We all remember where we were on September 11th, 2001. I was getting ready for work, watching the first plane hit the first building. The news thought it was a small plane that accidentally crashed. I continued with my pre-work regimen when the second one hit and I drove to work dazed.
But how many of us remember September 11th, 1973? Chile-we hardly could find it on a map. The Vietnam War, Watergate...the US backed military coup was lost in all of that.
The most striking part of it to me is that we share September 11th, as well as the amount of people killed, around 3,000 in both cases. In both instances, they were followed by heavy privatization (Walter Reed, our US military, the post office, etc., etc.) and the socialization of private debt. Jose Pinera was in charge of the large majority of privatization and is writing glowing reports at The Cato Institute and never mentioning these were undertaken under a military dictatorship. A 17 year dictatorship. He neglects to mention the bailout President Bachelet gave to pensions. Or the commission expense ratios that take advantage of people.
Some interesting background here or here. It would take many books to really cover the topics, most won't be read because that is too time consuming of course. But id you can spare a few minutes to understand something of what has happened in Chile and the US and understand our commonalities, perhaps we can better predict our futures.
Many husbands and wives and children also kissed each other for the last time that day. But their days were followed by many more of detainment, torture and murder.
Everyone has heard the miracle of the 33 miners in Chile found alive, yet still trapped. The drama on the surface is less told. Divorce in Chile has only been legal since the end of 2004. Chilean men are macho men culturally. Men are men and women are women. I once saw a Chilean man sweep but he was only 30 or so and it was just that one day lol. Seriously, a Chilena friend was shocked that my boyfriend often made the coffee and even cooked dinner! Women there traditionally cook and serve food, do the dishes and do the cleaning. More women are going to work so it may get interesting. Anyway, with traditional roles comes "traditional" mistresses....from the Telegraph....
"Authorities at Camp Hope have had to deal with a rush of women coming forward claiming to be first in the Chilean miners' affections in order to receive government handouts.
At least five wives have been forced to come face to face with mistresses whose existence was kept from them by their husbands, who have been trapped more than 2,300ft below since a cave in on August 5.
One miner has four women fighting over him in an effort to claim compensation offered to the families of those facing between three to four months underground until a rescue shaft can reach them.
Government officials are considering asking the 33 trapped miners to name those they want to claim the benefits entitled to them in a bid to solve problems on the surface....
"Those that truly love their men have slipped away quietly not wanting to cause any more pain to the families but others are putting up a fight." Special welfare officers trained in marital issues have been brought in to provide help to women faced with their husband's infidelity.
One miner, who has not been named, has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he had several years ago, and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all visiting the camp."
Marriage in Chile is complicated. There are at least four ways of getting married:
1) with joint property rights,
2) with separate rights,
3) the man owns it all or
4) the woman owns it all.
I think.
Perhaps because divorce wasn't legal, it is common for a couple to live as if married and never marry. You wouldn't know unless they were kind enough to tell you. But women in Chile don't change their name-although the children add their father's last name.So I believe it became popular to not bother with actual marriage.
Now divorce is legal. A friend there finally tracked down the husband that had been MIA for a couple years and had a divorce party. She proudly told me she was the first in her family to get a divorce. I asked her what her family thought and she said she had several female relatives that would like a divorce and were inspired by her!
And I told myself again, don't assume you understand Chile!
I haven't blogged for a long time and felt I should post an update. I am back in the US with plans to return to Chile for periods of time. I have to say I didn't expect to miss some of the things here-I didn't even realize I missed so much. Strangely-although I never drank much root beer-I find it is a special treat now. Crazy. But I buy the store brand for 59 cents a liter and it makes me very happy.
I'm now a Grandma-and that changes everything....I can't begin to explain how precious this time is. There are many moments daily that are worth...everything.
Shopping. People in the US, you have EVERYTHING-and you have no idea. The shopping is beyond compare. Everything for every size of pocketbook is here. And many things are more expensive in Chile. There are so many choices-and if things don't get sold, they have sales. As you can imagine, many things are on sale right now. Yes, it can be expensive to live in the US but by applying a bit of ingenuity and frugality-and by taking advantage of what is inexpensive-a person can live for much less than I once believed. People at retirement have buying the house of their dreams. And I want to scream "DOWNSIZE-WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!!" I understand families-that is tougher.
