We attach negative connotations to the word gringo in america.  We think of it as an insult. Something that when said, incites in us images of loud obnoxious americans vacationing in latin america.  In chile, the chileans proudly throw this term around in an affectionate way that represents their general disposition, and its explication is a good way to begin a gringo's account of chilean culture.

Chile is a culture of talking, everyone has a lot to say and more often than not, their long descriptive accounts of whatever it is they are talking about ends in a joke of some kind.  Their jokes are sometimes lewd and often the teller doesnt take into account any sort of political correctedness.  But, this is what seems to make chile an interesting place to live and spend time.  They dont speak and act in this manner with bad intentions, they act in this way because they regard you as a friend, and speak with ease to you because of their perceived feeling of closeness.  The people here separate themselves for us boisterous and rude americans because of their hospitable and agreeable nature.  When you meet a woman who is possibly a friend of a friend or something of the sort, you dont simply shake their hand as you would in america, you give them a kiss on the cheek in the manner that you greet and say goodbye to all women here.  It is a custom that fosters a feeling of warmth and intimacy and makes a gringo like myself feel welcomed.

A good way to get a feel for a new culture is to understand its people, something that right now for me is a tad bid difficult because of chileans fondness for cutting off the ends of their words, but what i have understood is a good representation of chile as a whole.  It is a culture where family intimacy trumps all and a good conversation is not something to be cut short.  This epitomizes the essence of the this slow moving passionate country full of short dark haired people.