Saturday, February 28, 2009
random list of things about santiago
1. Despite the deliciousness of South American Coffee, everyone drinks instant here.
2. Meat is in everything; in fact there is so much meat it's hard to keep the meat related words in Spanish straight.
3. Gringo is a word that has it's origin in the Mexican/American war when US soldiers wore green and the Mexicans yelled, "green, go home". It can refer to Europeans or those from the States positively, negatively or neutrally.
4. Most Chileans talk to whomever they're with on the street about the "gringos" when you walk by but very occasionally a Chilean (part of the only 3 percent who speak English) will yell at you and run up to you "HEY you speak English" and really what they want is a chance to practice their English with you.
5. In accordance with #4 above- When you do encounter a Chilean who speaks English (to any degree really) and they've been to the States, they love to tell you if they have been to Las Vegas. Maybe you'd be impressed with this? Interestingly also, I found the same in Egypt.
6. If you need sal (salt), you're in luck here. If for some reason you'd also want some pimienta (pepper), too bad!
7. I have tried the national drink of Chile (which Argentina contends is theirs) and it is VERY delicious if made correctly. MMMmm pisco sour!
8. Yogurt comes in bags and so does marmelada.
9. Chilean food seems to be mostly bland. To illustrate this, the other day a group of us were walking down the street when our noses hijacked us and we found ourselves inside a Peruvian restaurant immediately, prepared to order. NOTE- Peruvian food seems to cost four times as much. Take caution.
10. People say "gracia" here instead of "gracias". This follows for other words with s's. "Buenas dias" becomes "buen dia" and so on and so on.
11. The youth here are very emo. Black clothes, black hair, black eye liner, chucks, music t-shirts.
12. Cell phones cost nothing here if you only receive calls or texts and don't make them.
13. A bottle of wine costs anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 CP (less than 2 dollars to less than 7). Let me tell you it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "two-buck chuck".
14. Montana Portillo is home of the best skiing around and it's only an hour outside of Santiago.
15. As probably follows with the rest of South America, buses can get you anywhere you want to go, affordably. This is true even if you're dead set on Patagonia (only a quick 18 hours away!)
16. Tu forma en Espanol is the way to go. No one uses Usted; in fact Ud. is used as a formality only very briefly. People shift to "Tu form" only minutes after meeting one another.
17. Living in a hostel is NOT a good way to continue learning Spanish.
18. Playing futbol in the park is great fun though you may need to clear pololos and homeless out of the way first (ok so I didn't ask them for fear of being rude- another Chilean did).
19. Being gay is ok, even cool!! One of my fellow teachers from the hostel here is moving into a multicultural house whose two duenos (means owners-n-yay on that n) who advertise for the openings by saying they are "two gay Chileanos seeking..."
2. Meat is in everything; in fact there is so much meat it's hard to keep the meat related words in Spanish straight.
3. Gringo is a word that has it's origin in the Mexican/American war when US soldiers wore green and the Mexicans yelled, "green, go home". It can refer to Europeans or those from the States positively, negatively or neutrally.
4. Most Chileans talk to whomever they're with on the street about the "gringos" when you walk by but very occasionally a Chilean (part of the only 3 percent who speak English) will yell at you and run up to you "HEY you speak English" and really what they want is a chance to practice their English with you.
5. In accordance with #4 above- When you do encounter a Chilean who speaks English (to any degree really) and they've been to the States, they love to tell you if they have been to Las Vegas. Maybe you'd be impressed with this? Interestingly also, I found the same in Egypt.
6. If you need sal (salt), you're in luck here. If for some reason you'd also want some pimienta (pepper), too bad!
7. I have tried the national drink of Chile (which Argentina contends is theirs) and it is VERY delicious if made correctly. MMMmm pisco sour!
8. Yogurt comes in bags and so does marmelada.
9. Chilean food seems to be mostly bland. To illustrate this, the other day a group of us were walking down the street when our noses hijacked us and we found ourselves inside a Peruvian restaurant immediately, prepared to order. NOTE- Peruvian food seems to cost four times as much. Take caution.
10. People say "gracia" here instead of "gracias". This follows for other words with s's. "Buenas dias" becomes "buen dia" and so on and so on.
