I guess there are some of us out there who love seeing graffiti art plastered on walls and buildings in some abstract fashion, or some chaotic symbol partially finished and to be honest, I am not a huge fan, nothing against it when it is done artistically and when there is some real message. Seeing all this graffiti adorning the walls of buildings throughout Santiago was like some form of desecration, but learning a bit more about the cultural history and the protests and how people had to find ways to express themselves, whether they were oppressed by a military regime, like General Pinochet’s, or just plain ordinary oppression against some European colonist, like the Mapuche tribe went through, this is more safe avenue to express thoughts and feelings about a predicament that many youth find themselves stuck within, or confused about.

So embracing the graffiti art and gleaning the stories where possible, and translating words elsewhere and just understanding some of the murals proved a fascinating approach to getting under the skin of a few cities and towns here in Chile.

Now the downside you may laugh about, as I wandered through the streets looking at walls, the obvious is that I wandered into the traffic and the latino drivers let you know with a loud honk on their horn, but the four-legged friends who leave their doodies (dog crap) on the pavement do not provide any warning when you are staring at walls and not watching where you plonk your feet! Yuk! You gotta be careful out there with our K9 friends droppings.

The views around Valparaiso of the graffiti is so interesting that they actually have a walking tour explaining the art history of the walls of this coastal town.