Giant Feet in a Small World

Considering this was my third trip to Chile, don't get me wrong, but I didn't expect to "discover" very many things about Chilean culture. I guess I somewhat smugly assume that I am an "old hand" when it comes to Santiago. However, I was able to spend just enough time down south to not be overwhelmed by the differences, but to be amazed at how I'd overlooked them on my previous visits.

#1. (And this was not so much a discovery as a confirmation/reminder of a previous discovery) US Rules of the Road DO NOT APPLY in Chile. Lanes are mere suggestions to motorists, and in fact, really have nothing to do with turning at intersections. You are free to turn left, right, or continue straight ahead from whichever lane you choose in Santiago. Rolling down your window while the light is red to inform the other driver that you will be turning in front of him or her is considered good etiquette, but is by no means necessary. One will use judgment however when deciding whether or not to turn in front of the big yellow micros.

#2. When Angela, Irache, and I went to the mall in search of wedding outfit accessories, the food court at lunch time was packed. (You'll notice the wonderfully traditional fast food joints that we could choose from) I followed as they searched out a table with 3 chairs and 1 old man sitting peacefully, finishing his lunch. My heart began to beat wildly as Irache sat down at the table next to the man, Angela pulled out a chair for me, and then Angela stood near the man waiting for him to finish so she could take his seat. I was appalled by my friends' rudeness in pressuring the poor man to choke down those empanadas, until I realized that this must be normal behavior. Knowing that Chileans and Americans have different concepts of personal space should have made this not quite so momentous, but it was a phenomenon that I somehow missed before.

#3. The world is not too small to meet the student who is currently staying with your host family (in CHILE, I might add) and find out he is from Naperville.

#4. Being an ambassador of the US Culture can range anywhere from refusing to be silent when it becomes clear that Chileans do not understand the "YMCA" (I was horrified to observe that those brave souls who did not walk off the dance floor when the YMCA began to play, all waved their arms around during the "Y.... M.. CA", but did not make the letters!!), to teaching your host brother the art of the S'MORE. (Everything was authentic except the campfire)

#5. (And this was shocking indeed) According to Chilean standards, I have GIANT feet. I don't mean to say large, I mean GIANT. Now for those of you who are scrolling back up to see if my feet have made it in any of the pictures, let me just say that I wear a US size 8. That's just about as average as they come. HOWEVER, while shopping for shoes in Santiago I was discouraged to find out in the first few stores that when I asked for a particular shoe in a size 38-39, the shoe attendant looked at me a little surprised and shook his head no. Angela ended up walking into every store before I even started looking at their shoes to ask if they even carried anything in a 39. When finally they would say yes, she would ask them to just bring whatever they had. Oh the shame! I eventually was able to find a winning shoe, but I will think twice before taking these colossal feet for Chilean outfitting again any time soon.

As Jen and Kevin recently said in reference to their trip in Thailand, the best travel stories come when things go wrong. I could tell you all about the wedding, the beach, the 90 degree weather, the ice cream, the sea lions, the kiwi, pear, papaya, strawberry, raspberry, apricot, peach, and cactus fruit nectar I got to drink on a daily basis, but that's not nearly as fun as recreating the moments when I found my inner-self shouting "What is going on?!"