Chile Forum

Read the post topic slowly...
The poster stated.......not sure what this quake means for my next adventure...
The way i read this is that the next adventure is more important to the poster than a Country that is hurting so bad

klrbilly wrote:After reading through the original post again and looking at the timeing of the post i am not swaying from my previous posts..
And Dangy..... I might be wrong but you sound to me like a teenager that still is living the life backed up by Daddy...Feel free to reply... I look forward....

Wow klrbilly, you are 100% on target (have you been peeping over the walls of my daddy's gated compound? ) You're right; I'm just a 15 year old brat living a life of leisure on daddy's dime and have nothing better to do with my time than read posts about Chile. Now that you've so publicly exposed me, why don't you direct your super sleuthing powers at the other bums on this forum. I'm sure your witty edification will be much appreciated.

Thanks for being so honest...I admire you for telling the truth........

Hey, everyone settle down.

Everyone needs to put this disaster in to perspective. Ignore the idiots in the international press, they were the last people on the ground. Most are just regurgitating feeds from lazy reporters in Santiago drinking their espresso at their desk in Las Condes.

We have seen it first hand. I have seen it first hand (much of it). For example, we got grounded in Las Angeles in the 8th region by bad weather overnight doing the aid flights last week with a military curfew, 10-20% of the city a no go zone because of collapsed buildings, and it was still more pleasant a stay with internet, good cheap hotel, breakfast, friendly people, than about 90% of Latin America on a good day. That is based on years of travel in Latin America including living in Guatemala and Mexico for several years.

We operate in the remote parts of the Patagonia all the time, and almost everything even in the most hardest hit zones is functioning at much higher level than the deep Patagonia does on a daily basis. Most of what you are seeing media bs.

Yes, it is bad, but not that bad. This is not Haiti or Thailand in any way shape or form. Anything Temuco south is absolutely normal, with perhaps the exception of gas deliveries (even that is improving). The 7th-8th regions are the hardest hit, but not a lot of foreigners spend time there anyway. My guess is only about 5% of all foreigners in Chile ever even venture in to those parts of the country, when everything is normal.

The people that got hardest hit by this quake unfortunately in Chile, were the people that had the least/most to loose. That is a social-political problem, that for the most part most foreigners will have to be here years to understand.

So, what does it mean for your next adventure?

Nothing.

I take that back.

What does it mean for your next adventure?

It means you get to see Chile at its best.

To put it into more perspective, I doubt Seattle, Portland, LA or SF OR the Pac NW or California in general would have gotten away with such a low death toll for an 8.8. If New Madrid ever goes again, THAT would probably be similar to a Haiti.

If you minus the death toll from the tsunami Llolleo down south, the death toll is amazingly small.

8.8 dudes, think about it.

Another thought,

1960 the south had a 9.5
2010 the central south had a 8.8
1985 the central had a 7.8
and the Coquimbo area had one in the 6+ area a couple of years ago.

Barring a 2012 scenario, the only real threat of a biggie for Chile in the next 10 years is in the FAR FAR NORTH.

The 1985 quake and today''s Chile is important to revisit. I'm in the San Antonio area (8.3 felt recently followed by a near 6.9 felt aftershock), the epicenter of the last central quake. Compare the death tolls MINUS the 5-7 persons who died in the tsunami which may have been due to the incompetence of the Chile official tsunami warning system.

This forum has helped me and apparently many others. There is a lot of great advice and great spirit here which was demonstrated after the earthquake very well. I hate to see anybody's comments received so poorly as was somethingnew's. Her heart is in the right place. Although I've only been here a few months, somethingnew, my experience is that you can find work here but first you've gotta get here and then look. A little luck helps, too. But there's no substitute for being here. It all takes time, but it can work out. To all those who are kind and helpful on this forum, thank you. Many of us newbies appreciate that.

First;
Sorry Charles, I shouldn't have replied to the taunting.

Second;

Stoph is right; first time posters should be given informed responses (uncolored by negative perceptions of their intentions). I remember getting a few responses to my original posts that left me feeling very unsettled. It seemed to me, a complete newbie at the time, that seasoned posters were making personal judgements on my questions and responding with condescending "advice" that did little to inform anyone.
I'm so thankful for what this forum provides, and for the people who make it possible. For anyone considering a move to Chile, there really is no better resource. I don't like to see first time posters being chased off by worthless comments.

