Santiago, Chile: The Same, But Different

I have been having great fun finding the similarities and differences between Chile and the US.  For example, today was a holiday (Dia de la Raza, the Latin American version of Columbus Day), so many of the stores were closed.  However, in typical Western fashion, the three-story mall--which, aside from the clientele and the language, could have been in the USA--was open.

Like typical American girls (though Kim is from Germany...perhaps I should say Western girls), Kim and I celebrated the holiday with delicious coffee and desert, which many of the Chileans were also doing.

Unlike typical American holidays, there were huge protests in the street today about the state of education in Chile (though this actually doesn't have anything to do with the holidays--the protests have been going on for five months, and have escalated in the past week, including today).  Currently, it is very, very expensive to go to a good secondary school (high school), and the universities are even more ridiculous, especially when one considers that they are near the bottom in world rankings.  Here are some figures for a bit of perspective: the legal minimum wage in Chile is 140,000 pesos per month (500 pesos = $1); good high schools cost from 200,000-700,000 pesos per month; and university costs are a minimum of 250,000 pesos per month (for the equivalent of a bottom-rung community college).  Oh, and did I mention that high schools and universities have been posting profits for the past several years?  Anyway, the picture above is of the water-throwing truck on its way to disperse the group of students protesting on the next corner as the crowd looks on.

Here, you can see a banner-covered building in downtown Santiago with protestors in front.  The largest banner roughly translates to (the ends of both lines are cut of) "The fight is by everyone for the education of everyone."  I will post any new developments or breakthroughs in this struggle, but for now, I'll just say happy Columbus Day!