Astute readers will notice that it's been rather a long time since I've written anything in my blog. Like anything in life, there are a number of contributing factors to this. On this occasion, firstly, laziness. I'll admit that it takes some effort to organise myself to sit down and do some writing and I haven't been able to bring myself to do that, largely for the second reason - lack of spare time. I'm keeping a pretty occupied life and when I have some quiet time, I prefer to leave it quiet and just relax, maybe have a little siesta, maybe just contemplate my navel. That's how it goes some days.
So, why have I felt compelled to write again? Some background first - I follow and internet forum about Chile that is largely written for us foreign types (extranjeros, which translates as "aliens") by us foreign types. It's a great resource for when one has a problem, you put it out there, and you might receive some good advice, maybe you'll receive some crappy advice. Chances are you'll receive SOME advice. It's a useful thing. Anyway, as it turns out, I have received a few emails in recent times all ending with the question, so how's Chile going? In short, for me, things are trucking along nicely enough. I've become reasonably used to how things operate - I'm in a reasonably comfortable place. The language is still not easy, but I'm passable now.
The thing that brings these two lines of thought together is that one of the forero's who has moved here from the US to start a new life has been having a reasonably rough time of it in recent times and appears to now be completely fed-up and looking to leave to live somewhere else. I feel for the guy - he's done it the hard way. Packed up his life and moved to another country by himself without any of the support that I've had (people to organise my visa, for example). So, he's reached the end of his tether with things here. He has written a long and angry note on the forum and I'm reproducing it here to illustrate "How's Chile?"... Hopefully I won't offend anyone by the blatant copy and paste.
Saludos,
A
Warning: Stupidity and Incompetence are Rampant in Chile
To those of you who are outside of Chile, you can expect many, many, many, many, encounters with stupidity and incompetence if you come here. My suggestion is to save yourself the trouble and go somewhere else.
The problems are pervasive and infuse every bit of contact you may have with other people, from drivers on the street to bank cashiers to tradesmen to real estate agents. No one seems to care about delivering quality service or a quality finished product. Crap is the rule. If someone manages to rise to the level of mediocre it’s a damn miracle.
Pedestrians are rude and inconsiderate. They will stand in groups at the top of the escalator in a busy mall and talk about their cousin´s girlfriend´s niece or some shit, oblivious to the fact that many people are trying to squeeze past them. They can´t be bothered to move 10 feet away and hold their conversation in the nearby alcove.
Gooey green gobs of dog shit can sit for days in the sun in front of city hall. No one even notices because it is so normal. So is the drunk slumped in the corner slobbering on himself. So are the sick and lame dogs everywhere, the aggressive and dangerous bus drivers, the petty thieves, etc. It´s just normal, everyday life here.
Office personnel will listen endlessly to whatever you have to say before they smile and politely give you wrong information. Office X sends you to Office Y, Office Y sends you to Office Z, Office Z sends you back to Office X and you start over. Nobody will say, "I´m sorry to hear about your problems (that we created for you), and I´m sorry I don´t have a solution for you, but I will try to find someone who can help you."
If that happened I think I would be shocked speechless. It would be like watching a dragon swoop in over the hilltop and breathe fire on to my neighbor's house and burn it to the ground. (I´d think...that was really cool.....can you do it again, but fry my other neighbor this time? You know, the one with the whiney kid and the unruly dog and really bad taste in colors and music. Yeah. That one ).
There are so many people here who just don't give a shit about doing a good job. It doesn´t matter to them that their failure to be conscientious, or increase their knowledge base, or elevate their level of service in any way really fucks with other people’s lives. They are perfectly happy with the role they play in maintaining their fucked up society. They are inept and indifferent, but we are forced to deal with them because they control access to vital services and documents, like reporting taxes and issuing visas.
Of course, this is common in the US, too, which is partly why I left. I used to refer to the US as "idiot nation". Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that Chile deserves the same, and worse.
Another conclusion, even darker, is that Chileans don´t want foreigners to come to Chile and try to be productive. If the Chilean government and the Chilean people wanted that, then things would be different. We would be able to open a bank account and we wouldn’t to spend MONTHS without so much as valid ID card (which THEY insist on us having) or a Chilean driver´s license (which THEY insist on us having). Simple things become complicated very quickly when you don’t have ID and can’t move around easily. It shouldn’t take several hours to pay your bills every month, but it does, because we can’t do it on-line and the mail service sucks and the public transport system sucks even worse, so we have to do in person with no valid ID and without permission to drive. All I have is a receipt from the post office that says I mailed a certified letter, a receipt that doesn’t mean anything to anybody. The carabineros don’t want to see that receipt. They want me to show them a valid Chilean driver’s license. The bankers don’t want to see the receipt, either. They want to see a valid Chilean ID card.
Why stay in a place where you are not wanted and a place where simple things are impossible to do because of massive indifference and incompetence? There are better options out there.
