Aromos mean SPRING!

Happy September! It’s Chile’s favorite month—for many reasons. Spring is on its way! The Independence Day holidays will soon be here and signs of Bicentennial Pride are already appearing, but perhaps best of all is the return of color!

Aromos bloom in early spring along Route 68, between Santiago and the coast.

Chile has a Mediterranean climate, which means a wonderfully long, hot, dry summer, but then we get the bill—3 or 4 months of drab, smoggy, rainy, and black- white-and-shades-of-gray winter. But get through August and everything changes (see Ya Pasamos Agosto)… and the first sign that winter is finally on its way out are the aromos in bloom.

Aromos lend bright bursts of yellow to the Chilean countryside. These craggy, thorny, bushy trees sport yellow blooms that liven up the landscape and display their full glory in late August and throughout September.

I paid extra special attention this past weekend as we drove to the coast. I wanted to get some pictures of aromos in bloom (albeit with a digital point and shoot). It turns out that not all aromos are the same!

Aromos are not native to the Americas, but rather arrived with the Spanish from Mediterranean climes. In Spain they are called mimosas (Latin name Acacia farnesiana) and are found throughout southern South America. It also seems that Chile has developed its own version (Acacia caven), which is the same thorny critter called aromo criollo or espino or espinillo negro that appears in much of the country, from Coquimbo to Concepción, and is used not only as a natural property line (no person or animal wants to do battle with its long, sharp thorns), but is also used to produce charcoal. (See NOTE below)

It seems that some aromos are brighter yellow than others. I believe (and hope someone will confirm or correct me) that the Spanish mimosa-style aromos are brighter and have showier clusters of pom-pom-shaped flowers, while the Chilean espino-version is a bit more sedate (as is the Chilean way) with more mustard-colored pom-pom-ettes.

Bright yellow and orange jonquils bloom in late August

I also noticed that aromos are not the only flowers out and about these days, and while yes, there are pink and white fruit trees to be spotted, alas, I am ignorant of their identifying characteristics and would have to wholly rely on Wiki-something to tell you what they were… so I won’t… but I will tell you that I was very impressed by the very yellow and green canvas the landscape painted this weekend.

Green, green the grasses grow (I know that’s not how the song goes, but honestly, I haven’t seen any rushes lately)… the winter rains have left the hillsides lush with greenery, and the warmth of spring has added layers and nuances of yellow that remind us that the sun is soon to return and keep us company from now til March or April.

NOTE: After publishing this, some questions arose in the comments section about whether or not the aromo criollo is the same as espino–and now I’m trying to get verification–anyone know?  I will update this as soon as I have some  definitive info

On the Road…Home?

Feel like a stranger in the country you grew up in? A tourist in the motherland? Suffering the expat syndrome? The longer I live outside the US, the more things there are that take me by surprise when I return.

I try to get back to the US at least once or twice a year, and every time I land, I arrive disoriented. It takes a while to switch from my gringa-in-Chile self to the oddball self-appointed quasi-Latina member of the family in the US.

Delta Terminal at Atlanta Airport, June 2010

My first reaction is always the same: people speak English here! I always have at least one layover—usually in Atlanta—which means not only do people speak English, but they do it with a twang. As buenos días, and por favor, and gracias automatically roll off my tongue without thinking, I am always a little startled to hear good morning and thank you and you’re welcome and ya’all have a good trip now in return.

I welcome those hours in the airport. I walk a lot, wander, look, listen, watch, and acclimate. I am always surprised by the diversity of ethnicities and dress and language, and am reminded of how relatively homogeneous Chile really is.

And I am surprised by little things. Drinking fountains, for example (nary a one in Chile). And restrooms with hot water and automatic soap dispensers.

Politeness among strangers. There’s nothing at all unusual about the person next to you striking up a conversation, asking if you like the book you’re reading, what you think about the latest news blaring out from the CNN monitors, or letting you know that this vending machine doesn’t work—but that one over there does. Strangers do not chitchat in Chile.

Soldiers on their way home. Atlanta Airport, June 2010

But what always—always—has the greatest impact on me every time I’ve entered the US since September 2001 are the soldiers. Men and women, mostly young, dressed in combat uniforms wander the airports, just like me, on their way home or on their way out. People stop them and shake their hands. People thank them as they pass by. Airlines announce their names and let them board first, and the other passengers applaud them as they walk to the gate.

I have a hard time with this. Kids going to war. I choke up every time. I cannot clap, but my heart goes out. I appreciate the sacrifice they are making, but hate the fact that they have to. I hate the emotional upheaval that is attached to every one of those uniforms—for the war that will thrust them into the dark side of humanity that no one should ever see and that will force upon them experiences no one should ever live, for the anxiety that gnaws at all of those they leave behind and for the grief exuded for every one who does not return.

I forget all that when I am in Chile. We have other problems here that make me forget about a daily life that includes water fountains and soap dispensers; racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity…and war.

