Chilean Suburbs and Skinheads

We’re living in the fifth region of Chile, which is located smack dab in the middle of the country. Out of all other regions, the fifth has the highest population density. Our town, Villa Alemana, isn’t necessarily the most popular tourist destination on the map—it’s a dusty working-class suburb connected by metro to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. One nice thing, though, is that it seldom rains here. Since arriving we’ve enjoyed many ocean-blue days.

The weirdest and by far most unsettling thing about this town, however, is that it’s known mainly for its Neo-Nazis. And these aren’t those aging exiles from the Vaterland you sometimes hear about down here—these are kids, sadly misinformed high school kids that really have no clue what the NS party was, what they stood for, or how they did what they did. They only know its symbols—boots, skinheads, swastikas, etc.—symbols they’ve adopted in the name of some anti-leftist militancy bent on eliminating their sworn rivals, “the punks.” I’m not sure what’s worse: the mindless violence that goes on between these skinheads and punks or the vulgar display of ignorance that gives it a wardrobe. In any case, it’s bizarre; not what I would’ve expected of llama-loving Chile. But I’ll let Dacia write more about this later in her blog (when she actually starts it). Being in an elementary school, I’m only conversant in local soccer rivalries. She has some skinheads in a couple of her classes, so maybe she’ll have pictures.