Chile Blogger Meet Up

Read on

January 27, 2009

This Saturday some Santiago bloggers Katina, Tamsin, Caira and I met up with Valpo bloggers Matt and Allie (plus several significant others/friends whom we did not kick out just because they don’t have blogs).

Our night out on the town was fun. We went to some generic, overpriced Providencia bar with typical horrendous service and then moved on to a Peruvian restaurant (Puerto Peru, I think it might have been called).

Over the course of the night, of course, we all started asking each other the typical questions that are unavoidable in a group of Chile-expats, “What are you doing here, do you like it, are you here long term?”

I always find it fascinating to hear other opinions from people who actually like living here. A lot of my closest friends share similar feelings to myself –I don’t hate it, we’re only here temporarily. So, whenever I meet someone who wants to stay in Chile indefinitely, I usually feel a little bit shocked. I forget that not everyone has plans to flee, since that seems to be what a lot of the other (younger) women around me are working towards.

The funny thing is that out of the few young people I’ve met that would like to live here permanently, most of them have been men. In certain ways, that makes sense — Chile with it’s extraordinary machismo is a man’s world. Is that what sends the gringas running in the opposite direction? Or maybe Chilean women have the same power over Gringo men that Chilean men seem to have over Gringa women.

And then, obviously, you have to factor in individual experiences. I sometimes wonder how I would feel about Chile if I hadn’t been assaulted on day number 5 of living here, if a guy hadn’t jumped out of the bushes and told me he was going to rape me, if I hadn’t been followed home by a creepy guy who threw a rock and smashed a new TranSantiago bus window when I turned around and yelled at him to leave me the fuck alone, if I hadn’t ever been bitten by a huge angry dog, screamed and had nobody help me even though people were passing by all around me. The ifs go on forever.

It might not be fair, but if I hated this country with the passion of a thousand suns I’d feel pretty damn justified. I don’t, though. I’m just wary of Chile, and living here tires me because I have to think defensively all the time. So talking with people who genuinely like being here made me wonder if maybe I would too if my Chile slate were clean….or if I were a guy.

12 Comments
Subscribe to comment feed

Facebook comments:

12 Comments

  1. You had a guy smash a bus window in front of you too? We seem to have a freak magnet of the same strength. Sad.

    Comment by Sara — January 27, 2009 @ 7:48 pm

    Reply

  2. WOAH. Sara that’s nuts that the same thing happened to both of us! Random.

    Yeah, this guy had been following me for a while from the grocery store and I started running. When I turned around and realized he had started running I freaked out and started yelling at him and he smashed the bus window. This was back when TranSantiago was brand freaking new and at the time I remembered wondering how he could destroy something the country had spent so much money on.

    Comment by Mamacita Chilena — January 27, 2009 @ 7:53 pm

    Reply

  3. I would love to get a list of who thinks they are staying and who thinks they are leaving and then in like 10 and 20 years see where everyone is. Where do I fit? I am in the leaving now with the long term plan of returning permanently?

    Comment by Clare — January 27, 2009 @ 9:42 pm

    Reply

  4. I think most of Latin America is a man’s world. It’s not really a bad thing, but it takes getting used to.

    I’ve only lived in Mexico – and only for a short 4 years – but I remember feeling the same feelings you have described.

    Comment by That girl — January 27, 2009 @ 11:01 pm

    Reply

  5. oh. my. god. i just read your post about your near rape/death/WHO KNOWS experience last year–i would HATE it here if just that had happened to me, but you have had more than enough happen to justify hating it here and leaving as soon as possible.

    This is old news, but thanks for posting that and then tagging it because I have had particularly good luck here so I think I let my guard down too often, but reading about your absolutely terrifying situation is enough to make me take every precaution here at all times.

    Oh, and I like living in Chile but largely because I know it’s temporary.

    Comment by Isabel — January 28, 2009 @ 9:20 am

    Reply

  6. Well it took me quite a long time to get over how much I disliked certain aspects of Chile. Close to 3 years actually…it was on my first trip down to the Lake District after almost 3 years living in Argentina (and coming to Chile once or twice a month) that made me appreciate what this country has to offer. Despite Chile’s faults, I find life here to be easier, more interesting and generally more pleasant than Argentina. And I love Argentina, although only now for holidays.

