. She loves to cook, she made a wonderful lunch of arroz con pollo which we swapped stories over for awhile, and I've already promised her I'd make her my specialty, Tortilla Espanola, while I'm here. I think we'll get along swimmingly.
Well I've got to go. I'm leaving to go to the mall with Josefina in a little while to buy a local cell phone and a BIP! card that will help me get around the city while I'm here. Our adventure tomorrow is finding out how to get to my internship. Apparently there's a micro route (city bus) that stops close by Josefina's house and takes me all the way to work without having to change buses at all.
I'll mark that down as
Avery Cropp: 1
Directional Dysfunctionality: 0
if that proves to be true.
Until Next Time,
Avery
August 14, 2011
There's a new adventure to report
Hey all!
Apologies for the latest hiatus. Freelancing work, school, and internship prep have been keeping me on my toes this summer so I have been a bit neglectful of this blog. But there is a new adventure to report.
I will be leaving the U.S. in a few short days to finish my last requirement before college graduation. The internship is at an English-based media group in Santiago, Chile. The media group is called I love Chile and I am extremely excited to get started:
If that isn't a journalism intern's version of Nirvana I don't know what is. The other part, the opportunity to use my Spanish on a daily basis and live with another, seemingly wonderful host family, is simply the cherry on top. I couldn't think of a better combination of my majors for my last semester of school, though I will admit the pre-trip jitters have started to kick in today.
Hours of research and planning for this 3-month opportunity over the summer will finally come to fruition on Aug. 19 when I fly out of Minneapolis.
So, keep your eyes peeled and watch for updates, I don't know if I'll have really reliable internet yet so I'll update as much as I can. The goal is to blog at least once a week so you all know that I'm still alive, and I can show you another side of the world from a more personal angle.
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
Apologies for the latest hiatus. Freelancing work, school, and internship prep have been keeping me on my toes this summer so I have been a bit neglectful of this blog. But there is a new adventure to report.
Yes, you read that right, a journalism internship, and one abroad at that.
I will be leaving the U.S. in a few short days to finish my last requirement before college graduation. The internship is at an English-based media group in Santiago, Chile. The media group is called I love Chile and I am extremely excited to get started:
- Writing daily news briefs (morning and evening) for online news and radio broadcasts
- Writing TV scripts for a weekly newscast
- Writing short news articles for online news, on a variety of topics
- Attending press conferences and events
- Conducting interviews and writing articles for their print edition
If that isn't a journalism intern's version of Nirvana I don't know what is. The other part, the opportunity to use my Spanish on a daily basis and live with another, seemingly wonderful host family, is simply the cherry on top. I couldn't think of a better combination of my majors for my last semester of school, though I will admit the pre-trip jitters have started to kick in today.
Hours of research and planning for this 3-month opportunity over the summer will finally come to fruition on Aug. 19 when I fly out of Minneapolis.
So, keep your eyes peeled and watch for updates, I don't know if I'll have really reliable internet yet so I'll update as much as I can. The goal is to blog at least once a week so you all know that I'm still alive, and I can show you another side of the world from a more personal angle.
Until next time,
Avery Cropp
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