miércoles, 21 de enero de 2009

A General Overview

My time in Chile is coming to its inevitable close and it’s really got me thinking. I’ve written a good deal about my personal life, perhaps too much in some instances; everything I have written is true both factually and in terms of my opinions and feelings about the events that have taken place. I want this entry to be less about me and more about my general take of the country...this is basically my technical and sociological summary of what I think about Chile.

Chile is a truly an advanced country with a very clean and safe capital city. Though the citizens almost unanimously complain about the transportation system “TranSantiago” it efficient, clean and suited for the capacity of the city. As I understand it, many people prefer the other system because the buses used to run complete routes. A person living in the far northwest of the city could travel to the extreme south using one bus. The route used to take about two hours, but people going to work could get on the bus and nap for two hours while the bus ran a circuitous route through the city until reaching its final destination. The new system is more “efficient” with more busses running shorter routes. Where some people used to take one bus, they now have to take two or three to get to where they need to go. Their travel time is mostly likely the same or shorter, but they inconvenienced with having to change busses and lose the ability to sleep in the mornings and in the evenings on the return trips. For those living downtown, they don’t experience this problem because the majority of the busses pass through here on the way to other places. The subway is the best I have ever been on: the trains are clean, there are almost never any mechanical problems and they run one after another every two to five minutes or so depending on the line, time of day and the day of the week. The lines are all well marked, the maps are very easy to read and the metro staff is helpful when you ask. The only real problem with the metro is the crowding which I heard is a recent phenomenon. Many people now prefer the metro to the new busses, making for really crowded, hot, uncomfortable rides at almost any time during the week. Although the trains run at full capacity, almost always a person can find a space to squeeze into no matter what time of day. Taxis are everywhere; the drivers are safe, friendly and charge a standard and very reasonable fare. A person can go from downtown to the extreme limits of the city for no more than maximum of $25. A typical cab fare runs me $4 and usually we are 3+ meaning I usually pay around a buck each way. Santiago offers, as do many cities in the continent, a “collectivo” system. These “collectivos” are like taxis except the taxi is not exclusive. These vehicles run set routes and they charge a fixed per passenger price. If you know you’re way around and you know where the collectivo’s stop and the routes they run, you can get from downtown to the nether regions of the city for less than $3. If you don’t mind sharing the cab with complete strangers and stopping occasionally to pick up new passengers on the way, the collectivo is an efficient and cheap way to get where you need to go.

Santiago is aesthetically a very clean city. The trash men come by almost every night, and their version of the DPW sweeps the city and hoses down the streets and waters the green areas on the a daily basis. Though it looks nice, the air quality in the city is dismal. Santiago, unfortunately, resides in a valley between two mountain ranges. To the extreme northwest the city touches the Andes mountain range which runs north-south and to the east there is a smaller chain (not a “range” so to speak) which lies between Santiago and the coast. With over six million inhabitants and myriad personal cars, taxis, trucks and “micros” (city busses) the air is at times thick with pollution. In the spring and summer, the air quality is actually decent. There is virtually no cloud cover during these two seasons allowing the air to escape over the mountains and the city to breathe a bit more easily. In the fall and especially in the winter, the city experiences its rainy season. The cloud cover is often quite thick, trapping the toxic gasses in the city. Many young children and old people have to go to the hospital for respiratory problems during the fall and winter. Here they say if a sickly, older person lives through November they will live for another year because the air clears up dramatically in December. Often during the winter there are driving restrictions posted on the news and in the newspapers. On a restricted driving day any car without a catalytic converter is prohibited from driving, along with cars chosen at random according to which number their license plates begin. These restricted driving days complicate the lives of many citizens who only have one car in the family and depend on it to get to work on time. Chileans have become very good at carpooling and almost everyone gets where they need to go on time even on restricted driving days.

The countryside Chile possesses rivals that of any country in the world in terms of beauty and especially diversity. Due to financial constraints and the need to work I have not been able to experience the majority of the natural wonders Chile boasts. To the north is the Atacama which is supposed to be amazing. Even farther north lies the driest desert in the world. Chile is home to the highest peaks in the Andes mountain range as well. There are many ski centers here with excellent natural powder, the experience is different than anything the US has to offer. They tell me that the centers close to Santiago are comparable to skiing in the Rockies except that here there are no trees. Boarding here was really a mind-blowing experience for me. There was powder as far as I could see and essentially no boundary limits because of the non-existent flora. The coastline stretches from the extreme north to the extreme south of the country making for tons of beaches and cliffs from Arica down to Tierra del Fuego. Chile is home to the highest concentration of active Volcanoes on earth and because of the elevated tectonic activity in the country there are many natural hot-springs throughout the country. Chile’s proximity to the Andes Mountains has afforded it thousands of lakes formed by the melting snow running down from the Andes. Patagonia (the south of the country) is lush, green, and full of lakes, volcanoes and hot-springs. The ocean in Chile is incredibly and unfortunately cold. A current takes the water from Antarctica and swirls it up the coastline all the way to Arica. Obviously the water gets warmer the further north you go, but it is still cold no matter where you choose to bathe. I am accustomed to the cold waters of northern MA, but still the beaches near Santiago are certainly the coldest in which I have ever swum.

