So youd think after three years of living here (Aug 23rd was our three year Chilean anniversario) that I would get itI would understand how things work, and have adapted my ways to the Chilean way of living, of thinking. Well you know what they say, you can take the Gringo out of Gringolandia, but you cant take Gringolandia out of the Gringowait, is that right? No matterwhat Im trying to say is that, no matter what, there are some things you just dont adapt to, or change your ways with. For instance, why do all the sushi rolls have cream cheese in them? Whats that about? No one has ever explained that to me and I have not met a single foreigner to whom this makes sense. Why is it when the restaurant makes a mistake, the server yells at me? But ok whatever, not exactly what Im talking about here. What Im trying to get that, is my whole sense of tasks and time different, and it will never adapt. It does not matter how many times I check a website, and look at the opening times for a store, or restaurant, or feria artesenal, I believe
the times posted on the websiteand literally, have been shown time and again, that this is correct maybe half the time. But oh no, I still believe it. When something says 11 am on the website, youd think itd be open. But its like a 50/50 proposition. And for some reason Im always disappointed when it fails trueand were the gringos standing out front of a restaurant waiting for it to openbecause the Chilenos know. They are not there standing with us. Theyre at home, sleeping or doing whatever Chilenos do in their house (watch their nanas clean?) *sigh* But after a lifetime of living in North America, my brain simply cant adapt to these little nuances of time.
This also became even more evident to me when we met some Chilean friends recently for lunch down in a hipster ish kinda area of Santiago, called Barrio Italia. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and we decided to meet for lunch, around 2:30 in the afternoon (theres your first clue that we are meeting at 230 for lunch), with our young kids, as they had girls the same age. And the area was rammed with peopleit was
the worst time if you were looking for a quick sit down with your hungry children. And there was this specific Spanish tapas restaurant that they wanted to go to. And dont get me wrong I like this restaurant, so I was totally happy that we were going there. When we got there though, we realized, boy, this is a long lineup and our children, they are on the verge of hangrinessprobably already there. And the other family is not here yet. But hey, lets line up, and find out how long this is going to take. So we didand it didnt look hopefuland the guy serving was kinda vague about the seating arrangements, and whether we could have 8 at the table, to be honest he was kinda a jerk. Well the other family shows up, and were thinking 45mins to an hour to sit down – not for food, thats probably like another minutes after we sit down. So hey, I start to think. Theres a nice joint across the way with a great patio where we can get a beer and a burger. Kids love hamburgers! And fries too. Theres a line, but its
worth finding out. So I turn to Steph and tell her Imma head overand I stand for a few minutes in the lineup, and the and says, oh hey, we can get you in on the patio, 8 people no problem! Im like, great, and go and sit down. I call Steph, and say Hey, I got a table and its for 8 and we can eat right now. Great news right. Well, I could tell Steph was a bit hesitant. She was not so sureshe says, Ill call you back. Well, ok, I mean Ive solved our problem. Hungry children no more. Beer, burgers, big table! I have it all and its so close. My phone buzzesSteph sounds kinda, I dont want to say annoyed but like, yeah, you back right now. The other family was confused – why would I have gone to the other restaurant? We came to go to this onewe can wait. I wasmiffedI had taken control of the situation and solved the problem.
