We finally got a date for our visa interview!
November 27, 2013. But we're trying to get an earlier date since my temporary residence visa expires the day before and we'd have to pay $200 to renew it for another year, even though we'll only be here for like a 10 days to 2 weeks more.
Today at lunch we were talking about some differences between the US and Chile and I mentioned that (at least here in Santiago) it's a bit difficult to keep in shape and exercise unless you like to walk, run, bike, have money for a gym, or are disciplined enough to do strength training at home. And in the US, we have community and rec centers for kid, teen, and adult sports leagues, schools have sports, there are gyms, and even f you're in a city, there are usually places to go hiking, biking, and sometimes even a river to go kayaking. I'm a firm believer that exercise should be fun because if it's not fun, it's a chore, and who wants to do ''chores'' in their free time, right? So my youngest sister-in-law, Cony, asked why are Americans so fat?
Now I've been living here for a year and a half and have not heard one good thing about the US or its inhabitants. It seems as if it's always the people who have never been there who shit talk it. Hmmm...
So anyway, I take it rather personally.. why wouldn't I? I only ever heard bad things said about my country and the people from it. There are so many reasons why Americans are chubbier than the average Chilean, although I have noticed that the people here see to think that if someone isn't skin and bone skinny, they're considered chubby.
The cultures between the two countries are so different, they're barely comparable.
First is I think the genetic makeup of the people. People who are descended from certain ethnic groups of Africa, Europe (Nordic, Germanic), and the Pacific Islands (Samoa, Hawaii) sometimes are just bigger in height and weight than say, a Korean person, who tend to be very thin and short. Wth the genetic makeup also comes how your body reacts to food. Some people come from naturally thin families, some people come from bigger families. VChildhood obesity is a huge problem in the US, and children who are obese are proven to have much more trouble losing that weight as teenagers and adults. That happens from their parents not feeding them proper nutrition.
Every area of the country is very different; different culture within a certain state or few states. With that, comes different eatin habits, cooking styles, and cuisine. Here you go most places and you get the same types of food. Always.
Another reason is college. Here, for the most part, students don't travel across the country for a college education. Most of the colleges are in Santiago, so like Felipe's other sister, Nathalia, she goes to class in the morning, takes a homemade lunch with her, then comes back for tea time at night. In the US, people go off to college, live there, and eat the food there that they have on their meal plan. I worked at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland for almost 2 years in the ''Mount Cafe'', where the students would come at night and get food. It was not healthy food and most of the time, we'd run out of the yogurt parfaits, fruit/veggies cups, and premade salads/sandwiches since there weren't many to begin with. We serves fried food, wings, burgers, and pretty much nothing under 500 calories. Ya ever heard of the ''freshman fifteen''? It's because the schools don't provide the best foods for students... they provide the cheapest.
Then we have birth control. I was on birth control for one month when I was 20. I rode my bike everyday and ate extremely healthy... but from the hormone imbalance, I gained 4 pounds. In a month.
There is also people living in poverty who need food stamps to help feed their families. If you have 3 kids to feed, you're going to make sure they're fed. I remember comparing 6 organic apples at $8 (and some odd cents) and 8 boxes of store brand mac and cheese for the same price.
Yeah, I get it, Americans eat a lot of food. We eat big portions of unhealthy food, but I feel like some people think that chubby people are lazy. That is not the case. Well... not always. I'm a bit chubby now because I'm lazy.
Okay this was horribly written, but it was written in a state of ''peeved off''.
Within the next week, I'll write about other things.
So.... later.
