Let's say you're asked to leave Canada .... by your boss, and not CSIS, silly! So, it's a foreign, work assignment kind of thing and you're away for 15 years.
You come back and the next day your sister introduces you to her neighbour. You move to shake the neighbour's hand and he takes it all right but suddenly he's also ... planting a wet one on your cheek! Or, if you're a guy, the female neighbour doesn't take your hand at all but you catch a glimpse of her lips just as they're about to smack on your face!
Yes, very French, I know, but, if you're not used to it - or, you're from Anglo-Canada! - pretty disconcerting, right?
That's how it was when we first arrived in Chile. I discovered that since the last time I was here in 1994, Chileans had taken up cheek kissing as a greeting, something entirely new and different from what I remembered and which took some getting used to.
Many times I'd forget about this new custom and would NOT move to kiss, causing the poor kisser to hesitate or feel embarrassed or end up planting one on me in a weird spot - like my forehead.
It's also a bit strange when the person you're meeting is even mildly attractive, 'cause you do this "GoshIhopemybreathdoesn'tsmellandIlookOK " kind of monologue in your head, knowing that it's probably too late now to worry about it, anyway, 'cause those lips are a-comin! whether you want them or not!
Two months now into this kissing-greeting thing and it's ... alright. Probably one of the sweetest things I've seen down here was Carmen being greeted by another little girl her age, with a kiss on the cheek - just like the grown-ups do. Also I've seen men kiss-greet, in the countryside and not in busy Santiago, but still, that's quite the progress for a macho culture!
Speaking of customs and manners, in another post I complained that I didn't think Chileans were very courteous. Well ... maybe I wasn't looking in all the right places. I've been on the metro lately and you should see how people of all types and ages immediately spring up and offer up their seats to pregnant women, people with infants, and senior citizens that come on board.
And finally on manners, I saw something in Argentina that really charmed me. Everywhere we went, if you said "Thank you very much" to a waitress, a cab driver, or the porter at the hotel, the reply would invariably be: "Oh, noooo, por favor...!" which translates into something like: "Oh, noooo, pleeeease....!" But the real meaning was in the tone, which conveyed: "Don't even think about it! It was SO my pleasure! "
"Por favor....!" is one custom I just might adopt back home, but I think I'll completely forget the kiss-greet thing ... lest I want to make myself, my friends and their husbands extremely nervous....!
This post is absolutely hilarious! It reminds me of one of my jobs where we had an intern from South America. She introduced herself in a formal meeting by going around the room and kissing each attendee on the cheek. Needless to say, we were all surprised that this was part of conducting business, in the boardroom, nonetheless! But she was so warm and genuine, that we just went along with it!
ReplyDeleteYou better start reciprocating those kisses Suzanne, or the Chileans will think you're a cold fish! :)
Believe me Gabe, even though it doesn't come naturally, I have been doing my share of puckering up, 'cause after all, I AM Latin...
ReplyDeleteSo, while I might not know how to salsa (yet) kissing is something I CAN do (but with the women only; staying strictly cold fish with the men... OK honey, if you're reading this...? ;)
S.