In Chile, I did learn a lot about frugality. Convenience food is either not available or ridiculously priced. Although I did pay nearly $8 for a jar of Safeway peanut butter, it wasn't often. I re-learned cooking and baking. I find myself to be sort of a cheapskate these days-but I also notice more good deals. In the US, fruit and vegetables may be on sale some time other than its season-in Chile, you must watch for seasons. And almost everything else was more expensive than I was used to paying in the states. Marketing in the US is so clever-which is why we are such good consumers. We want everything. Marketing is nearly non-existent in Chile in comparison. They are getting better(or is that actually worse?). Yet people there are fast becoming "good" consumers themselves. This is a little scary. Chileans buy a lot on credit with even less understanding of it than those in the US. And we know how that went.
I now notice many big and little differences between the two countries. Many likenesses as well. I still find that fascinating. Vehicles are generally tiny there and here-omigosh they are huge. Although after crazy Chilean driving-here they look positively well-behaved. I'm not sure anyone here in Denver, Colorado believes that but I keep telling people to "move to Chile, you'll appreciate things more!" I was ecstatic at my 20 minute DMV experience after spending countless hours in Chile with bureaucracy, getting a RUT#, ID card etc. Who could have imagined that would make my day?
A 1973 military coup overthrew the popularly elected left-wing government of Salvador Allende, whom the United States worked against. Admiral Augusto Pinochet’s new regime shot hundreds of Allende’s supporters in the National Stadium, although the United States Embassy whitewashed the new regime. By 1973, Kennedy had assembled enough support in the Senate to enact a ban on all arms sales to Chile, and in 1981 secured a ban on all aid to that nation until it provided basic human rights. In 1986, he visited Chile, and despite government-run demonstrations against him, met with and encouraged opposition politicians and mothers who came with pictures of children who had been “disappeared” by the military.
In 2008, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, herself tortured and exiled by the Pinochet regime, presented Kennedy with the Order of the Merit of Chile, saying “you were there for us when human rights were being massively and systematically violated, when crime and death was around our country. You are one of the great, good, and true friends of Chile.”
September 23, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOSTON – Senator Edward M. Kennedy today received the highest award bestowed to a civilian by the government of Chile, the Order to the Merit of Chile Award, for his decades-long commitment to the struggle of human rights and democracy in the country. Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile, traveled to the Senator’s home in Hyannis Port this afternoon to present the award. President Bachelet is in the United States for an annual visit with heads of state at the United Nations.
Kennedy has been a leading voice in the struggle for human rights and democracy in Chile for three decades. Following the 1973 coup against democratically elected president Salvador Allende, he worked tirelessly on behalf of the tortured and disappeared. In 1974, Kennedy led the fight in Congress to cut off military aid for the Pinochet regime. This was the first time Congress directed an end to military aid to another nation without waivers, conditions and delays.
In 1986, Senator Kennedy traveled to Chile to observe human rights conditions. The Pinochet government refused to meet with him and actively tried to obstruct his meetings with human rights and religious leaders. Four years later, Senator Kennedy returned to witness the swearing-in of Chile's democratically-elected President and has continued working closely with Chile, and President Bachelet, as they have become a thriving democratic ally of the United States.
John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that. In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, one of the world's most notorious violators of human rights credited with killing more than 3,000 civilians and jailing tens of thousands of others.
The private meeting between McCain and dictator Pinochet has gone previously un-reported anywhere.
According to a declassified U.S. Embassy cable secured by The Huffington Post, McCain described the meeting with Pinochet "as friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism." McCain, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time, made no public or private statements critical of the dictatorship, nor did he meet with members of the democratic opposition in Chile, as far as could be determined from a thorough check of U.S. and Chilean newspaper records and interviews with top opposition leaders.....
At the time of McCain's meeting with Pinochet, Chile's democratic opposition was desperately seeking support from democratic leaders around the world in an attempt to pressure Pinochet to allow a return to democracy and force a peaceful end to the dictatorship, already in its 12th year. Other U.S. congressional leaders who visited Chile made public statements against the dictatorship and in support of a return to democracy, at times becoming the target of violent pro-Pinochet demonstrations.
