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Published: March 30th 2008
Po, estoy aquí, en Valdivia ¡por fin! I won’t bore you with the travel stuff, which really isn’t too exciting for anyone other than me; instead, let me list some of the impressions I’ve had of the South American continent so far. Oh, but I should warn you that I unfortunately have no pictures for you as of yet, since I never thought to bring the camera mount necessary from USBing my camera into the computer. So…soon. Trust me, they’re worth the wait!
First impression: even though everyone keeps telling me otherwise, it’s very green here. You don’t necessarily think of Chile and imagine green, rocky hills and cool, oceanic breezes. Nor do you think of the landscape and picture yourself in a locale similar to Maine or even Ireland. But this is what you really see, even when the region has had a very dry summer. I honestly can’t imagine what this place would be like when watered sufficient to local standards. I don’t think there is a beauty richer than the region of Los Lagos.
Second impression: driving here is scary. There is a definite reason that they prohibit driving for program students here. As one girl put it, lanes are much more akin to road measurements than strict guidelines. There are a number of outdoor dogs in Valdivia, wild and domesticated (but not actually wild wild. Just unowned.) These canine creatures have the right of way in the streets around here; the people driving just accommodate them. Obviously, it’s the considerate thing to do, but with such a quantity of the Chilean version of sacred cows passing down the street, it slows traffic. Then there’s also the issue of the non-motorized transport that hugs the edge of the right lane. From wheelbarrows to bikes to horse-drawn carts, all sorts of strange contraptions pass down the street, rather than clog the sidewalk.
Third impression: Chileans have a great number of assumptions about Americans. They aren’t anti-American. No one has held my citizenship against me. And for the majority, they’re as kind and accepting as anyone I’ve ever met. But as Heidi warned, a few have certain expectations regarding one’s inability to understand the language. At the same time, they seem to lack awareness of the fact that the Spanish-speaking world is not the only one inhabiting this planet. It’s a strange dichotomy. For example, say you’re sitting at the kitchen table after a long dinner with your housemates. You’ve participated somewhat in the conversation, and intelligently, but for the most part you’ve been listening to those around you. (When they talk so quickly, understanding conversations is kind of like grabbing for a handhold on a speeding train you want to jump onto. It passes by so fast that you have trouble focusing on any single object, but you could describe its general appearance by type and color.) After a particularly complex subject, one whippersnapper at the ruthless age of 18 turns to the others and says, in front of you, that you don’t understand. Then he proceeds to ask your name from them, as if you wouldn’t even recognize it spoken from a foreign tongue. His young thoughtlessness would be a little frustrating, right? And people will make this assumption at times, for whatever reason. Mostly it has to do with an ignorance of foreigners. Honestly, Chile is pretty far removed from el turismo de los gringos (and pretty much every American is a gringo; it’s not derogatory) and they could use a little help realizing the size of the world. The best option when you come across this misconception is not to overtly discuss it, because this doesn’t seem to work (according to a fine source) but rather to ignore the discrepancy and disprove the stereotype by proving yourself to be otherwise.
Fourth impression: the Pacific Ocean is SOOOOOOO cool! I can’t wait to post pictures!
Fifth impression: speaking in a foreign language all day is exhausting!
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james st. james
non-member comment
road rules
it's not that drivers in chile are nutty, it's that american drivers are so......passive? orderly? i don't know what the right word is, but i can tell you chile has some of the best behaved drivers in latin america. drive anywhere else (argentina, bolivia, central america) and you put your life at risk. in chile, drivers stop at crosswalks, something they don't do anywhere else on the continent. compared to any european drivers even (except maybe germans) chileans are very sane and polite. it's just that in the grand spectrum of driving, americans are very orderly and this makes everyone else look like a maniac (i'm a chilean living in the US and i don't drive in chile either, for these same reasons). another often ignored factor in traffic flow is the fact that most chileans (and most citizens of planet earth, except americans) drive stick-shift cars, and when everyone drive a stick shift (instead of just 10 or 20% like in the US) traffic just flows differently (more zip on the roads). anyway, enjoy the rest of your time in chile. the first few weeks in a new country are always so exciting! cheers!