Chile Forum

El Pescado; If we are talking about weekends, I know a lot of people all over the world who spend their weekends lazing around in their pj's, I for one am from a Germanic South African background, but love sleeping in on weekends and have explicitly told my landlord that he must be joking if he thinks he's sending around any workmen on a Sunday at any time, or on a Saturday before at least 10am. It is not a Chilean thing.

This topic is one my pet hates, those who just continuously perpetuate the antiquated latin stereotype when talking about Chile. Visitors come here expecting the "manana" attitude, tardiness and a bunch of sexy crazy dance lovers with red flowers behind their ears, who has a two hour siesta each afternoon. Chileans (at least in Santiago) are punctual, professional and driven and the strong economy is a testament of this.

In my last post, I'm talking about how whoever quipped about people should just get up earlier and be more productive and not sleep until noon, rather than adjust daylight savings to rebuild the damaged area. Surely in that case, we're talking mostly about work days?

I was out in morning traffic around 7:00 this morning and it is as busy as Sydney traffic at the same time each morning. The Isapre offices at the hospital was open at 8:30 and the labaratorio at 7:00. Most of the Chileans we know are workaholics and I think it's unfair to referring to Chileans as unproductive and insinuate laziness.

But the moment one steps outside Santiago, things are more traditional.

The entire community here virtually shuts down between 2-4 and sometimes till 5. Even the most important dollar volume port in Chile (not to mention Western South America), San Antonio, generally follows that tradition. I lived in Santiago for years before moving here and had to be retrained to live in this new reality. And yes, people are less driven as compared to Santiago but use those extra moments to be friendlier and more conversant.

EEUU, you're right, my responses are usually Santiago-centrical, as that is my frame of reference. I normally make sure to mention that in my post, as I can't speak with authority in reference to the rest of Chile.

However, Santiago is the capital, the highest populated city and as other threads recently have emphasised, in a country that is centrally managed, the most important city for the economy, so messages sent to the outside world about how lazy, traditional and un-driven Chileans are, is incorrect generally speaking in business terms.

I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong, just trying for boring stereotypes to not be mindlessly repeated, as it does affect our business life here. Just yesterday an Aussie business client (who is visiting Chile for the first time) mentioned quite a few times about the "manana culture" and how Chileans are always late, we gently tried to correct him, but the stereotype seems stuck and he wasn't paying attention to us trying to convince him otherwise.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:For auto sync, time zone Montevideo, Uruguay works but don't forget to shift back to Santiago, Chile in April.

Just a reminder at 12 am.