I first landed in Santiago just over two months ago, on May 18th, the Saturday after I turned in my final assignment of my first year as a graduate student. In the time between exams and my flight out of BWI, I scrambled to pack up my apartment, move into storage and get myself organized for a summer (winter) in Chile. By the time I landed in Santiago, after two delayed flights and almost 24 hours of travel, I was wiped out and wanted nothing more than to have a meal that did not consist of airport food and then relax. After a good night’s sleep, my plan was to wake up early, get to know the lay of the land in my neighborhood, take out money from an ATM, try out a local restaurant, and stock up on the necessities (ie. toiletries, groceries, a SIM card, and some kitchen supplies that my Airbnb was lacking).
With my map of the neighborhood downloaded, I set out Sunday morning to cross things off my list, hoping that accomplishing these tasks would help me to feel more at home in my new environment.When I exited my building and began to walk down the street, I learned my first lesson in Chilean culture: Santiago shuts down on Sundays. Unlike Dupont Circle on a mid-Sunday morning, where the streets are busy with people walking their dogs, getting coffee with friends, or heading to the farmers market to pick up some goodies for the week, the streets of my neighborhood in Providencia were nearly empty. At the time I was optimistic, thinking “maybe things just don’t pick up here until later in the day.” So, I stopped at the local Lider grocery store, which was the only shop I had seen that was open, picked up some staples, and headed home to wait a few hours before trying again.However, after reading through a few google searches, I learned that it is very common for shops of all sizes in Santiago to have limited hours on Saturdays and then be closed for all of Sunday, meaning that I would have to wait until Monday to get the satisfaction of crossing things off my to-do list.
My frustration on this day aside, Sundays have grown to be one of my favorite days of the week in Santiago, as they have forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and given me time to reflect on the culture surrounding me. My favorite Sunday activity has been to run along the Mapocho river on Andres Bello road, which is closed down to cars from 9:00 to 14:00 each Sunday as part of the initiative CicloRecreoVía. Unlike my runs during the weekdays, where I rarely see fellow runners or walkers out for exercise along the paths of Parque Balmaceda or Parque Uruguay, on Sundays, the 8.4 kilometer section of the route between the metro stops Tobalaba and Plaza Italia, is filled with individuals out in the ‘fresh’ air, riding bikes, skateboarding, rollerblading, running and walking with friends and family. CicloRecreoVía was first implemented in Santiago in 2006 by the environmental consultant firm Geomás, in conjunction with the different comunas in which it operates, and has grown to occupy 35 kilometers of routes in Santiago, and a 4 kilometer route in Antofagasta. According to its page on Ciclovías Recreativas de las Americas, the NGO that serves as the operational heart of outdoor initiatives across the Americas, CicloRecreoVía in Santiago is used by upwards of 35,000 individuals each Sunday, most of whom are bikers (70%) or pedestrians (18%). In addition to providing the safe open space for exercise and community building, the CicloRecreoVía also provides stations for water, rest, bike rentals, workouts with trainers, massages, fruit, and other snacks, all at no cost to the participants.
In a city that can often feel very segregated or isolating, especially for an outsider, the CicloRecreoVía has created a valuable space for people to feel connected not only to the different parts of their city but also to each other. One of the driving forces in the creation of the CicloRecreoVía, as explained by its director Gonzalo Stierling, was to ‘recuperate the spirit of coexistence’, which he felt was lost within Santiago. And while Stierling faced many obstacles in developing and implementing the CicloRecreoVía in Santiago, both at a cultural and a governmental level, the initiative has largely been a success, changing the habits of many Chileans for the better.[1]
Other public spaces that are open (and free) on Sundays are museums, such as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes or Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Barrio Bellas Artes, and libraries. In addition to my routine of running on Sundays, I have also grown accustomed to heading to my local library between the metro stops Manuel Montt and Pedro de Valdivia. While I occasionally take advantage of this great space during the week on days that I can work remotely, Sundays, I have observed, are an especially busy day in the Biblioteca Municipal de Providencia, when you can see Chileans of all ages taking advantage of this community space. Even before you enter you can see groups of individuals outside of the library, sitting on benches and chatting over a cup of coffee, which is ultimately either from Starbucks or Dunkin’ as other Chilean shops are closed. On the first floor families bring their young children to the reading nook, while older citizens stop in to read the weekend editions of local newspapers and on the second floor, shared work tables are packed with university students and other professionals. Unlike the second floor of Lau however, here, there is complete silence. Despite the quiet, the library has been another space in which I have felt connected to Chileans on Sundays, as I am surrounded by individuals who share my work ethic and love for reading.
In
reflecting on the cultural roots of these slower paced Sundays in Chile, I am
reminded of the Catholic traditions that many cities in this region were built
upon, recognizing Sundays as a day of worship and rest. Surprisingly however,
as Catholic identity has wavered in recent years, dropping from 73% to 45% in
the last decade according to the latest Latinoberómetro, and the country has
shifted to a market oriented mentality over the course of the last 50 years,
many local stores have continued to stay closed throughout Santiago on the weekends,
the exception being in malls.[2]
Given this, I believe that in Chile the cultural practice of staying home on
Sundays goes beyond the religious explanation and continues to be linked to
attitudes and practices that were developed as a result of the fear instilled
in the population during the 17 year dictatorship of Pinochet. From what I have
observed on the CicloRecreoVía and in
museums and the library, the people of Santiago are open to transitioning out
of their introverted past, but it is a matter of creating spaces for, as
Stierling says, ‘coexistence’. In order for Chile to continue building a
stronger and better connected society, especially given the recent influx of
immigrants, community leaders and government officials alike must continue
promoting healthy options that encourage Chileans to use their Sundays to get
out and interact with each other.
[1] Michelle Raposo, “Diez años de CicloRecreoVías: ‘Poca gente creía que iba a funcionar,’” Pedalea- Ciclismo Urbano (blog), accessed July 29, 2019, https://revistapedalea.com/diez-anos-de-ciclorecreovias-poca-gente-creia-que-iba-a-funcionar/.
[2] “Según estudio, Chile es el país de América Latina que peor evalúa al Papa,” La Tercera, 1 de diciembre, 2018, https://www.latercera.com/noticia/segun-estudio-chile-pais-america-latina-peor-evalua-al-papa/.
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