11. The youth here are very emo. Black clothes, black hair, black eye liner, chucks, music t-shirts.
12. Cell phones cost nothing here if you only receive calls or texts and don't make them.
13. A bottle of wine costs anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 CP (less than 2 dollars to less than 7). Let me tell you it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "two-buck chuck".
14. Montana Portillo is home of the best skiing around and it's only an hour outside of Santiago.
15. As probably follows with the rest of South America, buses can get you anywhere you want to go, affordably. This is true even if you're dead set on Patagonia (only a quick 18 hours away!)
16. Tu forma en Espanol is the way to go. No one uses Usted; in fact Ud. is used as a formality only very briefly. People shift to "Tu form" only minutes after meeting one another.
17. Living in a hostel is NOT a good way to continue learning Spanish.
18. Playing futbol in the park is great fun though you may need to clear pololos and homeless out of the way first (ok so I didn't ask them for fear of being rude- another Chilean did).
19. Being gay is ok, even cool!! One of my fellow teachers from the hostel here is moving into a multicultural house whose two duenos (means owners-n-yay on that n) who advertise for the openings by saying they are "two gay Chileanos seeking..."
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
los primeros dias
After a long and rather tedious night of flying and negotiating with golden retriever drug sniffing dogs and airline attendants who wouldn't let me use the bathroom, I arrived in balmy Santiago de Chile (yes there is more than one in Latin America). With my gringa "speak like a Chilean" book, I attracted interested Chileans on the flight from Miami to Bogota and quickly made friends. Long story short, they graciously offered me a free place to stay (and free fun- all written on a little note) in their city of Vina del Mar.
Meeting them was only a tiny introduction to how wonderfully helpful and nice Chileans seem to be. I'm here teaching English with a large university system that has locations in major areas in Chile and have been impressed with reactions I have received after pulling Chileans aside (perdon?) and asking random questions. One lady went so far as to wrap her arm entirely around me in order to point out where things were on a map I had been holding in front of me.
Here's one of the most interesting tidbits I have been able to uncover rather quickly... There are many Chileans who actually LOVE Pinochet. Did you think I meant Allende (the inarguably Democratic-ly elected president), no I meant the forcefully installed dictator who came to power in 1973. Forgive me if you are Chilean reading this thinking I am ignorant... I JUST HAD NO IDEA! It's fascinating really.
1) Apparently you either love him or hate him, there's not much in between (makes sense).
2) Killing like a whole bunch of other Chileans must be forgiveable in some major way.
3) People must feel like a whole lot changed for the better when he was in power.
4) Sept. 11th (represents the day he came to power) brings about a major protest every year that always ends in some degree of human tragedy.
Enough politics for now... My first few days were spent meeting people from my program and hostel. I have been to the infamous Plaza de Armas in Centro and climbed San Cristobal. Imagine- a pool at the top of a small mountain, where the city and base of the Andes set the backdrop-
I know, trust me it WAS amazing. More pictures and stories to share when my partner in crime (Scott) gets here....
Meeting them was only a tiny introduction to how wonderfully helpful and nice Chileans seem to be. I'm here teaching English with a large university system that has locations in major areas in Chile and have been impressed with reactions I have received after pulling Chileans aside (perdon?) and asking random questions. One lady went so far as to wrap her arm entirely around me in order to point out where things were on a map I had been holding in front of me.
Here's one of the most interesting tidbits I have been able to uncover rather quickly... There are many Chileans who actually LOVE Pinochet. Did you think I meant Allende (the inarguably Democratic-ly elected president), no I meant the forcefully installed dictator who came to power in 1973. Forgive me if you are Chilean reading this thinking I am ignorant... I JUST HAD NO IDEA! It's fascinating really.
1) Apparently you either love him or hate him, there's not much in between (makes sense).
2) Killing like a whole bunch of other Chileans must be forgiveable in some major way.
3) People must feel like a whole lot changed for the better when he was in power.
4) Sept. 11th (represents the day he came to power) brings about a major protest every year that always ends in some degree of human tragedy.
Enough politics for now... My first few days were spent meeting people from my program and hostel. I have been to the infamous Plaza de Armas in Centro and climbed San Cristobal. Imagine- a pool at the top of a small mountain, where the city and base of the Andes set the backdrop-
I know, trust me it WAS amazing. More pictures and stories to share when my partner in crime (Scott) gets here....
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