Honking and Summer Sledding

One of the things I have noticed about Chile, but have yet to write about, is all of the honking.  Now that I’ve been here for a few weeks, I am getting accustomed to it, even if it is still annoying.  For Chileans, there seem to be three reasons worthy of honking your horn:

Reason #1: To alert other drivers or pedestrians, to show frustration with traffic, etc.  Basically the same as in the States.  If someone is annoying you or is in your way, you honk.  Pretty basic.

Reason #2: To alert pedestrians of your presence.  This is used by micro (crazy buses) and colectivo (shared taxi) drivers.  As the micro or colectivo is coming up to a group of people or a “stop” (used loosely- there aren’t really official stops for the buses), they honk their horn to get people’s attention, with hopes that the pedestrian will decide to get on and pay.  I’m not sure about the colectivos, but I know that the micros operate on commission, so the more riders a driver has, the more money he makes.  However, this also means that micro/colectivo drivers honk all the time, even if I am just walking home from the Metro station.  I guess they are hoping I’ll change my mind and stop walking?  I’m not really sure.

Reason #3: Cat calls.  Chilean men are very “machismo”, and cat calls are a common occurrence here.  And the fact that I am obviously a gringa doesn’t help my case.  These aren’t aggressive or offensive, but they are a part of the culture that I am definitely not used to. I often confuse this reason for honking with the others but yesterday on my run, the man with his body half out the truck, waving, cleared things up for me.

So, enough about cultural differences and honking.  Here’s what I’ve done for the past two days…

Yesterday, we went to two different places, Pomaire and Isla Negra.  Pomaire is a small, artesian town known for its cheap, handmade pottery.  The part of the town we were in was basically a giant flea market, with some really cool, hand painted pottery.  I was pretty bummed that I live in the States and that everything I buy has to fit in a suitcase.  That stuff was really pretty!  A large vase (something that would come up to my knees) was about $4.  Crazy.

Isla Negra is another one of Pablo Neruda’s houses, located on the shore.  Before this trip, I didn’t really know much about Pablo Neruda, but I have been learning so much about him.  And he was a bit of an eccentric man.  I have now visited all three of his houses in Chile: La Chascona (in Santiago), La Sebastiana (in Valparaíso) and Isla Negra (in Isla Negra).  And Isla Negra is definitely my favorite.  It sits on a hill that leads down to the ocean, and it has some gorgeous views of the sea.

And today, we had many more adventures.  This morning, we rode horses on one of the beaches in the north.  And ate lunch at a small town right on the water, known for its seafood.  And walked along a beautiful, quiet beach, where I proceeded to get my pants wet from the water (the Pacific is ICE cold.  But worth getting a bit wet for).  And went sand boarding down the dunes.  So fun!  Out of the activities of today, sand boarding was by far my favorite.  For $1 I rented a board and got to sled down the dunes.  I ended up with sand everywhere, but it was a blast, and a great way to end the weekend.  Summer sledding?  I’m cool with that.

This coming week (and into next week) is going to be crazy busy for me!  I start working at my internship placement this week, and am traveling this coming weekend.  Unfortunately that means no more blog posts for a little while, but I’ll be sure to update you with pictures of these upcoming adventures!

¡Chao!