I didn’t like Halloween when I was a kid. I was too self-conscious for the school parade part, and too shy for the knocking on strangers’ doors part. It was a relief to move to Chile in 2003 and more or less ignore the day. Many people didn’t like the concept of Halloween because[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Culture’
Small Frustrations and Big White Elephants
Here’s one: The Chilean English professors use English-Spanish dictionaries pretty often in class. Unfortunately, the ones we have are old. When you pick some of them up, they fall apart. Pages slip out onto the floor, and students frantically run to gather and scotch-tape them together. Moreover,[...]
The Grass is Greener Syndrome, Once Again
“Uruguayans are pessimists,” Cao said, as a group of us lounged by the hospital garden, all dirty hands and sunburnt faces. “They don’t take opportunity…this is a developing country. In the U.S. and Germany, people are more positive.” The German girl next to me nearly choked in d[...]
October 4th, 2010 - 9:00 am § in Argentina, Around Town
Bienvenidos a Argentina
Imagine a modern European city of over two million people. Now add a century of political turmoil, tango, and the fact that it’s located in South America, and you would have a pretty good picture of Buenos Aires. This “Paris of the South” is where I will call home for the next four mont[...]
Chileno No Es Castellano
Oft-told is the tale of the little old German lady who, squeezing herself and her seven bags of flowers into the seat across from me (in a bus in Lichtenburg, East Berlin, 2006), threw me a piercing gaze and quite clearly squeaked “Geeeeps?” I gave her as uncomprehending a stare as I could, and [...]
Warning to Women: Thicken Your Skin, Machismo Awaits in Costa Rica
With a female president and numerous high ranking female politicians, one would tend to think that the Costa Rican people are progressive in terms of gender issues. It is for this reason that I am surprised by the level of machismo, or paternalistic ways of thinking and acting that exist in the coun[...]
Cavorting Across the Cultural Divide
It’s been quite a momentous year for Chile, what with the earthquake, the inauguration of Sebastian Piñera (first right-wing leader since the dictatorship), their first World Cup in twelve years, and now, this September 18th, the two-hundredth anniversary of their independence. September 18th is [...]
