Yep, sorry to all the American hipsters out there, but you definitely weren't the first to be hipster, nor can you be as good of a hipster as a Chilean can. For those of you that don't know, hipster is a new style that was meant to be outside the norm. Going against the flow, dressing differently, living differently, and well being unique. Then it became cool... which defeated the whole purpose! I find the hipster to be hilarious in the United States, but then I came to Chile, and I am suddenly surrounded by true hipsters.
The typical dress is skinny jeans, some type of leather boots, a dress shirt, a nice leather jacket or peacoat, gloves, and a scarf. The staples are skinny jeans, boots, and a jacket. They dress like its going to snow everyday, so when gringos are walking around in shirts and capris, we get the funniest looks. I also learned and have observed that shorts in public are a big no no. I don't know if it's really for modesty reasons though, I think it is just culture. It's going to be hard for me to follow that come November when it's basically summer!
But how are they hipsters if everyone dresses like this? Well, it's not the individuals that are hipsters, but the country itself. Chile is the odd child of South America for many reasons. The main one being that they are shy, keep to themselves, and don't really like bright colors. They act much like Europeans and less like South Americans. For a Chilean, there's nothing more annoying or uncomfortable as an Argentinian trying to start a conversation with them on the train. Especially here in Viña del Mar and Valparaiso there has been a lot of European influence on the culture. This is due to the ports here that served to be a stopping point for anyone on there way to the other side of the continent. Before the Panama canal was built, everyone headed south around the base of South America, and on their way back up they would stop in the ports of Chile; Valparaiso being a particularly popular port. Therefore Chile has customs such as "once" (pronounced "own-sé"). Once is basically tea time for Chileans. I had my first once with my family here this week, and it consisted of tea, coffee, bread, crescents, little sandwiches, and cookies. Carb overload. That's what it was. Too much bread. But it tasted awesome of course!
Alright, that's my little scoop for the day. But I have one more cool thing to share. This morning, I experienced my first "temblor." Basically I was in a mini earthquake. I happened to just be waking up, and all of a sudden there was a loud rumble and the house was kind of moving, but I felt like I was moving too, yet not with the house. It lasted a total of maybe 5 seconds, and it's really hard to describe what it felt like. Nothing fell or was dramatically shaken, and I'm pretty sure I could've slept through it had I been asleep. According to the internet, it was an M 5.0 quake just off the coast of Valparaiso (they can tell you that quick!). I'm not a huge fan of stuff like that, so though it was cool, no more "temblors" for me please!
Tomorrow I will post about my little Colorado haven in Chile known as Pucón :-)
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