Chilean Spanish: Speaking the Language -- Or Trying To

I will admit, I really didn't think that speaking Spanish was going to be a problem when we decided to move to Chile. After all, I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, where more Spanish is spoken than English. But just like my beloved Valley -- Spanish in Chile is unique, and unless you grew up here, it's hard to catch up.


Chile is a long, thin country, ironically resembling a chili pepper (although they don't really eat peppers or spicy food here, sadly). Because of the distance between the population of the country, accents vary; and the large majority of my experiences have been in Santiago, so don't over judge or over analyze my commentary on the spoken word here.

Sipo

Chileans like to use "-po." It's attributed to a variation on "pues," and it's actually pretty cute. "Sipo" and "nopo" are pretty common words here (instead of the homely and simple "si" and "no"), but that has also morphed into the very common "yapo" as an affirmative, as well. Po is not limited to just yes and no responses. Chileans, especially when speaking casually among other Chileans, throw "pos" in there behind just about every word, and if you are speaking to a true Chilean, they throw "pos" in after English words, too. My favorite example of this is, "obviouslypo."

Palta

Avocados are plentiful in Chile, and they eat them on everything -- from hotdogs to burgers to bread. Avocados are prefered smooshed with a bit of salt, and possibly another Chilean favorite: mayonaise.

Nonetheless, avocado in Chilean spanish is not "aguacate," but instead "palta." I don't know where the change came from, but I guess the Andes caught the common word for avocado and somehow delivered "palta" to this lovely avocado-producing powerhouse of a country.

Speaking of the plentifulness of paltas, we have an avocado salesman at La Vega (vegtable market) who only sells palta, and we have been able to locate and purchase up to six different kinds of avocado in one trip.

Weon

So, using "juevón" -- or as it has changed over time to "weon" --is extremely common, but the word's meaning changes with how you use it.

 I'm not going to go into the literal meaning of this word, but if you use it among friends "weon" or "weona" means something like "dude." Using it in a fight or in the car, the word has a much nastier meaning, and can be taken very badly.

Cachai

Chileans use a Spanglishism that I wish we had had in the Valley (capital of all Spanglish on my map): "cachar," which means "to catch."

In other words, "Did you catch that?"

In use: "El edificio está antes del semaforo, ¿cachai?"

Obviously the verb conjugates to "cachaste" and the like, but Chileans use it as a breather, like "po," and it's pretty catching.

 Warning: Use at Your Own Risk

Nonetheless, I've been advised by my lovely Spanish teacher to refrain from using Chilean-isms, because I may not fully understand their implications and be taken the wrong way, which leads me to a story I know from one of my favorite Chileans I've met here:

My Chilean friend was on a work trip to Peru, where he was explaining how an IT system was going to work, pointing out different items on a work map to the woman client there. After everything he explained, he said, "cachai," as Chileans do.

Unfortunately, the verb means something completely different in Peru, and he was essentially mapping out a porno with the words he was using. Whoops!

Surfers' Paradise: Pichilemu

Over a long weekend recently, we booked a cabin last-minute in Pichilemu, a town we knew nothing about, but were soon to discover.

The beach at Punta de Lobos in Pichilemu, Chile

Actually, we thought we were booking a cabin in the Colchagua Valley, and the landlord told us that it was just a few hours from Santiago; so we booked and left for a fun adventure. Well, like most things we've found here, it usually takes longer than Chileans think, and Pichilemu is a full four hours from Santiago -- if not more.

Nonetheless, I'm so glad we went, because the little village is so unique. What once was a sleepy fishing village has transformed into the surfer capital for Chile, with vast beaches, waves that vary for experience level and a lovely hippie vibe you don't find here very often.

Surfers baring the freezing waters to catch a nice wave.

The weekend we visited Pichilemu it was cold, very cold actually, but the die-hard surfers were out, and I understand that summertime here is quite a scene. In fact, there are a number of surf competitions here, and Fodor's has said that Pichilemu represents the best surfing in South America.

Surfers scaling the side of the mountain to find the perfect wave.

Maybe we'll travel back here when it's warm to try it out!

Visiting the South of Chile

Beyond Chilean wines and amazing views of the Andes mountains, one of Chile's best-kept secrets is the south of the country.

The family in the south of Chile.

Surrounded by glorious lakes and with a number of massive snow-capped volcanoes dotted throughout, the south of Chile is truly spectacular, and we got to visit over the Christmas holidays (gasp! I know this is a long time coming...). You may have heard about the less commercial Vail-ish (or at least what I think Vail would be like) town of Pucon, but the lakes are dotted with small, beautiful, quiet towns (if you don't visit in February when all of Chile vacations here).

Pucon, Chile

Yours truly

Because the drive can take upwards of 10 hours from Santiago, we flew into Temuco, which is the biggest city in the area and has a tiny little airport, but it was totally functional. Due to not having an up-to-date (or remembered) driver's licence between the two of us, we had to wing it and hop a ride (with Trip and massive amounts of luggage in tow due to Christmas presents) with a very nice lady who drove us to Villarica, and then the landlord of the cabin we rented picked us up and let us use her SUV.

We stayed in a quaint cabin off of a dirt road about 30 minutes from the nearest (tiny) town, and the open space, clean air and vistas were spectacular. We were up on the hills above the town of Panguipulli, and we stayed the week that the wild cherry trees were full of ripe treasures, which ended up being one of our favorite things to do, pick cherries (and then eat them).

Taking a rest during a walk around the property

Trippie showing off his cherry loot!

The family we stayed with was truly amazing, and included us in many family events, including the New Year's Eve Patagonean-style barbeque. We learned a lot about Chile on this trip, both from exploring and from this family, who incidentally are the people who produce the Sur del Mundo documentary series about Chile that airs weekly here.

Patrick got to go fishing with a local top-notch fisherman (who didn't really speak, but took him through a bunch of honeyholes). Though I don't know how much fly fishing he did, Patrick did manage to wrangle some beautiful fish in, and we had a lovely fresh fish dinner.

Patrick with his first catch!

Fishing in Chile

We also got to visit a natural hot water spring called Termas Geometricas, which was an adventure just to get to as it is located in a 8-meter-wide crevice between two moutains. Nonetheless, we arrived safely and are still amazed with how breathtakingly beautiful the pools are. Here, they have maybe 20-plus little pools that range in temperature from freezing (because they are fed with the snow-melt run-off waterfalls) to too hot to take a plunge, and are connected by a red wooden walkway.

Quite truly, visiting these hot water springs was one of the most unique and amazing experiences of my life.

We also visited a lot of the tiny little towns around there, including my favorite Puerto Fuy, which is on the coast of a lake that spans the Chile-Argentina border. Right on the water's edge is a beautiful, quiet hotel with spectacular furnishing and five-star food and vistas.

Puerto Fuy

You can take a water ferry from the Chilean side to the Argentinian side, and that is something I hope to return to do.

We loved our trip to the south, and although we can't wait to go again, we're also eager to go even farther south to the glaciers, and even to the deserts of the north. Only time will tell, but I'm watching for cheap flights and will let you know!