Chilean Culture 101

Ok, so here in Chile people don’t really “think outside the box.” As Americans, we’re used to getting what we want, they way we want it. Not so much here in Chile, especially when it comes to restaurants. When Chileans order food, they rarely ask for something special. So, when we gringos ask for something to be changed, sometimes it is met with resistance, and a lot of times it won’t be done at all. The other day I was at a restaurant and ordered a hamburger. However I was going to share this hamburger with another girl. The other girl wanted cheese. I did not. So, I simply asked the waiter if I could have cheese on the side. The response I got was a blank stare and then a “no.” I thought to myself, “Did I use the wrong word in Spanish?” But I checked and I hadn’t. The waiter just simply couldn’t comprehend cheese on the side. Another example is when we went to Starbucks. Lauren, another intern, ordered chocolate cake and asked if he could heat it up for her. He said, “No, it will melt.” She said, “Even if it’s only for 10 seconds?” The man would not do it. He insisted it would melt and wouldn’t warm up her cake. So much for “the customer is always right.” It just goes to show that we are a product of our culture!