Senator Edward Kennedy arrived only 12 days after McCain in a highly public show of support for democracy. Demonstrators pelted his entourage with eggs and blocked the road from the airport, so that the Senator had to be transported by helicopter to the city, where he met with Catholic church and human rights leaders and large groups of opposition activists.
Mark Schneider, a foreign policy aide and former State Department human rights official who organized Kennedy's trip, said he had no idea McCain had been there only days before. "It would be very surprising and disappointing if Senator McCain went to Chile to meet with a dictator and did not forcefully demand a return to democracy and then to publicly call for a return to democracy," Schneider said.
Surprising? I'm not surprised at much anymore.
The links between Chile and the USA are endless-I can really only write about a few each time. I believe Chile under Pinochet was an immense planned experiment of privatization under Friedman 'free market" economics and the tactics practiced to get the Chilean people to behave-a combination of starving the people under Allende(military kept the food on the docks and out of the stores) and feeding them under the Pinochet dictatorship. A Chilean friend told me that on the day of the coup, four hours later, food was in all the stores. "FOUR HOURS!" she said. It all worked very nicely. Behave and you get to eat. If you still won't behave, you'll disappear. Thanks to Friedman's "miracle", corporations have control of utilities, education, and even rivers. And there was no economic miracle.
“You, Senator Kennedy, were such a friend to Chile in our hour of need,” said Bachelet as she delivered the award. "You were there for us when human rights were being massively and systematically violated … You understood what was happening from the very beginning ... and you acted accordingly."
In Chile, you have nearly Universal healthcare including a thriving private sector-ISAPRE-and FONASA-the public plan. Chileans pay 7% of their income and then make a choice to enter the FONASA or ISAPRE system-and have further choice to elect greater coverage in private plans.
I'm not saying Chile has the best system in the world but it does seem odd and a bit sad that I am less likely to die here because of a needed operation. A friend of mine recently had an operation, a much needed femoral bypass. It cost about $12,000 usd cash, no insurance-that includes everything and a 5 star room to boot.. The average "list price" in the US is $50,900 according to this website. Apparently it can be done as cheaply as $18,900(huh?). Perhaps that's a good place to check before your next operation in the USA folks.
What I know is that the US is falling in status from a number of lists.
The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems (Top 50) In 2000, The US was still barely ahead of...Cuba. Chile beat the US by 4 places(and has improved its system under Bachelet while the US has deteriorated. The US also beat Slovenia by one place. The U.S. spends 16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, compared with 8 to 10 percent in most major industrialized nations. According to the World Factbook (which is suspiciously updated only to 2005) The US was #2 in healthcare spending by GDP so i would guess it's now easily in 1st place(yay!!!)
The saddest statistic must be infant mortality. Nationmasters, I see, no longer lists the US there but there are other sources like here. And now I see, Nationmasters sources from the CIA Factbook-better you don't see that I guess. Anyway,
Since ranking a fairly respectable 12th in 1960, the U.S. fell to an all-time low 29th in the world in infant mortality in 2004, according to the report Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The U.S. infant mortality ranking has been falling steadily, from 23rd in 1990, to 27th in 2000. The U.S. infant mortality rate of 6.78 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared unfavorably with the lowest rates of 3.5 per 1,000 reported in Scandinavian and East Asian countries. Overall, 22 countries had infant mortality rates below 5.0 in 2004.
But wait, this is 2009 and those are statistics from 2000-but according to our new link here, the US is now #37!
Uh oh, Cuba is #35 on that list, no wonder the US government no longer reports it. But we're still a place ahead of Croatia, by god. Wait, this is bad-South Korea has less babies die at birth than the USA????
Well, how how about life expectancy-surely a great country like the US places well there.
There are 37 countries with better life expectancies out of the total 208 listed, including Bosnia and Puerto Rico... interesting as well is that many countries are improving while US stats get worse.
The point was never that Cuba-or Chile-has better healthcare but that those countries improve while the US continues to fall.
