I wanted to do a post on Chilean culture and some other things I have noticed about life here in Chile and Santiago as well. I'm in the middle of my first week of classes, but I figure I will save that post for a few more days from now when more experience to go off of.
Stray dogs: So there are stray dogs here by the hundreds of thousands. Literally, I think someone told me it was around 100,000 dogs living on the streets in just Santiago alone. They all look really well fed, and some even groomed, and most of them are full breeds, not really any mutts, so part of me wonders if they have 'homes' somewhere, or just random dog lovers looking after them. The amazing part to me is that for every 40 stray dogs I see, there is a cute little puppy on a leash as a pet. Someone else told me that people buy puppies, and when they get tired of them they let them out on the street. There are no pounds or shelters here and that is part of the problem. A few days ago, Hannah and I waked past a store that had 3 kittens in the window and a sign that read, "Se regalan gatitos" and in tiny font, "condición los gatitos se deben ir vacunados"... which basically translates to, "We will give these kittens to you/anybody for free as long as you vaccinate them." It was super tempting not to take one.
Chilean food: A lot of people were excited about all the amazing food I would get to eat. Most of central and south America has a reputation for good, cultural food. Chilean food is definitely cultural, but it's nothing to get worked up over. They like a lot of bread and a lot of mayonesse. (did I spell that right? this computer is in Spanish spell check so apologies for any previous or further spelling errors). The only thing I'm a fan of so far is: 1. the fresh produce. What we consider "organic" in the states, which is just natural fruits and veggies, with no chemicals or added growth potions, is the normally sold produce of Chile. I love it! It tastes amazing and it's cheap. and 2. the Pisco! Pisco is a liquor made with mostly grapes I believe, but it's not wine. It's really good and you mix it with coke, ginger ale, or even beer apparently.
Chilean concept of time: This is SUPER frustrating for me. It's also confusing. People hardly ever arrive to things or start on time. My first week of work and meetings all would call for a 5 pm start time, for example, no one would get there until 5:30, and the meeting didn't start til 5:45, and me, like an anxious 22 year old at my "first job", arrived 15 minutes early. It feels completely disrespectful of my time, and I think I am going to appreciate punctuality much more when I get back home.
La Vega: The AMAZING, beautiful fruit market. It's mostly fruits and vegetables, but there are some fish and meat areas as well. They sell spices and nuts, etc and in some places around the market there are little restaurants. The food is all fresh, delicious, and cheap. I absolutely love it there. The market is massive and so many people get food from there. I want to live close enough that I can go buy my groceries there for the week.
Coffee: of the things that you'd think would be most amazing in South America, one of them is coffee. Here, no way. It's amazing to me that Brazil and Colombia and all the coffee beans are HERE and Chile literally has the worst coffee I've ever tasted. Every single place you go and ask for coffee, any home you're in, anything, it is also NestCafe, or whatever that powdery, mix into your hot water stuff is. It is so sad to me. I love seeking out a good, little café and having a nice latte or americano. That is not a thing here. Three of us were talking about it and lamented how we had to resort to Starbucks to get something that even resembled good coffee.
Stares: I'm a gringa, people stare at me. It's a a bit much sometimes, It happened in Spain, but here they whistle and the way I notice some men looking at me makes me feel downright violated. Other gringas here say I'll get used to it, but I don't know how I could. It's a little frustrating
Prices of things: everything is REALLY cheap. I love it. Rent in the best part of the city can easily be found at around $400 a month, for a good place, with all the utilities included. A full, large pizza with all the fixings, on good artesian bread, at a pizzería costs about $5. I just bought a kilo of bananas for about $1. It's pretty good
Lolla tickets: I'm going to Lollapalooza Chile! I'm super excited. It's next weekend, and I'm going with the other girls from our program who are here in Santiago. The line up is a pretty different from the line up in Chicago, and being the proud Chicagoan I am, I can barely refer to it as Lolla, cause it's just not. It still has some great artists though and I'm referring to it as just an awesome music festival. I'm super excited :)
Viña del mar: We are going this weekend! I'm pretty excited. Dana and Kylie are there and the rest of us girls here in Santiago are making the trip. It's about an hour and a half bus ride.
Moving out: So I am officially one of the last 3 people left in the hostel from our group. It's super lonely and even more stressful, as I'm trying to teach and lesson plan, and I have the worry of where to live on my shoulders as well. I have a few more places to look this week and I am PRAYING that one of them works out. I'm feeling a little hopeless, so if y'all could just pray that I find something, that'd be awesome. My next post will update you on that hopefully, and how classes are.
Street food: such a cool concept. Not much you find in the States. People make food in their homes and sell it on the street. Usually, it's really good, cheap, authentic, homemade food, and for the most part, way better value. I even found some vegan street food! It's amazing! Over the past 6 days I've bought I vegan empanada, a vegan hamburger, and a vegan hamburger pita. Yuuumm!
Next post about first week of classes!
Besos,
Ally
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