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Different Types of Gringas in Chile

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May 13, 2009

Now that I live in Providencia I meet so many Gringas on a regular basis. I have to admit, I’ve started categorizing them in my head.

1. Exchange Student Gringa: The most common, she is usually here for 6 months, sometimes intent on only partying, sometimes obsessed to the point of fanatical with making Chilean friends, easily offended when Chileans don’t reciprocate the same sentiments, blissfully unaware of the fact that Chileans have no good reason to hang out with someone they know is peacing out of the country in such a short time. Goes through the 4 stages of culture shock at the speed of light (awe and wonder, frustration, homesickness, acceptance, I think are the 4).

2. ESL Teacher Gringa: She’s probably the second most common, but her time frame is generally extended for about a year. Also hoping to make Chilean friends and learn the culture, she’s less craaaazy about it because she has more time in which to achieve her mission. Considers herself an full-blown expat, although I consider these kinds of gringas more like haxpats (half expats).  If you still have furniture and a bed to go back to in the U.S., or other country of origin, meaning you are planning on restarting your life there sooner rather than later, I do not consider you a full-blown expat. Yeah, you can argue with me on that all you want, that’s just my own definition.

3. Fullblown Expat Gringa Who Geniunely Likes the Country of Chile: I know very little about this creature, because I know very few of this kind. These women are here for a love of the culture and are planning on staying indefinitely — not because of ties to a man or family — simply because they like living in Chile.

4. Just Married In-Transition Gringa: These are ladies who marry their Chilean fiances in Chile, either for financial reasons (the average wedding in the U.S. costs over 20k, and while I’m not sure how much the average wedding in Chile costs, but it’s probably much less than that) and or for visa reasons. It’s often easier for them to do the paperwork to get their husband into the U.S. legally if they marry here. So they tie the knot, live here in a transition period while they’re getting things ready, and then move back.

5. Gringa Who’s Here For a Chilean Man: I know more of this kind of Gringa than any other. And we’ve written about them before. Chilean men attract Gringa women to them like a trash can attracts the kiltros. These ladies usually come to Chile an Exchange Student or ESL Teacher Gringa, meet someone they love and then come back to live permanently or semi-permanently.

6. Fake Chilean Gringa: These Gringas are usually girls who were born in Chile or have one Chilean parent, but grew up in the U.S. and are now coming back to their roots. They’re not actually fake Chilean, that’s a mean way of putting it — but they’re not actually full Chilean either because culturally they tend to act more U.S.American.

7. Over-Excited Vacation Gringa: They come for a few days, a few weeks, wander around wide-eyed, get robbed and tell their friends about their exciting experience in a dangerous South American city  and then they’re all, “OMG, I love Chile sooooooooooo much! It’s amazing! I would just LOVE to live there!!!!” because they didn’t actually deal with anything real-life related while they were here. Then they leave and soon Chile is nothing but a distant memory and an exotic vacation story.

8. Divorced Gringa: Was once a number 5, had kids, and now stays in Chile even after a divorce so that her kids can grow up near their Chilean dad.

9. High School Gringa: Huh??? Yeah, there’s not very many of these, but they’re usually here on rotary. Or her mom just randomly shipped her to the farthest away foreign country she could think of for the summer because she couldn’t deal with her bratty teenage daughter one second longer. Either way.

10. I Think I’m a Chilean, Gringa: These Gringas, more often than not, fall into the category of number 1, 2, or 3, but instead of just wishing they had Chilean friends, they try to act as if they were Chilean. They’ll sequester themselves from any other expat contact, wear fanny-packs and will tell anyone who’ll listen that they’re living “an authentic experience.” Personally, this kind of Gringa annoys me. She will often live in a ghetto neighborhood just because she thinks she’s hardcore. But she’s not. Only the next kind of Gringa is.

11. Hardcore Gringa aka Dictatorship Gringa: Yes, these ladies would mostly fall under Gringa Who’s Here For a Chilean Man, but, honestly, if you’ve been here since the Salvador Allende days and stayed or arrived at any given point during the Pinochet dictatorship, you deserve your own category.


I myself was first a #9, then a #1, then a #5, then a #10 until I annoyed myself so much I went back to simply being a #5. Do you fall into one or more of these categories? And am I missing out on any certain group of Gringas in Chile?

  • First things first, great categories!

    You thought of more than I could. Number 10's annoy the crap out of me too. They are usually the ones who insist on speaking Spanish in a room of English speakers. Just met some of them at extranjería actually.