The women here really do not fit the typical “Latina” stereotype. If you are looking for curvaceous, beautiful women this is not the country for you. Qualifying that remark, the typical Chilena does have a curve, most have a good sized pouch hanging over the waistline of their tight jeans. Most girls lack a back-side and have a gut. It’s not a flattering commentary, but it’s the truth. The girls here are generally quiet and passive. Obviously there are exceptions to this. There are certainly beautiful and curvy women here, but they are few and far between. One can go two days without seeing a really hot girl and a month before seeing a knockout. Also there are some excellent female conversationalists as well but they are even harder to come by than the lookers, and God bless you if you can find a Chilena with the total package.

Chile lags far behind the rest of Latin America in terms of women in the workforce. Only around 40% of the women in this country work and the average woman earns around 25% less than a man for doing the exact same job. Don’t let the fact that they have a woman as president fool you; Chile is a very Machista culture. Bachelet essentially won because she was a gimmick which Chileans are particularly prone to. No matter what she does, the people here refuse to praise or criticize her. A typical commentary is that she is just the face of her government and that the real work is done by her ministers and cabinet members whom she has no control over. Really, I don’t know how much of that is true but it is certainly the opinion of the overwhelming majority here. The women here are similar to the women of the 1950’s in the United States in some respects. They are expected to maintain the household, raise the children, cook, and clean in addition to working for some. This sounds harsh, but just about every lower-middle to upper class family has at least one Peruvian nanny to reduce the burden on the women. The Chilena is incredibly jealous and attempts to control their significant other. In the US the man usually calls the woman to check in from work or to make the nightly phone call in a relationship. Aside from the initial courtship process where the man does all the work here, the woman is the one constantly checking in on her partner to ask where they are, with whom they are with, why they are there with said person in said location, are there any girls there, are they behaving, when will they come home and so on. The Chilena becomes easily attached and these interactions normally start very early in a relationship.

The women might sound a little crazy, but it is certainly not without reason. The typical Chileno is certainly Machista. I would roughly estimate that about 40% of the male population is unfaithful. I’m not saying they live double lives with another girlfriend, but every so often a good number of men have flings with other women. The men here are really an interesting case. They are more outgoing than the women and I find very entertaining, though not always stimulating conversationalists. If you like women, soccer, dirty jokes and beer you can get along with the overwhelming majority of Chilean males. These guys have no shame when it comes to women. If a beautiful woman walks down the street without fail almost every man will shamelessly stare at her, look her up and down and the worst even let out noises like “oooph” as she passes. The interesting part is that I have yet to see one actually approach this woman they have molested with their eyes and actually try to converse with her. Every guy talks about the “minas” which is slang for a good looking woman. Almost all Chilenos talk like they are hot stuff and about the “minas” but most of them are full of hot air; they are a lot of bark and no balls. The married men get together a lot more with their friends outside of the house to go to parties and discos than the men in the United States, though not without castigation from the misses at home upon returning.

50% xenophobic, the Chileans love North Americans, Europeans and citizens of Oceania, while at the same time lamenting each and every one of their neighbors. Typical to all of South America, these people know how to hold grudges. The War of the Pacific which involved Chile against Bolivia and Peru (1879-1884) still remains fresh in the minds of all Chileans. They won the war and gained a good deal of territory, but still hate Peruvians and Bolivians. While Chile was fighting in the north, Argentina came into the defenseless south of Chile and essentially robbed most of Patagonia. To this day the typical Chilean thinks of the Argentinean as a conniving thief just waiting for his opportunity to pounce and take advantage. This sounds extreme, but may not be that far from the truth. Argentina from my understanding does not foster much ill will toward the Chileans, though I know for a fact that Peruvians and Bolivians hate Chileans more than the Chileans hate them. A couple months ago, the head of the Peruvian military stated that all Chileans in Peru should be sent home…in body-bags. It is going to be a very long time before South America forms anything resembling the European Union. France forgave Germany for what happened in WWII, but the South Americans just can’t forget. They don’t forget because really they choose not to forget. Just like the American Revolution is studied extensively in grammar schools in the US, the War of the Pacific is taught to all students in Chile, Peru and Bolivia. The main difference is that the teachers engender a sense of hate towards their former foes which the students perpetuate and teach to their children. One of my students, a Chilean, lived in Bolivia for most of his childhood. He told me that whenever the War of the Pacific was taught the teacher would send him out of the room to run errands. Later on one of his classmates told him that when he was out of the room the teacher lambasted the Chileans on a very personal level.

