Adventures Abroad

This last week has been so busy and I’ve done so many amazing and culturally enriching things. I went to a winery and sampled typical Chilean wine. I went to a festival celebrating the Mapuche people (the native people in Chile). I went to an area right outside Santiago, called Cajon de Maipo, and explored the city of San Jose de Maipo. If I was smart, I would tell you about the festival I went to, which has definitely been one of the most culturally enriching experiences I have had during my time here. But something else has happened this week that although has not taught me an abundance about Chilean culture or history, has altered my daily life in a different way.
I joined a soccer team.
Before I came down here I knew I wanted to join a league and play a little bit while I was here. I packed my cleats with the full intention of getting some use out of them, but it was a lot harder to find this opportunity than I first thought. When I first arrived, I actually attempted to get on the selection team at the University, but when I obtained the email and telephone number of the coach from the athletic office they were both incorrect. I actually had a coordinator of my program try and figure out the contact information as well and she also could not get her hands on the right information. So basically my attempt to play with the University team ended in a dead-end and I thought my chance of getting to play with some Chileans while I was down here was over.
Then a few weeks ago at dinner my host mom told me her nephew had a girlfriend who was in a soccer league. My host mom kindly told this girl about me and asked if I could play on the team with them. (My host mom is literally the best!) The girl said yes and I was stoked to start playing. I had to wait a few weeks since the games for the league didn’t start until the end of April.
Our first game was this Monday. I hopped on the metro, going to a stop I’d never gone to before and trying to find a school that I literally had no idea where it was. Of course I went in the wrong direction a couple times on my way to the fields but I have now gained the confidence to ask people for directions before I get too far. I got to the field and had to ask around to see who my team was because I had never met ANY of these girls before. I’ve done some pretty sporadic things while I’ve been down here, but this was the first time I found myself in a situation immersed with all Chileans that I’d never met before and without a gringo friend to accompany me.
After finding my team they all quickly introduced themselves. Of course I only remembered two names for the rest of the night—Jenny and Daniela (American names, more or less). The game itself was so much fun. I hadn’t played in so long, since summer, and it felt so good to have it all come back to me so quickly. All the drills and passes flooded back and I found myself doing the things that my coach had drilled into us the last season I had played. I ended up scoring the first goal of the game, which surprised me since first of all I was playing defense and second, I usually don’t score goals. Instantly all the girls congratulated me and I felt like I was apart of the team.
By the end of the game not only had I won the approval of my teammates but a few girls on the other team as well came up to me and said how impressed they were with my playing ability. After we walked off the field, the girls on my team said I was the best recruitment they had made. I was shocked. I hadn’t played in so long and for all the girls to be giving me compliments like this definitely boosted my confidence. While I would not consider myself to be amazing by American standards, these girls put me on a pedestal like I was an aspiring Olympian. They said they were actually nervous to have me play with them at first because they had no idea how I played, but then said I could not have proved them more wrong. I impressed them so much that one girl asked me to play with another team in a different league the very next night. Of course I said yes. I had so much fun that night and when I walked off the field all I wanted to do was go back on and play another game. Not only that but getting to meet and play with Chileans was exactly the experience I was looking for.
The next night was just as good. I didn’t play quite as well but I met a bunch of other Chileans and had a great time getting to play with them. These past two nights have definitely made me realize though, that although my Spanish has improved a lot, I still have a long way to go. It was really difficult to understand all the girls, especially when they were all talking to each other. I could barely understand anything that was going on. When I was on the field too I realized that I didn’t have the words to say where I was so that I could get the ball. I would say “Yo, yo” or “Aquí” but I didn’t know a lot of the words I wanted to say while I was playing. I wanted to speak English so badly. It was also a challenge to be playing a game and thinking about where I needed to be on the field while also thinking about what I wanted to say in Spanish.
Overall this experience has really opened up my world down here. I’m starting to really meet Chileans and become integrated into their social circles with these teams I’m on now. It’s hard to meet Chileans when you’re only in class with them or meet them briefly in a club. But on a team it feels like you’re instantly friends. This is the exact experience I’ve been hoping for. And it’s everything I could’ve asked for. Not only will I learn so much more Spanish but I’ll make lasting friendships as well.

