No a Piñerachet

One of the best experiences that I have had so far here in Chile happened last wednesday. A few of us went to a free concert in the park. Before going, I had no idea what to expect. It was just something to do. Once we got there, I realized that it was a rally for Frei, one of the presidential candidates, which was way better than just going to a concert!
There were so many people, the majority of whom were young people. So many people had flags of Che Guevara, Frei, and Allende. This little girl is holding a sign that says "No to the Right." (sorry, that's a really literal translation, but you get the point.)
There were people walking around selling all kinds of foods and sweets. I had a soy burger which was actually really good. The german influence is really interesting here as well...there were about 4 stands selling brats. No sauerkraut, though. Also, this is random, but one of my friends bought some cigarettes and I was shocked to see the box. If this doesn't stop you from smoking, nothing will...
(the smoke from tobacco suffocates and makes you sick) Subtle.

There were all types of music at the concert which ranged from hip hop to the national song of Chile. It was really chill with lots of people sitting in groups on the grass. I really enjoyed myself.It was exactly what I had hoped I would get to experience here! My Chilean friends, Guillermo and Sebastián, laughed at me because I was a bit worried about being an extranjera (foreigner) and participating in a political rally. I'm just used to El Salvador where I would have definitely gotten deported for participating in something of the sort!

After we had been there for a few hours and had received plenty of handouts talking about gay marriage, rights for women, and nationalization, Frei actually showed up and spoke!

It was very cool! Unfortunately, he didn't win the presidency, but I am really glad that we were able to see him speak! I'm also really glad that I was here during the election which was last Sunday. It was interesting to see the differences between the US and Chile. Almost everything in Chile closes at 12am the day of the election and doesn't open until the next day. After they had voted (in separate locations - women and men vote at different places), my family invited me to go out into a poorer part of Santiago to have onces with their family. Onces is basically a tea time in between lunch and dinner, but some people eat at onces and then don't eat dinner.

We went to the house of my chilean mom's sister and had tea and sandwiches and watched the results of the elections. They actually count all of the votes out loud in front of news cameras from each voting location, so we were able to watch as all of the votes were counted. The result was about 52% for Piñera (one of the few billionaires of Chile) to 48% for Frei, which was really disappointing for my family. My brother is really passionate about politics and began explaining the politics of Chile to me. He told me that this is the first time since 1958 that a rightist president has been elected...democratically that is. Pinochet is a whole different story. They were worried that things will change and that there will be a lot of protests, but my chilean mom's niece that is living with us, Vicki, said that she is just ready for when she can vote in four years so that she can vote against Piñera.

As you can tell, it was a very politically charged few days. I am definitely here at a historic time for Chile and I'm interested to see what will happen when Piñera actually becomes president.