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More Interesting Facts About Chile

Once considered the most militaristic country in Latin America, Chile has worked hard to overcome that stigma, emerging since the 1990s as a model for economic and social change in the region. Its armed forces are no longer a threat, its restructured economy is among the fastest growing in the world and its reputation for innovation is firmly established.

Chile, known as The Thin Country, extends along the Pacific Coast of South America, from the rain forests of Patagonia in the South to the desert of Atacama in the North. The cosmopolitan capital of Santiago is edged by the snow-capped Andes Mountains. Roughly six million residents live in the capital, or almost half the population of the country.

I found that information from The New York Times, I had no idea Chile had ever been considered a militaristic country. Crazy! I always thought of it as a really relaxed maybe even a poverty stricken country in South America. Since I started this blog I have learned so much and now have a whole new knowledge and outlook on Chile.

What a beautiful day at the beach!

I went to the beach today because the weather was perfect! While I was out having fun in the sun and enjoying the wonderful warm and sunny weather, I started to think about what the weather was like in Chile. So I investigated the seasons in Chile and this is what I discovered, the seasons are the exact opposite of ours here in the states. That is because Chile is in the southern hemisphere and the United States is in the Northern Hemisphere. What does this mean? It means that when our summer is starting their winter is starting, and vice-versa for all the seasons. Interesting huh?

Happy Easter

After spending a wonderful Easter with my family today filled with lots of food, games and egg hunts, I started to think about my Chile blog and wondered if the Chileans were celebrating Easter like I was. Here is what I learned thanks to THIS WEBSITE.

The Sunday before Easter in Chile is celebrated as Palm Sunday or also called Domingo de Ramos. The celebration is held with a mass or in some places as a procession. On Good Friday there is fasting and people eat fish instead of meat. There are programs on radio referred to as "mourning". Mourning programs are special music and this continues until Sunday morning with the resurrection of Jesus.

In towns around the capital of Santiago people have been celebrating a religious fiesta since the 16th century. The fiesta is known as Quasimodo and is of Latin origin, and represents the first word of an opening prayer which is said in the mass that occurs the first Sunday after Easter.

During Spanish times the day on which Quasimodo is held was the customary day for priests to take Communion to the old and the sick who had been unable to go to church during Easter. Sometimes attacks occured on priests so a group of guards would accompany the priests safely whilst performing their duties. After the priests performed the Sacrament, the day ended with rodeos and "horsemanship contests".

At the finish of the day celebrations occur with the Eucharist in an open-air mass. The Fiesta Quasimodo is full of spectacular color, song, and excitement for the huasos which are comboys or horsemen because it has continued for so many generations.

More Information from Chile native, Rodrigo Rojas

I messaged my Chile native interviewee, Rodrigo Rojas on Facebook the other day and asked him, "What are some unique or interesting customs in Chile? Or interesting facts that not a lot of people know about?" This is what he wrote back......

Thanks to a long history of immigration, Chilean manners have a largely European character. For example, the customary greeting between a man and a woman or between two women is a kiss on the cheek. When men greet each other they simply shake hands. For Chileans, the greeting is very important. Unless there are a large number of people present, it is generally inappropriate to greet someone by simply saying "hello." Take a few moments to greet people you have not met or you have not seen during the day.

Chilean men are more likely to follow rules of chivalry, although Chilean women may tell you this is changing. Men are expected to open doors for women and to give up their seat on the bus or Metro. On the bus or Metro, this is especially true for older women.

Chileans are known to have relaxed attitude towards punctuality. It is not considered inappropriate to arrive up to a half-an-hour late. If you arrive early, expect to wait.

Rodrigo also sent me this website about Huasos in Chile. Huasos are the equivalent of cowboys in the United States. Below is a picture of Huasos in Chile.

Chile has become the worlds eighth continent

For those of you who haven't heard the country Chile broke off of the continent, South America sometime early this morning and is now its own continent. The continent has drifted 11 miles West of South America and is predicted to continue drifting for another 50 miles. They have named the eighth continent, APRIL FOOLS!

Happy April Fools Everyone!

For any Chile followers or anyone else out there who is not familiar with April Fools it is where you play jokes on people so this post is NOT true and Chile is STILL attached to South America.

Chilean Slang

Here are some slang Chilean terms that will help you better communicate if you ever happen to travel to Chile. No, Hola!, Donde es el bano?, gracias! and callate la boca will not be sufficient enough in getting you through your trip to Chile and do not make you fluent in Spanish. However, if you don't ever plan on traveling to Chile they are still funny to read. Enjoy!

