This week in global we poems from Neruda’s “A Lamp on Earth” and several of Mistral’s poems, like “The Other,” and “The Ballerina.” We also read some of “The Chile Reader” which provided more historical information on Chile and its history of socialism, capitalism and communism. I found the poems by Neruda and Mistral to be very emotive, and it was a glimpse into life in Chile, and its history. “The Chile Reader” provided a lot of context for some of the themes in the poems, like invasion and colonialism. Learning about Allende and Frei was very interesting, and made me question my beliefs about socialism. Reading about the United States extremely aggressive interference in Chile’s politics and the violence they committed, made me realize just what kind of light the people of Chile might hold the American people in. It certainly made me more aware of the struggles Chile had been through and what part America played in them. I think this will definitely affect my behavior in Chile, and make me more cautious with my actions and words.
Image: Love Poems book by Pablo Neruda, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
