barrio brasil

I'm spending a day in Santiago before heading north to Iquique, just to break up the trip but also because Santiago enchants me and I want to figure out why. I decided to stay in Barrio Brasil since it's close to the bus station and the busstop for the airport shuttle. Besides that it's a laidback, charming neighborhood that has a quality of timelessness, allowing me to imagine myself in this city during any decade. Cobblestone is easy to find alongside thoughtful grafitti and beautifully adorned buildings. My day is pure indulgence in sunny, 70 degree weather. Lunch is asparagus crepes at the Peluqueria Francesa, which has an ambieance of 100 years ago and a functioning barbershop attached to the restaurant. To get to the bathroom, you walk through an antique wardrobe! I saunter through the quiet streets and come across a gathering of people in Plaza Yungay. It's a Mapuche culture festival and there is a panel of scholars and activists giving talks about some of the issues the Mapuche are currently facing. Things such as struggling to keep their language alive, how to establish a Mapuche university, and how to move Chilean society towards a mentality of decolonialization. I sit in the grass fascinated, because in all my months in Temuco, I never heard voices this strong stating what was important to the Mapuche community. Maybe in the urban environment of Santiago, there are more resources for people to work together for social change. Afterwards, I walk the 2 or 3 kilometers towards the center to go to the Museum of Popular American Art. I had seen on the website that there were some original Mapuche textiles on display, which there were, and it was interesting to see the difference between something that had been made decades ago and compare it to what the artisans are making today. And then (completely unrelated but much to my delight) was the main exhibit: a collection of animal figurines made in the 1940s in different Latin American countries. The animals were grouped in 14 categories such as reptiles, bovines, goats, dogs, fish, birds, horses, etc. There weren't a bunch of placards with fancy explanations. It was just pure animal folk art which spoke for itself.