While I am living with a host family, attending a Chilean school, speaking the Spanish language, and overall very immersed in the culture of Chile there will always be one thing holding me back from every fully being recognized as a Chilean—my blonde hair. While there are some women down here who have their hair dyed blonde, my lighter skin paired with my light hair is a dead give away that I’m not from Latin America. And once I speak, this is confirmed. I don’t have perfect Spanish, believe or it not after only about a month and a half here I still feel very lost in some conversations and can’t quite get across what I want to say, and because of this people automatically know I’m not from here.
I want to embrace my gringoness and be proud of where I come from, but I must admit it is a little disheartening when I am speaking to someone in Spanish and then they start using English with me because they can speak perfect English and realize my Spanish is not up to par. But while this is a little frustrating, it doesn’t bother me quite as much as another habit I’ve noticed the Chileans have around me.
Everywhere I go I am constantly stared at. Some days I don’t feel the eyes bearing into my back as much as others, and usually it doesn’t bother me too much, but the other week I noticed it more than normal and even some of the people in my program who were with me that day confirmed that the stares were only for me. I think it may have been my outfit, which would not have been scandalous in the US, but here I guess it’s a different story. I was wearing a skirt with boots paired with a jean jacket and scarf. Everywhere I went the men would look me up and down and my friend Melissa even started counting how many people stared at me as we walked down the streets. She decided after a couple minutes it would be easier to count the people who hadn’t stared at me.
A taxi driver even turned his car around to get another glimpse at me. Melissa and I were walking on a small street and the taxi driver slowed down as he came past us and then quickly turned around and shouted out the window “Mi amor” before continuing on his way. Mind you, this man was at least 50 years old. GROSS! And that was not the first time I heard “Mi amor” being shouted to me that day.
Then, when I was walking back from class later that day with my friend Martha, we were about to cross a street when a man on his motorcycle passed and low and behold, started at me. But not only did he do a quick glance, he kept staring as he drove down the street, keeping his head turned over his shoulder until the next stop light about 200 meters in the distance. Creepy and dangerous.
I decided I was never doing the boots with skirt combo again and hopefully I wouldn’t get as many stares, or at least not notice them as much. Then a group of us went to Chiloe this weekend and as we were sitting in the airport a group of boys were sitting right behind us and we could all tell they were staring. This time though I figured it must be because we were a big group of gringas speaking English. They kept gawking their heads at us for a little while and once we all started to feel uncomfortable, a couple of them approached us.
They asked if they could have a picture. I wasn’t sure if they wanted us to take a picture of their group for them or if they wanted a picture of us—the group of Americans. After they repeated the question several times and we tried to figure out exactly what they meant, one of the boys stepped up to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulder while at the same time his friend took a picture. I burst out laughing. I didn’t realize they wanted a picture with just me! The group continued to take pictures with me individually while not only I laughed but the rest of the girls I was with cracked up as well.
Eventually they took pictures with some of the other girls but for a moment I thought they were only memorized with me. All of us girls were laughing non-stop. “Somos famosos,” we said—“We’re famous.” The boys literally bombarded us for about a half hour, and I’m surprised I was never asked for an autograph. I felt like the paparazzi was taking pictures of us and we couldn’t escape.
But I don’t want this to come off like a bad experience, because it was definitely the funniest thing that has happened to me here thus far. It is something I will always remember. After a day of being constantly stared at and feeling like a sexual object in the eyes of so many men, it was nice to have some comical relief from some teenage boys. I realized that sometimes the attention doesn’t always have to be negative and I just need to laugh it off and take it a little bit more lightly. Enjoy it while it lasts because I know I won’t be admired or asked for my picture multiple times when I return to the States.

Ana-Elisa, one of the girls in my group being bombarded with Chileans who wanted their picture with her.