May 10, 2010

Week 2: WHO are Chileans?

Hello everyone,

Hope you enjoyed learning all about the WHEREs of Chile and that you are excited about getting to know WHO Chilean people are...

Chilean People and Culture

My impressions of the Chilean people are very positive. Anyone who visits Chile will learn right away that Chileans are warm, friendly, and very proud of their culture - and therefore they are very eager to help visitors and make them feel welcome. My classmates, for example, were very friendly and outgoing from day one. They were all eager to know whether or not I was comfortable here and have offered to help me in so many ways, like by helping me look for an apartment or offering to help me with class material if there was something in Spanish I didn't understand.

In this picture I am enjoying an "asado" (the Spanish word for cookout) with some American friends as well as Chilean friends.


This is a picture of me with all of my classmates one evening after class!

The culture of Chile is unique, that is, quite distinct from the cultures of its Latin American neighbors. This has to do with the geography as well as the history of the country. Remember how we learned in the WHERE section that the Andes mountains separate Chile from Argentina to the east and that the dry Atacama desert in the north separates Chile from Peru and Bolivia? These geographical barriers made it difficult for settlers to arrive to Chile in the first place, and then once Chile was settled, these barriers kept the Chilean people relatively isolated from their neighboring countries. For this reason, Chilean culture grew and developed in a different way.

So what makes Chile's culture different? Chilean people, I find, are much more reserved and conservative than most Latin Americans. They are hard-working and tend to always arrive places on time (while most Latin American cultures are notorious for people always being late!). Chileans are very religious, almost all are Catholic. Family life is very important here. Families are very united and kids live with their parents until they get married - so most people live at home until they are almost 30!

Here in Chile, you will find people working in many of the same jobs you would imagine in the States - people are bankers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, psychologists. One major difference, however, is that there are more people who have small businesses out of their homes or who own small corner stores. While there are supermarkets and large shopping centers, the smaller store (that only sells one type of thing, like just school supplies or just vegetables, for example) is more common.

A Chilean "corner store" in Valparaiso, a city on the coast, about an hour from Santiago:

(Remember how I told you guys that 500 Chilean pesos equals 1 american dollar? Look at the sign in this picture where it says "Pan $920." "Pan" means bread... what would you do if you were walking through the grocery store and saw a sign that said "Bread $920"... needless to say, the difference in currency took some getting used to!)

This is a picture from the Santiago marathon last year, which was a great example of the Chilean society coming together for a city-wide sporting event:

Finally, I want to add a little tidbit about Chilean art. Chileans, while somewhat reserved in general, have proven to be powerfully expressive when it comes to visual art and literature! I have loved visiting museums here in Chile and reading Chileans books and poetry. One of the world's most beloved poets is Pablo Neruda, a Chilean. You may have also heard of the author Isabel Allende who has written some amazing novels.

This is Pablo Neruda:

The next three pictures were taken in Valparaiso, a wonderfully quirky city known for its street art, among other interesting cultural features.

These are two examples of art painted on the sides of buildings:




A mosaic in the sidewalk:


Hope you enjoyed! Am looking forward to your questions this week.

Sending you all warm greetings from Chile,

Shepard