One thing that has struck me during my stay here, especially in the last couple of days, is the level of national pride Chileans have. In every church, a Chilean flag hangs behind the altar, and flags are prominent on many houses. Today when I went shopping for school supplies, every Chilean flag I saw was at half-staff.
In response to the earthquake, one of the phrases that popped up is "Chile ayuda a Chile" or "Chile helps Chile". There has been so much support for those most affected by the earthquake. Every year Chile holds a Teleton, a one day television marathon for a cause, and this years marathon (which was yesterday) garnered 30 billion pesos, or about $60 million USD. In addition to monetary donations 40 trucks, donated by various companies, left Santiago at the end of the telethon heading south. It was quite impressive. I feel that, at least right now, Chileans have earned the title Campeones de la Solidaridad, Champions of Solidarity.
wow, I can't imagine what it must like to be over there right now, even though Santiago wasn't hit hard...
ReplyDeletemaybe kind of unrelated, but Chileans do know how to get stuff done. When my flight was delayed for like 12 hours in santiago, everyone was super cranky and tired and the the airline was being REALLY unhelpful and this random Chilean passenger just took control and was directing everyone for the rest of the night. it was pretty crazy.