**Disclaimer, the observations I make are neither good nor bad.
- The Chilean accent is extremely distinct. The people talk very fast, quietly and they drop the ends of words, along with the letters d & s to boot. Not to mention, they use a whole slew of idiomatic expressions, and use Inca vocabulary words, instead of Aztec words like in Mexico.
- . Chile is a high context culture and combined with the language difference, it leaves me in a perpetual state of confusion, lost in translation.
Wikipedia explains this cultural difference very well:
In low context cultures, such as the United States ... much more is explained through words or verbalization, instead of the context. In contrast, in a high context culture many more things are left unsaid, and it is expected that they are implicitly understood; in effect, the culture itself explains them, leaving outsiders at much more of a loss.
3. Nearly every time I go to the supermarket (lider) that happens to be owned by Walmart, I get confused. The cashiers talk super-fast, and I swear they mumble. The first time, they asked if I was part of club leader and then asked if I wanted to make a donation. I was confused so I smiled and moved my head in a circle. The second time, I tried to buy a coke and apparently the bottle was reusable and could be taken to a place for a ticket? The third time, I tried to use my credit card like in the past and the lady insisted I use a pin pass? Oh and lastly, I didn’t know the people, who bag our groceries, work for tips. That explains the fanny packs.4. On that note, fanny packs, rat tails, mullets, and acid washed jeans are all the rage here! I never thought I would want a fanny pack so bad.
5. The parks and metro are filled to the brim with PDA. Most people live at home until they get married…
6. Apparently, Chileans love sweets. I walk by about 15 places that sell ice cream a day. They also love hot dogs. I eat both nearly every day. They also love empanadas and offer them as a side to pizza amongst other things.
7. As for teaching, I’m very happy with my job because I feel like I’m needed. My students call me “Profe” and use “Usted.” Honestly, I don’t hate it. However, my students seem to be dumbfounded: They’re being taught English in English! I’m dumbfounded how to reach my students.
8. There are feral dogs everywhere. Some of them are cute while others are not. All of them have fleas, and every morning the street is filled with fresh poop. I feel like I’m playing hopscotch every morning.
9. The wine here is super cheap and delicious. You can get a bottle for about 3 dollars that would be 15 in the states. The mixed drinks are SUPER strong. If you order a rum and coke, you’ll get a little coke with your rum.
10. David and I got lost on the bus at 1 in the morning; we took 3 buses and 1 taxi to get home. I was told Chileans aren’t nice. I think it’s because they are serious looking and quiet, as a result of the dictatorship. In my experience, the bus drivers were helpful and 1 even turned around for us. We were just were unfamiliar with the system, since it was our first time using the bus.
11. There are 17 girls and 3 guys in our program. One of the girls coined the phrase “the gringo parade” because we attract too much attention when we are together. I like everyone a lot more than I expected. We have a lot in common; it takes a special kind of person to drop everything to move to another country. However, I secretly wonder what each individual is looking to find this year.
12. For the first 2 weeks, I was living in a hostel with everyone. It was on a busy street and next to a fire station. At night I could hear drunks singing and in the morning I could hear traffic. I was living in a room with 8 girls who all had 2-3 suitcases, and I was sharing 2 malfunctioning showers. Nevertheless, I had a blast. For my 24th birthday, I had to go to training all day. When I got back to the hostel, I was happily surprised with a cake and wine.
13. Summer here is like winter in Texas. Some days are warm to hot and then other days are moderately cold, only there are virtually no heaters or air conditioners. Winter is going to be rough!
14. The smog shrouds the Andes most of the time. As a result, I’m constantly sneezing and finding grey boogers from my perpetually runny nose. To give you a way to gauge the severity, I’ll provide a small anecdote: A fellow teacher told me that she’s from LA, and the smog is worse here.
15. During my evening class, I was leaning against the wall when I felt it slightly tremble. That was my first earthquake and hopefully my last. It was a 5.3. Last Friday, the huge earthquake in Japan caused a lot of tsunami fear here. Thankfully, there were no tsunamis.
16. My school is attached to a used car lot and a giant shopping mall that reminds me of American culture. Normally, I don’t go to the mall very often, but now I go nearly every day. The upside is that the temperature is regulated, and there is a Starbucks, a novelty here.
17. I played 2 truths and 1 lie with my students. One of my students wrote “I love transantiago because it’s cheap.” Everyone laughed and knew it was a lie. Personally, I think the metro is useful. Nonetheless, I have been on the metro during rush hour: I watched 3 trains pass by because they were too full. I saw someone swan dive into the train. I saw one man with a completely straight face pressed against the glass, and he was standing next to a woman with her breasts pressed against the glass of the door. Finally, I mustered the courage and jumped into the pit. Everyone had their arms up so that we could all fit and still I felt 6 people pressed against me.
18. Here they kiss on the right cheek, instead of using a handshake. I like it better. It’s more intimate and less awkward. However, sometimes I forget and awkwardly try to shake peoples’ hands.
19. My name is completely normal here.
20. Chileans understand and use sarcasm. Thank Jesus!
21. I was fortunate enough to see Shakira in concert. She is the equivalent to a modern day, Latin American Madonna. It was at the biggest stadium in Chile, and I was standing in the middle of a crowd. The energy was electric. Shakira’s hips are magical.
22. Nearly everyone smokes cigarettes. Families smoke together. I think the 20+ years of having a dictator probably caused this.
23. I miss Dr. Pepper, Big Red, tex-mex, lined paper, peanut butter, good American style coffee/breakfast, southern comfort, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and various YouTube videos, but I think I’ll survive. What a rough life ;)
24. Currently, I live walking distance from my school in small house behind a hostel. My landlady is extremely nice and so are the people in the hostel. There are 2 Ecuadorians and a bunch of Chileans in the hostel and so I get to practice Spanish. My neighbor cooks homemade lunch for very cheap. I got very lucky.
25. For now if you want to see pictures look on FaceBook. My small camera is having battery issues.
26. Find me on Skype please. Camela.Epstein
27. The most common question people ask me is: Why did you want to move to Chile? Honestly, I don’t know. Stability, mountains, the beach and Spanish. Now I realize that in reality I wanted to experience something outside of “my world,” in order to open my mind and heart more. "The ideal place for me is the one in which it is most natural to live as a foreigner”-Italo Calvino
28. This Old is a New World for Me
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