Bio Bio Brian

We didn't get to Bio Bio when my folks were here, but we did make it down there with Mr. Brian Clark. On a day where Brian was still feeling it from his journey and we were going to tackle 3 different markets, I knew that Bio Bio would be the crowned jewel. We ate lunch at La Vega and poked around to see all the different types of produce before heading down to the south side. We got off the bus and walked through block after block of kiosk lined sidewalks. We bought an array of typical candy as we made our way to the pizza and fried potato joint. Cait and I had seen this place before and always talked about going back. With Brian in tow, we knew that we had the best possible group assembled to go and try some of this food.

Sidenote : Santiago is not your standard South American city. It's prominence as the capital and the lingering German influence from after WWII, mean that you can walk around as a gringo with some anonymity. What's tough is when you're speaking English or being loud. hmmmm

So, as we're making our way into the heart of Bio Bio... which is politely... not the best part of town... Brian is regaling us with a reincarnation of Borat... loudly... from the mouth of a big, tall, white, red-headed gringo :) That said, we made it to the stand and found these friend potatoes to be less than exciting. They look delicious but they're just a fried outside with the rest just an unseasoned mashed potato. Not that exciting.
I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but we saw some incredibly cool things at a place that represents a classic example of the informal economy. Bikes, hair-cuts, surplus military gear, puppies, food, furniture, hot jeans, shoes, restaurant equipment, factory equipment, preserved insect art, books, surgical tools, antiques, computers, TVs, household supplies, and the list goes on.

Asthma

As the healthcare debate swirls in the states, Caitlin and I have had two, very positive, interactions with the Chilean system. Caitlin wrote a bit about her experience here and while our experiences haven't dealt with serious illness or disease, they have highlighted to me that there is no excuse for the incredible cost of health care back home. Also, those who call it socialism are being reckless for political sake and need to focus more on making the change that is coming...good change. Opinions out of the way...

Caitlin and I signed up for international health insurance plans that will help you if you are involved in a horrendous accident or encounter something like appendicitis. These plans are affordable and high quality, but they don't cover the small maintenance-like things that you'd use insurance for in the states.

After skiing with Brian, we stopped in at a Cruz Verde(think RiteAid) and I asked about the price of an inhaler. I was inquiring because my secret plan to have one delivered with Brian hadn't worked out. I just wanted to know how much I'd be on the hook for, if I turned out that I needed one. The pharmacist took a look at my inhaler and returned with three options. One was a brand name and the other two, generics. Now I asked the price and nearly fell over when he told me that it'd be... all of $9. Nine dollars?? Outside of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are grown here...living costs are pretty comparable to the states. Nine dollars??? I paid for it out of pocket and will be getting some more to send home when my cousin comes down to visit in December.

Finally, I asked my boss about the cost of eyeglasses here. I have an old pair of frames that has taken a beating and will need to be replaced before they break. Hoping to delay that until getting back to the states, I was encouraged to look around after the inhaler incident. He told me that while you would probably pay about $200 for frames and a dr. visit(without insurance) that I should consider going to a store down the street that made copies. Made copies??? of my glasses?? Apparently, for $70 they'll take a look at what you've got and then duplicate the lenses for whatever frame you'd like to buy. Designer frames for $30 dollars or the knockoffs at the market for $5. Whatever you want.

I don't know about you guys, but these stories make me think more about solving the issue of medical cost through ingenuity and the market than whatever system we have right now in the states. When you think about it, why does an inhaler cost $50-100? Why should glasses cost that much....why can't you get them duplicated? Who wouldn't want an extra pair of specs?

I'm not saying it's perfect here. But man oh man, that seems like capitalism.

Point for Chile

Paper or Plastic...What'd You Say to Me?

