Aneya & Lauren: Illegal Aliens Abroad.

Aneya: For the first time, Lauren and I are experiencing being a so-called "illegal aliens" in another country. It's a strange thing. As US citizens, we have no idea what it's like for immigrants trying to make it in America. Obviously we've heard stories- how hard it is to do absolutely anything- from renting an apartment to getting a cell phone, everything is a million times harder if you're a foreigner.

Lauren: I've always hated that phrase, "illegal aliens." It sounds like a criminal from another planet has invaded the country. It's such an awful phrase, used only in the most hateful contexts. For the first time Aneya and I are experiencing what it means to be undocumented in another country. It is so hard, and our minor hardship is a fraction of what undocumented people have to go through in the US.

We're not exactly here illegally (our Mendoza trip solved that), but we're foreign without work visas, and we're experiencing how hard it is to get a job, or even a savings card at the grocery store, and be treated differently.

Aneya: And the things we've had to go through here are nothing compared to what illegal immigrants have to go through in the US. Here, we pay for our apartment every month in cash. Can you imagine it? In the US they'd think a drug dealer was living in the apartment. But it's our only choice. We can't get a bank account because we don't have a route number (sort of like a social security number). It's extremely hard to get one of those if you're not a citizen. And you need it for just about everything. But somehow, we've managed just fine.

Lauren: Almost fine. It is truly a miracle we got our apartment, and that's something I am grateful for every day. We haven't been able to get jobs and at every interview we're told we'll get paid less because we are RUT-less. We don't qualify for a bank account, a grocery savings card (which never ceases to amaze me), and we're definitely treated differently.

Aneya: We give the cash to an extremely understanding landlady (also an immigrant- from Spain, as a matter of fact. Which could explain her empathy for us). We got cell phones on our second day here, we didn't need to sign a contract or do much of anything, really. We paid in cash, we got the phone, when the minutes run out, you buy more. It's as simple as that. Try going to an AT&T store in the US, it will take half an hour just to talk to someone. And when you do, you're getting a contract, whether you like it or not.

Lauren: I've always sympathized with friends who've told me how hard it was to be from another country and living in the U.S. but now I can see a fraction of what they have to go through. No diver's licenses, jobs that pay less, and getting harassed. Where Aneya and I are assumed to be rich, and people overcharge or in the very strange case in Vina, refuse to serve us, undocumented people get harassed in a different way.

Aneya: When we got our internet set up, we were supposed to have a route number, but we just used Daniela's. No big deal. Can you imagine? In the US, using someone else's social security number? You'd be put in jail! But not here. It was relatively easy.

Lauren: This entire trip has given me a new perspective on how people living away from home in the States must feel.

Aneya: Strangely, one of the hardest things to get is Lider Savings Card! Of all the things in this country, Lider is the most strict! No route number? No card. No using someone else's, either. It's like they're trying to overcompensate for everything else being so easy.

Lauren: And language. If you are ever lacking for words, people will help you communicate. There's never a This-is-Chile-and-we-speak-Castellano-here-so-get-used-to-it attitude. I really don't see that ethnocentrism at all. I can't imagine living with the hostility that some people in U.S. have toward people who don't speak English. There is no patience or understanding. It doesn't matter if it's your first day in the States, if you're just visiting. If you set your foot down in the U.S. you are expected to speak perfect English.

Aneya: Obviously another thing that's difficult is the job situation. Most jobs want you to have a working visa. In order to get one, you need to have a contract from a job. But if you don't have a job, you don't have a contract. It's a catch 22, really. There are jobs that will hire you even if you're illegal, but they pay less, of course.

Lauren: It's horrible. No job wants to hire someone without a visa, but to obtain a visa you need a job. And why would you be looking for a job if you have one that is sponsoring you? It's inane. We've been to the immigration office, which I am convinced is it's own circle of hell, and were explained this strange system. Nothing however beats the U.S. I can't imagine being stopped in the street and asked to prove my status.

Aneya: In any case, living in a foreign country as an illegal immigrant is definitely a challenge. We've had minor struggles we've had to deal with, but I can't even imagine what immigrants in America must go through every day. And I feel like people here are more understanding, whereas in the US it's all about "those damn foreigns taking our jobs!" The American attitude towards illegal immigrants really needs to change. Everyone's an immigrant! We're a nation of them. I don't know when we stopped being compassionate, and starting being racist, and bigoted and cruel. Just look at Arizona!

-- Aneya & Lauren