Continuing on, I looked for other categories but saw this:
Healthy Life Expectancy (UN 1997/1999) Health Performance Rank By Country(UN 1997/1999) WHO ranking of the world's health systems (2000) Total Health Expenditure as % of GDP (2000-2005) Global Hunger Index by country 1990-2008 HDI - Human Development Index 1975-2005 Refugees, asylees, internally displaced persons, by country - 2007
See the pattern? Old statistics on what I've just discussed but new, bright shiny statistics where the US "shines".
I meant to write more but this is an exhausting subject. The US healthcare "plan" every day seems to need a motto like If you're wealthy and 84, we would rather you live in a coma and have a heart transplant than save the lives of babies. If you're 50 and healthy, you will be charged an unbelievable amount-the price of a current mortgage so although your mortgage payment may be low, that extra money will be replaced by an inadequate insurance policy-which, of course, if you ever actually have to use it-you'll be cancelled.
Although they say 46 million Americans are uninsured(I would guess it's much higher-people don't know their insurance is inadequate until they need it), the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens. Here's a lot of scary facts here.
And here's a story about a 35 year old and his 35 year old wife. The story is a good one but here's an excerpt:
She told me that she had just opened a letter from our health insurance that informed us that our monthly premium was increasing from $534 to $738 next month.
A $204 increase per month? $2448 more per year? A 38% increase in one month?
.....They came back again and explained that it was 38%. 17% was an annual increase. The rest was due to my wife and I both turning 35 this year.
A 21% increase for turning the ripe old age of 35.
A 38% increase in on month. From $534 per month to $738. $204 more per month. $2448 more per year.
That's $8,856 a year for two 35 year olds-how much for two 50 year olds?Here's the problem-the money spent on health insurance or healthcare is not being spent other places. This is a serious problem for the economy and the USA. Forget that new house or new car, buy health insurance. The best way to get healthcare if you're middle class is now to become poor so you can get medicaid. I have never in my life used any type of government assistance. I went to college, got my degree, raised my son, paid my taxes, bought a small house(before I cancelled my insurance, it was more than my mortgage payment so I sold my house), bought cars and generally helped the GDP like all good Americans. So I'm very sad. If I ever return to the US, my choice is to divest myself of all assets(I saved for retirement, silly me) and try to hop on the government 'dole' for the first time in my life or just hope I never get sick(I'm healthy but that seems unlikely) or I have the "freedom" to die-even if diagnosed with an easily curable form of breast cancer.
A few thoughts in answer to what I hear from the opposition to healthcare reform in the US. I know they're scaring you but they're not telling you the truth.
1.I hear this "in Canada, my friend's grandmother died because of the lines"
A. This is not Canada. None of the plans proposed look anything like Canada's. In Canada, they do have healthcare priorities. The 5 year old will be in line ahead of the great-grandmother. A 5 year's life is more important to me than my own at 54 and I would hope 84. In the US, the middle class child is more likely to die than a well to do 84 year old. So I believe Canada is correct. But please stop comparing US healthcare to any portion of any healthcare plan around the world that has nothing to do with the US. The rich and privileged in the USA will always have the best healthcare. Always.
2. But I don't want rationed healthcare, I want to keep my doctor!
A. You can keep your doctor under ALL plans proposed. Younger, healthy people here in Chile are mostly in the ISAPRE private sector. Those that are older or not healthy use the public FONASA option. I want a choice too. The choice not to die because of non-invasive breast cancer.
3. But America is about Freedom!
A. The freedom to live if you have the money and the freedom to die if you don't. The freedom to pay more for healthcare. Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense. Except suicide is illegal. Yet suicide rates are increasing
October 21, 2008
U.S. Suicide Rate Increases
Largest Increase Seen in Middle-Aged White Women
The rate of suicide in the United States is increased for the first time in a decade, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’sCenter for Injury Research and Policy. The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase. Whereas the overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent during this time period, the rate among middle-aged white men rose 2.7 percent annually and 3.9 percent among middle-aged women. By contrast, suicide in blacks decreased significantly over the study’s time period, and remained stable among Asian and Native Americans. The results are published online at the website of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and will be published in the December print edition of the journal.
Imagine that-I wonder if that has anything to do with increasing medical problems and healthcare costs in middle age.