    I'm unsure which category I fit in, but I've never much liked to categorize myself. I'm here avoiding grad school, and I'm terrified of the economy in my home country. I'm not here for my boyfriend, although I won't lie and say that it isn't nice to have one. I don't have a bed, house, or car to go back to in the US and I really don't know how long I will be here.

    I don't know how long I want to stay here. I think a year, maybe two. It's not perfect, but it's pretty much home now. I've decided I have to start making more friends who are here for the long run because it hurts to much when people leave.
  • kyleracine
    Haha! I think maybe gringas avoiding grad school could be a whole seperate category! And so could running from the economy! I definitely know other people too doing both those things here.
  • Yikes, I have to be more careful when I type. Sorry about that.
  • I think I'm a 2 deciding if I want to be a number 3. I mean, I do love Chile. But I've been here "living" for only 5 months so who knows if that will wear off or not. Great categories, they made me laugh!! Number 10s and 7s annoy the crap out of me too.
  • kyleracine
    5 months isn't really enough time to truly get to know a place... So at the very least you should stay longer just to figure out either how much you really love being here...or don't.
  • Yeah, that's what I plan on doing :)
  • Love it. I was totally 1, 4, 5 and kinda 2 but mostly 1, then 4 and then OUTTA there.
  • kyleracine
    I know! I thought of you for #4 and then I realized that that's actually pretty common!
  • you are seriously hilarious mi amour. :)
  • kyleracine
    I'm telling you, I'd love to see you down here as a #7 :)
  • Hmmm...though I spent my time in Mexico, the categories could totally be similar.

    I started as #1 for my first stint, then morphed into a "Doing my Anthropological Field Work gringa," then half of #2 and #5 for most of my time there. However, I don't consider myself a haxpat because I fully intended on staying indefinitely. Then my Mexican started annoying the living $hit out of me so I moved back and eventually brought him here.

    I actually enjoy raising the hackles of those who live and breathe for those "authentic" Latin American experiences...especially because I lived in Cancun. And it's amusing to hear about how terribly inauthentic Cancun is...but I get enough authentic in my husband's village, where there are few indoor toilets and you have to beat turkeys away from you as you do your business.
  • kyleracine
    "but I get enough authentic in my husband's village, where there are few indoor toilets and you have to beat turkeys away from you as you do your business."

    That sounds like enough authenticity to last a lifetime :P
  • Steph
    Did you miss the full-blown expat gringa with the full-blown expat gringo spouse, here for work for 2-5 years, .... sometimes longer? I belong to this group, say anything derogatory here!
  • Steph
    Sorry, that was supposed to say "I belong to that group, so I am not going to say anything derogatory here!" kinda has a different meaning huh?
  • kyleracine
    Steph, yeah, sorry, I guess I did leave that category out! Although I sort of think most of them would fall under #3 sort of since for the most part, people try to get jobs assigned here, they don't just randomly get sent to Chile...in most cases, though I'm sure some people do end up here simply because their company wants them here.
  • I disagree...I know a few people who're here for work (some in my company, some at the Embassy) who did just get assigned as well as others who chose Chile - often because it sounded like the least scary Latin American country - without having any prior experience here. I think Steph's category is a totally separate one, it's just that we don't know any of them! They tend to live in the most expensive neighborhoods (expenses being paid by the home company), and from what I've heard from this type of expat in other countries they tend to socialize with others in the same situation just because that's who they're running into/working with. Steph, please set me straight if I'm wrong!
  • kyleracine
    Yeah that's true, how would we ever meet them?!?
  • Steph
    Most people I know have been "sent" here, of course there is an element of choice, though sometimes that choice is to take a job o/s or be unemployed... Generally though the chance of an overseas stint is jumped at, and Chile would certainly be way ahead of a lot of other options! Most people have kids and are here for a limited time (visa restrictions) and so tend to send their kids to the int'l or at least english-speaking schools. The total-gringo family can make really learning decent spanish quite hard, and therefore it's often difficult to feel like you really belong here, even when you try to steer clear of the gringo type get togethers.

