Todas las pequeñas cosas

All the small things..

My mom requested that I start writing down all the little things that I'm noticing about Chile, so here it goes:

I have been searching all throughout the stores for Women's shaving cream. Finally, I mustered the courage today to play charades with the lady at PreUnic and discovered they don't sell Women's shaving cream… but they do sell women's razors!

The other day, I had a tummy ache and just wanted some ginger ale. I walk across the street to the mini-mart and reached into the refrigerator case to pick up a bottle. All of their bottle sizes are different, but I see a 2.5 Liter bottle with a price in front of it, so I place it on the counter. The lady begins speaking to me in Spanish telling me tons of things I can't understand but all I got out of it was: Despite that fact that the soda was priced and in the refrigerator case with everything else you can buy, I cannot buy that bottle. At the grocery store they sell litros of beer, but you have to pay for the bottle…

Everything comes in plastic packages: spices, mayonnaise, ketchup, pasta sauce, olives… you name it!

They do not have milk like we are used to in the states. Milk and cream are all in those cartons and they are warm… like when you buy soy milk or almond milk. We haven't tried it yet!

Produce is ridiculously cheap. You feel like you are stealing from the grocery store. We bought 4 apples for less than $1 (USD). 7-8 kiwis are less than 40 cents (USD)! And there are lots of produce stands and markets, which are an even cheaper way to buy produce. I've been told, during the berry season, you can buy more berries than you can eat for 1,000 CLP (2 USD).

The malls are very similar, but McDonald's is expensive fast food here… No Dollar Menu! And TacoBell/KFC/Pizza Hut have CocaCola products. At home they're Pepsi.

When you order a soda, you don't always get ice with it… some fast-food places (like at the mall) don't even have ice available.

The buses and metros are amazing! I've never waited more than 5 minutes for either one, and they are very user friendly. Once you get the hang of the bus map, it's really easy! When waiting in the line for the bus, people actually form a line. It's nice to see such civilization. But then, when you're walking on the street or in the mall, men and women alike will plow you over and not say, "pardon" (which apparently, is what you say when you bump into someone). They could be walking 4 people wide on the sidewalk, and they don't move for the oncoming walkers. Very interesting.

Natural peanut butter is not sold down here: You can choose chunky or creamy, but they all have azucar (Bummer!). Jelly was extremely difficult! At the grocery store you can only find marmalade with azucar as the number one ingredient! When I went to a slightly nicer grocery store I found preserves, but they were still marked as marmalade.

I am still waiting to hear back about a job I really want, so the next blog will be about my OFFICIAL CHILEAN ID! and hopefully my new job :-)

Miss everyone mucho!