Your Chile Education Continues

I wanted to continue your education on all things Chilean (starting with this dude here who I thought looked very mafia-esque in this photo)

I really like analyzing the differences between our two awesome countries, and it’s something to entertain me for a couple of hours.

So here it goes.

Similarities:

• Home still feels the same to me. No matter how home is decorated, it still feels the same. Home is the same everywhere I think.
  

• Chilean wine is as good if not better than Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley wine. I’m not sure how I’m going to bring back all the wine and Pisco in my bags. (I am currently drinking Merlot and loving it). I'm too lazy to take a picture of it.
  
• Bohemians in Chile like incense as much as bohemians in America.

• Chileans love having pets like in America.

• Colds are the same everywhere. So are parties. (my cold looked gross, so you don't get to see any of those...and I already posted the latest party picture...you'll just have to wait for more)
  
• The cars are similar, though I’ve seen a lot of Puegots, which I think are different.

• Ants scurry pretty much the same way on the sidewalk as they do in California. They’re the same size too.

Differences:

• Making out in public is not frowned upon, but is expected. This activity is not restricted to just teenagers either.

• Lots of jeans like America, but the back pockets are much more elaborate than anything I see in the states. Zippers, embroidery, leather, etc. Yes, I have stared at a lot of butts…what else am I supposed to do on the metro! I tried to get photos of these pockets but as soon as I was looking for them, I didn't find them anywhere! So, here's a photo of some poppys by the Mapocho.

• Shoes—almost never white sneakers, almost never white socks—these are for exercising only. Exercising below...white socks and sneakers...
  

• Iron fences with big spikes separate each house. I have to unlock two gates to get out of my house complex.

• No watering systems in the lawns where I live. People come over and water. The other day, I came home to some dude watering my plants. I of course said nothing because if he wants to water my plants, I’m not gonna stop him. He was also really cute and later I found out that he was my roommate’s older brother. Normally, I would have been really happy, but this was not a great meeting because my eye was red and swollen and my nose was running. He asked if I had just woken up from a nap. Ugh! Alas, it was not my finest moment.

• Public transportation is a way of life (similar in SF, sure, but for those of us car bound in East Bay, it’s quite a difference). "Por favor, where is this bus going?"

• People juggle knives on street corners (one of them asked me to marry him as I walked by).

• I ordered a doble helado the other day and got an ice cream with three scoops…so a doble is a triple scoop and a simple is a double scoop. It’s like at Starbucks where a small is a tall.

• Dating. They officially ask a girl to be their girlfriend. This is a grey area in America. People sort of slide in to a relationship and nothing is ever said. And then, when a girl is finally introduced as a girlfriend, that’s when she knows.
  

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I wanted to give you educational tidbits in easy-to-read morsels.

Till next time!

Que te vayas bien!

C in C