Saturday, February 07, 2004

My Brother Diego and Friday Night

Well, both of my parents left- my host mom went to the beach for a week and my dad to visit a cousin who is flying in from Texas, so last night Adriana (the other scholar), Diego (my host brother) and I hung out at home.

I haven´t said much about mi hermano- he is a character. Smart kid- he studies marine biology in Valparaiso, a city at the beach. He is a total hippie- he has big long dreds and doesn´t shave. He is a strong vegetarian, which good because that means that we eat a lot of vegetables. Last night, he was teaching me how to play the didgeridoo (is that how it is spelled?) and a sanpona- it is an instrument from Peru. And he invited the cute neighbors over too.

We had a bottle of wine that Andrea bought from the store- it was from the Cousino vineyard, a cabernet´98 reserve and one of the neighbors freaked out that it cost 6,000 pesos (about $10). I guess it served to remind me the differences because although my family lives in a good neighborhood and is middle class here (there is a fairly large middle class), people I guess don´t go around spending that much on a bottle of wine. But Diego did make the point that "expensive" is relative. But it all was good- we celebrated out first week here.

What I Promised In the Last Entry
So about thoughs cultural idiosyncrasies- I was told that I shouldn´t talk to men with white shoes because they couldn´t be trusted. After asking many question, I figured out that what my teacher meant was men with white dress shoes because it was very strange and rare. Men in Chile just don´t wear white shoes and therefore they are not strange. Soemthing to that effect. Although the next day, I was on an excursion to the Museo Bellas Artes and a guy wearing white dress shoes came up to the four of us and asked us if we were lost and needed directions. We said no. I asked the profesora about his white shoes and she had no idea what I was talking about. She said that she hadn´t heard that saying before and usually men in Venezuela wear white dress shoes, but that doesn´t mean they can´t be trusted. So I guess I learned that I have to take everything I hear here with a grain of salt.

And about those Citibank employees and earings- we were talking about how Chileans are quick to make judgements about other people. If a doctor were to have an earring, no one would like that doctor because they would question his abilities. But when I thought about it, I only know a few people who wouldn´t discriminate a lawyer with tattoos on their neck. When you think about it, it doesn´t really make sense because a physical marking has no bearing on a person´s talents, yet we are quick to assume.

In Citibank, all the men dress the same but not because there is a dress code-it is just an unwritten law- dockers, Polo or Nautica shirts, and loafers. If you get a job and wear something else, everyone will think you are strange. Conformity is a distinct key. But women who work for Citibank get to wear whatever.

Speaking of the way women dress- they alweays are very presentable. It´s kind of like Japan- they wear skirts, sandals, and accesorize. I fit in without trying. I didn´t really expect to though. Is that conformity on a different level? I don´t know....maybe that will be another blog....It will be interesting to see how students dress in college though, because up until the university, they wear uniforms. College is their time for freedom and expression and I am sure that they go wild. But I´ll let you know when I know.

posted by Rebecca @ 2/07/2004 11:12:00 AM