Laurie Hermans in the Field: My Time in Chile

Laurie Hermans is no was an anthropology student from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands when she first contacted me nearly a year ago about coming to Chile. She was interested in doing research on animitas and had found a piece I wrote about them here in Cachando Chile (see: Animitas: Chile’s Popular Saints ).

Anthropologist Laurie Hermans researching animitas in Casablanca, Chile

She arrived in late January and we got together periodically to bounce ideas around, work up new leads, explore possible contacts, and just to have some fun once and a while… In fact, she was one of the participants in the great Cuasimodo hunt.

I was impressed by her independence and adaptability as she proceeded from contact to contact, comuna to comuna, in search of people who could tell her more about animitas. It wasn’t easy, but she did a great job. She’s back in the Netherlands, her thesis is done (great work Laurie!), and should have her diploma in hand by now.

I asked her to write a bit about her experience here in Chile, and this is her response:

Guest Post by Laurie Hermans, Dutch Anthropologist:

WordPress Gets Customer Service Points

This is the basic structure of the new WordPress Coraline theme, one of about a zillion WP theme options.

While this is not really a Chile-related post, it still deserves a bit of space because, well, good deeds deserve to be noticed. That and the fact I’ve been sympathizing with Abby who has had some service issues lately, and I’ve written about this before (See Good Customer Service: What a Novel Idea), as, in fact, have most of the Chile bloggers I follow, it seems.

So here’s the thing. A couple of days ago I noticed that Cachando Chile had a new look–nothing drastic–but different (did you notice?) And my widgets were all screwed up (widgets, for non-blogger types, refer to all those things you see in the right-hand column). Then I noticed that my “theme” had changed (in WordPress land–which is one of the two main blogging kingdoms–you choose a theme/design that defines your look and then you customize it).  And then one day PUF! my old favorite “Cutline” theme had mysteriously morphed into the new “Coraline” theme.

So I did what blogger-geek types do… I went to the WP forum and discovered that it wasn’t just Cachando Chile, ALL the Cutline theme users were scratching our heads. The global cambalache was one of those across the board upgrades that companies sometimes do to “help” their users.

I wasn’t happy, and it was clear that I wasn’t alone. They could have notified us beforehand, but no real harm was done and I set about fixing and restoring my widgets and thought that was that.

But it wasn’t. Today I DID receive a message from WP notifying all affected former Cutline, current Coraline users that they had fixed and restored the widgets. Yep–my widgets were screwed up again because they reinstalled the old ones without uninstalling the new ones, and I was seeing double widgets… Grrr…

So this time I shot them a response, expressed my frustration, pushed the send button, felt a bit better, and was surprised not to get one of those instant message telling me that I could not respond to an automatic message. I fixed my widgets again… and then…

Surprise! I got a message from WP! A real one! From a “Theme Wrangler” named Lance who just simply said he was sorry for the trouble and added that he liked the look of my blog (nice touch)… I was dumbfounded. A REAL person responded! Cool!

Bottom line: all it takes to keep people happy is a simple word or two–a bit of communication goes a long way when it comes to customer service! (And come to think of it, I’m not even really a customer, because WP is free!)…

So anyway- Thanks Lance- ya done good!

Your Tax Pesos at Work: Park Your Motorcycle Here

Chile’s Internal Revenue Service (Servicio de Impuestos Internos / SII) proves it knows how to save a buck luca… no need to waste money on fancy signage for motorcycle parking! Just clear away old vines and paint on the neighbor’s wall.

Sign spotted behind the SII office in Providencia, Santiago de Chile, August 2010.

Chile's Internal Revenue Service (SII) saving taxpayer's money

Motels, Saunas and other “Traveler Bewares”

And you thought you knew your native language!

Image by Jeep Novak! via Flickr

There are plenty of surprises to be discovered on the road, and one that can have funny (or downright weird) consequences is when we discover that the language we grew up with doesn’t quite work the same way in another region or culture.

Take a motel, for example—a “motor hotel” along the highway…A no-frills and inexpensive place to sleep and get back on the road to your real destination the next day—right?
Well, could be… unless you’re in Chile…

Postcard from Chile: Valparaíso & Andes

Chile: land of mountains and sea… but there are few places where you can see both at the same time!

View from Cerro Alegre overlooking the Valparaíso Bay to Viña del Mar and beyond to the Andes Mountains.

The Guatero Incident

Best friend on a cold night...

I got up a bit earlier than planned this morning. Had to… my guatero was dribbling!
Wha…?

If you’ve been following other Chile blogs, you already know that we’re all about trying to stay warm these days…

Abby @ Abby’s Line: “How to Survive a Chilean Winter”

Liz @ Eat Wine: “Chilly Chile”

While folks up north are wilting in the heat, we are popsicling away down here in the middle of winter. (Of course you already knew that Chile was in the southern hemisphere and that our seasons are opposite… you really did… right?)