The caveat to not wanting foreigners in Chile is that they DO very much want your money. You will pay fees of all kinds, and be expected to tip as well, on top of the 19% value added tax that applies to virtually everything you buy. For that tax money, one might logically expect some kind of service from government employees. HA! What a joke. You get the same blank stares from clerks and secretaries in the city offices, in registro civil, and in the oficina de extranjerÃa. They smile sweetly while they tell you that they can´t help you, you can’t get there from here, it sucks to be you and go fuck yourself. But pay first.
I am a mosquito trapped in Chilean spider web. I’m paralyzed without any valid documents, the struggle to get free is futile and it’s just a matter of time before the spider shows up.
The thought of a class action lawsuit has crossed my mind, but I seriously doubt that foreigners have legal standing for such a complaint. If they won’t give us access to their banking system, why in the world would they give us access to their legal system? That would be massively and unexpectedly stupid….but then….maybe just because of that, it might work. This is Chile, after all, and Chile is full of massive, unexpected stupidity.
It also sucks to live in a country where you can’t leave anything unlocked for more than 30 seconds. Two weeks ago I had 60 dollars worth of groceries stolen from my car while I walked over to the trash can to throw away a paper cup. I reacted slowly because I didn´t believe that anyone would be so audacious to stop their car, put my groceries in their car and drive away while I was 20 meters away. But it happened.
I left the US because I saw that it is in decline and I wanted to try to contribute to a society that was growing. I thought Chile was such a place. But not now. I don´t see any evidence that Chileans are willing and able to overcome their deficiencies, and therefore I expect to see the same old mierda year after year after year, and I´d rather spare myself that frustration.
My paradigms are shifting. I am no longer committed to staying in Chile long term. My original plan was to try it for 3-5 years and see how it goes, but I was also fairly committed to a longer term. I would not have bought a house if I had thought that I was going only going to fix it up and sell it, which seems to be my best course of action now. My design decisions would have been very different, I wouldn’t have taken in pets, I wouldn’t have bothered spending time and money on trying to start and promote a business. I would have kept things a lot simpler. Lesson learned. Now I’m three years in, and feeling really stupid myself because I fell for the allure of Chile’s natural beauty and I tricked myself into thinking that Chile was, somehow, different than any other Latin American country. Nope. Same stupid, Latin shit.
The idea of staying long term isn't very attractive anymore. That's gone. Ten years of this shit would just make the situation even worse. Chile won’t change. It will be the same fucked up country in ten years that it is now. The choice is to learn to accept it, or go somewhere else. I don´t think I want to lower my standards to the point of accepting this. I will actively start the same process I went through in 2001 when I decided I didn’t want to be part of US society any more. It’s time to make new plans and put this bullshit behind me.
So, why have I felt compelled to write again? Some background first - I follow and internet forum about Chile that is largely written for us foreign types (extranjeros, which translates as "aliens") by us foreign types. It's a great resource for when one has a problem, you put it out there, and you might receive some good advice, maybe you'll receive some crappy advice. Chances are you'll receive SOME advice. It's a useful thing. Anyway, as it turns out, I have received a few emails in recent times all ending with the question, so how's Chile going? In short, for me, things are trucking along nicely enough. I've become reasonably used to how things operate - I'm in a reasonably comfortable place. The language is still not easy, but I'm passable now.
The thing that brings these two lines of thought together is that one of the forero's who has moved here from the US to start a new life has been having a reasonably rough time of it in recent times and appears to now be completely fed-up and looking to leave to live somewhere else. I feel for the guy - he's done it the hard way. Packed up his life and moved to another country by himself without any of the support that I've had (people to organise my visa, for example). So, he's reached the end of his tether with things here. He has written a long and angry note on the forum and I'm reproducing it here to illustrate "How's Chile?"... Hopefully I won't offend anyone by the blatant copy and paste.
Saludos,
A
Warning: Stupidity and Incompetence are Rampant in Chile
To those of you who are outside of Chile, you can expect many, many, many, many, encounters with stupidity and incompetence if you come here. My suggestion is to save yourself the trouble and go somewhere else.
The problems are pervasive and infuse every bit of contact you may have with other people, from drivers on the street to bank cashiers to tradesmen to real estate agents. No one seems to care about delivering quality service or a quality finished product. Crap is the rule. If someone manages to rise to the level of mediocre it’s a damn miracle.
Pedestrians are rude and inconsiderate. They will stand in groups at the top of the escalator in a busy mall and talk about their cousin´s girlfriend´s niece or some shit, oblivious to the fact that many people are trying to squeeze past them. They can´t be bothered to move 10 feet away and hold their conversation in the nearby alcove.
Gooey green gobs of dog shit can sit for days in the sun in front of city hall. No one even notices because it is so normal. So is the drunk slumped in the corner slobbering on himself. So are the sick and lame dogs everywhere, the aggressive and dangerous bus drivers, the petty thieves, etc. It´s just normal, everyday life here.
