All along I've been thinking that I have to become a Chilean in order for this trip to be worth while. I'm realizing that 1) that's not gonna happen, and 2) that really doesn't need to happen. Thank God.
I'm always reminded how 'other' I am when people refer to me (affectionately?) as 'Gringa.' I always thought "gringo" had more of a negative connotation, but they certainly don't hesitate to refer to any of us expats as gringos (and to our faces! Perhaps it is just the squareness of America that causes my surprise? I don't know.) Chileans also don't hesitate to openly call their friends "Gordito" ("Little Fatty") and more offensive varieties of nicknames that my PC Filter is rejecting right now. They're just more memorable names, I suppose. And when everyone and their mother, and their mother's mother, is named Fransisca Maria, or Maria Fransisca, I suppose "Gordita" only makes sense. In any case, the point is, they all know I'm gringa.
This evening, I was talking with Jeff and Aki Stevenson (the couple who helped me make all of my arrangements here in Santiago) and Jeff reminded me that it's really okay that I don't fully participate in everything that is Chilean. My cultural upbringing never prepared me to live this way. I value concise and timely communication--that's not bad. I don't find a tremendous amount of appeal in flaunting one's more personal emotions--that's just a personal preference for keeping the insides in, ("vaultoneerism"). I also prefer to work as efficiently as possible and spend more free time at home, or not at home, but definitely not at work. I struggle to understand this mentality that the work day should run from 8 or 9am to 7 or 8pm. Go home! You family-oriented people! Go home!
I should confess--I do relish every chance I have to show up a little bit late and act like it's nothing. I'm just saying, if I don't want to live with my mother until I'm thirty--I'm not going to worry too much about it. I'm thankful for the chance to be immersed in a different culture. It's fun. But when I come to this cultural interface, it's more hobby, less legally binding.
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2 comments:
vaultoneerism. yes. :) i like this post. a lot.
Thank you my dear for thinking about your MOM. I am sure you will be happy not living with me until you are thirty -- it is a bit busy and noisy around here. Sometimes I am ready to move away too!
Love M
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