I’m sorry if this entry is a bit scattered but I felt I needed to touch on everything mentioned and didn’t have time to organize it in a more cohesive/comprehensive way.
I’ve been in Chile for two months now. And when I say “two months” it seems like nothing. It’s almost as if speaking about it trivializes it. Anyways, in these two months I’ve come to know a good part of the city. I must say one thing—although the Metro (subway) is great, clean, efficient and all—what public transportation system stops running at 10:30 pm? Come on.
Fortunately, my initial bashing of Chilean culture was a little misplaced. It only picked up on the superficial reflection of the culture. There is a great degree of complexity and resistance within the underbelly. Yes, there are people who unquestioningly accept any and all aspects of America life. For example, my host mother knows of this lady who celebrates Thanksgiving (in all its splendor and ritual) when basically no one else in the entire country knows or cares about Pilgrims or the Mayflower. Others—what seems to be the majority—pick and choose. They incorporate certain American AND European cultural items and adapt and transfigure them. Clothing and music are great examples. For guys something very typical is to wear male capris, a sleeveless shirt and Brazilian sandals. Haircuts here are, as far as I can tell, unique. Lots of guys wear these sort of mini-mullets which look pretty chic and not hickish at all. They’ve also got rat tails which can also look cool but they’re much much harder to pull off without looking ridiculous. In terms of music, at least the music I’ve been exposed to here in Chile, there’s a lot to say but I’ll stick to two main points. People listen to all sorts of music—good and bad, from other parts of Latin America, the US and Europe. Within the national scene, a lot of contemporary music delicately blends strains of Chilean and Latin American folk music with electronic elements and elements initiated within American and European independent music. Yet another, smaller, group is one which exists amongst both the wealthy and poor. It clings to the national culture and wants nothing to do with anything foreign.
In Santiago I live at the western border of Providencia (lower-middle-class to upper-middle-class neighborhood) next to Bellavista (a working-class, lower-middle-class, bohemian neighborhood where Pablo Neruda once lived) hugged by Cerro San Cristobal (a hill on which there is a church, a zoo and a park) in the north. I live on Manuel Montt and 11 de septiembre. Manuel Montt is lined with restaurants and bars (there are a few universities just south). 11 de septiembre is a street which Pinochet renamed to commemorate his rise to power. There is a legal as well as a street campaign to change the name of the street back to Avenida Providencia Sur. There are people who’ve made some ingenious stickers of the same color as the street signs that read “Av. Providencia Sur” and have superimposed them on the existing street signs. I live with wonderful woman named Marcela. She’s a fifty-something year-old divorcee artist who reads a lot.
Geographically, the country is extremely diverse. From the driest deserts in the world in the north to the beautiful forested Lake District south of Santiago to the Chilean Patagonia in the south populated by fjords, glaciers and turquoise lakes. From the north to south of Santiago there are great beaches. Isla Negra (a beach close to Santiago where Pablo Neruda once lived) is particularly beautiful. Recently I traveled to the Lake District (which is fantastic). The region is inhabited by a considerable German-immigrant population. The influence of German culture is blatant especially on the architecture and the people. Pucon is a gorgeous resort town in the Lake District which I’m told looks a lot like Aspen. People practice a lot of action-adventure sports there. I ate shit trying to climb a volcano, zip-lined and dominated level 4 whitewater rapids during my stay there. Chiloe is an island just south of the Lake District only accessible by ferry. The island is unique in that it has a strong culture distinct to the rest of the country—in an imperfect analogy, Chiloe is Chile’s Hawaii.
The subject of Pinochet is a very delicate one. Most people refuse to say anything too strong or concrete and usually express either lukewarm approval or distaste. There are people though who hold strong opinions and don’t care for conciliation.
One of the less appealing and more surprising aspects of Chile is the blatant hatred for Peruvians here. There is the historical hatred of war between the two countries but on top of that there is also racism stemming from Peruvian immigration into Chile. It’s some shady business.
One of the things I enjoy most is the concept of time and the appreciation for family here. Although people are hard-working they know how to enjoy their time. They take long vacations two-weeks to a month. They have “onces” which is a tea-time-like hour. They take siestas. Some people go home for lunch. Some businesses close for lunch and entirely on Sunday. And they party “‘til six in tha mornin’!” literally. The family is THE institution, nothing is more sacred.
In terms of food, people eat way too much mayonnaise, avocado and bread. I never thought you could eat “too much” avocado. I’ve been proved wrong. I do like this drink called Fanschop. It’s Fanta and beer (a schop = a pint of beer, more or less). It tastes like cheap citrus-y champagne.
Lastly, I’d like to have a linguistics pause. There isn’t as much slang in Mexico but there’s a lot. Some examples are: bacan, ¿como estai?, ¿cachai?, la huahua, cahuin, choro, ¡pucha!, fome, huevon, la mina, el carrete. In sentence form: “Pucha huevón, el carrete de anoche fue fome!” = “Fuck man, last night’s party sucked!” They’ve also got a distinct name for basically everything: Frutilla = Fresa = Strawberry, Maní = Cacahuate = Peanut, Palta = Aguacate = Avocado, Porotos = Frijoles = Beans, Ají = Chile = Pepper, Pevre = Salsa = Salsa, Choclo = Maíz = Corn.