    For me to really enjoy this country, I had to call a truce with the aspects that pissed me off. Once I did that, I came to really enjoy living here. I still enjoy living here, probably more now than ever. Even if I were to receive a better offer and leave Chile, I’d still maintain a base here. It’s a beautiful country with a lot to offer. Unfortunately, its capital city is a soul sucking, crushing weight of a hell hole which turns people off the country as a whole…and understandably so. But if you do manage to deal with the crap here and learn to ignore it and escape Santiarsehole as often as possible then Chile’s a great place to live.

    Comment by Matt — January 28, 2009 @ 10:12 am

    Reply

  7. Hi, I am sorry to hear what you went through here in Chile.

    Here is my situation. I want to stay for indefinate. I have only lived here for 3 months of which 1 months I was not actually here but I can certainly say that I like it here (a lot). I am lucky as I live in one of the nicer areas. I just spent almost a month in Mexico and compared to M Chile is VERY secure. We love the fact that there is hardly any corruption here.

    The quality of life (with a decent job) here is a lot higher then in Europe (with a decent job) as costs of living and child care are extremely affordable here in Chile. The climate (at least in summer) is amazing and nice places are only 30 to 60 minutes away from Santiago

    Cant say much about women and dating as I am happily living with a “crazy Mexican” who I adore

    Comment by andreinchile.com — January 29, 2009 @ 7:26 am

    Reply

  8. Oh! It would have been so fun to be there…

    I was in Vermont in negative degree weather instead, and a 2 liter Pepsi exploded in my car. Hmmmm. Not the best trade.

    Anyway it’s kind of funny because I definitely thought I was staying and now here I am! Best laid plans and all that.

    Comment by Meredith — January 29, 2009 @ 11:00 am

    Reply

  9. Matt touched on something I was going to say. I think that if I knew I were staying, I would learn to just kind of let go of a lot of my daily frustrations (well, either that or go insane). I would have to accept something I resist accepting, which is that society isn’t changing in a hurry, so it’s on me to adapt even if I think something is ridiculous. But since my plan isn’t to stay, I haven’t yet tired myself out railing against all the injustices and annoyances, knowing that in 5 years or so I’ll be away from them. That said, there are things I really enjoy about living here, and I try to remember that once we go back to the US we probably won’t live here again and focus on the positive – but that’s easier on some days than others. And for the record, I’ve never had a particularly horrible/scary experience, I just get frustrated with all the stupid time-consuming, inefficient, “why should I think of others” attitudes and their consequences that I face every day.

    I think if I didn’t want to have kids I would consider staying here longer, but I do want kids some day, and so many things about life here – from attitudes to pollution to education and professional/financial possibilities – are not what I see as the best option for any future offspring.

    I’d never thought about how it must be different for men here. I think that for me it wouldn’t make a huge difference because the things that annoy me don’t tend to be related to being a woman (at least not from how I feel or from what Chileans tell me about their experiences), but I can see a couple little things where it would make life a bit easier.

    Comment by Emily — January 29, 2009 @ 1:47 pm

    Reply

  10. Interesting…I like the idea of finding out different bloggers/non-bloggers future plans with regards to Santiago.

    Hahahaha, Clare great idea, letting everyone know our plans as a sort of electronic time capsule! I, for one, am planning on leaving Chile, if the noble institution that is the US government ever grants V an immigration visa.

    But I would have no problems with moving back some day, ESPECIALLY if we didn’t live in Santiago. I think the only way I could live my life in Santiago is if I had a big reducing-air-pollution-significantly-in-Santiago project, that were working. Without smog, Santiago would at least 50% better, para mi.

    Comment by Maeskizzle — January 29, 2009 @ 6:51 pm

    Reply

  11. Your stories about people’s reluctance to help a person hurt or scared give me the chills.

    Do people think you’re just faking? Or is it better to just mind one’s own business and carry on?

    Comment by Still Life in South America — January 29, 2009 @ 8:03 pm

    Reply

  12. I think people are just scared that if they get involved they’ll get hurt. Everyone wants to protect their back.

    Comment by Mamacita Chilena — January 29, 2009 @ 8:05 pm

    Reply

Leave a Reply