Hey guys, BarefootFord.com will always be the place for updates, but over the last few months I’ve also written for other publications and been lucky enough to featured in a couple. Anyway, other then some other social media links and some articles coming out soon in The Arbiter, this is just about every place I’ve been or written for.

Broadcast

Channel 7 News – KTVB of Boise

“Several Idahoans were in South America when the 8.8 quake hit…Boise State University junior Andrew Ford is doing a semester abroad in South America…” More… Video…

Social Media:

The Huffington Post

Live update, photo stream, reports from Chileans and NGO’s Here… Twitter

AOL News

Headlines from Santiago Here…

The New York Times

Sources and information about the earthquake that struck Chile on Feb. 27, 2010. Here…

MSNBC

Media sources and eyewitnesses reporting on the earthquake in Chile Here…

Yahoo News

More coverage of the earthquake that hit Chile on Feb. 27, 2010. Here…

Print/Online

Q&A with The Sentinel of North Idaho College

Q: What has it been like following the earthquake? A: Well, it’s difficult because generally in Santiago the citizens have been very resilient. They’ve gone back to work, and though the frequent aftershocks are scary, life feels very close to back to normal. At the same time, pockets of Santiago outside the center are doing much, much worse. More…

Journalist-abroad for The Arbiter at Boise State University

1. Three things I didn’t expect about living in South America - I write about how the low cost of fruits and vegetables can significantly change how you purchase and consume vegetables and the heights of breakfast cereals in Argentina. Here…
2. Armed with piercings, we head to the soccer field – Though it feels incomplete (maybe because there is a part two draft sitting on Google Docs…) this is my favorite story that I’ve written since entering South America in January. Here…
3. Chile searches for survivors, life returns to normal in Santiago – “When the first one hit, all 7.0+ of it, I swung open my door and just stared at the door jam while…” My “big break” as earthquake stories go, linked from the Huffington Post, AOL News and MSNBC. Here…
4. Stepping into Santiago’s Centro - “Entiende ingles?” I ask her. She smiles wide and grits her teeth. “A leetle…” she says. I ask her how much it costs. She doesn’t understand.” Here…

A chapel was turned into rubble in Santiago, Chile during the earthquake Saturday morning. The resident of the second floor apartment showed the room off to friends and appeared at ease Saturday afternoon, happy to have escaped the earthquake with her life, despite her wall toppling. The death toll rose past 700 Saturday evening as workers sought to rescue more residents.
The country will distribute food and aid to the hardest hit areas, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced Saturday afternoon.

Barefootford.com - Neighbors and residents look in disbelief at an apartment building who's wall was shaken off during Saturday morning's earthquake.

Barefootford.com

Santiago’s modern downtown buildings danced through Saturday morning’s earthquake unscathed. However, older buildings, including some in Barrio Brasil, were battered by the quake, leaving walls, and interiors destroyed. After buying a 200-year-old home with hopes to restore it, one Chilean man was in disbelief to see his home battered and much of the decor thrown through out the home’s floor.

Barefootford.com - New buildings in Santiago generally weathered the storm of Saturday morning's earthquake well because of modern, steel frame construction. This building, 200 years old according to its owner, was being restored. In the midst of restoration however one wall began to seperate from the building and more damage was dealt inside to art, furniture and decorations.

Barefootford.com - Here a chandelier crashed through a coffee table, destroying the table's glass on the way.

Barefootford.com - A religious icon is one of many items crashed onto the floor during the earth quake.

Barefootford.com - A tall, ceramic vase crashed onto the floor Saturday morning, throwing pieces across the floor of the living room and into a hallway.

Barefootford.com - Damage to the roof and patio poured out onto the streets during the quake. Here a man shovels debris from the home into a wheel barrel in the neighborhood of Barrio Brasil, Santiago, Chile.

Should have thrown in the bag before I left:

1. A book or two. Viewing everything on the computer is exhausting. Something fiction and fun would be a nice break when I don’t feel comfortable pulling the laptop out around town.

2. Ankle socks. It’s cooling down here, but still too warm for the full-length wool socks I brought. Some nice Smartwool ankle socks would be unbelievably handy walking through downtown when it hits 87 and I’ve got to walk into the muggy Metro.

3. A basic, shirt for running or working out. Maybe something like an Underarmour deal where it would dry quick and take up the size of a orange in my bag.

4. Soundslides. Sometimes it’s difficult to put together a whole post on anything and explain it. Soundslides, a program that combines photos with audio then exports them so they’re easily accessible on the web, would be very nice for when I’ve got a lot of photos but not a lot of context for them.

5. Better Spanish. It’s definitely easier to be motivated to learn Spanish down here then when I’m in virtually English-only Idaho, but a few months of preperation would have payed dividends once I got down here.

