Today's my 100th Day in Chile..
The People:
I find the people here friendly and curious to know about Indian culture. Often people on the streets walk up to me and ask if I am Indian.... (Bloody racists... :)); they just go on and on about meditation and yoga, a subject where I have nothing much to say. In general they have high regard to Indians. Almost everyone I interact with say they plan to visit India once in their lifetime not sure if they really mean it or it’s just another lie :D.
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| From Salud Chile! - Holy God of Dick... [Location: Chile - San Pedro Atacama] |
The Streets:
Almost every 100 meters you run into a signal post. Driving here you need a lot of patience, at peak hour you see bumper to bumper traffic; you often see callous women jump lanes. The parking lots here suck... My first experience was in downtown Santiago off peak hours at 1130 hours on a Friday morning; it took about 30 minutes to get the car out on the roads! The one ways reverse during peak hours! This can get you in a mess if you do not know Spanish as all sign boards read Spanish!
Harley Davidson is quite common, there one in my apartment complex too.. You will find a lot of Harleys parked in the parking lot downtown.
I see a lot of petty shops selling Shoes, Lingerie, Medical stores and coffee shops. I wonder as to why that many shoe sellers, I skip the Lingerie :) and Medical Shops!! Coffee and Tea here sucks big time and is mostly consumed without Milk, I am still getting used to it.
The Language:
Spanish sounds funny, especially with the over use of word 'but' -> 'PERO', people here have a funny habit of extending the 'OOOOOOOOO' in PERO...... Doggy in Spanish is 'Perro'; on hearing perooooooooo, I exclaim 'bou bou'.
People here watch English movies, listen to English Music and even study English as part of schooling, but very few speak and understand English. This is true even with people high up the corporate ladder.
Food and living:
Chile is damn expensive; just over inflated. Approximately 1 USD = 480 Pesos [Chilean Currency]; yea I know that’s a shitty conversion rate! But you can't buy a kilo of Tomatoes for 1000 Pesos. Tomatoes a kilo a month ago was 2000 Pesos! That’s like INR 200 Bucks a kilo of tomatoes, Tapioca a kilo @ 2300 pesos...what a f***ing misery!! Fruits and Vegetables are tongue twisters and monster size, leave alone the prices. You got some funny vegetables like Alcachofa -> you eat his ass!! And chuck the rest. You don't get Indian Spices and most varieties of Indian Daals; I tried to take some however the custom dudes at Chilean Airport seized 'em all.
Cheese Empanadas and Sopipillas are great Chilean Snacks.
On an average a meal outside ranges between 2000 pesos ~ 4000 pesos [INR 200~400].
It’s hard to find natural stuff here; people prefer canned, bottled and other fast food items. I guess only Indians like to cook and eat.. The Chileans seem to like Indian Food, however at the end of it they say it was F***ing spicy :). Till date I haven't seen any Vegetarians. Beef, Pork, seafood and chicken is the order of preference.
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| From Geysers: San Pedro Atacama - Mother Earth Farts stinky Sulphur compounds! |
Chileans are party freaks and Alcoholics -> Pisco & Pisco Sour are special Chilean drinks. The culture here is Girlfriend ~ Boyfriend that’s how I define it, pretty cool... Marriages that end in disaster can prove costly to the earning member as he/she could end up losing all his hard earned assets. There are other advantages being single - Insurance premiums are lower, not sure if it has a +ve impact on the taxes as well..
There are considerable number of Gays and Transgenders in Chile. I have seen them in considerable number and don't wish to comment more.
It’s not hard to make girlfriends in Chile. It's common for Guys to have 1+ Gfs at the same time. I see women out number men almost everywhere - like in Metros, Shopping Maals etc. I guess Chile has a sex ratio imbalance :); however the good part is that girls in Chile are extremely pretty and attractive. The women dress well and like being noticed. The Chilean way to eve tease them -> 'Mijita Rica' [Sexy Lady] (FYI, I am no sexist :P). Almost all women consume Alcohol and smoke. The women outnumber the men when it comes to smoking.. God bless the women.
The Weather
The weather is cool most of the time. Summers are hot, that’s what the locals say, so far I seem to like it. The winters were cold with temperatures around ZERO.
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| From Tajamar - Apartment Complex Garden |
Chilean Treasure:
Chile produces 18% of the Worlds Copper, however I wonder as to why it’s expensive to buy copper ornaments out here. A small copper bracelet costs 2000 pesos [INR 200]... Crystals are available here in abundance in the North of Chile. One will not find Gold ornaments in Chile being sold, or at least I never say any place selling it... People here prefer silver jewellery.
The Greenery:
The locals complain of lack of Greenery in City limits. I am pretty happy with the greenery I see. Spring is the flowering season and has just started. I see flowers bloom everywhere. It’s pretty good time to go out Photographing the flowers. The flowers in Chile are extremely colourful and deeply coloured but less fragrant. Cactuses are common too.
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| From Caliente Gatos: Caught in the Act! [Apartment Complex] |
Word of Caution -
1. Sacar la chucha - Chilean - beat the F*** out of you!
2. Weon - Chilean - Dude/Dumb Jack Ass (Context based)
3. Perra - Spanish - Bitch
4. Puta - Spanish - Prostitute
5. tonto - Spanish - Mad/Silly
6. loco - Spanish - Crazy
7. Perrito - Chilean - Chuddy Dosth (Close Friend)
8. Mijita Rica - Chilean - Sexy Lady (Women get offended)
9. Linda - Spanish - Sexy Lady (Women like it)
10.Jote - Chilean - Guy who likes watching women :P
11.Caliente - Spanish - Guy who is Obsessed with Sex
12.Alcachofa - Spanish - Girl with Big Ass :P
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| From Salud Chile! - Beautiful Flamingo |
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