As a continuation of the theme from the last blog (and because life is pretty much the same pattern of work work work stay out too late and drink too much and be tired at work, and then go to another party and take most of the weekend to recover the sleep you have lost) here are some other observations of this crazy country.The first one is serviettes. I don't know if it is just that I am uncouth (not my mother's fault) or if this really is a valid observation, but it is a necessity to have a serviette at ALL TIMES when eating. This means if you buy a drink on the street they give you a serviette, even though you are drinking out of a straw. Every meal you eat MUST have a serviette, even though I thought the whole point of a knife and fork was to transport the food to your mouth without making a mess of either your hands or your mouth (yes yes I know that I do not always achieve this but we are talking about the principle). Buy a piece of fruit, get a serviette, buy an icecream and get 5 serviettes, cup of coffee with a serviette. In fact, they get quite upset if you try to turn them down on their offer of a serviette (yes I tried it in an effort to save a tree or something). So, I now eat with a serviette always at hand.
Sleep-deprivation is a way of life. It seems that while Chileans have retained their late night party hours, they no longer have a siesta or flexible working hours, which means that they sleep less. In fact, they work hard (as hard as people back home anyway), and then party all night. It is not uncommon for people to go out until 3am and still be at work at 8am the next day. And then to repeat this the next night... The weekend starts sometimes on Wednesday night, and sometimes on Thursday. It is very common to see people asleep on the metro, sitting, standing, nodding off, doesn't matter. Any when I say common, I mean probably 1 in 10 are asleep, without exaggeration. I don't cope so well with this whole lack of sleep lifestyle to be fair, though usually I only have to get through Friday incredibly tired, and I don't have too many classes.
Last time I talked about the "people in jobs" principle. And this week I came across another shining example of it. Things are different here. In shops, there are many items that you are simply not allowed to touch. Depending on which area you live in this can include sanitary products, shampoo and soap, deodorant, all forms of face care and make-up and perfume. Actually, you are NEVER allowed to touch the make-up or perfume. These precious items are stored behind a counter with very helpful sales assistants (arhem) carefully watching over them. This week I decided I needed some new eyeliner (as I lost my very good MAC one that I am still quite upset about). I went to one of the department stores to have look, and of course wasn't allowed to touch anything. Was standing at the counter with another lady who was talking with the shop-assistant about eye-liners and eyebrow pencils and the tester jar was on the table for her to look at. I waited for a bit, and then decided that seeing as the shop assistant was there it must be OK for me to try the testers too. I put my hand out to take one and the shop-assistant SLAPPED MY HAND LIKE I WAS A CHILD! I was aghast. So I asked if I could try it, in fairly passable spanish (I had been practicing), and she ignored me. The other lady finished her transaction and the shop-assistant took the testers, put them back under the bench and walked away, completely ignoring me. I wanted to cry. I left the shop very quickly. I took me 3 days to get my courage back up to go to a different place to try again. I chose a large chemist, and it was a good choice as the shop assistant was really nice and very patient with me (though I pretty much aggreed to the first one she showed me as I was still in fear of having my hand slapped again). The funniest thing was that you choose you product, and get given a receipt. Then you take the receipt to the cashier and pay, and recieve a different receipt, which you present to a third person who finds your product again and gives it to you (after it has been put in a bag by a fourth person). So yes, back to my original point, people in jobs. 4 people doing the job of one.
This weekend I am off to Curico with my Chilean friends. There is a despideda (farewell) for one of our friends who is off to Panama. I am getting a ride down with the girls, I think there will be four of us so it should be an entertaining trip though I will likely understand nothing as they turn the music up loud and then all talk flat out at the same time (girls road trips are the same the world over) which is fun but means I can't undertand anything. I haven't been to Curico before and it is where most of my friends are from so I am quite looking forward to it. I have been told that there isn't usually much going on there, but I suspect that this will be a big party that will make up for any apparent apathy in the town. It is also right in the heart of the wine district which can never be a bad thing....
Anyway, need a nap before another night of "grande fiesta". The only instructions I have been given are bring your "saco" (sleeping bag) and "panuelo" (hankerchief for dancing cueca). I hope we have Churipan and asado....
Hablamos pronto,
KiwiKaz
And here is a couple of pictures I took out of my bedroom window in case you have missed them on FB.
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