Social Unrest

I’m not going to lie, it’s taken me over 4 years to get back to finishing this blog. Obviously a lot happened. Let’s see if we can summarize the rest of our time in Chile.

My last post said it was the calm before the storm. It included a video of Karina learning to rollerblade in our parking lot. In the video you can hear sirens in the background. Those would turn out to be sirens responding to the start of Chile’s social unrest that would plague the country and the reminder of our time in the country.

I remember being scared the first couple of days. The helicopters kept flying by day and night. Thankfully we could stay within the confines of our building and didn’t need to venture out the first 2 days because it was the weekend. A curfew was enacted, not that we were going anywhere anyway.

The situation in Chile started making international news and we began to get calls and messages from our family. I would try to convey positivity and send pictures that just showed a happy Karina, not the helicopters or smoke from things being burned.

I packed an emergency to-go bag for Karina and me so we could pack up and leave for the airport at a moments notice. Our friends from the nicer part of the city told us we could come to them. I wasn’t sure how safe it was to travel or how long I would be there if I took them up on their offer, so we stayed put. We were able to meet some other kids that lived in our building though since they weren’t going anywhere either.

After a few days, school opened back up and I spent the morning finding meat and money. It made me quite anxious to see such long lines at grocery stores, or the store just closed. ATMs were also out of money but I found some.

Chris asked if he should return early to Chile from Japan but I told him not to because I didn’t know if I would have enough food to be able to feed him since I wasn’t sure what stores would be open or what they would have.

I happened to be taking a continuing education class online at the time that was about issues students experience, such as safety concerns and food insecurity. I never thought I would experience the same issues but it gave me insight to see how mentally exhausting it is to live in crisis.

It was common to hear people banging on pots and pans or honking in the same musical pattern. Karina surprised me by picking up on it and banging out the rhythm herself. It was common place to look out the balcony and see smoke plumes from whatever had been set on fire that day. People protested every day.

A week after the initial protest, a record number of people gathered in the main square. I could hear the hum of so many people from our balcony.

After 2 weeks, Chris finally returned from Japan. I had asked him to bring a can or two of my favorite curry powder back, I ended up with 8. Maybe it was an emotional purchase because he wasn’t with us during the scary times.

Here are some typical views of fires from our balcony. It was an everyday occurance.