First Impressions if Chile

This entry is part of a group blog that I found on Cachando Chile.

I first came to Chile when I was 17 in July 2001.  My family had hosted a chilean foreign exchange student, J.  I was headed down to Chile with him after his year in the U.S. had ended to have my own type of exchange.  When the plane landed in Santiago, over a hundred teenage chilean exchange students yelled "CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE  VIVA CHILE!"  Somehow I thought this was the normal thing that chileans said upon landing in Chile(I later learned on other visits that it is not.  I  simple "ya llegamos a Chile" is sufficient).  J. and I then got off the plan to proceed through customs and immigration (and of course before hand having to pay the $65 entrance fee for U.S. Americans---sheesh I hadn't even touched Chilean soil yet and they're charging me?!?!).  We were greeted by pretty much ALL J.'s family (extended family included) and I had no idea who all these people were that were hugging and kissing me.

After the airport, we all headed to Viña del Mar, where J.'s extended family lived.  I was so overwhelmed by all the spanish that I didn't speak and a lot of people thought I was really shy and/or didn't know how to speak spanish.  After a nap for a few hours, they soon learned that I was quite the chatterbox in my limited spanish.  We had an asado that night where I very quickly developed a love for choripan and jote (a mix of wine and coke).  

A few days later, we went to Copiapó, where J. and his immediate family lived.  Copiapó was quite different from Viña del Mar- no ocean, large city that rises up a hill/mountain that is breathtaking at night.  Just a dusty, dirty desert city that more resembled a town.  The family lived just outside the city in a town called Paipote.

I went to school with J., his sister (M.) and their foreign exchange student from New Zealand (S.).  All their classmates and teachers were soooo nice and talkative.  Often during breaks they would always ask me questions about myself and the United Stated and of course if I liked Chile.  I thought Chile was FULL of great people and soon fell in love.

As far as the language was concerned, I was reveling in how many words were different than what I had learned up through Spanish 4 (palta/aguacate, frutilla/fresa, durazno/melocotón, autobus/micro...the list goes on).  I was keeping a mental check list of all the different words to remember to use in my AP Spanish 5 class that fall to show off where I had been.  Mish.

Also, with being 17, I though it was pretty cool to go out on the weekends and drink.  Mmmmm piscola and jote.  I was officially cool like all the kids back home that smoked up marijuana during lunch and now had some street cred.

These were all just my initial impression of when I came at the age of 17.  Obviously when I came back when I was 23, I had some different impressions such as Why aren't people as nice as they are in the north? The sucki-ness that is Transsantiago, people's impatience when driving and how much chileans love 80's music.

Chilean Washing Machines

So awhile back I FINALLY got my landlord to put a washing machine in my apartment unit.  I was ecstatic, especially after having to send my laundry out to the Pronto Matic for 5.000 CLP a load...I had to be selective about what I wanted to wash (and wear!).  The washing machine is a nice used front loading kind, which I have heard are really good.  My landlord showed us how to use it, instructing me to use certain cycles as they use less water.  It seemed pretty simple...I mean how hard could it be to wash clothes?

Well apparently, it can be pretty hard.  First off, the washing machine doesn't have a very good spin cycle, so my clothes came out sopping wet.  Since then, my clothes have still come out really wet and covered in detergent (the powder kind) and I have had to run them through the wash again, which is of course not very eco-friendly.

So am I missing the boat on how to wash my clothes chilean style?

The Chilean Hugh Hefener

So today as I was flipping through channels, I came across something VERY disturbing.  On one of the music channels, a TV host was interviewing a not so attractive older "gentleman" surrounded buy scantily-clad, overly tan, dyed blond slender women wearing bunny ears.  Who could this be since it wasn't "The Hef" himself?  Well it was Ramón "Chocolito" Ortiz (I may not have the name right, that wasn't the part of the screen I was drawn to), a man who considers himself to be the Chilean Hugh Hefner.  Oh barf.

In the few minutes that I watched, all his "girlfriends" agreed that he was a gentleman and treated them very well.   Hmmmm...I guess polygamy and imposing unreal standards of beauty (ALL the women pretty much looked the same) are an excellent way to treat women, and to set example for other men and women to follow.  And even after all the work the "girlfriends" had done, they weren't even remotely attractive.  My favorite part was when one of the women was able to make her fake boobs "dance."  That is a skill that will lead her far in life.

So the five minutes (that's all I could take) of this show got me to thinking about beauty standards here in Chile.  I have noticed a lot of women  dye their hair a lighter color maybe in the hope of trying to look more anglo.  Another thing I have noticed here is that women lack curves (or should I say a butt), but that is something not within their control.  People have said to me that gringa women are unkept, or "hippie" looking, meaning they don't take time to make themselves look good and some even go to say they're fat.  Hmmm that's a far cry from the standards of beauty mentioned above, especially when it seems they've been imported from the U.S.  While at other times chilenas are what some may describe as attractive and seem not to put a lot of time into their appearance.  

So no matter how hard I try to be comfortable in my own skin, I can't help but fell self-conscious, and sometimes even more so here in Chile.  I'm taller than most chilenas (I'm 5'6" size 8) which does consequently translate to being "larger."  By all means I'm not overweight (and I don't consider myself to be) but a while ago I was out to happy hour with a mixed group of people and a chilena told me I wasn't very thin.  I was pretty bothered by her comment, especially since she was technically heavier than me.  I have dark hair (almost black), pale skin, small breasts and apparently by chilean standards am not very slender.

So where does this all leave us, living in a world where it seems women aren't good enough unless they have prescribed to these limited standards of beauty?

New Blogger

So I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing.  But here it goes.  After living in Chile for about a year and half now, I thought it would be a good way to talk about my experience here.  I do have to say I love this country with all my heart (why would I have been here so long??), it does have its quirks that can be kinda irritating but for the most part aren't too bad.  

So if someone asked me what my favorite thing about Chile is, I would definitely say the wine.  You can't beat buying a great bottle of wine for under $10 (or 5.000 chilean pesos).  Since coming here I have been fascinated by it.  I am constantly reading about it and drinking it with some of my friends.  I am a huge fan of reds (syrah and carmenere) but recently a friend of mine has gotten me on a sauvignon blanc kick!  I can't wait for the vendimias coming up in March (wine harvest festivals--super fun!) and will be in attendance for as many as possible!