In the 80s, when people celebrated an important occasion like a birthday or a win, the mother of the family would rush to the cupboard and, as if it was an ancient Egyptian treasure, produce a softdrink in a glass bottle. Whereas today, water is for brushing your teeth, fruit is for decorating your fruit bowl, and softdrink is for everyday drinking. This is something I can attest to - and when people do drink fruit juice, it's so sweet! - more sugar than fruit.
La Peor Tragedia (The Worst Tragedy)
Chile has survived many terrible events over its history - earthquakes, floods, accidents and a long list of tragedies. Out of this has evolved a highly realised skill - Chileans always have to have something worse. If someone tells the story of their relative with cancer, someone else will respond with a relative who has cancer and small children. It's also acceptable to adopt other people's stories as your own. Everything is permitted, even the inclusion of sordid details to amplify the gravity of your tale. While I haven't exactly noticed this, I have observed a fascination with the tragic - there's a strange sort of excitement people get when speaking about horrific crimes and accidents and I'm told that YouTube videos of these things get a lot of hits.
Talentos Privados (Private Talents)
Many Chileans leave their TVs on to catch a talent show, in which their annoymous countrymen fight against their anonymity, in an attempt to show there is something to distinguish them from the indeterminate mass wandering around like zombies. They spend their time trying to show the country and the world that they are good at something. What this phenomenen has done is take away a tradition of private talents - singers in the shower, desk drummers, air guitarists, dancers and actors in front of the mirror. Chileans are losing their modesty.
*a very paraphrased and foreshortened translation
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