    I'll agree there is certainly a percentage of this group that fall into the new category described in the comment below by ex-pat chile, though I hopefully not a large portion!
  • kyleracine
    Thanks for clearing that up Steph. I can imagine that it'd be tough being in such a bubble. The language barrier is tough enough to cross as it is and being surrounded with all-English all-day can't help!
  • Ritamae39
    Hey, I take exception to your comment in #9. You know I sent you there because I thought it was important for you to learn a second language while you were young and even more important for you to get a cultural experience to broaden your horizons and at that time Chile happened to be where I could find connections to a family that would take you in without having to go thru some expensive sanctioned exchange program. If I thought your were a bratty teenager I would have thought your friends were bratty too and if you'll recall I had them all over for a sleep over in your honor but without you . . . just for the fun of it!
  • kyleracine
    Hey now, I was just kidding! I know you loved me and shipping your bratty teenager off wasn't your only motivation :P
  • I was a 1 and am now a 5. At some point I guess I'll be a 4, but since we plan to stay longer than the minimum necessary after getting married, I feel like I'll really be a 4.5...married but not only here for the visa stuff. Technically I still have an entire roomful of stuff back "home" in the US, but that's only because I have way too much crap to move it all down here :) I figure things like pictures, books and other momentos I don't need with me right now (or for the next however many years), but I don't want to throw them away, and since eventually we plan to end up there, I might as well save myself the shipping costs and headaches.

    And I agree that 11s are hardcore, I would have been on the first plane back to the US in 1973!
  • kyleracine
    I KNOW! I don't know how some of those Gringas stuck it out. Freaking amazing.
  • Rook
    don't kid yourself about this being unique to Chile, well maybe some. But number 7 is true for almost any country in the world. I lived in Italy for 4 years with my wife Veronica and when people tell us that living in Italy must have been amazing, we often say yes it was but daily life is so hard that it makes you want to leave every other day.
  • kyleracine
    Why would I kid myself? I'm not saying Chile is the only place that has these kinds of gringas. I'm just saying that it definitely DOES have these categories. I would have no idea about anywhere else but I live in Chile, which is why I blog about the types of Gringas...in Chile :)
  • Leana
    Wow, so many categories and so many responses! I'm lost though, I don't really feel like I fit into any of these categories.... I have been #1 and 2, but hopefully not as crazy as you describe them. Then for awhile I was a "doing my MA in Chile" gringa, which I think is also another category. And now I am the "working on her MA thesis, working at an international NGO, no longer trying to be #10 gringa, and just trying to live day by day without any clue as to whether she'll stay here forever or take off in a year semi-GRINGA". I think that category is too long though. But I think there are some professional women that I have met here, that are not here for a man, that are not ESL teachers, and don't really fall into the other categories.....they tend to be in their late 20s or early 30s, and they are a rare species indeed.


    Then again, I think all of this depends on your definition of gringa. Are you referring to United States-ian with gringa or foreigner? Because I never really identify myself as totally gringa - more as Ukranian than gringa.
  • kyleracine
    Leana, I tend to be pretty lenient with my definition of Gringa, I guess I consider anyone who's a foreigner to be a Gringa. Then again, a lot of people say Gringa is only from the U.S. or only U.S./Canada so I don't know. Take it to mean whatever you want. :)
  • maeskizzle
    Love the new website.

    I like the post. Nice categories. You are a gringa expert.

    Okay, so I was a 9, then a "I-came-here-to-study,-but-not-study-abroad". Perhaps I was the opposite of the gringas avoiding grad school? Since I threw myself into in another country. I actually haven't run into many people in this category. I know of two other gringas doing postgrad studies here plus Leana who just posted that she did her MA here as well. When studying in the U here, people always thought I was an exchange student at first. I kind of was, with the exception that the exchange students always leave Chile, I have yet to.

    And I was a cuasi-10 (You can hate me, I don't mind. Chile's made me tough in this regard.) - because I love fanny packs, polainas, messed up pokemon hair, resourcefulness, and other Chilean quirks. I lived in a ghetto neighborhood, to meet friends! haha that sounds funny, but a lot of really cool architecture and design students lived in my ghetto neighborhood. I found the neighborhood to be beautiful, actually (el barrio Chino in Valpo). Spanish among English speakers isn't necessary, but I do prefer that the others speak Spanglish so I don't have to translate myself, hahaha. I didn't isolate myself from gringas, but I mostly ran into number "1"s my first four years here, so our friendships lasted 3-4 months. I preferred Chilean friendship because they last.