6. A cute, travel-loving gal’. While the mujeres here are friendly, my eyes might need a few years adjusting before I fall in love with a local.

Could have let get dusty for a while:

1. Three pairs of pants. A pair of jeans and a pair of dress pants would be just fine. I haven’t worn my dress pants though, so next time I bet I take just a pair of jeans + two pairs of shorts.

2. My big, warm, fleece jacket. I love my black Mounain Hardwear fleece. Honestly. It repels water. It’s super comfortable. And, sometimes best of all, it resists smelling like all kinds of stink. But at least in Santiago, it’s a winter jacket. It’s my bulkiest item in my whole bag by far and a tiny wind breaker would do the trick.

3.An expensive camera. I love my Canon S90, but I don’t think I would have missed out on much had I brought a cheaper camera. While it’s great in low-light conditions, going out at night – with gadgets in hand no less – isn’t exactly a recipe for safety but it is for getting something nabbed.

4. A great laptop. If I love my jacket and camera, then I double-love my laptop. It’s the same weight as a Macbook Air, it has the same graphics chip (Nvidia Ion/9400m) as a Macbook Pro but runs Windows 7 and  is sexy. While the cost was reasonable, $500, I could reasonably be doing all my updates from my iPod Touch.

5. Any ID. I haven’t drank much down here, but I’ve yet to be carded, even on my baby-face smooth days.

Barefootford.com - Locals, gringos and lovers share a spot on the concrete bench at a viewing spot at Cerro San Cristobal, Santiago, Chile.

“I sold my piano, It couldn’t come with me. I locked up my bedroom And I walked out into the air.” Washington Square – The Counting Crows

It’s really, really difficult to comprehend how big Santiago is from the ground. Unlike Boise, where in order to see a tall building you have-ta’ look downtown, Santiago’s skyline and population (more than five million) is scattered through-out the city, all 250 square miles of it.

You could try and guestimate the boundaries of Santiago from a balcony, but your only going to see a fraction of Santiago. Your best bet is to join the locals and get up to city of Santiago’s second biggest hill, Cerro San Cristobal.

How to get there:

Take the red or green Metro lines to the Baquedano stop. Leave the Metro station and cross the big nasty brown river, Mapocho ( Not something to show when your parents are in town. It’s as contaminated as it looks.) Once you cross the river take Pio Nono to the base of the mountain.

How to get up:

To get up to the top, you’ve got three options:

1. Slow and steady (Tram)
This is probably the quickest way, and you also get great views as you go up the hill without having to huff and puff. Buy your tickets
Cost: 900 Pesos ($1.80 US)

2. Walk
You can walk it. Theres a relatively well marked trail going up the Northwest and Southwest side of the mountain. You’ll weave through mostly shaded areas and get up there a little sweaty, but definitely the most affordable route.
Cost: Free

3. Take a taxi up
I haven’t taken a Taxi here yet but they’re just like those tiny Sentra’s that are everyone in Mexico. One small caution though: If you’re dealing with large bills say what the bill is before giving it over to them. If you don’t confirm what you give them before hand, a very very small amount of scammi’ taxi drivers have been known to flip a 10,000 peso bill for a 1,000 and then try and convince you of needing to still pay whatever is left. Anyway, it doesn’t happen often but confirm what bill you’re giving before you give it to them and it won’t be an issue.
Cost: 800-1000 Pesos Up, ~ 600 Down ($4 US roundtrip with a smal tip)

At the top you’ll get some of the best views of the city, a ton of options for Chilean vendors (though like Disneyland, you’ll pay a little more for ice cream then you would in the city) and as many dogs as you could ever hope to take home.

Barefootford.com

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ANDREWFORD/BAREFOOTFORD Santiago, home of more than five million, is an easy place to get lost, but an even easier place to get lost looking at.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

1. Santiago is pretty safe. (But that isn’t a guarantee I’ll be immune to getting robbed at some point…) Luckily, in South America’s safest city, getting robbed isn’t usually a gun pointed to your head, but is some grungy teen stealing your purse (man bag?), pick pocketing you on the Subway or just taking 10 mil from you ~$20 US) and being content with that.

I’ll be upset, but I’d be alive. We’ll see. Missing all these UFC pay-per-views is definitely not going to help with my submission defense.

2. Santiago is bigger than I thought it’d be. To put it in perspective, after visiting New York for a week, I feel like I had visited just about everywhere. Here, after two weeks I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface.
3. The food here is getting better (or I’m getting better at finding it.) Two nights ago as I walked home from Bella Vista I eyeballed every single vendor frying, cooking and searing away at Chilean late-night cuisine. They likely deserve their own posts, but here’s the most popular and tasty in Santiago:

Sopapia For 100 pesos ( $0.19 US) you get a freshly fried piece of bread a little bigger than the top half of a Whopper, but warm, crispy, doughy and covered in salsa, sweet mustard, sweet and spicy ketchup or mayo.

