Culture Shock

Now that life is settling down a bit. It’s time for some reflection on the interesting differences we’ve noted between our new home – La Serena, Chile, and our old home – Washington State, USA.

CLIMATE

I knew before moving that this part of Chile is considered a cool desert. At this time of the year (January and February, that is, “high summer”) the daytime temperatures are around 68º F and the nighttime temperatures are around 59º F. I must admit that the term “desert” concerned me since one of my primary reasons for living in the Pacific Northwest was for the moss covered trees. Moss covered trees pretty much require a lot of water.

So, good news. There are some trees here. Especially near the roadways and around the houses. (Apparently, there are also horses that randomly walk through town in the early morning.) Also, if you like foggy or cloudy mornings and sunny, breezy afternoons with little temperature change from day to day, this is paradise. However, it’s definitely dry here and there’s LOTS of sand everywhere. The dominant colors of the landscape are rusty brown and hunter green. And there’s not even a hint of moss. Sigh. I’ll definitely try to find the beauty in the desert, but I already miss the rain and green.

LANGUAGE

I also knew before coming that Chileans speak very fast and use a very distinctive version of Spanish involving lots of local slang words. Even native Spanish speakers from other countries find it difficult to understand Chileans. Now, add in masks…

So, it hasn’t been much of a surprise that neither Todd nor I can understand most of what’s being said around us. Asking people to slow down doesn’t seem to help because apparently most Chileans can’t speak slower.

Thankfully, our new landlords and family are quite happy to help us learn the language and know enough English that the conversations can switch back and forth until everyone knows what’s being said. One adult daughter, Isabel (daughter of landlord, Isabel), was even kind enough to go to the local gym with us to help us get a membership. That would have been extremely difficult without a translator!

So, we’re managing to converse a bit. We’re pretty good at asking questions – like where can I find the spices (in the grocery store) or where did you get that ice cream cone? (Very important information, that!) Now, if we could only understand the answers!

COVID BEHAVIOR

So, we moved to La Serena just as the COVID numbers were starting to rise again in Chile. Over the past few weeks, the Chilean government has reverted to an earlier, more restrictive phase of control (now in Phase 2: Transición, previously in Phase 3: Preparación). There are a few noticeable changes, like fewer people allowed into a store at the same time, so longer wait times everywhere. However, many of the COVID behaviors here were already much stricter than seen in the U.S., so most things have stayed the same. For example, anytime you enter any store or public building, you are required to have your temperature taken and to use hand sanitizer. There is a security guard at the entrance to make sure you do this. Also, if you eat in a restaurant, you are also required to show your mobility pass, which proves that you have been vaccinated, and to give your name and identification number (RUT or passport number). Plus, everyone wears masks both indoors and outdoors. And the thing is, NO ONE IS COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS! These are the rules and everyone calmly and peacefully follows them.

Honestly, it’s refreshing. It’s not the topic of endless discussion and it’s not a huge political issue that’s ripping their country apart!

RESTAURANTS

OK. The thing about the restaurants… While we were staying in the hotel, we needed to find a place to eat dinner each night. The hotel restaurant was fine, and we ate there several times when we were unsuccessful at finding a different place, but we wanted to explore and have some variety. However, we quickly learned two important facts about restaurants in Chile: 1) very few of them post their hours on their front door and 2) absolutely do not trust any hours that are posted on the Internet!

We tried over and over again to go to restaurants during their supposed open hours only to find that they weren’t open. For one thing, their hours of operation were often fairly obscure to us (e.g. open from 1 – 5 pm). (In Chile, breakfast is usually around 9 am, lunch is around 2 pm, and dinner is around 8 pm.) Or they were closed for COVID reasons. Or they were closed for the holiday season. (Practically everyone in Chile takes their long vacation in late January or February.) Of course, these are guesses because we actually have no idea why any of them were closed!

In one case, the menu stated that everything on the menu was available all day; however, at 4 pm the only thing available was a ham and cheese sandwich. The waiter explained that they only make a certain amount of food each day. Once it was gone, it was gone. If we wanted the full choice of items, we needed to be there at 1 pm.

Pretty reasonable explanation, actually. However, at that point, we had already decided that we were never going to successfully eat in a restaurant. The cosmos was playing a great big joke on us. We had decided to approach our restaurant debacle with humor, since it was pretty much that or crying.

Several weeks later, with better internet and a few knowledgeable friends, we’re much more successful at eating out. However, now we don’t have to do it every single night!

DRIVING

Driving. Yeah. Driving. Well, Chileans drive on the same side of the road as in the US. But that might be the only thing it has in common. The signs are different. The road markings are different. (White lines are used everywhere instead of yellow. So, are you on a one-way or two-way street?) The road etiquette is different. Need to park but can’t find a spot? Just leave your car in the middle of the road. Don’t like the fact that it’s a one-way street? Just go the other way on it! Oh, and by the way, Google Maps hasn’t been updated in years. So, don’t expect to actually be able to get to your destination on the route that it recommends. Lots of streets are blocked off that Google Maps really wants us to use!

OK, true. Not everyone leaves their car in the middle of the street or uses the one-way streets in the wrong direction. But we’ve seen both of these behaviors more than once. The main road in front of our house divides into two one-way streets before a left-hand turn. You can’t turn left from the correct one-way lane, so people drive the wrong way in the incoming lane so that they can take the turn. The good news is, we know this happens frequently at this spot, so we know to look out for it now!

Today, I drove our rental car for the second time in three weeks. And we didn’t die. We also didn’t die the first time. So that’s good. Todd’s doing great with the driving. But our rental car doesn’t have any sort of map interface and, as I mentioned previously, Google maps often tries to send you on a street that no longer exists. So, I’m usually navigating while Todd’s driving. Today we successfully reversed it. I’m dreading trying to get around without a second person in the car!