My Life in Chile – An Update, an Observation

Things here are different. I said it before. I’m going to say it again. Things here are much different - the people, the customs, the food, the streets, everything. The climate is different from home, first of all. It’s more like Oregon. Pretty damn cold in the winter, rainy, and sometimes, well, a bit miserable. Everyone says it’s going to get pretty hot in the summer. I believe them. The apartment building I live in is pretty well heated. Lately, I’ve been taking a chair and my guitar out to the balcony and playing some songs in the sun, when it comes out.

I haven’t spent much time here lately, in Rancagua that is.  I’ve been spending the weekends bouncing around friends’ houses in Santiago mostly, and one night at a huge casino half way in between the two places. I’m not even sure how people can afford to get into the casino. It costs 40 dollars US just to get in the door. After that, drinks are the same old price, which is pretty damn expensive in comparison with the price of living. Luckily, I have made a few friends who have put me on the guest list for both times I have been.  A nice thing here is that travel is cheap; three dollars US to travel by bus from Rancagua to Santiago. So, I can pretty much travel to see friends in Santiago or Viña del Mar any time. And Viña is basically part of Valparaiso. So, I have a lot of travel options. This is a major bonus for when summer comes. Surfing, here I come.

But life here in Rancagua has been great. This town is vibrant, alive. I love it. When you walk down the path towards the plaza, there are people everywhere. Street venders selling all sorts of goods: fruits, vegetables, meats, empenadas. Everything. There are break dancers, street performers doing live theater, clowns, jugglers, drummers, musicians of all sorts. Down the brick-paved main street  there are places where the street opens up, and the lined bricks turn into squares. In each square there are different performers, constantly changing each day and week. In the main plaza, there is a large statue of a man on horseback. If you ever google “Rancagua, Chile,” this is undoubtedly one of the first images you will see. The plaza is surrounded by state buildings, and a large Catholic cathedral. There are benches everywhere, filled with people talking, reading, teenagers kissing, and dogs flopped over in the planters basking in the sun. Last, there are people walking around the plaza in front of the church, and sometimes around the side streets holding bibles, belting out verses that I cannot understand - but from the tone, I would guess it's all pretty hellfire and brimstone. I also, once heard a man say in spanish, "Your souls are dead, sinners. Your souls are dead." On the side wall of the cathedral, the wall is covered with graffiti.  My favorite inscription is, "Catholic church: pedophile yes, abortion no." I took a picture for posterity.

On the weekends, they rent out these little foot powered go-carts to the kids, who ride them around the plaza. It’s pretty cute to see. For that matter, kids here just seem to be generally cuter than kids in the states. Perhaps it is because they are all bundled up for winter, with their noses and cheeks blushing red. But the children here are cuter than most – huge cheeks, button noses, gigantic dark eyes. The one thing that bothers me, occasionally, is that most parents don’t seem to pay much heed to the idea that it is not great to smoke around your kid. I guess that’s how things are in the states too, though.

For that matter, it is very hard not to smoke here. Everyone does it, in restaurants, bars, coffee shops, ect. It is like a scene out of 1980’s America. But it’s not just the smoking. Chileans love 80’s music and basically anything 80’s. The clubs here are very 80’s as well, with huge dance floors. And, unlike in the states, people are actually dancing on them! It is maybe more like a gay club from the states. Girls want to dance, and if you are gentlemanly, they will probably want to dance with you. Women here, however, are a tricky to figure out. My main piece of advice is this: don’t say anything even the slightest bit rude to a Chilean woman, even if it is a joke. They like being complemented, and having a fun time, but if you insult them, you will not get a second chance. However, people here are extremely nice, and hospitable to a fault. To me it is so interesting to see how people are so different outside of the US. When I was talking to my students about a rather bad time I had with a Chilean, they seemed so personally offended - not by me, but that this person would represent Chileans so poorly. I also told them about being taken advantage of in Taxi's. Several of my students repeated over and over, "This is very untypical, we're sorry!" I could see the shame on their faces. It was honestly so endearing, and I reassured them that I knew; Chileans are, in fact, the some of the most hospitable people in the world.  

There are some things that do take me by shock in this country. Nothing horrible, but just different. People wait in lines for HOURS here. The banks close at two, which compresses the bank traffic into a much smaller window. The line wraps around the whole bank floor, and sometimes stretches out the door. There are just several instance where you wait for an eternity, for something that seems very simple, like cashing a check, or paying a bill. On the other hand, Chileans are frequently late, so they are very forgiving about lateness (in the 5-10 minute range). This, somehow, extends to paying bills! I went to pay my electricity bill today, and it was a few days late. No charge, no worries, according to the woman at the bill-pay station. Also, I paid my landlord about 6 or 7 days late for my rent. I did tell him, that I needed his bank account again, so I would be a day late. He got back to me a few days later, and basically told me to pay the rent whenever. Crazy!

On another subject, clothing from the states is very popular here. For instance, throwback t-shirts from the 80s, 90s, or basically anything with English written on it. This leads to some hilarious situations, since Chileans rarely know what the writing on these shirts really means. For instance, a few days ago, I went climbing at a rock gym with my friends Luca, Nora, and their roommate. There was a guy at the gym with a shirt that said: 2003 National Coming Out Day, San Francisco, California. Then it said: my name is ________ and I'm coming out. There was no name written in the blank. I can almost guarantee he saw the word California and bought the shirt. Also, the other day, I saw a guy wearing a D.A.R.E shirt! I laughed so hard when I saw it. I asked him if he knew what it mean. He, of course, said no. I told him it was a classic!

On a high note, I went to the birthday party of a friend of my friend's last night. Then we went to the casino again. The party was great. I met a very nice girl, and seem to have developed a little crush. The only problem was that I was doing such a poor job of speaking spanish to her, because I was a bit nervous. It would be nice to meet someone I'm interested in. It has been such a long time. It's doubtful, but I'll let you know if anything there pans out.

Thats all for now,

Sam