While doing some afternoon grocery shopping today, I had a quintessential interaction that illustrates how maddening living in a different culture can be. I would usually blame this on Chilean culture at large but, the more I think it as a larger issue, the more I'm convinced that it's the result of group-think... and that's not unique to Chileans.
I was fishing for money at the check out when I got the feeling that I was up against a difficult situation. The bagger was a guy in his late teens. 6' 2" 250lbs and was sporting a really nice mullet. On his right were a couple of his bagger friends, hanging out and chatting. The lady running the register was about 75 years old. It just didn't feel like a good mix. Knowing that I needed to make my preference clear for a single bag to hold my ham, bread, olive oil, can of peppers and sausage, I focused on getting this guy's attention as she started to scan my items. I had to interrupt their conversation with a polite "joven". This is the word for youth and yet it's how you're addressed as a male until someone decides you're wearing adult diapers. In my mind, it's awkward to address someone as 'young man' as I'm trying to hold onto that one myself for as long as possible....but I promise it's normal.
So I successfully get his attention and ask for the one bag. He does a legitimate double take and then, a lightbulb goes off. Ahhh, you want this all in one bag....double bagged! NOOO my mind screams. I can see that I'm now going to be involved in a game of wits with this monstrous teenager. His friends will provide his audience and the cashier will soon be barking questions at me in Spanish. I politely say "no thanks, just the one bag please". He stops with a bag in each hand and, confused beyond repair, interrupts the cashier. Now ,she's a cagey old lady and knows exactly what's going on. She looks at him with one eye while continuing to scan the bread and tells him to double bag it, lest it breaks. She comes back to me now.... challenging me with her all knowing 'grocery store eyes of wisdom'. We then engage...the three of us... in a maddening back and forth about whether or not the bag will break! Finally consenting, the kid puts my 5 items in the one bag and starts making fun of me with his friends. One of them walks behind me as if to venture out into the store and turns around as he's passing me and pushes his nose up in the air. The girl next to our fine bagger calls me fi-fi, and the group giggle begins. After the game of 20 questions with the cashier concerning whether or not I'm a member and how much I want to donate to hungry children....I finally pay and leave. A couple facts. The bags they use are already the thickness of 3 bags from the US. The baggers aren't store employees and work solely for tips!! Ughh.

The editorializing of this subject could go on for pages, as the use and overuse of plastics is one of my favorite issues to discuss. I'll just recommend the video above as a concise and enlightening introduction to why we should be altering our behavior ASAP and that the scale of the problem is larger than most would imagine. I saw a presentation on global warming the other day that said glacial melting is "the canary in the coal mine" for climate change. With plastics, it's even more dangerous. These plastics, and the toxins they pickup, enter our bodies indirectly through the food chain and directly through the containers and packaging we use every day. Unfortunately, the canaries in the coal mine for this one are birds, fish and us. You don't know that you have cancer until it's there...and you've already eaten the fish.

How Much For A Room At This Fine Establishment?

As Caitlin and I were preparing for my parents to come visit, one of the big ticket items to check off our list, was the issue of housing. As you can imagine, sticking them in our postage stamp of an apartment was not going to be easy. We wanted them close however, and spent half a day wandering around the surrounding neighborhoods, visiting hostels. We did our best to stay optimistic that we might find something close. As we left each place, impressed by what they had to offer, we would continue to echo the refrain, "don't you wish that place was closer?" Encouraged by a street vendor who responded positively to our question about hostel/hotel availability leading toward our apartment, we headed off following his general directions. Talking about how great it would be if this place could be our holy grail...we picked up the pace. As we turned the corner down a side street, we immediately knew where we had been directed. A large, bright, pink building stuck out from the rest and advertised HOTEL FOREVER in big white letters. We entered through an overly complicated entrance and thought that, while it was clearly a bit much, the added security would likely be of comfort to my folks. The door was answered and we entered the lobby. Caitlin opened the line of questioning and asked about their nightly rate. When the women responded with a price for the first three hours, I immediately thought we were dealing with a language barrier issue. I started to correct her, and illustrate that we wanted a room on a nightly basis. But as these words made their way out of my mouth...my brain did the math. I saw Caitlin, out of the corner of my eye, 10 yards ahead of me on this one.

"What's your nightly rate?"
"9000($16.25) for the first three hours...."
"oh no, we were looking for a rate for a day...a whole night..."
-lady looks around uncomfortably-
"well that will be........"

The woman was looking increasingly confused and uncomfortable. I started to question the perfumed scent, the black, fake marble on the floor. I started to notice the padded and buttoned upholstery covering the walls. By this time she had been joined by her coworker and the realization was hitting everyone. I threw in the towel with a hasty gracias, we turned on a dime and headed out of there. She followed us to the door and closed it behind us. As we were nearing the door, Caitlin's shoulders were shaking and I was doing my best to hold it in.

Outside, safely away we doubled over in laughter before continuing the search. Part of me wishes we'd brought my folks by, just to see if they liked it! Yikes!

sexy legs and the environment

chile is expensive, but having sexy legs isn't.

along with my iron tablets, services for beauty (nails, hair, color, waxing), relaxation (massage), exercise (yoga) are much more inexpensive here than in the States.

call it machismo, but i'm glad all these ladies here have no excuse not to be beautiful...

service....................chile...........................USA

brazilian wax................$7.00 USD.........................$65.00 USD

full leg wax...................$10.00 USD........................$70.00 USD

pedicure........................$15.00 USD........................$40.00 USD

hair cut (no color)........$14.00 USD........................$40.00 USD

and at first i was scared to have my hair cut here, just like latin women i know are scared to have their hair cut by just anyone in the States. the thing is that fashion for the most part is just so traditional. practically no one has short hair and the majority smell so fragrantly and wear more make-up and lipstick than i would ever dream of... i wasn't sure i'd have a hair dresser on my level. but man, she did a great job for me being gringa with short hair!

