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Farewell to Chile

By Daniel Lins - 2009-09-28

Goodbye Chile

After nearly six and a half months, we’re finally quitting Chile. I’m sad to be leaving, but eager to get on to Bolivia.

Chile has been wonderful. The people here are, in general, very loving and open. They love foreigners and have been very generous. We are leaving many new and close friends behind. In honor of our friends, I have the priviledge of writing the Chile Summary.

This country is one of the most modern and westernized countries of South America. Their economy is strong which means that food is about the same price as in the USA. We have spent a LOT of money here.

Chile is divided into fifteen regions, like states, although it has one central democratic government with the same laws in force in the entire country. For brevity, I’ll divide it into the three distinct regions which we experienced.

Patagonia and the Southern Agricultural District

Cold, wild, and clean. Patagonia is a mecca for outdoorsmen. Glaciers, volcanoes, islands, waterfalls, mountain lakes and untouched wilderness. If I ever visited a place again, it would be Patagonia.

With more sheep than people, it is simply beautiful. But cold and rainy as well. The people are super open and hospitable. Farmers on the street commonly invited us inside for coffee and bread. (Chileans eat more bread than anyone in the world.) The agriculture area north of Patagonia is filled with the same wonderful people, warm and caring. They love foreigners and actively welcomed us with smiles and cheek-kisses. Family life is valued here so much more than in the US, and it is common to see unmarried children live with their parents up to 30 years old or more.

Santiago and Urbanity

Situated in the exact center of the XYZ mile long country, Santiago is one of the most modern cities in South America. The people here are a little more closed than in the south, but still open and loving. Life is fast-paced and work-oriented, much like our own New York City, though on a smaller scale, and with a much cleaner subway.

The cheek-kiss greeting is still very popular, and we often see heartily embracing couples in the public parks. This open expression is not duplicated in other parts of SA as much.

American television and music is pervasive in Chile, and it shows here in the culture, dress, and advertisements. Our American epidemic of self-image issues has caught on like the plague, spreading rapidly through the dirty rats of fashion magazines and TV commercials.

Northern Chile and the Desert

It may be a jump to lump the fertile regions of papaya-producing La Serena XYZ with the Atacama Desert of the north, but please forgive me. We took buses through this part, straight to the desert.

The people here are still very open and loving, though a little more cold than in the fertile south. Life is harder, and has comes with fewer smiles. The land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean has a lot of sand and rolling hills, with dried up mining towns left by the Imperialists years ago. Beach towns are beautiful, reminiscent of our own Atlantic City but more brilliant for the harsh soil they grow from. Mining towns are filled with immigrant workers from poorer latin countries, looking for a better life for their kids. And everywhere, we see gas-heated showers, cars, and modern conveniences.

Chile is modern. You can ask my sisters who visited. There was no culture shock. And the people are beautiful and warm. We have zero stories of bad experiences with people, but tons of stories of kind, generous, curious, well-informed people. Too many to print on the website.