please help

Hi everyone, as you most likely know, the earthquake in Chile has been disastrous. There are many areas of the country that still do not have water, electricity, or any way of reaching loved ones. Now is the time when help is most desperately needed. I plan to purchase some of the products that are in high demand (powdered milk, soap, diapers, etc), and I am hoping that some of you will contribute as well. If you can donate any amount of money, whether it's $1 or $20, you can help make a huge difference. You can donate directly to the Red Cross (www.cruzroja.cl) or you can give me money (by sending it to my parents) and I will purchase what is most needed and post what I buy online.

If you do decide to donate through me, let me know as soon as possible how much you are thinking of giving.  I will be in Chile until the end of the month, so I will withdraw money from my account now in order to put your money to good use.

 Send me a message if you have any questions or if you want me to buy non-perishable items in your name. Thank you for your help!!!

February in Photos

I will hopefully write an update soon, but here are links to photos of my month :)

Earthquake

my brother in Chile

my parents in Chile

check it out!

After sending off any army of sock monkeys to St. Peter's College in New Jersey, I finally had time to put more products on my Etsy shop!  You can check it out here: Petunia's Products

I hope to add new items soon, so visit often.  I'm running a little low on sock-monkey energy after making 30 monkeys in 2 weeks, so I hope to create some jewelry next :)

Please spread the word about my etsy enterprise - help me make rent!  hahaha

Un nuevo año

Happy 2010!!  

In the days leading up to new year's eve, I was overwhelmed by the amount of street vendors selling only yellow underwear.  Apparently it's good luck to wear yellow underwear on NYE.... there are a bunch of other Chilean traditions/superstitions, such as eating a spoonful of lentils or one grape with each stroke of the clock,  but I didn't partake in any of them.  I enjoyed a nice dinner in the campo with Felipe's family and was in bed before 3am.  Hopefully I'll have a lucky year, even though my underwear that night were a pretty pink.

I've had an interesting start to the new decade.  After FINALLY finding a job at a cute hostel in Providencia, I decided not to take it.  The pay and the amount of hours available weren't worth it, especially since I am expecting a visit from my brother in February!  

Instead of working, I've been exploring this big city and going to cultural events.  I checked out the terra cotta warriors from China, which are on exhibit at one of the museums here, and have been going to different events for the month-long Santiago A Mil (a month's worth of cultural programming - concerts, plays, dance groups, etc).  A highlight so far was Step Afrika, a dance group from the US.  

I also went to the coastal towns of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso with the other HM volunteers and just barely avoided a close call with danger, thanks to the kindness and consideration of complete strangers.

I'm loving that Santiago is more culturally diverse than Chillán - it will make for a smoother transition back to the US.  In Chillán I found myself surprised whenever I saw someone who didn't look "typical" - that is, someone who wasn't medium height with dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin.  When the sub-20 women's world cup came to Chillan, I found myself wanting to join the crowds surrounding the buses from Africa and China, just so I could see a little diversity.

AND, I am dusting off my inner business woman (I know, I didn't know I had one either) and starting a shop on Etsy where I will sell my sock monkeys, jewelry, and other creations.   I'll include the link soon.

para no creerlo...

A week ago today I left Chillán, having officially ended my time as an HM volunteer in Chile.  I have to say that my last month in Chillán was literally one of the most difficult months of my life.  And not just because of all the despedidas (goodbye parties).

In the space of a few short weeks, I found out that my host sister had stolen a huge sum of money from my room, I realized that my US cell phone was also stolen (so give me your numbers!), I moved out of that house and in with another family, I almost got attacked by dogs, and early one morning while walking to work some random guy on his bike grabbed my ass.  Hard.  This is the extremely edited and short version or the month, and all of this was on top of trying to plan end-of-the-year activities and say meaningful goodbyes.  One of the most painful aspects of the month was realizing how disconnected I feel from my friends and family in the States.  As time has gone by, I hear from loved ones less and less.  I needed a strong support system, and I found that I didn't have much to fall back on.  I know it's a busy time of year for everyone, and maybe I didn't have the energy to reach out enough.... still, more than anything I felt extremely alone.