you can't get your legs waxed without a healthy dose of man-ness...

so i'm getting my legs waxed (oh joy, weeks and weeks without shaving) when the lady says to me something about how i've obviously been needing this for a while. almost, why did you wait so long? then she says, it'll be a gift for your boyfriend (with a big smile on her face).

do you get angry? or do you just accept cultural differences? these are the questions i ask myself on a more frequent basis here in chile.

on another note, it's impressive to see the degree of conservation here. the lady at the hair salon was washing and drying the foils used in hair coloring so she could re-use them. unbelievable! and this was the thing, it was foil from real tin foil rolls! in the US they have special rolls that come off like tissues and they throw them away like used tissues just the same.

people, not even like homeless people, will dig and dig in huge piles of trash to find cans, scrap metal. metals are just expensive enough here to conserve them the way we should conserve all of the stuff we just blow through in the states.

chileans can't help but plasticize everything, though. if only plastic came with a tax that reflects the way it harms the environment. the other day at the market, a guy insisted i take his new plastic bag because it would look nicer than the "ugly", reused plastic bag i had. yes, that's right though, what chileans save in tin, glass, wood, paper, aluminum and ceramic they make up for in plastic. plastic bags? look nice?? ugh...

Chile Gets Its Capitalistic Props

The whole article is definitely worth the read but after my last post, I found this to be a good follow up.

clipped from www.techcrunch.com Chile Wants Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses, Your Tech Entrepreneurs To top this off, Chile is a thriving democracy with one of the most open economies in South America. In fact, if I was starting a new tech company and didn’t need to be in any particular area, I’d start it in Chile in a heartbeat. What really struck me was how many Chileans I met who boasted of their country being a “land of immigrants.” Everyone told stories about how Chile was built by immigrants and welcomed the world’s most skilled and most oppressed. This reminded me of how America used to be before the xenophobes started blaming immigrants for all their own shortcomings and misery. Seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? There are some downsides. Chile is a 15 hour flight from the West Coast. And if you’re going to stay long-term, you’ll need to learn Spanish. That’s not a big price to pay for all the benefits.

Bus Clowns, Wines, and Beer

Something I will miss about Santiago are all the street performers who entertain you at the red light or take your mind off the fact that the bus driver is piloting his spruce goose of the Santiago bus fleet like a driver at Le Mans mainlining red bulls just to make it past that 23rd hour.
These men and women will dress up in everything from clown suits to mime gear. They will play music with a band of friends or throw down some serious chilean rap to the always soothing dre-snoop beat of ain't nuthin like a G thang. Never mind the guy ripping off a perfect rendition of some bach on a pan flute while the bus reincarnates the horse chase from zorro

While my folks were here, the conversation often turned to the fact that the Chilean economy is leading the South American continent. At a time of serious economic pain in the States, the Chileans have barely flinched as their long-term economic planning, that took some heat during the good times, has now paid unbelievable dividends. Squirreling away revenue like batteries and bottled water before a storm, the Chilean finance minister was able to save for a rainy day. Boy, are they putting it to good use now! The city continues to grow each day with new housing and commercial properties being built in every direction. It's not hard to look at their brand of capitalism and be a little envious. It seems like a place where you could truely pull yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps.

From the food vendors selling spring rolls and sandwiches made in their kitchen that morning, to the guy Cait and I bought new socks from as we waited for the crosswalk light to change...this place just oozes capitalism and opportunity. It's really impressive.
We're looking at a long weekend that serves essentially as their memorial day weekend. The official arrival of daylight savings time and the fantastic weather that we've had a taste of this last week. After visa problems, weeks of double classes, bad weather, and a fun but exhausting week of hosting my folks...cait and I are looking forward to some food, a bbq and some relaxation. No better way to start than a little beer and wine sampling night with guacamole and a movie.

flags or fines

on the independence day weekend several weeks ago, scott and i went to pichilemu to celebrate with our friend silvia. we had heard a while ago about how much fun the september holiday is. chileans party all week, drink chicha, eat lots of meat (cuchicheos) and go to fondas. we weren't sure where we would be spending our time off (friday and half of that thursday) as well as the whole weekend but silvia's family's place ended up being a great venue.

many people who travel to chile around this time comment that chileans are "so patriotic" because of the amazing amounts of flags everywhere. in fact, chileans are patriotic, similar in spirit to those from the USA. the flag colors are the same as well which makes the regalia look startlingly similar... anyway, i think it's notable to counter that in fact their patriotism is enforced with a fine; a 20,000 peso fine if a flag is not displayed in their residence or domicile. i would hate to be the carabinero walking around ticketing on a day so festive and drunk as this.


so about the town, pichilemu is just beautiful. there is a special green that lines the colored clay hills that end at the ocean's edge. the waves are perfect for surfers and it certainly attracts a ton of them. the fruits, vegetables, flowers.... amazing. at one point on the drive back north you can see a beautiful strip of coastline at the same time you are staring the andes in the face. the coolest part was seeing silvia's dad's beach house. just breathtaking...

check the view and other pictures from the trip out on facebook.