4. There won't be any doctors!
A. Yes, there will. I know many doctors here in Chile. A personal friend is a cardiologist. And here's a website from US doctors for US healthcare reform. And let me direct you to their list of questions and answers. Granted, they would like a single system which the US is unlikely to get.
And it looks more likely by the day, that there will be any real reform passed. I am sad. sad for me but sadder still for all the young people that have no idea how bad things can get.
5. I don't want socialized medicine!
A. The most unbelievable really. In answer, I saw President Obama read a letter from an older woman which read in part "I don't want socialized health care and hands off my Medicare!" Really?
Medicare is socialized healthcare, by most definitions. So this woman is saying "I want it for me but no one else!" She made it to 65, the hell with the rest of you.
If you are against "socialized" , you must be against Medicare and fireman. Against a police force, against street cleaners and snow plows. Against the post office(it takes 3 weeks here to send a letter from one end of the country to the other-the miracle of privatization), against the dog pound(don't get me started on the stray dog problem here). The list is endless.
Yes, the US is spoiled in many ways but healthcare here is better.
These little green parrots are noisy in a group and are always in a group although not generally this large. They found a nice perch for everyone on the fence and are all singing in celebration of the sunny spot they found I think.
I still am unsure what they are called but I read the most common parrots are only found far south. So far, I believe it is the Austral parrot. We are central, not south at all. I'm told they go to Argentina and back. More research...
Update...they are the Mountain parakeet, which is a parrot. Link to more information and their song here. The audio was a dead giveaway.
Edit: I did find that it's the Mountain parakeet(a type of parrot) not the austral...
We recently went to the annual wine festival here and enjoyed it immensely. Pirque and the surrounding area is home to many(20?) vineyards. We live near the Concha y Toro Pirque vineyards(drive by going to town). The festival was lots of fun, many wines to taste and complimentary wine glass-for $5000 pesos, hehe. I forgot my camera-darn it. We ran into some friends and we all tasted and tasted(and many vineyards had an English speaking representative). There's a lot of wine here and it's all good. The climate here is perfect and vines here were originally imported from France , largely because there was a disease there killing the old grapevines so to protect them, some were sent to Chile.
Lots of food and booths and interesting things for sale. People in this area don't seem to preserve/can foods at home(like mom so many years ago back in Montana) but at the booths there were a number of women selling pretty jars of various strange canned fruit with spicy additives such as garlic. Odd combinations and fun to look at. But I don't want my fruit with garlic. The local artisans had an array of carved and homemade items-I couldn't resist the older lady who had made little monk outfit wine covers. Or the man who had made little wood stoves(everyone has one here) that actually had smoke coming out the stove pipe(little incense burners).
There was rides for the children and food everywhere. Everyone seemed happy and many carried a glass of wine around. I could have stayed into the evening but we didn't and missed the dancing later on.
http://www.fiestadelvinodepirque.cl/index.html
We also finally took a tour(last week) at Concha y Toro, which we drive by almost daily. Very strange to see the same field from inside instead of outside. We visited the famous devil's cellar but what I didn't realize is that the cellar(made in the old way of bricks and mortar) is the same (cold) temperature as above which is cooled in a modern fashion(with evaporative coolers). The field we drive by on our way home is actually a field of cabernet grapes and is one of their best, the guide says-slated for the best wine. The grapes are tiny and sweet(yes, she encouraged us to taste). Concha y Toro sells wine for everyone. They sell everything from boxed wine to Don Melchor(their most expensive wine). And Don Melchor is the wine actually kept in the old cellar, not the Casillero del Diablo that bears the name. I have to say they don't make a bad red wine.
The original mansion built on the grounds had 20 bedrooms which are now offices and has French period architecture everywhere, many statues on the grounds, which I believe she said is 58 acres. The Concha y Toro Vineyard was founded by Melchor Santiago de Concha y Cerda and his wife, Emiliana Subercaseaux, in 1883. To start the winery, he brought grape varieties from the Bordeaux region in France.
Well, sort of. I used Chancaca as a molasses replacement. Chancaca smells exactly like molasses. It comes as a sugary solid and you melt it in water. I'm still working on consistency but I think it will do quite well. I use the double pack of chancaca with about a cup of water.
My other small victory was finding a good sour cream substitute. I used cream with a couple teaspoons lemon juice and made beef stroganoff which seemed like heaven to taste...but it may be partly because I had given up hope. Never give up hope!