You never know who is on the other end of a question and what that person may eventually contribute to this country we all love.

I'll yield the soapbox now.

somethingnew - it sounds like you have had some amazing experiences and I hope that if you end up in Chile you'll let us all know how things turn our for you here.

Unfortunately, it goes both ways.

If a new poster of the Gen X or younger range or even a younger Boomer (microcomputer revolution era) makes their presence known, the standard protocol as with any forum is to lurk and get a feel of the atmosphere and also do some research to understand the past and present of the forum before making one's splash.

Example of what not to do: the thoroughly agendaized idiot who just posted off the cuff in the TPS thread.

We have been besieged by spammers and trolls in the past who use the I'm a newbie approach to push their product or service or attempt to disrupt the forum for sport.

So it goes both ways.

Ahhh, EE good to see you back in action.

We do from time to time jump the gun around here. Hell, one of the newest moderators that stepped up to fill the void of EE while he was off line during the crisis I once took as a spammer and tried to ban (still kicking myself for that one).

We are hard mostly on new members (under about 40 posts), because it is a test to see if they are for real. Also, if you noticed when the forum came together to account for our own, EVERYONE stepped up. We did not waist a second on spammers from India, china, or whatever. We knew immediately and intimately who was for real on the forum, and who our friends were that might need our help.

I mean I had a serious short list of about 3-4 members missing (and a couple other people missing) in the 8th region, that we were only about 24 hours away from me landing a plane, in a disaster zone under military martial law, and put my own life and my team's life on the line to go find. They are not our clients either. All of our clients were already accounted for in the first 24 hours. They were simply forum members that their families and friends had contacted us for help. I even had discussed with Vince our pilot about how best to include it in our flight plan when delivering aid in to the areas we were looking at delivering aid.

This is not some abstract face book posting type forum. Many of us know each other in person. So, we take it seriously when a new member joins. Think of it as kind of like joining the allchle.net frat, there is an initiation period.

admin wrote:Think of it as kind of like joining the allchle.net frat, there is an initiation period.

Ok - two apologies on one page - SORRY CHARLES - but really, does validating non-spammers extend to allowing ignorant taunting of seemingly well-meaning posters?

I'm all for free speech, BUT (and yes, there is always a but), this is an extension of your place of business and I would like to think that serious members can help build your base by giving their advice without prejudice.

I (not being in Chile) may not be able to properly respond to all questions, but I would like people (like somethingnew) to feel that they're able to ask questions without being insulted. Even if the poster in question was a spammer with a seemingly valid query, would it not be better for the forum that a valid answer was given (and searchable ) then the responses polluted with name calling?

I guess I'm overly sensitive to this because I so limit my online exposure and haven't been calloused by other forums. allchile matters to me and I want to see more 'newbies' benefited by the amazing knowledge represented here.

Well, I don't know Kirbilly but it sounded like he was worried about family and relatives after the quake and along comes someone worried about their personal adventure in Chile... it must have come across as, well... trite. Not my call, but I'd be inclined to cut him some slack on that one. That said, the best response as you've said, is factual, searchable, and ultimately useful to all.

I'll head south again at the end of the month, I'm sure I'll find Chile to be 90% its cool, vaguely infuriating self. I think of it as the wild west of south America

And yes, EE, making it through an 8.8 with comparatively little loss and damage is an achievement. From what I read, Seattle and the NW coast of the US are very exposed to a similar event. And while I don't want to be a doomsayer, the 1960 quake was followed by a similar huge event at the northern end of the ring of fire.

Umm I'd like to mention that I'm seeing the "Gracias" TV ads by Chile thanking its South American neighbours for helping and sending aid. That's a nice gesture

I apologise to anyone i have wound up....I have been a bit up tight about Chile since the Earthquake.....People that know Chile properly i think will understand..... The Chilean people mean so much to me and are some of the nicest and friendly people i have ever met........If the original poster knew the true Chile and what it can offer a don,t think that they would be posting so soon after what happened.........Something i have never done in my life is post on a internet forum to ask about a Place......The best way in my book is to save up the money for a ticket and go to Chile with an open mind and heart and discover for yourself.............I suppose the internet has taken that sense of Adventure away a little bit because it makes it so easy to find info on a place where you are going so the mind and heart are already cloudy....

So my advice to the original poster is..........Save up for a ticket....Just jump on the plane with an open mind and heart.