I think one of the novelties of being in a foreign country is that I feel twice removed from my Chinese heritage. It is very a surreal and disorienting "out of body" "out of character" "out of comfort" state. It puts into perspective for me what it means to be Chinese. What it means to be the child of immigrant parents. What it means to be the child of Taiwanese-born Chinese parents. What it means to be American-born Chinese. What it means to be an American in a foreign country. A Chinese-American in a foreign country. A tri-lingual Chinese-American in a foreign country. And it makes me wonder how much or how little the people in that place understand this layered identity. How do they process me? All the nuances, the politics, the prejudices, the social constructs, my multi-cultural values, the pieces of my heritage that I choose to wear and the other pieces I've chosen to shed-- They can't they possibly understand any of that, but what do they see instead?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Playa Playa

"I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too...I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too...I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her...I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her."- Pablo, our tour guide in a well-intentioned, but unbearably long and painfully hysterical recitation of Pablo Neruda's poem. We're just not mature enough for this stuff.

Morning meeting with the Sheraton in ViƱa del Mar, a city near Valparaiso. It was so great to be at the shore! We had a great time taking in the beautiful scenery and gorgeous sunshine as we walked up and down the beach :)



Enjoyed a nice patio lunch in a cute little restaurant.

Then, we took a really interesting walk through this neighborhood which was a UN World Heritage site. It's this old neighborhood plastered in graffiti. It's a really interesting place, I've never been anywhere like it.



In the evening, we enjoyed a long dinner at Patagonia with our fabulous waitress, Pica. The waiters and waitresses here are astoudingly patient with us! And we don't know if it was the wine, the traveling musicians, or just overall delirium, but it was a wonderful laughter-filled evening to remember.


Abrazos desde la playa,
Angela

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