What I have learned about Chile and Chileans thus far

1. Chileans are obsessed with mythical lore.

• They love reading their horoscopes and genuinely believe in them (a horoscope site is the home page for the computer in the teacher's lounge).
  
• They believe the following behavior causes illness: wet clothing, a change in the weather, walking barefoot in the house, drinking cold beverages on cold days, wet hair in cold weather, etc.
  
• My host dad truly believes he has telepathic powers. One late evening, my host dad was worried about my host sister who hadn't arrived home yet. He told me that he was going to concentrate and try to telepathically communicate with her to motivate her to come home. 5 minutes later, she opens the door and lo and behold is back home. My host dad of course contributes this to the power of his mind and proudly congratulates himself. My host sister also strongly believes that one of her friends has telepathic powers.
• For the past couple of days, my host sister has been suffering from chronic headaches, and her face and eyes have been swollen. She sought help from her aunt, who can perform this sort of ritual that is meant to cleanse her body and remove any evil curses that were bestowed upon her. My host sister told me that the Friday before the pain started, people one after the other kept telling her that she looked beautiful, that her new haircut looked great, but ultimately, they probably said it out of spite and envy, hence the need for a cleansing ritual to wash away the evil thoughts thrown upon her.

2. Reminiscent of Berkeley culture, Chile sure knows how to protest. In fact, this week has been filled with strikes. High school and university students have been striking for about a week now in order to improve school building conditions (I think. I know there's more to it). I heard yesterday that taxi drivers in Valparaiso were going on strike on account of the increasing prices of gas. Tomorrow, all the teachers in Chile are going on strike in order to protest an unfair stipulation in a current education law. My host sister explained it to me, but it sounded too complicated to me in Spanish. That means, girlfriend doesn't have school tomorrow! I'm getting way too used to last minute suspension of classes...and I'm likin it! It's been a busy and tiring week for me...

3. They eat bread like Asian people eat rice. I'm consuming way too much carbs!!

4. I'm a tad worried about their ideas about what they conceive as good nutrition and a healthy diet. White bread is white bread, regardless of whether it comes in the form of sliced bread or a bread roll. Sliced bread is not healthier than bread rolls and will add just as many calories, contrary to what my host sister's doctor told her. And talk about the need for sex education!!! My SHEP instincts want to take over some time and covertly hold sex education lessons instead of English lessons. My 7th and 8th grade students are certainly "despertando (awakening)," so aptly phrased by my host sister.

5. I love Chilean Spanish! It's so fun to learn a new word or phrase that they only say here. And I also love the words they've borrowed from the English language. Por ejemplo, living room is "el living," laptop is "notebook," camping is "camping," a punch is a "combo," and much much more.

I really don't mean to sound condescending or judgmental of Chileans. Being the foreigner, I can't help but look through an observer's eye and be astonished by their different views and belief systems. In fact, I think Americans sure have a lot to learn from Chileans, considering that they are supposed to be some of the happiest people in the world, according to a recent study that I learned about over the news. They are so kind, so welcoming, so warm. And these people know what it means to be family, even if you're not really in their family (says this adopted host daughter, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, and aunt).