"Oh that Laura, she's easily entertained" you say. It hasn't rained(that I can remember) in December, January or February. I do love to grow things and being without water is like trying to cook without the ONE ingredient you need. Nothing substitutes for water. We have a well for water but don't know how limited it is. We thought it was unlimited until the well briefly went dry in early spring(just before mountain snow melt).
It rained! The thunder echoed through the mountains-it was wonderful. It feels like fall here-78 F days and 50 F nights-very nice. So I won't be ranting again about water until next year! (it'll probably be about the coming cold weather).
The new cabinets are installed and we are pleased. Maybe especially me. I am more than tired of the tiny little "American-style" kitchen in the rental house. The counters are both shorter in height and not as deep as counters in the US. The counter with the sink is even shorter so as I do dishes or peel potatoes, I have to lean over in an awkward position. If I do that long enough, I soon realize my back is not that of a 25 year old!
We have granite countertops and a nice big window over a double sink under a nice big rauli wood window so I can daydream properly. There is a little corner cupboard for wineglasses-remember that very inexpensive yet very tasty Chilean wine!
Over to the left, we'll have a nice little kitchen table with another window above it.
It's all starting to come together and we plan to move in "as is"-whatever it is-the end of the month. More photos of the rest of the house to come....
No Independence Day would be complete without a rodeo-and Chile is no exception. We went to the local rodeo in Pirque and walked around the grounds outside the arena too. Huaso(cowboy) wares aplenty for sale and Helia explained the finer points to me.
The Chilean saddle is completely different from western saddles but oh-so comfortable.
Yes, rides for the kiddies and ice cream and cotton candy too. And some pretty good people watching.
The Fonda is a big beer/chicha hall with dancing and barbeque.
And then, the main event the rodeo. The rodeo has one important event. They use older calves they call bulls(after the rodeo they apparently go to slaughter). The huasos attempt to control the bull, keeping to the outside edge of the arena. One huaso in back and one to the side of the bull. The bulls are supposed to be used one time only but many obviously knew this routine and tried to get back to the corral. They are scored on their control of the bull. Then, at a place in the arena which is padded, they actually run the horse into the bull, pushing it against the padded area(they score higher for hitting the bull just right) and often knocking the bull to the ground.
Huasos controll the bull. Chilean horses have a special sidestepping gait that is unique.
Getting into position out of the gate.
Losing control of the bull. Notice the padded area-this is where the huasos were to stop the bull.
Two huasos after their run.
Huaso gear. Parade stirrups and nasty looking spurs.
Religion and superstition in Chile are openly intermingled, and it is sometimes hard to see what came first, the superstition or religion. The black Jesus on the way to Pirque is pictured at left. The story goes that a man sold his soul to the devil, made some kind of deal, then just before he died, he asked God(who is El Senor here-not just senor) to take him back. God forgave him and the devil(El Diablo) was mad because he didn't go through with the deal. The man had built the Jesus statue for God and redemption and the devil turned the Jesus black. The legend goes on to say that you can paint the Jesus white but it always turns black again to remind people. The statue was, at some point, really painted white but started turning black immediately. That may have something to do with the smoke from the candles burning below him but certainly an entertaining story.
The Evil Eye. I read the following online:
The evil eye is really one that combines superstition with religion. The evil eye is the name for a sickness transmitted -- usually without intention -- by someone who is envious, jealous, or covetous. It is also called the invidious eye and the envious eye. In Hebrew it is ayin ha'ra (the evil eye), which in Yiddish is variously spelled ayin horoh, ayin hora, or ayen hara. In mainland Italian it is mal occhio (the bad eye) and in Spanish mal ojo or el ojo (the bad eye or just the eye). In Sicily it is jettatore (the projection [from the eye]) and in Farsi it is bla band (the eye of evil). The evil eye belief is that a person -- otherwise not malific in any way -- can harm you, your children, your livestock, or your fruit trees, by *looking at them* with envy and praising them. The word "evil" is unfortunate in this context because it implies that someone has "cursed" the victim, but such is not the case. A better understanding of the term "evil eye" is gained if you know that the old British and Scottish word for it is "overlooking," which implies merely that the gaze has remained too long upon the coveted object, person, or animal. In other words, the effect of the evil eye is misfortunate, but the person who harbours jealousy and gives the evil eye is not necessarily an evil person per se.