Office personnel will listen endlessly to whatever you have to say before they smile and politely give you wrong information. Office X sends you to Office Y, Office Y sends you to Office Z, Office Z sends you back to Office X and you start over. Nobody will say, "I´m sorry to hear about your problems (that we created for you), and I´m sorry I don´t have a solution for you, but I will try to find someone who can help you."
If that happened I think I would be shocked speechless. It would be like watching a dragon swoop in over the hilltop and breathe fire on to my neighbor's house and burn it to the ground. (I´d think...that was really cool.....can you do it again, but fry my other neighbor this time? You know, the one with the whiney kid and the unruly dog and really bad taste in colors and music. Yeah. That one ).
There are so many people here who just don't give a shit about doing a good job. It doesn´t matter to them that their failure to be conscientious, or increase their knowledge base, or elevate their level of service in any way really fucks with other people’s lives. They are perfectly happy with the role they play in maintaining their fucked up society. They are inept and indifferent, but we are forced to deal with them because they control access to vital services and documents, like reporting taxes and issuing visas.
Of course, this is common in the US, too, which is partly why I left. I used to refer to the US as "idiot nation". Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that Chile deserves the same, and worse.
Another conclusion, even darker, is that Chileans don´t want foreigners to come to Chile and try to be productive. If the Chilean government and the Chilean people wanted that, then things would be different. We would be able to open a bank account and we wouldn’t to spend MONTHS without so much as valid ID card (which THEY insist on us having) or a Chilean driver´s license (which THEY insist on us having). Simple things become complicated very quickly when you don’t have ID and can’t move around easily. It shouldn’t take several hours to pay your bills every month, but it does, because we can’t do it on-line and the mail service sucks and the public transport system sucks even worse, so we have to do in person with no valid ID and without permission to drive. All I have is a receipt from the post office that says I mailed a certified letter, a receipt that doesn’t mean anything to anybody. The carabineros don’t want to see that receipt. They want me to show them a valid Chilean driver’s license. The bankers don’t want to see the receipt, either. They want to see a valid Chilean ID card.
Why stay in a place where you are not wanted and a place where simple things are impossible to do because of massive indifference and incompetence? There are better options out there.
The caveat to not wanting foreigners in Chile is that they DO very much want your money. You will pay fees of all kinds, and be expected to tip as well, on top of the 19% value added tax that applies to virtually everything you buy. For that tax money, one might logically expect some kind of service from government employees. HA! What a joke. You get the same blank stares from clerks and secretaries in the city offices, in registro civil, and in the oficina de extranjerÃa. They smile sweetly while they tell you that they can´t help you, you can’t get there from here, it sucks to be you and go fuck yourself. But pay first.
I am a mosquito trapped in Chilean spider web. I’m paralyzed without any valid documents, the struggle to get free is futile and it’s just a matter of time before the spider shows up.
The thought of a class action lawsuit has crossed my mind, but I seriously doubt that foreigners have legal standing for such a complaint. If they won’t give us access to their banking system, why in the world would they give us access to their legal system? That would be massively and unexpectedly stupid….but then….maybe just because of that, it might work. This is Chile, after all, and Chile is full of massive, unexpected stupidity.
It also sucks to live in a country where you can’t leave anything unlocked for more than 30 seconds. Two weeks ago I had 60 dollars worth of groceries stolen from my car while I walked over to the trash can to throw away a paper cup. I reacted slowly because I didn´t believe that anyone would be so audacious to stop their car, put my groceries in their car and drive away while I was 20 meters away. But it happened.
I left the US because I saw that it is in decline and I wanted to try to contribute to a society that was growing. I thought Chile was such a place. But not now. I don´t see any evidence that Chileans are willing and able to overcome their deficiencies, and therefore I expect to see the same old mierda year after year after year, and I´d rather spare myself that frustration.
My paradigms are shifting. I am no longer committed to staying in Chile long term. My original plan was to try it for 3-5 years and see how it goes, but I was also fairly committed to a longer term. I would not have bought a house if I had thought that I was going only going to fix it up and sell it, which seems to be my best course of action now. My design decisions would have been very different, I wouldn’t have taken in pets, I wouldn’t have bothered spending time and money on trying to start and promote a business. I would have kept things a lot simpler. Lesson learned. Now I’m three years in, and feeling really stupid myself because I fell for the allure of Chile’s natural beauty and I tricked myself into thinking that Chile was, somehow, different than any other Latin American country. Nope. Same stupid, Latin shit.
The idea of staying long term isn't very attractive anymore. That's gone. Ten years of this shit would just make the situation even worse. Chile won’t change. It will be the same fucked up country in ten years that it is now. The choice is to learn to accept it, or go somewhere else. I don´t think I want to lower my standards to the point of accepting this. I will actively start the same process I went through in 2001 when I decided I didn’t want to be part of US society any more. It’s time to make new plans and put this bullshit behind me.
