Now you might be asking "what is life like in Santiago for a gringa". Oh and I epitomize the concept of gringa with my white skin (even with a four month tan) and blonde hair. Most people start speaking to me in english right away....."excuzzze me senorita where are you frem?" I get this question countless times a day. Since I stand out like a sore thumb, actually more like a infected pus spewing thumb at times, people STARE a lot and this makes me a little uncomfortable so I tried waving hoping they might feel embarrassed and look away but quickly realized it works more like an invitation to come closer. Needless to say I have abandoned this technique for the far superior stare at the ground technique or talk rapidly in english to Ricardo technique.
I have found and actually mapped out the locations of over 11 Starbucks in Santiago so I can continue to support my addiction to coffee in the land of instant fresh ground is like gold. I decided to take control of the ice cream addiction - it was way out of hand - and am currently on day 3 of my ice cream fast. The goal is 30 days ice creamless; I will keep you updated on the struggle.
Finally yesterday we attended our first Chilean lunch at Ricardo's god parents house. Here's the thing about being invited to lunch to prepare for this you must not eat for at least 24hrs before. You must like to eat a lot of meat, potatoes and rice and be prepared for at least 6 hours of eating continuously with your drink being refilled even if still half full; therefore, afterwards it is very difficult to get up from the table or move at all. Chileans so not take "no por favor" as a response. The tactic is to eat very, very slowly and push the food around the plate this way they can only fill your plate when there is room:)
Entonces amigos hasta leugo de Chile
Kimberlee
7 comments:
ya. like there's one guy out there that read this and thought 'what? endless food and drink? noooo. I'm never going to visit' -R
lol, love your writing kim! sure your'e gonna be perfect in spanish in about a month!! would love to take classes again as well... maybe I will!!
oh yes and i always forgot to tell you. i know how an icecream addiction feels like!! I had it when I was 10 years old or so, we went from one grocery store to the other, so they wouldnt notice so much in our tiny little town ;-)
Sadly Babelfish translates, "Entonces amigos hasta leugo de Chile" as "Then friendly until leugo of Chile".
I really miss my struggles with Spanish. I would love to find a language buddy around this white bread town to swap time with me, maybe we talk 15 minutes in Spanish then 15 minutes in English, something like that. The little I learned is quickly fading. :-( Anyway, I decided that the next time I go to the thrift store I'm going to try speaking in Spanish to the guy who works there. He's friendly enough. So, good luck in the classes. And good luck on the ice cream hiatus and looooooong dinners. Yikes!
One thing though. I am certain people stare at you, not because you remind them of an "infected pus spewing thumb", but because you are so beautiful, like a goddess.
OK I'll help you out with this one Asha it should translate "and then my friends see you later from Chile"
Hmm that doesn't sound as good in english as in spanish???
Gracias, Ricardo.
Tan (is that correct for "so"?), entonces amigos, hasta leugo de Nevada!
Tan is equal to so much i.e. tan grande
To say "so then" you only need to say entonces.
OK I had to ask the expert (Ricardo) on this one myself so don't feel bad and keep trying that's the only way to learn!
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