Here in Chile, babies are given a type of amulet or necklace made of silver and red with a picture of the virgin Mary for protection.
The other story that I love is the one about Casillero del Diablo-the Devils Cellar. You may know the wine, sold in the states, but not the propagation of a century old legend known throughout the world. In the 19th century, the founder of Concha y Toro, Don Melchor, discovered that his vineyard workers were sampling his greatest wines. To discourage this action, Don Melchor spread the rumor that his deepest, darkest cellar was the Casillero del Diablo (Cellar of the Devil), so that no one would dare go in there. It worked, and a legend was born. Today, this mysterious and legendary cellar continues to hold the finest, estate grown wines of Casillero del Diablo.
Another version of the story is that rebels trying to free Chile from Spain hid down there and Spanish soldiers were told that the devil was there. Being good Catholics, the Spanish refused to search the cellar. It's possible that Don Melchor knew that story and used it to his advantage later.
I found Allspice at Liders after internet research told me that it might be called Pimiente Dulce(translation: sweet pepper). There it was, with both titles on the label! Cream of Tartar, I've heard, may be found at the pharmacy. Hmmm.
We bought a portable CD player too. It was an interesting discussion with the Chilean salesperson who spoke no English and our rudimentary Spanish. I lost track and Michael did the talking. He is much better at speaking a few Spanish words and getting them to reply in a few words. One Spanish word on my part seems to encourage a Spanish paragraph or more from the other person, both confusing and nowhere near understandable to me. It seems when we don't understand, many think if they just use more words, we will! Of course, it's just the opposite-fluent Spanish speakers run words together so we no longer understand the words we know. There are those that understand that and slow down, mostly those that know a little English and thus, how difficult it is to understand a second language.
But this guy was really helpful and very nice to us. And we eventually purchased a cd player and batteries. By the way, square batteries are batteries here-or bateria (car battery or 9 volt battery) but the round batteries are called "pilas". At one point, another salesperson tried to help and we got our pilas-silly us, asking for baterias. Always a new lesson.
We looked at baby clothes, hoping to find a lovely Chilean oufit for my new grandbaby. But the clothes are generally what they deem to be US knockoffs. Some terrible English translations often grace the front of T-shirts. And what them they believe is USA style is often pretty funny. My Chilean pots and pans have the US Tradition brand right on them(made in China). Which reminds me-the American kitchen you often see advertised is tiny. Helia said that is because they think Americans in the US don't really do much in the kitchen, just cook. And I think they believe we don't really cook much. Lol.
I decided I wanted to bake a US style chocolate cake. The cakes here tend to quite dry-it almost seems they bake them very low for a long time. So, I decided to try to find baking ingredients. First I found baking powder, then baking soda. Also vanilla and powdered sugar and baking cocoa. You can see that a non-Spanish speaking person like myself might feel part detective
Bicarbonato is baking soda. Horno de polvo is baking powder. Flor is powdered sugar and chocolate amargo is unsweetened cocoa for baking-there is also a dulce(sweet) version available.
Then we went to Lider, which is something like a Chilean Kmart. Lider has groceries, clothes, shoes, bags and bags of dog food, sets of dishes, shampoo... And I found a rectangular cake pan, a Pyrex measuring cup with both US & metric measures, a loaf pan for banana bread and a pie plate!
And the chocolate cake turned out just fine. I'll make some adjustments on the oven temperature and time next attempt but we were quite happy.
The Calefon is used here for hot water instead of the big hot water tank I'm used to in the States. Basically, the cold water flows through coils and is instantly heated. It hangs on the wall, and is, of course, a space saver as well as an energy saver. I saw one at a home show in Colorado touted as if it was a brand new concept!
The great thing about the Calefon is that you never run out of hot water! However, I at first had trouble adjusting the hot water just so. I would turn on the hot water in the shower, then turn on a little cold, turn down the hot, turn up the cold...and so on. But, the cold water faucet is really unnecessary although sometimes desirable. The flow rate determines the temperature of the water so if the water is too hot, turning up the "hot" water actually increases the amount of cold water flowing through(because the calefon can only heat a certain amount of water-if the flow is too high, the water cools off).
