The "Culture Shock" List

Hey everybody! Sorry for the lack of posting the last few weeks- it's been a combination of spotty internet, blog website issues (resolved, woohoo!), lack of time/drive, etc. It's been a huuuuge adjustment living here!

Also we've had some power outages and lack of warm water too- little things that we totally take for granted in the US! It was super difficult getting used to all this at first - there was a day when I ranted about it all on Twitter haha! But I'm super used to it now, and it really taught me to be patient when faced with problems abroad :)

On the bus trip to Valparaiso I passed around my phone and everyone in my program added to this list- a list of everything we have adjusted to in Chile!:

• Everyday greetings

In Chile everyone kisses each other on the cheek to greet each other! Instead of in Europe where people usually just make a smooching sound next to your face and call it quits, Chilenos will actually give you a fully-fledged kiss on the cheek, and you're expected to kiss them too! Haha it was super weird getting used to kissing people I didn't know, but now I'm super used to it! I'm afraid when I come back home to the states I'll keep kissing people as a greeting LOL. (P.S. It's awesome though because I get kisses from really cute Chileno guys 😍😍😍)

• Always wearing shoes indoors

We learned in our orientation that apparently it's rude to take off your shoes at someone's house! After asking around a bit and watching the locals, it's true that people keep their shoes almost all of the time indoors. It does differentiate in different houses though. In my house I mostly keep my shoes on because the floors are often dirty!

• Differences in food

There's actually lots of Chilean-specific dishes here! There are empanadas (like small calzones with meat, cheese, olives, and egg), chillenas?, and some other foods that I forgot. I'm going to a Chilean birthday party on Sunday and they'll have lots of traditional food there- I'll take pictures!

• Taking short showers

This is a big difference- Chilenos take 5-10 minute showers once or twice a day, but I haven't been lectured on mine being too long yet haha!

• #chileanwifi

Godddddddddddd. Chilean Wifi. If there were one thing I could change about this country, it would be the wifi! In the last three weeks have found only two cafés and one salon with public wifi! At my host home, the Internet would constantly cut out, until recently when we had a maintenance man come in and fix it :)

• Etiquette/saftey on Metro

Getting on the metro for the first time was quite a shock! The metro is the cheapest, most convenient travel method in Santiago, so practically EVERYONE uses it! In the morning from 6:30-9 and in the evening from 4-8 it's PACKED and you have to squash on the subway with people pressed up against you on all sides! It was quite strange and awkward at first, but again - something I've gotten used to :) I've gotten pickpocketted twice now in the metro, but I haven't lost anything yet. Both times I was carrying too much stuff (first time my school bag, purse, and camera under my coat) (second time was today with my school bag, purse, and ukelele). Both times someone had opened the outside pocket of my backpack but hadn't taken anything (they would have just gotten some tissues and an orange peel - I don't keep valuables in my bag for that reason). But yeah, just keep a hand on your valuables in the train and in the metro and then don't put anything valuable in your backpack, and you won't lose anything.

• Outlet adapters

It was quite the adventure finding an outlet adapter! I finally found one the first weekend being in town, and had to buy it using my non-existent Spanish at the time! I used a lot of hand gestures and managed to get what I needed. The voltage is different here as well, but I didn't get a voltage converter and I haven't fried any of my electronics yet!

• MEAL TIMES!

Meal times are incredibly different here, and were pretty difficult to adjust to at first. Most Chileans will have breakfast at 7, then "once" (pronounced "own-say" meaning 11, which is teatime) at anywhere from 10-2, a huge lunch anywhere from 12-2, and dinner at any time from 8-11 pm! I will try to remember to take pictures of all my family's homemade meals at some point! Breakfast is toast with manjar (dulce de leche, similar to caramel) and jam, juice, and coffee or hot chocolate. "Once" is a piece of bread or a small sandwich, and/or some fruit with tea. Lunch is the main course of the day including a huge pasta or potato or meat dish, salad, bread, and dessert! Then dinner is soup, a medium-sized main dish, and salad in that order. Mamá always offers me tea, coffee, and/or dessert every night before bed.

• Finding directions to everywhere without using all your phone data

Ahaha! Yes! I got 100 MB of data for the whole four weeks, and I ran out about halfway through the trip. Before you go on a trip make sure to review how to add more data to your phone! Lots of my friends got Chilean "SIM cards" and then bought minutes and data as they went. Some people got a gig of data for only a few dollars! I might try that out next time, it seemed like a good deal.

