Little Daily Differences: US vs Chile

One of my favorite things about traveling is the chance to realize what you don't realize in your day to day life regarding what is "normal."

For instance, I never ponder what a light switch looks like or how I say goodbye to people when I'm in my "regular life" in the US. However, seeing how things are different here in Chile makes me recognize all of these little interesting things.

Here's a list of some small daily differences between the US and Chile:

1) Outlets

Chilean outlets have three circular prongs in a row. They look way more aesthetic here than in the US in my opinion, not that it really matters what outlets look like. We've been using chunky international converters which promptly take away the nice clean look.

2) Light switches

An and Ava are definitely sick of hearing me talk about the light switches. I love them! I can't describe why but for some reason the horizontal toggle light switches really speak to me in a way that the primarily vertical US ones do not :)

3) Goodbyes

It was quite astonishing to us when our students came up to us after the first class and gave us a kiss on the cheek. In Chile, it is customary for men and women and women and women to say goodbye in this way. A single (air) kiss on the person's right cheek is often accustomed with "ciao." After being taught throughout my Spanish classes over the years to say "adios" to say goodbye, it was entertaining to realize that saying "ciao" is far, far more common here in Chile.

4) Toilet paper

Due to the plumbing infrastructure, you are not supposed to flush toilet paper in Chile, or at least in the places we've been. Toilet paper is normally still available, but it is disposed of in a trash bin in the stall as opposed to in the toilet itself. This is certainly a weird habit to get into after putting toilet paper in the toilet automatically for my whole life prior to this. Again, it's interesting the things we never thing about when they are the "norm" where we live.

5) Restaurants: the check

Our friend Sarah had warned us before we came to Chile that if we never asked for the check at a restaurant they'd never bring it. I had appreciated the advice but assumed it was a bit of an exaggeration. Nope. It's true! I've come to like this norm after getting a bit more accustomed to it. Meals here are longer and involve a lot more time sitting around chatting. I really like this emphasis on using meals as a relaxing, social break.

In the US, it often feels like waiters are rushing people to finish up, pay, and get out of there. On the contrary, it seems like we could sit at a cafe forever around here and it wouldn't be an issue. We have gotten very used to saying "La cuenta por favor," accompanied by the hand gesture of one hand holding a pen and writing in the other, the "universal sign" for the check as An likes to say.

6) Restaurants: tap water

While the tap water in Santiago is totally fine to drink, restaurants will normally bring you bottled water and charge you for it if you ask for agua. "Con gas or sin gas?" is a common question. This means "Do you want carbonated water or regular water?" Just as we got used to saying "agua de llave" in Santiago (tap water), we realized that in San Pedro de Atacama they only understood "agua del grifo," as Ava learned to say in Mexico. Both phrases can mean tap water, but "llave" also can mean "key" so I understood why they might have been confused about that in San Pedro. It's funny how just when we think we are getting the hang of things, new challenges pop up. I really appreciate the chance to learn little bits each day, though.

There are plenty more, and I intend to make a Part 2 or update this post as we learn more!