So, the answer to the perfect shower temperature is to turn on only the hot until steaming hot, then turn the "hot" up slightly until you reach the perfect temperature for you! And if you like it a little hotter during your shower, simply turn the "hot" water down...You may have a different experience from winter(when the pipes are cold) to summer. But you must start with the hot water and gradually adjust either the hot or cold water.
Commerce here-wine! Mmmmm. You can find lots of Chilean wine there too. The Pirque house is very close to Concho Y Toro. which is perhaps the biggest and oldest in Chile. The wine here is unbelievably cheap. Fruit-you guys get many of Chile's fruit in the winter too. There are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere you look and stopping there is really fun. We load up on everything for around 5000 pesos($10). Avocados for $2 a kilo(2.25 lbs) but they're much cheaper in season which, I'm told is July(which is deep winter here). Everything else runs $1 to 1.25 a kilo. I've been making soup with all the veggies. They have a few fruits I've never tried-persimmons and pepino(which is the size of a pear and you peel and tastes like melon). Oh and kiwi. There is always fruit, I'm told because they get it from the North(which is desert) and South(which is colder). And nuts-almonds, walnuts. And olives. They have this juice made in Santiago, strawberry and apple the best. Nothing like it that I've tasted, just delicious. And marmalade, very cheap and delicious.
Other commerce is salmon, which is mostly exported-look for it at King Soopers. They also make clothes, just for here I think-haven't shopped much yet beyond the grocery store. The President)Michelle Bachelet)has been setting up trade agreements so I expect more access to varied products. Beef is from Argentina mostly I think. They have no concept of grain fed or feedlots here. The common breed I read can be used for beef or dairy and the owner decides his need! I also read that they are importing some angus beef for restaurants to see if people like it. Beef here is grass fed, which is much leaner but not as tasty as the grain finished beef. We should get very healthy here!
There are many US companies here-Dominos Pizza, ADT alarms, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC/Taco Bell. And they love many US products-they do like to dress pretty much like North Americans but everythings with a twist. Like the pizza has very different ingredients. They love hot dogs-called completos-but with mayonnaise and creamed avocado. Taco Bell has burrito supremes but no nacho chips, instead fries with cheese on it. Only Dorito chips in the store-no other tortilla chips. I can't seem to get enough guacamole with cheap and plentiful avocados & tomatoes. I tried some olive and tomato flavored chips here that they make that were really good. Coca Cola is drunk in every home at every meal-even those that have very little money-don't know how they did that. So, a lot of US business is done here. By the way, they will point out, Chileans are also Americans-you are NorteAmericano!
We noticed the Jeep Cherokee we bought here is Canadian made, a little smaller, but gets 38 mpg-the one he had in the states got 22 mpg. Have no idea why yet. His friend is buying a Ford Ranger that is supposed to get 50 mpg. I have heard emissions would make the difference but this Jeep does have a catalytic converter.
I'm a US citizen, lived in Chile for about 3 years and started my expat blog to talk about my experiences. There are so many small differences between countries and yet, in some ways, we are all the same. Some of what I write may seem mundane, but, at least to me, it's all part of the adventure of living in another country with a different language and completely different customs. The good, the bad, the inexplicable I will post here. Although I am back in the US, I still go back to Chile occasionally and still want to record something of both countries. My experiences have certainly deepened my understanding of both Chilean and US politics. Yes, I am a political junkie. I started another blog to discuss US politics
http://political-abyss.blogspot.com/
We recently went to the annual wine festival here and enjoyed it immensely. Pirque and the surrounding area is home to many(20?) vineyards. We live near the Concha y Toro Pirque vineyards(drive by going to town). The festival was lots of fun, many wines to taste and complimentary wine glass-for $5000 pesos, hehe. I forgot my camera-darn it. We ran into some friends and we all tasted and tasted(and many vineyards had an English speaking representative). There's a lot of wine here and it's all good. The climate here is perfect and vines here were originally imported from France , largely because there was a disease there killing the old grapevines so to protect them, some were sent to Chile.
