Santiago Debrief

I’m on my way back from Santiago after a 3-hour flight, a night in Punta Arenas and a 4-hour car ride. I’m showing symptoms of PTSD (Post Trip Stress Disorder). I am always a little disappointed when a trip comes to end and I have to return to my routine. I always have to have another trip to look forward to. I guess the next one will be my trip back to the United States.
To be honest it was particularly hard to leave Santiago. I love being in a city with all of the excitement and places to explore. I also love being able to get on a bus or the metro to go do things. I am a very independent person and I think cities afford me that independence. After three weeks of hanging out with other exchange students and Chileans I developed a picture of what my life would have been like in Santiago had I been placed there. Of course I have no regrets and am grateful for all the opportunities and amazing things I have experienced this year. I have learned a lot about myself.
Now on to the Radiohead concert. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun in a four-hour period. Kraftwerk , an electronic music band from the 70s, opened for Radiohead. I think it was a really good pairing of bands though it seems a little weird that a band that has been around so long and that achieved fame earlier would open for Radiohead. Kraftwerk played their hits (Autobahn, Computer World, Radioaktivität, Trans Europe Express, Musik Nonstop, Boing Boom Tschak). Radiohead then opened with 15 Step from In Rainbows. I can’t describe how excited I was to see Radiohead in concert, it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a freshman in high school. I sang along with almost all of the songs. I went crazy when they played Paranoid Android, Idioteque, and 2+2=5. I started to lose my voice towards the end. I thnk it was me trying to do the Thom Yorke falsetto. I think I’m going to be one of the parents that shows their kids the records of their favorite band (in my case I’ll be showing my ipod) and tells stories about going to the concerts.
I should note that the concert was held at Estadio Nacional (National Stadium) where dissidents were killed during the military coup d’état of President Allende in 1973. I just watched The Black Pimpernel, a movie about the Swedish ambassador to Chile and they filmed a number of scenes at the gate where I entered the concert. The people running to get into the concert before everyone else looked eerily like the footage of the Chileans running to avoid the police brutality.

I'll leave you with the opening to the Radiohead Concert: