Aneya & Lauren: Spirituality.

Lauren: Another difference between the U.S. and Chile: Spirituality. It is so polar opposite, it's a bit confusing. Aneya and I constantly find ourselves thinking "Should I answer that?" or "It's a bit personal." People can ask questions that in the States are beyond taboo.

Aneya: I discussed this briefly in my Easter post, but I'll say it again. It is a shock to have to answer questions about your religious beliefs five minutes after meeting someone. It's one of those subjects: politics, money, religion. These are things you just don't discuss in every day conversation with complete strangers. And yet. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Lauren: Your relationship with a higher power (or lack there of) is totally off limits in polite conversation. Here you will frequently find people whose names you can't remember asking, "And what's your relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ like?" It's very peculiar.

Aneya: It makes me uncomfortable, quite frankly. Because I don't want to lie to people, but I don't want to go into my personal spiritual beliefs with them either. Can't we just talk about the weather?

Lauren: I'm used to religious affiliation/spirituality being deeply personal, between you and whoever you choose to share that information with, and even sharing that can be awkward. I have a litney of friends whose spirituality/personal beliefs is a complete mystery. And that's fine. I feel like that would just polarize us if we started arguing about what "real" spirituality is. It's just too personal to talk about. But here it's totally kosher, even used as an ice breaker.

Aneya: Ya, I don't talk about religion with even my closest friends. That may be because I have a diverse group of friends, from lots of different cultures and spiritual backgrounds, and I'd just be opening a can of worms if I did. Why bother? I guess because everyone here is Christian, there's no problem asking people about it, they already know the answer. But not so in the States. There's a multitude of religions and cultures and everyone takes great care not to offend anyone else. Thus, conversations about religion on the whole are usually avoided.

Lauren: I've even joked about the openness people have here about discussing religion at the most awkward times, saying "Can you believe he just asked me that? How odd." The typical response is, "Is that strange? Does that make you uncomfortable?" Umm...yes. Sharing your spirituality is something that, in the U.S., is a really big deal. Maybe with a long-term partner, your family. Not strangers.

Aneya: Ya, no joking about that stuff, Lauren! They don't like it. The fact that we've both been asked these questions, by perfect strangers, indicates how frequently, and casually, people do it. Religion is everywhere, from the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristobal, to huge billboards (like the one pictured above, "God is bigger than your problems") I knew coming in, that Chile was a Christian nation. I just didn't know to what extent. Well, now I do.

-- Aneya & Lauren