• Catcalling

There is a word in South America, "machismo" - it basically means manliness, and you can see it everywhere! Lots of guys dress up nice, look beautiful, and are ripped, sure, but the word also has a connotation for seeing women as art rather than just regular people. It puts women on a pedestal in some ways and brings them down in other ways. Women are seen as beautiful works of art, but are catcalled, often encouraged to work in the home, etc. Also, the blonder you are, the more attention you get. I haven't gotten much attention, but girls blonder than me in my study abroad program here have had men say things to them on the street, etc. Honestly, I don't think it's much worse here than walking around in downtown Phoenix. If anything, the guys here in general are nicer than a lot I see back home.

• Timeliness (or lack thereof)

I haven't experienced a lot of this (except maybe at the smash tournament) but people will not show up for parties or planned social outings "on time". In Chile, being a bit over an hour late for social get-togethers is normal. Brenda (one of our program directors) told us that if a party "starts at 6" that means the hostess will probably be in the grocery store buying things for the party at 6. If you show up at 6 or even 7, you might be at an empty house!

• Restaurants that don't split checks or are incredibly slow

According to my professor at school here, most restaurants can split checks, but most of the time we end up just getting a total check and then paying each other back in cash.

• Living without a heating system in the houses!

OMG YES this was definitely a struggle!!!! Houses do not have heating. And it's winter here! It's been anywhere from 35-50 degrees Fahrenheit here, and it gets SO cold indoors! Thankfully my familia provided me an electric blanket that I can turn on! At first when I got home I would always run to my bed and shiver under the covers waiting for the blanket to warm up, but now I'm getting used to it! I walk around with wet hair in the morning, and it gets really cold. My host mama Ximena complains, but it doesn't bother me anymore :)

• What seems like an entirely new Spanish vocabulary

For sure! Chilean Spanish is very different from both Spaniard and Mexican Spanish! There are many words that are only used in Chile. Here are some words that I learned:

"Carrete" meaning party! They use the word fiesta here, but not as often.

"Briiiiiigido!" is my favorite word in Chilean Spanish! It's a slang word that means heavy sh** or similar to the f-word when describing something awesome. It's really fun to say, and you can change the ending to "a" if you want to imply that it's describing a girl. I was called "brigida" at the tournament when people saw me playing with my feet haha!

"Weon" is another slang word meaning "man" or "homie" or "dude". It usually starts and ends a sentence directed toward a friend. It kind of functions like "homie" and "man" in the sentence "Yo homie, 'sup man?" You hear it ALL the time!

"Po" is an interesting word that means absolutely nothing, but just extends a sentence. Instead of just saying "si", Chilenos will say "Si, po" or "sip" to communicate that they understood you. They also throw it in at the end of sentences just for fun. It functions similarly to the word "Bloß" in German.

"Cachai?" is basically a word thrown in at the end of sentences meaning "got it?" or "Kapeesh?" asking if you understand what the person just said. Unlike "got it" or Kapeesh, it only requires a "si" or "no" and not a "Cachai" in return.

• Smog and smoking

Looooots of people smoke here and I'm almost used to getting face-fulls of cigarette smoke in public now. Most restaurants don't accept smoking indoors, but people will smoke outside and sometimes in houses.

• Taking care of myself better

A few people on our trip have run into some personal/emotional/physical problems while on study abroad. It's super important to talk to someone if you feel homesick or sad. Go to the doctor if you feel sick, do not wait!

• Treating everyone like a family member

I'm used used to staying with many foreign families of different types and different rules, so this didn't bother me much. It is important to realize that this family will be different than your family back home, but after the first couple weeks you will sort out your differences. If there are real big problems you can always switch to another host family.

• Locals sending 5000+ texts at once!

Yeah- make sure to get a WhatsApp or Viber or other messenger app that works on wifi. Otherwise texting can get expensive!

• Motorcycles on sidewalks?

Yup! In Chile, bicycles, skateboards, and even motorcycles are allowed on sidewalks! It's not dangerous though because pedestrians have right of way to the MAX. Motorcycles won't run you over. Cars, motorcycles, bikes, skateboarders, will always stop for pedestrians so lots of locals jaywalk and don't even take much caution crossing the streets. I mostly just followed whatever the locals did, and I haven't gotten run over, so there's that.

• Couples make out WHEREVER they are

Yeaaah PDA is huge in Southern America in general I feel.. It takes some getting used to seeing couples going at it on the subway, but, again, you get used to it haha!

That's just a snapshot of some of the things we've all been adjusting to over the last couple weeks! It was hard the first week and a half, but after making some mistakes, getting lost a couple times, and asking lots of questions, most everything is easy to navigate physically and socially.

That's it for today! Love you all, wanna see you all but honest to god I really don't wanna leave here! This city, this country, it's people, are probably my favorite in the world. And I've traveled a LOT. It's amazing here and I'm having such a great time!

Buenas Noches <3

Love,

[CHAR]