4- Another NYE custom is, if you want to travel a lot in the coming year, you have to go around a building in circles with
a suitcase in your hand on NYE ! (I cannot remember how many times, but this can go wrong depending on the amount of alcohol consumed by that time of the night!)
a suitcase in your hand on NYE ! (I cannot remember how many times, but this can go wrong depending on the amount of alcohol consumed by that time of the night!)
1- Café con piernas
As we told you, in the Sanhattan area of Santiago there are still to date some of these coffee shops! But what is so special about them? Well mainly, coffee is served - by women in mini-skirts !
"Café con piernas" remote to the 70's when coffee wasn’t a big thing in Chile, therefore when the firsts coffee shops started opening up nobody went there.
Until the day a man had an idea – what gets men attention undeniably: WOMEN!
So he started hiring only women to serve at his "café" places, who wore really short mini-skirts. He also shortened the counters so that they were only a thin piece of wood and you could see the whole women's legs!
It worked! They called it “Café con piernas “ (Coffee with legs), because men went there not only for the coffee…
Others followed his example and these places still exists to date in Santiago!
It is very dodgy, with smoked windows but all that happens inside is that coffee is served.
As we told you, in the Sanhattan area of Santiago there are still to date some of these coffee shops! But what is so special about them? Well mainly, coffee is served - by women in mini-skirts !
"Café con piernas" remote to the 70's when coffee wasn’t a big thing in Chile, therefore when the firsts coffee shops started opening up nobody went there.
Until the day a man had an idea – what gets men attention undeniably: WOMEN!
So he started hiring only women to serve at his "café" places, who wore really short mini-skirts. He also shortened the counters so that they were only a thin piece of wood and you could see the whole women's legs!
It worked! They called it “Café con piernas “ (Coffee with legs), because men went there not only for the coffee…
Others followed his example and these places still exists to date in Santiago!
It is very dodgy, with smoked windows but all that happens inside is that coffee is served.
3- Bragas amarillo
It was almost New Year's Eve (NYE) when we were in Santiago and we saw everywhere yellow panties being sold on the street!
Apparently you have to wear them for good luck !
On the other hand, if you want more love, you should wear red ones .
It was almost New Year's Eve (NYE) when we were in Santiago and we saw everywhere yellow panties being sold on the street!
Apparently you have to wear them for good luck !
On the other hand, if you want more love, you should wear red ones .
In our opinion, people are intriguing and cultures fascinating! As you dig deeper you can find similarities and sometimes laugh at the discrepancies. That is why we always try to learn a bit about the local culture and here we show you what we learned about the chilenos (chileans) !
2- Pollo a la mesilla
When a work mate invites you to eat “pollo a la mesilla” in Chile…. Think twice!
Translated literally this means "eat charcoal chicken by the bedside table", and usually what it implies is: you are work mates, you have the same hour for lunch and you want to enjoy this hour by having lunch and... sex!
So you’d typically go to a motel and buy charcoal chicken on the way– check-in, do your thing and then eat the chicken in the room – all in your lunch hour! Be very careful what you chose to eat (and how!) in Chile!
When a work mate invites you to eat “pollo a la mesilla” in Chile…. Think twice!
Translated literally this means "eat charcoal chicken by the bedside table", and usually what it implies is: you are work mates, you have the same hour for lunch and you want to enjoy this hour by having lunch and... sex!
So you’d typically go to a motel and buy charcoal chicken on the way– check-in, do your thing and then eat the chicken in the room – all in your lunch hour! Be very careful what you chose to eat (and how!) in Chile!
5 - We found out that Chilean folk music also has a lot of accordion like the Portuguese one, we had a free concert in Chiloé!
I find all of these customs fun and adorable, to see how a culture evolved differently than mine. And maybe I’ll incorporate some in my own culture, after all we live in a global village !
I particularly like the suitcase one, I know what I am doing next NYE!
I particularly like the suitcase one, I know what I am doing next NYE!