Musings on culture and other stuff

All the countries we visited, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador were distinctly different in many ways, but I thought I would add some in general reflections of our impressions of people and customs since places was pretty well covered in our previous posts.

The people--Tour guides and Lonely Planet caution travelers to beware of thieves and the risks of muggings, which did present itself as a realized risk for us, but most all of the people we met on a daily basis couldn't be more gracious, generous and happy to help unwitting, woefully naive travelers, despite the barriers presented by language.  We were constantly interrupting residents to ask for directions and always received the best attempts to point us in the right direction.  Oftentimes even unsolicited, citizens would offer assistance when they guessed we needed it.  Chilenos and Argentinians are very affectionate, almost always kissing both cheeks in a greeting.  Couples are not shy about demonstrating public displays of affection.    Siesta time--usually between 12 and 5 if often practiced in all the countries but most especially Argentina and Chile; stores are closed in observance.

Police checkpoints were standard in all 4 countries, more so in Argentina and Chile.  We were told that they were searching for young gangs and drugs.  At the occupy location in Buenos Aires, police stood at the ready with billy clubs and their shields.  Occasionally police dressed in camos would have AK-47's strapped to their bodies.   Military posts and artifacts are popular cultural sites in Argentina and Chile.  In Chile we saw the military performing a sort of show and recruit session in a local park; they had their prized jeep outfitted with large weapons with opportunities for tourists or citizens to try on a helmet and get a photo op sitting in the jeep or with one of the uniformed soldiers complete with his cash of weapons.     My Polish friend and I couldn't resist the opportunity to hop into the jeep for some g.i. jane pretending.  

Food--everyone asks what did we eat in South America if we didn't eat carne, jamon or pollo.  Granted it was often difficult to find food that didn't contain meat in it.  We did spend a lot of time in panaderias eating baked goods; but even these had plenty of servings of meat.  Occasionally when we would even say somos vegetarianos, we would still receive dishes with meat in them.  We were cautioned not to eat fresh vegetables or fruit for fear of contamination but we ate these foods usually in seemingly appropriate restaurants, avoiding roadside stands that had these foods.    Empanadas con queso and choclo con queso became favorites of mine at roadside stands though.  Although many a visitor would tell tales of succumbing to stomach distress during their travels, we were fortunate not to have experienced this discomfort.  You would think we drank our fill of good South American coffee but you would wrong.  As it turns out, all good coffee is reserved for export so we never had decent coffee.  Coffee is more brown water than anything else. Nescafe is numero uno coffee supplier in all of the countries we visited and most of it is instant.  Natural juices were hard to come by.  Often  we got a mixed juice concoction reminiscent of Hawaiian Punch or Tang.  Supermarkets or Supermercados had large containers of apple juice and orange juice, which were a treat.  Gilly and I drank a great deal of Coca Cola or Sprite by necessity.  Drinks are rarely if ever served with ice.   Dulce- or sweet concoctions are common provisions on busses and seen everywhere especially in Argentina.  Mate is a bitter, grassy tea extremely important in social settings.  As previously posted, it is most often served in gourds with a metal straw.

Catholic church reigns supreme throughout all the countries we visited.    Rarely did we see any other denomination or sect throughout our time.  Although we did meet some young Mormon missionaries when we were in Argentina.   Almost every hill or elevated park has a statue of Christ and the Virgin Mary, along with crosses and other religious symbols being ubiquitous.  Most stores are closed in observance of the sabbath.

Families come out in droves on the weekends to spend time together.   There are countless child centered activities in parks and on beaches with various carnival type rides to inflatable bounce houses to climbing walls and pony rides.    School vacation was in full swing when we arrived.  It did not resume until right after Carnival.    Futball or soccer is the most popular sport with many adults tuning their tv or radio to the current game.

Westernization and the influence of globalization is strongly felt.  Nescafe, Nestle, Coca Cola advertisements and products are everywhere.  It was refreshing to see Peru have it's own cola, called Inca Cola, but then we found out that Coca Cola pressured Inca Cola to selling half their company.    Product endorsements adorn tee-shirts, hats, etc.    Gilly and I stopped a young girl, wearing a Boston University Terrier sweatshirt to inquire about her connection with our son's alma mater and she had no knowledge of the University.  American music (with English lyrics)  from the 70's and 80's were constantly blaring from car radios.  Rarely do you hear music originating from South America.    

Trash--It's everywhere.  Few and far between towns even make an effort to keep trash away from the thousands of stray dogs that roam the city streets, parks, beaches.  Oftentimes garbage bins were overflowing.  I believe this is what kept many of the dogs we saw in Buenos Aires and other cities so robust and well fed.  If I had any wish for South America it would be spay and neuter all the stray dogs, give them a good cleaning, vaccinate them against canine diseases and ideally find homes where they were loved and cared for.  The problem with stray dogs effected me greatly until I left.

Language--My college level Spanish was clearly not sufficient to help us avoid constant miscommunications and misunderstandings.  It didn't help there  were different dialects, with Castellano--Argentinas with their Italian accented version of Spanish and Chilenismos --Chileno Spanish, which is spoken very fast with lots of idioms and slang; when we were in Puerto Natales, the hostel posted a list of common slang expressions.    Then there is the indigenous languages.  The Mapuche of Patagonia is the largest indigenous group in Argentina.    Quechua is a common language in Peru and Ecuador.    The Indigenous populations, as in North America, have suffered exploitation, genocidal campaigns at he hands of their conquerors.    They are fighting to protect the last of their undeveloped territory in the Amazon against unyielding forces.   They continue to struggle to reclaim their rights to property, justice and equality.