con un cuchillo?!?!

First off, I will say I did absolutely nothing today. I am feeling kind of sick and I took it easy and stayed in the apartment. I had a nice lunch and dinner with the family and talked a lot. I also watched a movie-(Running Scared)...it is surprisingly a really good movie even though Paul Walker is in it...

There isn't much to tell about, but my friend Tate asked me about culture and business in Chile because he is doing a presentation in class. I typed up this little thing for him and I decided it was best not to let it go to waste so enjoy!

Tate,

I have a Chilean friend who actually owns a pretty successful software implementation business. (Christian) If you want to get serious about this im sure he would be more than happy to give you a little interview or something hes a real cool guy and he speaks perfect English. Even if you wanted to do it via facebook. Lemme know and i'll hook it up. For now I'll tell you what I know.

As far as South American countries go, Chile is widely accepted as one of the most advanced countries in terms of technology and business practices. About 1/3 of the entire Chilean population lives in the valley of Santiago (6 mil out of 18 mil) and it is their economic and political headquarters. In the last two decades Chile has made tremendous strides in approving it's economy and quality of life. Since the end of the controversial dictatorship of Pinochet in the 70-80's Chile has improved on its poverty rate every year and their successful programs are being studied by neighboring latin american countries with similar issues. That being said, Chile still has a lot of work to do, especially after the latest 30 billion dollar hurdle. There is a large gap between the rich and the poor, even with their socialist government.

Alright I kinda just wrote a formal essay idk why i did that haha but now ill just tell you stuff that i've seen or whatever so you can site me in a paper/presentation

Chilean's are very kind and hospitable. For the most part, small businesses seem to rule the economy. Everywhere you look in the street there are people selling things from slushies to jewelry to electronics to puppies. There is no direct sales tax on items, but the government requires each sale to be recorded on a handwritten receipt (pretty ghetto) and the seller has to take responsibility for the tax (so its a hidden tax). Their currency, the Chilean peso, is hovering a little over 500 CP=$1 USD.

There are a few larger chains that are popular in Chile as well. I don't have any experience with the higher ranks but I heard English is the key. Anyone who can speak English can get a job in the business/banking world because English is the international language of business.

Chileans work pretty weird hours too. The normal work week for a chilean is 45 hours, but the lower class has to work more. My brother leaves for work 8am-7pm Mon-Thur and works 8am-3pm on Fridays. If you do the math, it comes out to 51 hours, but Chileans are really into eating and they take like an hour and a half lunch break every day. Almost all businesses are closed on Sundays. And most businesses are closed for a siesta from about 1-3 every day. Sometimes its frustrating but you learn to get used to it.


The next section is a little intense it may not be good for 7 year old girls! (Coco!)

Workers dont get paid much, especially lower class. I was talking to a kid a few days ago, and his job was to kill sheep. (to eat ? idk I didn't ask) he killed about 200 sheep a day by slitting their throats. Sometimes they would run around afterwords and it would take them around 2 minutes to finally die. Sometimes after you slit their throat if they got violent you would have to stab them in the heart too. Crazy job right? He worked 7am-7pm 5 days a week and got paid around $15 USD a day.


Let me know if you guys have any questions feel free to email me I love to talk Chile!

Moyer48@gmail.com

Chao besos!