Chilean Men

So what do I have to say about Chilean men, well for one thing this is such a broad topic that I have decided to write about Chilean men as drivers. I don't have very much experience riding with men that aren't taxi, bus, or colectivo drivers, but here goes. I have separated it into different parts.

Ro and Driving. Sorry honey :D

We get into the car and first he must find the stereo face which is always locked in the glove box. He usually looks around first and asks where his keys are. They are ALWAYS in his pocket. Always. Then he will turn the car on and realize that he forgot to get the stereo out of the glove box, and God forbid we drive to Lider which is maybe a 7 minute drive without the radio on. So turn off the car unlock the glove box, get the stereo face. Next start the car and rev the engine a few times. This used to completely annoy me, but I have gotten used to it. Drive off as fast ass possible and drive everywhere we go as fast as possible and slam on the breaks really hard for every single speed bump, slow car, or pothole. Turn a lot without using the signal, and pretty much he just tries to get where ever we are going as fast as he possibly can. Parking my favorite. Instead of just making a wide turn into a parking spot he will park by turning sharp, putting the car in reverse going forward and the same until he feels that he is PERFECTLY straight. We then get out of the car he locks the stereo back into the glove box. Occasionally he will get back in the car and either back up or go forward about three inches. Parking with him always makes me crabby because it takes way too much time. So we get out of the car, and my door has to be closed before he pushes the lock button. (I know that the door will lock whether or not the door is open, but whatever.) Then he must check doors to make sure that they are in fact locked. And we are done and ready to go into Lider.

Rodrigo's dad, Tito, and Driving.

Get into the car, I immediately put my seat belt on, not for safety but for the fact that if we are to come to a sudden and complete stop it holds me in my seat. If we are driving with the whole family, Ro sits in front with his dad, then his mom and sister sit in back with me. I usually have my hand on the door to hold myself in place. When we are riding I usually try to keep quiet and hold still, but I know that I make faces when we come to sudden stops, swerve quickly around people, or go WAY too fast taking a turn. Did I mention that he is the president of a taxi company?? Anyways, my first time riding with him I was in the back seat with Ro and when we got out Ro's fingers were purple from me squeezing on to them so hard. I have also had to catch myself when I have pushed the invisible break. Something that I used to laugh at my mom about regularly. We always get where we want to go on time which is nice, but it is a bit scary. I am still trying to get used to it.

Taxi and Colectivo Drivers and Driving.

Let's first start with the appearance of the cars inside and out. The first thing you will notice is that a lot of the cars are not that new. They aren't old old or anything, but they have see their days. The second thing you will notice is on the inside. A lot of them have their car "pimped out." Things you may see are, stickers everywhere, Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse are popular stickers. Kind of like second graders with their pencil boxes decked out in stickers. Another thing you might notice would be lights. I have seen many things from one strip of red Xmas looking lights that only turn on when he pushes on the breaks, a neon blue dome light, or more Xmas looking lights randomly in the front. Next you will notice the seats. Some of the men like to have racing style seat covers along with fake race car looking gauges on the dash board. Others prefer covering the seat with a nasty itchy gray material, these cars also may or may not have that cloth on the ceiling pulled off. Of course then you get the guys that have camouflage fleece put on the seats and it makes you wonder if people actually hunt in these parts or if it is just for show. Other random things they might have can be hundreds of air fresheners hanging from the rear view mirror, different devices for putting the money they receive for payment, or custom horns. Let's go off on that. I would have to say that the custom horns are the most annoying and stupid things ever!! The driver will honk his horn when it is minimally necessary, maybe for show, maybe to make himself feel satisfied. For the rider and other drivers it is horrible. The first time I rode in a car with a custom horn, I thought the police were following us and when I noticed that wasn't what was going on I thought it was a cell phone. If anyone with a horn like that honked at me I wouldn't know what was going on at all. I wouldn't get out of the way or anything. And now about their driving. Colectivo drivers are something I see everyday of my life. When Ro isn't with me, I can sit in the car for up to 5 minutes waiting for someone else to get in the car before he will leave the place. Then he will drive EXTREMELY slow, this happens mostly on days that I am running late. He will come to an almost stop at every street and little alley we go by hoping for a customer. When we are finally full, he will drive fast and swerve around EVERYTHING! A car parked on the side of the rode?? Yes, we should swerve 15 feet to the left to avoid hitting it even though it is clearly not in our way at all. A bump on top of the speed bump?? Well, of course we should wait for 5 cars to come by so that we can cross over and drive on their side of the bump! A bus that is driving the same speed as us?? DUH!! We MUST speed up and go around it, even if it means going past the metro which I had already said, "En el metro por favor." Let's not waste my good Spanish. In the end I have to walk a block back to the station. On the way home from work, there is a street that is two way, but only wide enough for one car so of course when there is a car half a mile in front of us the driver must gun it to go two blocks as fast as he can so he can beat the other guy. Congratulations sir you won! In fact we will be off this street before we even see the other car drive by. I think that's all I have to say about collective drivers.

Bus Drivers and Driving

I'll keep this nice and short. I have rode the bus maybe a total of 6 times. My first ride on a bus goes something like this. I am sitting in the back, we drive really fast and because we are a bus, we are kings of the rode. We can cut whoever we want off and swerve around whoever we want. And so we are almost to our stop. I am with Ro and his friend Pancho. The bus comes to an almost stop Ro and his friend jump off, Ro turns around to help me down. (What a gentleman!! Ahh My future hubby :D) And me, I am getting off when BAM! door closes, I am stuck in the door which for anyone that is wondering does not feel great. I am banging on the window with my free hand, screaming and watching as Ro runs along the bus pounding it and swearing at it. the people around me are yelling at the driver and he finally lets me off. I get off on the verge of tears, I wasn't going to cry in front of Ro's friend. I swear at the bus driver in English of course and walk away acting calm even though I am horrified. Next encounter. We (Ro and I) are on an almost empty bus at about 1pm. The driver drives by at least 20 different stops where people are calling for the bus we are on and he doesn't stop. This confuses me. A passenger wants to get off and he lets that person off, but won't let anyone else on. Everyone is swearing and pissed. I get off end of story. That's all I have to say about that.

I hope you like my post on Chilean men. :D