A quick history lesson: The backbone of Chile's economy is its copper industry. I know it's surprising since it seems like all of the fruit and vegetables in the United States, especially Montana, are from here, but that isn't what allows them to be such a wealthy (by comparison) country down here. It's all in their mountains.
Today we went to Sewell an abandoned mining town that still has a fully functioning mine. I went deep inside of The Devil's Mountain, which was alarming considering I had signed my life away twice earlier that morning. Chile is not only the strongest (economically) country in South America, I think it might also be the most protected. I have signed more waivers for my life here than I have ever signed before. At first I thought I should be alarmed that I have to sign a waiver whenever I ride a bus or take a tour, but I have decided to admire this attention to detail.
After signing my life away I was told I needed to wear a large orange coat, a hard hat, a gas mask, and carry around an emergency kit from the sixties in case I was to be stuck inside the mine. This was all in Spanish, so I was slightly alarmed. After getting all decked out in our gear we entered the mine by bus. It was completely dark and felt exactly like the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland (but without the assurance that Walt had your back). After driving in pitch black for at least ten minutes we were dropped off and left at the mercy of the miners, the rats, and God.
After the rocky start we had an awesome tour of the mine. It was insane to be wandering around the inside of a mountain. There are more than six levels to the mine and if I'm not mistaken (which I easily could be) there are more than 2000 kilometers of roads. We saw a quartz room and got to tour the locker rooms of the men who actually live in the mine. Inside this I was also alarmed because there were many Mary's and Jesus posters. It was incredible and like nothing I have ever seen before. I couldn't imagine living inside of a mine and seeing the sun only every few weeks. The good news was that I didn't feel so pale in there, so maybe I would like it more than I think.
Today we went to Sewell an abandoned mining town that still has a fully functioning mine. I went deep inside of The Devil's Mountain, which was alarming considering I had signed my life away twice earlier that morning. Chile is not only the strongest (economically) country in South America, I think it might also be the most protected. I have signed more waivers for my life here than I have ever signed before. At first I thought I should be alarmed that I have to sign a waiver whenever I ride a bus or take a tour, but I have decided to admire this attention to detail.
After signing my life away I was told I needed to wear a large orange coat, a hard hat, a gas mask, and carry around an emergency kit from the sixties in case I was to be stuck inside the mine. This was all in Spanish, so I was slightly alarmed. After getting all decked out in our gear we entered the mine by bus. It was completely dark and felt exactly like the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland (but without the assurance that Walt had your back). After driving in pitch black for at least ten minutes we were dropped off and left at the mercy of the miners, the rats, and God.
After the rocky start we had an awesome tour of the mine. It was insane to be wandering around the inside of a mountain. There are more than six levels to the mine and if I'm not mistaken (which I easily could be) there are more than 2000 kilometers of roads. We saw a quartz room and got to tour the locker rooms of the men who actually live in the mine. Inside this I was also alarmed because there were many Mary's and Jesus posters. It was incredible and like nothing I have ever seen before. I couldn't imagine living inside of a mine and seeing the sun only every few weeks. The good news was that I didn't feel so pale in there, so maybe I would like it more than I think.
A little piece of Montana, if only they had thought to bring pasties.
I'm telling you, these suits are irresistible.
The mine, this picture fails greatly.
We were working those suits and heeding all safety advice.
Here we are clearly not heeding any safety advice, I guess you could say we were acting Chilean.
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