No more nightime cruising in Taltal with my host-brother. I mentioned in a previous post that one of my favorite things to do here at night is to cruise the empty streets, listening to 80s hits with Nacho! in the tiny Suzuki Alto.
I was walking the three blocks home from school yesterday when I spotted the mighty Alto flying down Avenida Matta with Nicanor, Nacho! and Marta. Nacho! was driving, as he usually does when Marta is in the car. The only differnce about this car ride home for them was the police car following them. I watched as Nacho parked the car and the police did the same. There were no flashing lights, sirens, or microphones ordering anyone do to anything. The Caribineros casually exited their vehicle and asked Nacho! for his license. Nacho! does not have a license, he is 16...though he drives like a pro and taught me to drive stick down by the beach. Anyway, Marta was able to talk their way out of it with some sob story about being sick.
But here is the funny part...Car arrival time was approximately 1:05pm. We sat down for almuerzo at about 1:25pm. At 1:35 the phone rang, it was Papa Alejandro. Remind you, he works about 800 km away in a mine further North. He was calling to find out what happened with the police. So within 30 minutes he some how found out about the incident while working in the mine 800 km away. News travels fast in this town, people talk, and are nosy, or ¡Sapo! as they say here in Chile.
This brings me to a bit about my town and Chile. Here in Taltal you can't do much without people knowing. I often see my cuartos at the disco. Actually, I see my primeros there too. The normal Monday morning comments from my students are Teecher Teeecher, te vi con tu polola, wooooo ewwww . Something as simple as buying a bottle of wine can be front page news, GRINGO DRINKS WINE ... not really, but you get the picture.
And on Chile, private space, non existent. My host mom once made my bed with me in it! By now you should know moms DO everything in the household, regardless of age! And that it is very common for children to live in the house until the age of 30ish. Families often gather on eachother's beds to watch TV. There is probably a host-family member staring at my computer screen as I write this. It is also very common for people to sleep with their doors open. And so on and so on...
Needless to say, I enjoy my time alone surfing...
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