    Now I'm a 4 and a 2. hehehe. And perhaps someday, after living in the States for a while, we'll move back and I'll be a 3.
  • kyleracine
    Heather, you are sort of a 10 but for some reason in you it doesn't bug me at all. I think the number 10's who annoy me are the ones who aren't genuinely interested in Chile, they just do it because they want that "authentic" experience that they've created in your head. I guess maybe this is just because I'm friends with you so I like you better, but I don't get that feeling with you. I know you want Chilean friends because you're here long term, you don't just want them so you can brag that you have Chilean friends and speak Spanish all the time.
  • Not sure really where I fall. I guess a 5/7. I am over excited about Chile but at the same time feel like I understand what the challenges are but never had to deal with them on a daily basis. I've also been a bit more integrated into the culture than a #7 would be since I'm part of a Chilean family but not totally a #5 because I don't/haven't lived there.
  • kyleracine
    Shoot, I should've made a totally separate category for you Aimee...the Gringa who has never lived in Chile but still really loves it and visits way too much to be considered a tourist. :)
  • Hahaha, I was a 9, then a 1, then a 3. Once I got a Chileans man--- we left. Opps. Hahaha. At heart though, I am a 3. Seba or no Seba. Living in Chile or not.
  • kyleracine
    You are depriving Chile of one of it's key resources Clare...the Sebas. :)
  • Chile ex-pat.
    You missed one type of gringa.... the "What the &^%# are you doing here gringa"
    This is usually a 2, 3, 5, or 8 that for some reson decided to actually hate Chile. They use their time to write hate blogs about everything in Chile. They only meet with other "What the &^%# are you doing here gringas" to talk about how bad everything works and how "at home" everything is better. They can't really make long term friend becasue they can only study them to find things to laugh at in their blog or "social".
  • kyleracine
    I don't actually know anyone like that, fortunately :)
  • Beth
    Hahaha!! Your so hilarious! I met a #10 and she freaked me out...your so right I am a #2 and going thru the culture shock phase two right now..hopefully will move on to three soon..haha! I think I am an avoiding grad school/real world in US gringa as well. Too funny....there sure are alot of here! I have respect for us all!
  • kyleracine
    Don't worry Beth, you'll be through the 4 stages in no time, they fly by!!! And then everything calms down :)

    Yeah, you just confirmed it, I definitely should've made an Avoiding Grad School Gringa category!
  • Oh my god, I love this list. I couldn't stop laughing. I think you nailed them all. I'd like to add a #12: Gringa Who Wishes She were a Latina. Haha! I have become ridiculously obsessed with all things Latin. I listen to Latin music, I travel to Latin countries whenever I get the chance, I talk in Spanish to whomever will listen. Do you think it's a disease? ;-)
  • kyleracine
    I do think it's a disease...and it's catching! LOL!
  • I'd add the Missionary Gringa.

    Depending on the church that she represents in Chile, she may be doing service projects of some kind or proselytizing. Missionary Gringas from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (los Mormones) will be in Chile for close to 18 months teaching Christian principles to those that wish to listen. Since they usually live among the people and in parts of the city or country that tourists don't frequent, they may approach #10 status in Spanish speaking ability and mannerisms -- not to appear hardcore but rather to survive and be effective in their daily work.
  • kyleracine
    You're right, I totally forgot the Missionary Gringa! Someone else also mentioned that one to me on twitter.
  • Sabrina
    This post really made me laugh! I'm moving to Santiago in July and wondering how I will turn out to be after one year in the city!! Thank you for keeping me entertained through the long process of student visa paperwork :)
  • kyleracine
    Haha Sabrina, we'll have to see if you go from a #1 to a #3 or #5...trust me, it happens more often than you think :P
  • oooh, I might be a seldom-seen 3. Mainly because I can't figure out which other one I'd be, and I simply must be categorized. Nice analysis. Do we share particular physical characteristics? Maybe next time with photos? Fun...
  • OMG!!! I'm number 6??!!! Can't I just fall under #5???
    Ack!!
  • edhel
    Haha, nice post.
    I have a new category that fits between 5 and 8.
    Kind of "hippie gringa". My mom was first a 2 on Mexico, met my father there and traveled with him to Chile in the 80's. Then married and got a 5. In the 90's she got a 8 but with a German dad. My dad.
    Know im a "Chileno de mierda", a german metodic thinking chileno pillo. I know mi Chilean culture but have a lot of German way of thinking and acting, "soy cuadrado sin esquinas".
  • A_M_V
    Wow this is tryly amazing!! I myself started as a #1, then came back as a #5/#2 but lately have been coming as solely #5, with the possiblity of a #4. You are totally bang-on!! I also like the definition of #10, I totally know one! Thank you so much for this! It is totally worthy of being printed off and stuck to my bedroom wall!!
    AMV
  • Beth
    What about a Gringa who married her US born husband who's mother was born and raised in Chile and moves to Chile with him...(and the mother of course) from the US because they're tired of living in the states?
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