Algunas cosas divertidas durante mi tiempo en Chile :)

Translation in English: Some funny things during my time in Chile :)

Hola!

So I just wrote, but I wanted to share with you some funny things that have happened since I have been here and some fun facts about Chile...enjoy!

1) We all get SUPER excited when there is at least one of the following in the bathrooms: toilet paper, a toilet seat, soap, or all of the above. It's really common here to not have any of these in the bathrooms here. It's definitely just one of those things we have gotten used to, and so we always bring kleenex/toilet paper and anti-bacterial stuff with us wherever we go. Also, usually we have to put the toilet paper in the garbage in the stall instead of flushing it down the toilet..for some reason the pressure is not as strong? I believe that's why we do this, but anyway, we always kid around that when we get back to the US, we're probably going to throw away the toilet paper in the trash at some point or another just because we've gotten used to it :)

2) A good day= 4 honks while walking to the centro...ok this is just a joke, but we do get honked at a lot here! It's just their way of acknowledging us I guess you could say? ;) The one day I got the most honks was when we were walking to the centro and I had my Chilean soccer jersey on! Holy cow! They do love soccer! :)

3) Chileans have a lot of different words that they use than what we have learned in our Spanish classes back home. A few include chaleta=cardigan, chaqueta=jacket, polera=t-shirt, helado=cold/freezing. BUT the biggest thing that is different here and the most common thing heard is "po". Just like we use "like" back home A LOT! the Chileans use the word "po". They add it at the end of sentences normally, and usually the most frequently thing heard is "Sí po", "No po", "Hola po", etc. but really the biggest one heard is "Sí po". It just adds a little bit more emphasize to what they said, but other than that, there's really no reason. It felt so strange to start using "po", but once I started, it was hard to stop :)

4) One time when Rachel and I were talking to our mom at the dinner table she asked us if it was cold when we want to the beach, and she used the word "helado"..let me just say that when I learned the word "helado" it meant "ice cream"..so my mom asks me if it was cold when we went to the beach, and I replied with "Yes, we had ice cream at the beach at Dimango, and it was really yummy!" :D I also didn't realize this until about 3 weeks later when Rachel told me :) haha I couldn't stop laughing when she told me because by that time I knew that the Chileans use "helado" for cold and not only for ice cream :)

5) During our 2nd to last weekend, Rachel and I were talking about returning back to the United States, and how long our layovers were in the airports..Rachel said "Quedamos en Lima por 18 años" -->Approximate translation so you understand "We have an 18 year layover in Lima" What she was attempting to say was that we have a 18 hour layover in Lima :) Our family and us laughed SO hard! It was probably one of my favorite moments ever!

6) There are stray dogs everywhere here! Usually they are pretty friendly, but once in awhile, they are mean. Also, because of the dogs, the people here don't just take their garbage and put it next to their homes. At night, the garbage men come around to the homes and there is this really loud bell that rings, and then once they hear the bell, they take out the garbage and give it right to the garbage men!

7) We light a little box thing that gives us hot water for our showers..at least most of us do! And we usually unplug everything after we use it (even microwaves and tvs). A great way to save some money!


.....The people of Arica are amazing! They are super friendly, and I'm going to miss them soooo much! If any of you get the chance to come to this beautiful place...DO IT! I'm going to miss everything about it here! Hope you enjoyed some of the random facts and fun stories about the trip so far :)

Chauuuu!

Katie~