Choque Cultural

The following post is mostly derived from yet another email because I still have to catch up after starting this blog a bit late. Also, I'm far too lazy to write a whole new post when I've already written on this topic. But, for the most part, the writing that follows consists of the small facets of Chilean life that, were I to be in charge, would be done away with. Here is an excerpt from the email sent on July 29th (yes I know...I'm far behind) :
"I'll try to type this email as error free as possible but my fingers are a little bit like ice cubes. ¿Por qué? you might ask....well, it's winter in Chile and Chileans don't have central heating in their houses. ¿Por qué? you might ask again, starting to wonder what kind of crazy country doesn't have heat during winter...well, in Chile (specifically Valparaíso, the main city where I'm living) winters are mild, usually never getting below freezing, and they don't last long. So it makes sense I guess since it's expensive to install and not economical to use (clearly a mindset far removed from some of us en los Estados Unidos). They do use "estufas", or small gas space heaters, but from what I've experienced (and am experiencing right now) they don't heat up very much space. Needless to say, you pretty much bundle up wherever you go, be it inside or out. [Back to the present day for a moment, I was walking to class in the building "Sausalito" where my mountain sports class is, and it was sunny and warm getting there, but as soon as the sun sets...brrrrrrrr! I was shivering on the way home] Well, enough on the weather, let me tell you something else crazy about Chile...well, maybe not crazy, but it's going to take some getting used to. Not to offend those of you who may smoke, but, should you partake in this most carcenogenic habit, you would be very comfortable in Chile. For the rest of us, it's quite an annoying phenominon. Every club or bar or house or appartment or street corner or alley way or...well that's a bit of an exaggeration, but A LOT of places one would want to go are pretty full of smokers which makes your clothes pretty full of smoke which makes you pretty smelly which makes you want to wash your clothes but your host mom doesn't wash them as often as you fill them with smoke so you wear the same clothes a lot until the smoky ones are clean (breathe). Thankfully my host family doesn't smoke (my 19 year old sister does at parties but don't tell her mom!) and there's no smoking inside the university (whew!) so I'll manage.
Ok, now that I have my two complaints out of the way, it's time to say that this country is amazing! I went up an ascensor the other day which is kind of like a cable car lift thingy and the view over the port was beautiful. Valparaíso is an old city so the architecture is really different and colorful and kind of haphazardly placed in perfect harmony which, when seen from above, is quite the sight. To top it off, there was an accordian player on the patio who really set the ambiance. Down below, there are infinitely stretching beaches and really cool looking "muelles" or piers that jut out into the harbor where you can see all the ships coming in and, at night, the sparkling city lights. There's one called "Muelle Barón" that's perfect for throwing a frisbee (Chileans thought me and my friend were really cool because I don't think they've ever seen ultimate players throwing frisbees before...either that or they were staring at us like we're some weird looking gringos...as I've come to learn, usually it's the latter). Another phenomenal Chilean treat is the wine, which, I might add, you only need to be 18 to drink. I went to a wine tasting expo and was quite impressed by (1) how classy I felt and (2) the wine was quite delectible. I also learned how to describe various types of wine in spanish which will come in handy down the road I think." So there you have it. Some of my first experiences in this vastly long, diverse, strange, country where they like their parties long (I mean loooong) their Pisco sour and their hot dogs ("Completos") covered in mayonnaise...ugh!