On a political level, the Chileans refuse to forget. This case is unique because remembering is ever so convenient for the leftist (“socialist” by name but capitalist in policy) parties. Agosto Pinochet is debatably the greatest and worst president that Chile ever had. If it wasn’t for someone like Pinochet, Chile would most likely be another Cuba. He opened up Chile’s closed economy to the world causing mediocre businessmen with inferior products to suffer for quite some time until they caught up with the rest of the modern world. While doing great things, his people committed atrocious crimes against humanity. Mass tortures and slaughters took place inside the National Stadium and many innocent people were maimed and killed for their affiliation or perceived affiliation with the communist party. Pinochet defended the actions by saying he was at war with the Communist party, though a war is constituted by two opposing military forces. Pinochet had the military and the communists really had nothing, it was persecution and not war. Traditionally the upper crust of Chilean society believes that the ends justify Pinochet’s means and say that he was a good man who lost control of his subordinates. There is no accountability in Chilean politics, no one likes to point a finger and say someone did well or someone was atrocious. This lack of accountability extends beyond politics here, and is prevalent in the workforce too. I have been told that if one makes a mistake at work it is common practice to cast blame on the situation and other workers rather than fess up for the error. Admitting you were wrong is admirable and the sign of a big person in many places, but in Chile it’s a sign of weakness.

It is very convenient for the leftist to hold a grudge and they intentionally do not let the people forget. The “socialists” have been in power since Pinochet left office in 1990. Now this leftist group is very corrupt and the people all know it. It’s common practice to talk about the corruption in government. When a government official is convicted of a crime they are removed from their position. Once the smoke blows over, typically, this corrupt official is shuffled back into the system in a different position and no one seems to be the wiser. Now how have the socialists won every presidential election since Pinochet left? Easy: every election year they show advertisements on the TV and in the Newspapers, and make speeches about the atrocities committed by the right-winged Pinochet government. Like Obama successfully and perhaps disingenuously associated McCain with George W. Bush’s policies, the leftists year after year continue to conjure up anti-right-wing sentiments in enough of the people to win the elections. These modern conservatives have nothing to do with Pinochet and if they win Chile will certainly not be under military rule again. Like we needed a change from right to left in the US, Chile needs a change from a liberal government to one more conservative. Everyone now and then a country needs a good house cleaning to weed out the leaches in the government. Many of the same faces are in the government year after year sucking money from the system. Even if people are more leftist in their ideals it will be better to vote right in these upcoming elections.

On the positive side, the government corruption is basically limited to financial siphoning; there are no kidnappings and torturings going on here. The police or “carabineros” here in Chile are exemplary. I trust the police in Chile perhaps more so than I do the police in the US. The police here go about their business in a humble way. They take care of the necessary and aren’t here to bother the people. The police in the US are generally great people, but you see a lot more cops in the US on power-trips than you do here.

Even worse than in the US, the teachers here are atrociously underpaid. A teacher who studied 5-6 years in the University comes out making $270,000 pesos ($480 or so USD) a month. These people cannot support families, own a car or a house on this salary, it’s almost a joke. There is a good deal of social unrest, almost weekly protests and riots during the school year because of the quality of the public education. Paying the teachers better would go along way in encouraging more quality professionals to take up teaching instead of another course of study. I’ve heard that the government intentionally wants dim-witted individuals at the helm to keep from introducing the students to radical ideas. Don’t buy into that, the professors at the Universities here are grade A and generally the Universities provide an excellent education.

The healthcare system, though not without its own problems should serve as a rough model for what we use in the United States. Every worker is mandated by law to put a portion of their salary into a public or private healthcare system. The employers take the money out directly leaving the people with no choice. Those electing the private system pay more money and receive better services. Here everyone is covered. Those in the public system don’t receive the same quality care as those in the private, but at least they receive decent, affordable healthcare. This is the way of the future. Perhaps it is un-American to mandate that people put money into health care, but then again obligating people to pitch in to Social Security is rooted in socialism as well.

There were more thorns than roses in my portrayal of Chilean society, but I want to point out that this country is the gem of South America. Though grappling with its own issues, it is a safe, economically viable and Gringo friendly country. Having only a few minor problems in the streets here, I feel very safe living in downtown Santiago which is supposedly a dangerous place to live. After learning the valuable lesson of taking a taxi home at night, I feel even safer in the city. I have made many sweeping generalizations and would like to point out that there are a lot of quality, trustworthy men and women here in Chile who are open to share their culture, a few beers and even apartments with people from the outside world. They are exceedingly curious about life in the US and look up to our country as a model. Like I have critiqued Chile, they often remind me of the shortcomings of my country which are many as well. If there is anything you’d like to know about Chile which I have missed I can add more later.

1 comentario:

Unknown dijo...

"They are expected to maintain the household, raise the children, cook, and clean in addition to working for some. This sounds harsh, ...]

LOL! "Harsh." So being a real woman who knows how to take care of a family is "harsh"? Spoken like a true, emasculated, politically correct American pussyboy.