By vgosalvez11
Just a few hours ago I returned home to my host family from what has got to be one of the best trips of my life. On Thursday morning the 10 members of the GW group and our program coordinator pulled ourselves out of bed at 5 am and loaded into a van for the airport. We headed to San Pedro de Atacama, a small tourist town in an oasis of the Atacama desert (which by the way, is the driest desert in the world). Now I have never been to a desert (save Las Vegas, and I never left the strip) so I wasn't sure what to expect. But despite my high hopes Atacama blew me away. Everything about it, from the winding dirt roads, to the mountain views, to the beat up historic tourist town was amazingly gorgeous. I tried my best to drink in the sight of the mountains across the endless horizons and huge number of stars around the ridiculously big and bright full moon. I was astounded by so much in this unique corner of the world.
When I wasn't looking around in awe we found lots else to do. We started with a tour of Valle de La Luna and incredible sunset views over the valley. Then we check out El Saldo de Atacama which is massive and impressive salt flat in the desert. (It also happens to be location where the most lithium in the world is produced). In this busy day we even got squeeze in an incredible bike ride, where we passed over rivers and through the desert then climbed over salt crusted hills. But the best part of this ride was the two stray dogs who followed us the whole way for over two hours, waiting for us every time we stopped. Then the next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and saw the sunrise over the Andes while making our way to see the El Tatio Geyers. At 14,000 ft at 7 in the morning (-7 degrees C, apparently) I couldn't stopped shivering but also was so interested in how this phenomena happens. But the most enlightening part of the journey was this morning before we left, getting to visit the home of a native of Atacama.
This man invited us into his community for a tour and to show us the way he and his people have lived for thousands of years. We got to see how the houses are built, the set up of their farms and learned about some of the most sacred rituals and their meanings. Further, we got to learn about the importance of choclo (corn) in the Atacamanian community and the many different kinds that are still grown. We even got to taste a variety of their foods and see how they were prepared.
Learning some of the specifics about this community was enlightening but even more so was hearing about their relationship with the country of Chile. Chile has been affected so deeply by its indigenous ancestors, but yet many people choose to ignore this important history. Chileans prefer to emphasize their European ancestry and ignore their native parts. Meanwhile they have so much to thank these people for, who helped develop so much of the food, culture, language and traditions of this country.
When we asked out tour guide if he identifies as Chilean he firmly said no. Claiming (rightfully), that he was never respected by their government. The Chilean government has generally found it more convenient to ignore their native population, until their comes a moment when they can be exploited for money. This may be a tough opinion, but it is that of many indigenous populations in the country.
Learning about indigenous culture directly from our guide and his family, on the land his people have lived on for so many hundred years was incredibly interesting. This experience was even more enriched by the knowledge I have gain living in Santiago and talking to Chileans so far. The history of Chile and its indigenous people is such an interesting one and I am so excited to continue delving into it with this new and unique perspective.