Chilean Obsession
After two months of living in Chile, I have realized that there are certain things that Chileans are obsessed with. Some of them are things that Chileans have a good reason to be obsessed about, and some of them make absolutely no sense. Seriously, mayonnaise is not the condiment anyone should ever be obsessed with.
Mayonnaise
Chileans love their mayonnaise. It's on anything and everything, from hamburgers to hot dogs to
french fries. I always thought the USA was the land of mayonnaise lovers, but I was absolutely wrong. Here, when you go to bite into a completo (hot dog), you will find half of it is taken up by mayonnaise. Every conceivable type of sandwich is sold "Italian style", which means it has smashed avocado, tomatoes, and mayo on it (the colors of they toppings are the same as the Italian flag). Mayo is also used as the topping of choice on french fries, and mayo is brought out during almost every meal as a condiment. I hated mayonnaise before coming here, but I'm worried that Chile will change me. I have already started accepting it on my sandwiches, and it's just a matter of time before I start allowing it on my completos.
Guerra del Pacifico
Before coming to Chile, I vaguely knew about the War of the Pacific due to my Latin American Culture and Civilization class at Grand Valley. However, I am pretty sure that I will leave Chile as an expert. Everyone talks about this war, and it still factors into tensions between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile that exist to this day, even though this war occurred all the way back in 1879. The War of the Pacific was a war that involved Chile fighting Peru and Bolivia, mostly over salt peter rich lands in the desert in between the three countries. Chile ended up winning the war, won a lot of land from Peru, and took Bolivia's only route to the sea. Chileans love this war and I've talked about it in every class I've had, as well as just in normal conversations. Not to mention that every time you bring up Bolivia, Chileans chuckle and mention how "Bolivia is just sad that they don't have a route to the sea".
Hiking
Hiking is something Chileans are obsessed with for good reason. The nature here is beautiful, and Chile's got a lot of it. The driest desert in the world, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and glaciers are just some of the many varieties of nature you can find here. Within three hours you can drive from the ocean, through one mountain range, through a large flat valley, and up into the Andes. Chileans love hiking through whatever part of this beautiful landscape that they can get to. Everyone owns hiking boots, everyone knows of a cool place to hike, and everyone can climb giant hills and mountains without batting an eye. One of the coolest places in Santiago, the capital, is a hill called Cerro Santa Lucia, which sounds and looks like a small, green hill that you can climb up. What I did not realize, however, is that this hill is actually much taller than it looks from the street, and consists of hundreds of steep, rocky steps.
While I clung to the railings, legs tired and sore, catching my breath, Chileans were passing by very quickly with their small children, going all the way to the top. Stairs, climbing, and hiking don't phase them, and it's amazing. So this is the obsession that I can get behind.
Mayonnaise
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| Look at all that Mayonnaise. Photo Cred: Ian |
Chileans love their mayonnaise. It's on anything and everything, from hamburgers to hot dogs to
french fries. I always thought the USA was the land of mayonnaise lovers, but I was absolutely wrong. Here, when you go to bite into a completo (hot dog), you will find half of it is taken up by mayonnaise. Every conceivable type of sandwich is sold "Italian style", which means it has smashed avocado, tomatoes, and mayo on it (the colors of they toppings are the same as the Italian flag). Mayo is also used as the topping of choice on french fries, and mayo is brought out during almost every meal as a condiment. I hated mayonnaise before coming here, but I'm worried that Chile will change me. I have already started accepting it on my sandwiches, and it's just a matter of time before I start allowing it on my completos.
Guerra del Pacifico
Before coming to Chile, I vaguely knew about the War of the Pacific due to my Latin American Culture and Civilization class at Grand Valley. However, I am pretty sure that I will leave Chile as an expert. Everyone talks about this war, and it still factors into tensions between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile that exist to this day, even though this war occurred all the way back in 1879. The War of the Pacific was a war that involved Chile fighting Peru and Bolivia, mostly over salt peter rich lands in the desert in between the three countries. Chile ended up winning the war, won a lot of land from Peru, and took Bolivia's only route to the sea. Chileans love this war and I've talked about it in every class I've had, as well as just in normal conversations. Not to mention that every time you bring up Bolivia, Chileans chuckle and mention how "Bolivia is just sad that they don't have a route to the sea".
Hiking
Hiking is something Chileans are obsessed with for good reason. The nature here is beautiful, and Chile's got a lot of it. The driest desert in the world, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and glaciers are just some of the many varieties of nature you can find here. Within three hours you can drive from the ocean, through one mountain range, through a large flat valley, and up into the Andes. Chileans love hiking through whatever part of this beautiful landscape that they can get to. Everyone owns hiking boots, everyone knows of a cool place to hike, and everyone can climb giant hills and mountains without batting an eye. One of the coolest places in Santiago, the capital, is a hill called Cerro Santa Lucia, which sounds and looks like a small, green hill that you can climb up. What I did not realize, however, is that this hill is actually much taller than it looks from the street, and consists of hundreds of steep, rocky steps.
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| I'm only posing to catch my breath after climbing half of the hill. |
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| A group of gringos at the top of the "small" hill. Photo cred: Adriana |
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