•Al tiro: Right away / immediately
•A Pata: On foot, i.e. when you walk somewhere.
•Achuntarle: To "be right on target," to " nail it"
•Adonde la viste: No way! I don't believe you! You're full of shit!
•Al Seco: "Chug it!" Used to encourage binge drinking.
•Andar Pato: To have no money, to be "broke"
•Huevón - means: Friend, pal, dude, dumb, fool, idiot... When you know all the meanings and all the aplications of this word, you learned very good the Chilean Spanish, because this is a very tipical Chilean word
•Estar en Pelota: To be naked.
•Arriba de la Pelota: To "be on the ball." To "be tipsy" from alcohol. To be having a good time.
•Aweonado: Dumbass
•Bacan (BKN): "Cool", awesome, neato, etc.
•Buena Honda: "good shit," or "good stuff." Describes general awesomeness. Also used to describe cool people.
•Caña: A hangover.
•Caleta: Many or lots of something
•Que Weá: If a Chilean sounds angry and says this phrase, it translates exactly like "what the fuck?" If used as a question, it means "what?" or "pardon?" in a very informal fashion
•Que Onda: What's up? Sup?
•Que lata: "What a shame," "what a bitch
•Vale: OK
•Si phó: of Course
•Talla: Joke
•Luka: $1000 pesos ( around to 2 dollars)
•Gamba:$100 Pesos (1/5 dollar)
•Gabriela/Quina: $5.000 Pesos (around to 10 dollar)
•La Dura: "Really??", "No way!" When in utter disbelief, respond with this phrase
•La Cagó: Two meanings for this word: "Damn!", "sweet!", "shit!".. Used to describe something cool when said brightly. Or the exact opposite: "Oh shit", "oh fuck", "oh no".. Used to denote something awful.
•Carrete: A party. The word with the most usage in all of Chile
•Carreteado: To be "spent", not in the mood to party anymore.
•Chela: Beer
•Cuatico: Used to describe anything exaggerated or aggrandized. It's good to use when bullshitting with friends
•Cuico/a: A stuck-up person, a snob.
•Estar Chato: To be full almost to the point of sickness (of food), to be "stuffed." To be sick or bored of something. To be very tired.
•Estar en otra: To drift off, to "be out of it"
•Estar hecho mierda: To be fucked up. Be it from drugs, alcohol, or that crazy twirling ride at fantasilandia
•Flaco/a: "Dude" or "man." A term to refer to your friend, or anybody really
•Guagua: A baby. Pronounced as "wah-wah", this word comes from the Incan language, Quechua
•Barza: Stupid person
•Puta la Weá!!: This simply translates to "fuck!"
•Mina/o: "Hottie", you would say this about person that is visually pleasing
•Copete: Drinks, liquor, booze, grandpa's cough medicine, firewater
•Plata:..Money
•Weveo/Hueveo: Silly behavior, playtime, shenanigans. What you get when you huevear. Could also mean some bullshit red tape you have to deal with.

Party Time! More Chilean customs/culture

The most important festival in the Norte Grande region takes place in the small town of La Tirana. Each year, from the 12th through the 18th of July, some 40.000 believers arrive to celebrate the Virgin of Carmel, Chile's patron saint. Activities include songs and dances that seem to go on 24 hours a day for the whole week of ceremonies.

The annual Festival Internacional de la Canción (International Song Festival), in Viña del Mar is an extremely popular event. In February, the liveliest musicians from every Latino country flock to the beautiful outdoor amphitheater, Quinta Vergara, and surrounding public park for a week of song, dance, and limitless fiesta.

I found this information on a website called, CHIP: The Chile Information Project. This website also provides more information about other Chilean customs and culture.

Chile Fast Fact

I felt that due to my recent immigrant interview posted on this blog I would add a fact about Chile that related to my interviewee, Rodrigo Rojas, and his love for soccer.

FACT: SOCCER IS CHILE'S NATIONAL SPORT. Two of the most infamous Chilean soccer players were Ivan Zamorano and Marcelo Salas. Both men were strikers and played on Chile's National team.

Immigrant Interview with Rodrigo Rojas

Hope you all enjoy watching this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting the interview.

YouTube Video: Immigrant Interview with Chile native, Rodrigo Rojas

Let me know what you think.

Chile Immigrant Interview

Just to update all you Chile fans, later today I will be adding an interview with a Chile immigrant that uploaded to YouTube. The interview is with Rodrigo Rojas, Rodrigo was my former club soccer coach for five years and is also a Chile native. The interview was very interesting, fun and informative even to me and I have known him for five years so it should be very interesting for all of you to watch and learn a little more about Chile. The picture I added is of the Chile native, Rodrigo. I also added a picture from when Rodrigo was my coach for the club team I played on, Clay County United. The picture was taken and published in local newspapers in Orange Park, Florida before our team went to compete at Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.

DONATE TO CHILE RELIEF

Click DONATE NOW to learn how you can help donate to the victims of the earthquake in Chile.

Earthquake hits Chile

I'm sure you all have heard about the earthquake that rocked Chile on the 27th of February. It was measured as an 8.8. Something interesting that you may not have read about or heard about is that on Monday a NASA scientist said, "the massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet." If that isn't crazy I don't know what is. As if people already aren't feeling cheated out of life because of the 2012 predictions.

The quake was the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and is said to have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds, according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.

To read more on this story CLICK HERE.

The Flag

It's always important to know a little bit about the flag of a country you are interested in. The white of the flag represents the snow of the Andes, the red represents the blood of patriots who fought for independence, the blue represents the blue of the skies and the five pointed single star is the emphasise the fact that Chile is an Unitarian republic as opposed to a Federal republic.

Chile Fast Facts

Chile is a long coastal strip in South America between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north. It has a population of 15,823,957. The capital is Santiago and Chile is the longest country in the world stretching over 4,200km.

The most important information for you bloggers and myself to know, if you in fact take anything away from my fast facts is that there are 3,575,000 internet users in Chile. Hopefully, those internet users and other internet/blogger junkies will find this blog educational, helpful, accurate and at times amusing.