They are showing Pinochet's dead body on TV. It's really weird and really gross. Is it a cultural, latin thing for people to walk by dead bodies and to touch the glass as if the dead person inside is a saint? I've seen it with other people, on the Spanish news channel. It's fascinating- you very rarely see dead bodies on the news in English, even in funerals. You might see the box but never the face. But in Spanish news, even on the early 6pm news, they show funerals with the open casket. I guess gringo culture suggests that death is so private that you don't show dead bodies and you are so much more reserved and removed. If an English and Spanish news station are both covering a shooting, for example, it seems as though the English (US) coverage would be just of the police and maybe show a body with a sheet but not the body itself. Spanish news not only shows the feet but the face and all of the blood (see news coverage of Valentin Elizalde, as just ONE example. Or the bloody mess of protests in Oaxaca!) It's just strange sometimes, to watch spanish-speaking news and see bullet-holes in cars and blood and bodies. And it's even stranger to see a bloated, pale dead body of an ex-dictator.
Dennis talked to his dad today. His parents were supporters of Pinochet, because he helped the Chilean economy, until they (with the rest of Chile) found out that Pinochet had money that belonged to the government, in US bank accounts. (apparently, Pinochet said "I'm not a dictator! I'm not corrupt!" and people believed him until it became clear that he was not only murdering people but also stealing national money.) Anyway, Dennis's dad said that things are pretty crazy in Chile and that people have not stopped reacting. I guess it is what we should expect to see in Cuba, in a few years. Dennis and his father have both said that this is the end of an era.
I am just an observer, living in a country where we aren't used to things like this happening (atleast not in my lifetime!)
And I'm also doing everything that I can to NOT study for the final exam I have on wednesday morning.
Monday blog Meme- "Monday Madness"
1. What song gives you the most holiday cheer? All of them. All of the church songs ("glooooooorriiiiia" and "all come all ye faithful" etc.) and the non- church songs like "have yourself a merry little christmas" etc.
2. Who is the hardest person to shop for on your holiday list? my husband. i wish that I could buy him really amazing expensive gadgets. I've always wanted to buy him a really fantastic palmpilot, for example. But I always end up getting him pajama pants and a sweater. (electronics are expensive and I do not have a credit card.)
3. When do you start your holiday shopping? Right after Thanksgiving. I try to give myself time for things to deliver home and prepare for things to get lost in the mail, because I buy everything online.
4. What food or drink do you love when it's cold out? (Recipes and recommendations, please!) chai tea is nice (it reminds me of pumpkin pie!). I can't drink things with a lot of sugar so I take what I can get.
5. What do you do to get rid of a cold or flu? mostly cold meds (pills and theraflu tea). when I feel really bad, I make Dennis buy me some diet sprite. Lately we've stocked up on extra soft kleenex and I've been making alot of warm soup for dinner.
2 comments:
Hmm.. we do the same over here too, at least for my background. :P When tend to let people see the dead's face, before they were brought to the cemetary. But it kinda depends on how "bad" the dead look too. For cases like major accident, they'd normally just close the coffin. :P
But I have this weird interest of wanting to look at the dead's face everytime I go for a funeral. Hehehe..
Enjoy your day, Erin! :D
*Hugs*
the worst of all of this isn't that he has died, but that he hasnt been able to be judged and acussed as GUILTY and be kept in jail.
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