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?

Sunday, March 13, 2011

READY. SET. santiaGO!


"Globe-trotting, trail-blazing pioneers!"- Luigi, fellow scholar in depicting the NYU Tisch Center Scholars. We are traveling to Santiago to study crisis planning, crisis management and post-crisis recovery as they relate to tourism, hospitality, and sports industries. These are our stories.

Meet Saucy (that's short for sausage) :)


Me and Luigi buckled in for 10 hours o' fun!!!! (LAN Airlines from JFK to SCL)




After a little bit of searching, we were greeted by Pablo, our Chilean tour guide, who took us to our hotel in his Mercedes-Benz tour van. Oh, we fancy. Pablo gives a little intro on his signature in-car PA system.




The weather here is positively beautiful! We are all happy to be in shorts and sandals for the first time in months!





First things first: calling our loved ones from the Movistar phone booths in the shopping center across the street.


We took the metro to the Bellavista district. A three course lunch at La Casa en el Aire--for 7 US dollars! This place is amazing. Then, affogatos at a gelato shop nearby. A big ball of gelato drowning in coffee. That's love, baby.








Then Pablo took us on a tour of the city. I think only tomorrow will we appreciate how peaceful and empty the streets were today. Lots of historic sites, cultural neighborhoods, reminds me of Europe.






Worn out after our day of fun, we head out for a late dinner and drinks! Then we toiled over our run of questions for the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism tomorrow...so exhausted, off to sleep!

Abrazos y affogatos,
Angela

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