All of this made it difficult at times to stay focused on my ministry and my purpose for being in Chile in the first place.  However, I do feel that I did a good job (overall) of being present to the people and relationships that have impacted my life so much over the past 15 months.  And I realized how much I have grown and how some of my ideas and values have changed during this experience.  

When we were first deciding where to live last year, I decided against one option because I would have to walk through the teenage son's bedroom to get to my room.  I felt that I needed more privacy, and that there was no way I would feel comfortable in such a situation.  So I moved in to a house where I had all the privacy I could want and more, and I got a lot of stuff stolen.  So much for privacy.  However, and this is important, I really did enjoy my time living with that family and I maintain a close relationship with them.

When I moved in with my second host family, it was a drastic difference.  The house is small, and almost all space is shared space.  Ale and her 3 sons all sleep in one room and share 2 twin beds.  I had to walk through their room to get to my little room, which was separated by a thin wall and no door.  And yet I felt instantly at home there.  I was grateful for all of the shared space and time together, and for being included instantly as a member of the family.  The first couple of nights I was afraid that I would keep everyone up by snoring too loudly, but no one ever complained.  Thanks to that family, all of the time I spent crying and so stressed out that I became physically ill was balanced with lots of laughter and love.  In just a month I formed such close ties that I would have stayed in Chillán just to spend more time with them.

BUT....  I am now living in a small studio apartment in the center of Santiago with the man I love, starting out on a new and unexpected adventure.  It has been a much needed change of atmosphere, and as the days go by I feel more and more like myself again.  I still don't have a job (other than making and selling sock monkeys!), but I have faith that it will all work out.  Santiago is a lot noisier than Chillán, and sometimes I think I might go crazy with all of the trucks going by and setting off car alarms.  We live next to a bunch of stores that sell cheap underwear, and the streets are flooded with people buying Christmas presents.  Like it literally takes 15 minutes just to walk down the block.  There are a lot more interesting and expressive people here, and I enjoy taking in all of the fashion diversity.  Our neighborhood has a large immigrant population, so along with different fashions there are many different accents to add to the flavor.  Peruvians, Columbians, Chinese, Arabians, etc....  

We are heading to the beach today, and will spend the Christmas weekend there.  This particular beach is one of my favorite places in the world, and although it will be hard not to be with my family, I think it will be a fabulous way to end 2009.  

moving day

I am moving to Santiago today!  Once I get there I should have more time to update my blog a little bit - a lot of crazy stuff has happened since the last time I wrote!  

I'll be living in a little studio apartment for the time being, but I'm hoping we'll find something a little bigger.

In the meantime, those who want to send me mail can do so at this address

Julia Matson

40 Pablo Neruda 

 Malloco Peñaflor

Santiago Chile

For those who have sent things to my Chillan address, don't worry - I will be back here several times over the next few months and can pick things up then.  

Hope you all are well!  

fences and appearances

These two photographs are of the house next door to the Casa Ursulina.  Up until recently, the fence in front of the house was just a rickety bunch of sticks and cardboard and pieces of metal.  This fence rounded the corner and went all down the block.  Little by little over the past month, the sticks have been torn down and the cement wall in the second picture was put up.  I've spent a lot of time thinking about this fence, and how it reflects on the larger reality in Chile.  

Chile is at an interesting point in its development.  Some people think of it as a "3rd world country," whereas others see it as well-developed and stable.  The truth is somewhere between the two.  The reality of Chilean life, as I've experienced it this year, is far from the extreme poverty I saw in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  The country has many more resources and is, at this moment, politically stable (I love Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean president!).  However, there is a facade that hides a lot of Chilean poverty.  

The government provided and built most of the homes in our población.  They are small duplexes that look pleasant from the outside, and it gives the illusion that the people who live in those homes have the basic resources they need to survive.  Go inside of those homes, though, and listen to the people who live there, and you will quickly find that there is a lot of deep and hidden poverty here.

The fences in these photographs are the perfect example of that.  Now, anyone walking by will see the nicely-built fence and assume that the homes behind that fence are similarly well-0ff.  But the reality of the situation really hasn't changed.  There are still multiple cramped houses crammed into one site, and the people who live there will still struggle to put bread on the table.