An empanada, atleast in queso form is the best way to get cheese in Santiago. Cheese is expensive and is difficult to find with much selection in Chile, but in the form of a spring-roll sized 150 peso ($0.28 US) empanada to a 500 peso($0.94 US) Taco Bell Gordita sized empanada, you get something like a hot-pocket and a gordita rolled into one.

Mote con huesillo gives you a meal, in drink form. This might be the weirdest on the list. The drink’s base is about a 1/3 cup of wheat, thats a little bit tougher and thicker then oatmeal, covered in a juice made of peaches and cinnamon, then a slice or two of dried peach is added in. You both drink it off the side of the cup, and eat the wheat and peaches with a spoon. Served ice-cold and delicious.  More here.

4. When you arrive at SCL, be prepared to eliminate S. Unlike Uruguay, Argentina and every other Spanish-speaking country, Chile speaks in a Spanish slang all its own. Spanish is spoken as fast as any latin american country, but additionally the letter s is cut off the end of many words, and taken out of the middle of some.

Basic Spanish 101: Gracias, uno, dos, tres, adios

Basic Chilean Spanish 101: Gracia, uno, do, tre, adio

-af

ANDREWFORD/BAREFOOTFORD Two chilean women rush past a fire truck in downtown Santiago as it sprays water onto screaming children below.

On Saturday and Sunday Chileans joined together to celebrate their 200th Birthday by splashing, singing and shouting across one of Santiagos busiest streets.

Avenue Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, or Alameda as most the locals call it due to one Stretch of the winding road, was twisted off for the celebration of all things getting wet.

A lot of things are vastly different in Chile from the United States. Incomes, currency and language to name a few. But, more often than I expected, I see the similarities and the weekend was an enormous example.
While the age of the country seems similar to the U.S., the Country has a regained sense of pride and optimism because it’s only regained it’s democratic status in the last 30 and been true to it for the last 20 years.
The memories of a military dictatorship that killed hundreds of Chileans is still fresh in the fabric of the country.
While most of South America has had enormous highs and lows, Chile has remained relatively stable. The former military dictatorship caught off guard the majority of Chileans never expecting an end to their relatively peaceful democracy.

AndrewFord/BAREFOOTFORD Have you been thinking about visiting Santiago, Chile? Don't. They will rip out your heart when you get here.

The down-low:

I’m a full-time student at Boise State. With a combination of online classes and internship credits, I can still do everything from use the library at Boise State to ride the bus.

Why using the bus to get around could be difficult:

I’m living, working and writing in South America this semester. So unless Valley Ride expands south, way south, I’m going to have to stick with the Metro system for now. I bought a ticket from Boise to Seattle, Seattle to Atlanta and finally Atlanta to Santiago, Chile. I’ll be living here 5-6 weeks before moving on to Buenos Aires in early March.

Where I live:

For now, I’m staying at a guest house of a Chilean family who’s son married an American student, who’s now a photographer. I live with a Chilean civil engineering student and a fellow Gringa, an American from Minneapolis.

Why South America? (Are you joining a gang?):

To be the first college guy that said they were going to South America and actually do it. Just kidding! I’ve always wanted to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina, so I figured I’d do Chile, Argentina and Brasil, moving North-East as I go.

Who is BarefootFord?:
It’s me. Andrew Ford. I’m a mass. communications and journalism student at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, USA. I’m a huge Bronco football fan (Of course, I went to both Fiesta Bowls) but also ride my bike everywhere and try and recycle when I can. I’ve tried being vegan, raw, you name it, but usually I just come back to being reasonable and throwing as many bananas and blueberries in my diet as I can.

Barefoot? Hippies? No thanks.:

No hippies, no dreads. If you want to travel, you can’t bring everything. So before I left the U.S. I’ve been downsizing all of my possessions, from clothing to obligations. So living bare is just an extension of living the way I want to live: With the ability to travel whenever I want, wherever I want.

What’s next?:

While I think the challenge of traveling outside the U.S. is something that every Gringa needs to tackle, but it’s usually more of a mental challenge than a physical or monetary one. If you want to travel, you can. Right now. If I can travel off the exact same student loan I would have blown on housing, pizza and light beer, you can scrounge up the cash too. Regardless, the goal of BarefootFord.com isn’t to teach you how to travel, but to make you want to.

AndrewFord/BAREFOOTFORD Among the many things you cannot bring into Chile without declaring before hand: Bananas, Apples, Mangos...