Aneya & Lauren: Chilean Time.

Lauren: One thing that is almost nonexistent here in Chile, is punctuality. Now, I would think this would be nice. A break from rigid schedules of the US, getting somewhere 20 minutes late and that being totally acceptable, but really for us this has been maddening, and our frustration went to a new level yesterday at the Red Cross of all places.

Aneya: Oh my god did it ever. There is such a thing as "Chilean Time" and Daniela informed us of this early on. A Chilean says they'll meet you at 11? Get there at around 11:30, although you might still be waiting. It's fine if you're just meeting friends, and you know of it before hand. But sometimes it's just downright rude.

Lauren: On the phone with the Red Cross girl the day before, I was told to be at the Red Cross at 9 a.m. Wow! That's early. But you know what? Since I said I'll be there at 9, I'll be there at 9 a.m. I said I would, so I'm going to do it. Right? We were there before even the directors! They casually rolled in around 9:30.

Aneya: Not to mention the two of us were completely hungover, and yet we still managed to walk all the way to the Red Cross building and be there at exactly 9 am. When we walked in, we were informed that our boss wasn't there yet. Excuse me? We were told to have a seat and wait for her arrival. I was seriously pissed.

Lauren: Talking to other people, they said the Red Cross had told them 9 a.m. too. At first I was afraid it was my Spanish, but those Chileans! They said 9 a.m. so people would get there at 9:30 a.m., but they also told other people 9:30 a.m. so we were waiting around until 10 a.m. This is so characteristically Chilean. Now I can be a bit of a stick in the mud about these things, but if you want me there at 9:30 or 10 a.m. say that!

Aneya: I mean, come on. The building was bustling with people, and everyone looked just as confused as were. A couple women sat down with us and they also were told to come at 9. Some were told 9:30. What the woman should have said was 10, because that's when things got started. Actually, scratch that, 10:30 is when things really got rolling.

Lauren: In truth we've had a lot of adjustment in our lives. The time here is totally different from that in America.

Chile's time for everything is different. Lunch is around 3-4 p.m. Onces, like tea time, are at 7 p.m. Dinner is quite often around 10 p.m. People begin to party at 1 a.m. This is something Aneya and I just cannot get used to! Dinner at 10 p.m.? I'm hungry before then, though! Onces are just not enough to keep me going through the day.

Aneya: It's true, everything is later here, just like in Europe. Meals last a lot longer (2 hours, although one time it lasted 4!) and everything has a different pace. The dinner thing is definitely the hardest to get used to. I'm hungry at 6, 7 and I don't want a little once, I want a big meal! I remember one night, early on, we went out to dinner on a Saturday night, in one of the hippest neighborhoods in the city. It was around 7:30 and the place was deserted. We didn't understand. Where were all the people? At home, eating their onces, that's where!

Lauren: We went out to dinner one time, and the old folks were arriving after us! Grandma and grandpa were having dinner at 10 p.m.! It was crazy! I was a bit embarrassed.

Aneya: That was funny. We were like, "Ok, this time we're not leaving the house until 8:30! That'll show 'em!" And then, as we were leaving the restaurant, in walked the senior citizens. Oh, Chile.

-- Aneya & Lauren