Differences in the Details: Chilean Culture 101

Sunday is the halfway mark of my timre in Chile. While I desperately want a Shawn's blueberry bagel, upon my return I know that my stomach's satisfaction will not be worth the mental pain of leaving Chile. Clearly when spending time in another country, you're going to come across some funny little cultural details that make you turn your head up and say, "Wait, what?!" In honor of my halfway mark, here are some little Chilean oddities that either really frustrate me, or that I've come to know and love.

1. Nescafé: Chileans do not drink coffee in "ground bean" form like we do. In fact, most of them do not own nor know how to use a coffee maker. Instead, it is completely customary (both at home and at restaurants) to just heat up some water and put some "coffee powder" in it. This creates a liquid that, as you might of guessed, takes very little like real coffee and instead, like coffee flavored water. ick. ALSO: Even Chilean coffee cafés don't brew coffee. You may have a cappuchino, mocha, expresso shots, or latte, but coffee shops don't brew coffee. An americano is the closest thing I've come.

2. Libraries: The library at my university does not allow you to bring backpacks inside. The second week of school I rolled into the library to do some homework on my two hour break between classes, and the man at the reference desk curtly told me that there are no backpacks in the library. I stared at him dumbfounded and said, "But all my homework is in here!" He pointed to lockers along the wall, where I joined the other students in simply taking everything that was previously in my backpack out and carrying it in my hands. This is not just a U. Católica rule, even at the Govt-run National Library and others in the city, no backpacks are allowed.

3. White bread: Chileans only eat white bread. Wheat is sold in the stores, and finally now my host mom will occasionally buy it for me on special request, but as a general rule, no wheat bread ever passes Chilean lips. The bad part about this? Pancito (a roll of bread) is served with every meal except breakfast.

4. No central heat/AC: The entire country of Chile lives without either air conditioning or central heating. Not in businesses, not at school, not in restaurants, not at home. The story I've been told is that it's too expensive, which I suppose makes sense. However, it gets down to the 30's at night in the winter. Since its now fall leading into winter here, I've been finding it very hard to sit at my desk and write papers with blue, freezing hands. This means I usually end up doing homework in bed, but you know where that leads...

5. Stray dogs/General love of dogs: Chile has a dog problem. There are hundreds of thousands of stray dogs living on the street here. Think of it this way, dogs are to Chile what cows are to India. Also, Chileans in general LOVE dogs. Most families have at least one, and to say you don't like dogs would be super strange, because for the most part, everybody just flat out adores their dogs (stray and domesticated).

6. Toilet Paper Troubles: In a lot of public restrooms there is no TP in the actual stalls. Even at the hoity-toity private catholic university that I attend here, no TP in the stalls. However, there is a giant roll on the wall at the end of the rows of stalls, and you just go and grab your TP and take it into the stall with you. You also use TP to dry your hands after you wash them. This is upsetting because a) If you've got a little more work to do in the bathroom, everyone knows by how much toilet paper you've taken...and b) its just generally hard to anticipate exactly how much TP you're going to need. Awkward.

Alright, well maybe I've blogged about only the things that frustrate me. But these aren't complaints, just little differences that make me understand that some of the things I see as givens in my every day life in the States just--aren't! And that, in a nutshell, is why I love to travel. Living in different countries expands the way I think and helps me to put myself inside the minds of others. But oh for a bagel...

Be well.
Amy