Students Say The Darndest Things

I've wanted to keep a running journal of the things my students say but generally end up forgetting the little nuggets of joy before I get home at the end of the day. Last week, however, I was presented with two beauties that just wouldn't fade in my memory. The first...a classic... was a student trying to communicate that she had looked up extra information about a topic we'd been covering.

"I know this one, I know this.....I found it in the google"

She said it with a straight face and I absolutely lost it. I love how far google has come as a word in the last however many years. Someone needs to put it to music...like our friend f*#k here.

The second may be one of the funniest things that has happened to me down here in Chile. During a discussion between two students, one had a killer comeback and absolutely crushed the first student's BS argument. This led to me bellowing out a heyooooo as well all laughed at the righteous smackdown. What blew me away wasn't the great english being exchanged, or the rare, true-humor in english. No, It was what happened next. The student with the smackdown...clearly on fire, looked at me as I was finishing my heyooooo and said,

"thunder, thunder, thundercats....heyoooo"

Insert death by laughter.....by me....here

why sweater vests aren't a good idea for dogs

chile is a catholic country. though many chileans could tell you less than i could about catholicism, they still get about 10 days off a year due to various catholic saints' days.

religious polemics aside, the culture here presents a very touching side regarding charity and family. i've heard stories of random people holding up and turning over very drunk people so they don't choke on their own pewk. homeless people are well-fed and supplied with ample drink.

and the dogs... the dogs have sweater vests for the winter (even the homeless ones). of course they pee all over them which is kind of gross. but regardless, they're well-fed and you know, supplied with ample... these dogs are really loved too. i've seen packs of dogs that would lay down their lives for the people who care for them: care for them with love, maybe nothing else.

not only that but people are so respectful of the dogs. at least when i'm looking.
when you talk to a chilean about the dogs, they might actually feel bad about their state. they treat them almost as if they have the same right to be there as any other person. i've seen men physically halted, stumped by a dog's dislike of him. like, instead of anger, complete surprise.."huh i wonder why this dog is barking ferociously at me?" and a side note on the dogs, they are so freaking cute (some of them) that it's hard to not touch them. and touch them you shouldn't because the emotional attachment a deprived being can form at the touch of a hat is absolutely incredible- i've seen it. don't touch them unless you want to take them home.

also, i had never seen a dog look across a street and then cross it (when it was safe) before i came to santiago. literally, these stray dogs cross the street like humans would.

i found out long ago that jokes about children being annoying and troublesome don't go over well with really any chilean, young or old. in fact, many examples in english classes have included loving children, wanting to work with children and of course indecisively, asserting they will have children. there isn't even an iota of like, maybe i'll have kids. it's more like when i do...

abortion is illegal in this country. i found out it costs about a million pesos (about $1,900) to obtain illegally which is a ton for someone who low or even middle class. if you get pregnant and you are unmarried, it seems that the family compensates and in most cases supports the single mother (providing room, board and daycare services). informally, the father will even pay child support. in the US, indecent men will quit their jobs so their child support payment gets lowered.
when people see children on the street, men and women alike will stop to gawk and make cutsey comments.

just the other day, scott and i were with our friend silvia. a young child fell off a stool and the chileans nearby were making consoling comments of "awwww." next to us was a group of gringoes. i could hear them saying, as the child continued to cry, "control your child." now this brings up two issues: one being the fact that gringoes (like me) think that no one here can understand english and secondly, young, traveling gringoes aren't necessarily staring parenthood in the face.

i had a student the other day ask me if my family came with me to live in chile! haha so cute.

for a long time i didn't know why chileans in a largish group would force you off a sidewalk if you tried to pass them walking alone... i just didn't understand it. at home, the individual on the sidewalk would get first priority (after all they are taking up the least amount of space). i should have known that the family/group mentality was part of the reason...
it is this idea. "we the group are stronger than the sum of our individual parts... together we are more important than any individual alone... if you find yourself to be alone trying to walk on the sidewalk, you're better off finding a group and doing it that way, cachai?"

there are countless ways that family has influenced culture here. i'll write up a few more when they come to me. it's fascinating, really.