Unexpected violence

Yesterday, I laid low and had no expectation of encountering any of the unrest here in Santiago. In the afternoon, I met my new Chilean friend and intercambio partner. We were eating dessert at the mall at my teaching site, chatting alternatingly in English and Spanish (no big surprise, his English is better than my Spanish!), when the waitress came and told us that they were closing at 6 to get home before dark. She seemed very flustered and apologized profusely when she brought the check (in Chile, to bring the check before it´s asked for is taken as a rude suggestion to leave). We paid the bill and my intercambio commented that everyone is paranoid on the day of young combatants.

We moved to elsewhere in the food court, which seemed to be functioning as normal. We were talking about why each of us wanted a language exchange (opportunity to learn, meeting new friends, etc.), when we noticed a commotion on the other side of the food court. A crowd was starting to gather around whatever was going on. I was wholly unprepared to see a guy being beaten by several other people (men and women). His face was really bloody and their blows were unrelenting. They were clearly blind with raged and he was beyond trying to defend himself.

The mall security arrived several (what seemed like more) minutes later, but did nothing to prevent the blows befalling the bloody, disoriented man. Ironically, I was reminded of Jerry Springer, where the security only half-heartedly tries to break up the "fights" for the sake of upping the entertainment value. I don´t know why the rent-a-cops were so obviously unmotivated to break up the one-sided fight, but it definitely did not inspire any confidence on my part in Chilean security.

It was a horrible scene and my intercambio suggested we leave when he saw me turning green. I was unable to express my feelings in the moment, but tears were brimming in my eyes and I was feeling super queasy. A day later, it´s hard to untangle the mass of emotions that were running through me. It´s the first time I´ve ever witnessed someone being beaten. It makes me feel like my life has been so safe and sheltered. To some people in the world, bloody faces and enraged mobs are nothing unusual. To me, it was a very rude awakening.

In a way, I feel like I lost some innocence (maybe naïvete?) last night. I saw a group of people beating someone senseless as dozens of people watched. It´s scary what people are capable of, especially when there is fear and anger and stress palpably in the air. I can feel my synapses frying as a computer voice says, "Does not compute. Does not compute." I fundamentally don´t understand how people can inflict pain on other people.

And then on the news were images of the rioting going on in various parts of the city. People were throwing rocks, 2x4s, and Molotov cocktails at the buses, police, passing cars, shop windows. The police were using high-powered water cannons (and possibly tear gas; my Spanish isn´t good enough to follow the news yet) and arresting people as best they could -- mainly, it seemed, by shuffling them in the middle of a circle of police with shields to the awaiting armored vans. There were barricades by both police and protesters, burning piles of goodness knows what in the streets, and people with megaphones encouraging people to fight for their rights.

I still don´t know what to make of it all, but I´m glad to have experienced it in a less traumatic way than I might have. It´s good to encounter pain, injustice, and rage, even if just to be aware that it´s out there.