Now they've done it

Transantiago

From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"The name Transantiago was introduced with the reforms to the public transport system that serves Santiago, capital of Chile. It was considered the most ambitious transport reform undertaken by a developing country according to the World Resources Institute.

The system was introduced on February 10 2007. It standardized bus routes and eliminated redundancy of same; redundancies were commonplace in the old system, which was run by thousands of independent bus operators. The system combines local (feeder) bus lines, main bus lines and the Metro (subway) network. It includes an integrated fare system, which allows passengers to make bus-to-bus or bus-to-metro transfers for the price of one ticket, using a single contactless smartcard."

It's a national sport to complain about the Transantiago. The usual complains are that the buses are overcrowded especially at rush hour and that they are running at inconsistent frequencies, sometimes you have to wait twenty minutes and then 2 or three buses on the same line pass by. Most of these gripes stem from the time of introduction and things have gotten much better in the mean time.

However, a big difference with the system before Transantiago is that now it costs the state money. The government has used an emergency fund to keep it running and just this year an agreement has been made between all the major political parties to properly fund Transantiago the coming years.

Chilenismos

Chileans are hard to understand even if you know a decent level of Spanish. And it's not only because they talk so fast or because they swallow half of every other word.

First of all: instead of using the ending "as" or "es" for the 2nd persona singular they use "aí" or "ís" respectively in the presente simple or subjuntivo.

¿Como estas? -> ¿Como 'taí?
¿Donde andas? -> ¿Donde andaí?
Tú tienes las llaves. -> Tú tenís las llaves.
Tú vas al banco y luego mandas la carta. -> Tú vaí al banco y luego mandaí la carta.
¿Tú necesitas ayuda? -> ¿Tú necesitaí ayuda?
Quiero que tu vayas a la playa. -> Quiero que t' vayaí a la playa.

Huevón = Buddy (Pron. Weon). It used to be a swearword.
Plata = Money (Lit. Silver).
Luca = $1000 pesos bill.
Gamba = $100 pesos coin.
Quina = $500 pesos coin.
Micro = Bus.
Pololo/a = boy-/girlfriend.
Little = Chico.
Guagua = Baby (Pron. Wawa).
Mijita Rica = What men say to beautiful women on the street.
Bakan = Cool (Pron. Wacan).
Macabeo = Man controlled by their wives/girlfriends.
¿Cachaí? = Do you understand?
¡Al tiro! = Right away! (But usually not)
¿Que onda? = What's up?
Huevada = "Thing" (Pron. Wea). Can be used for anything.

El Sapo - The Frog

Sometimes when you are traveling by bus in Chile, you will see a man (that is usually standing in the middle of the street) shout some numbers at the driver, who will in turn give him a coin or two. The numbers that he shouts are in fact the number of minutes that have gone by since the last bus from the same bus line or going along the same route. These men are called Sapos and earn a living (though illegally since it's not permitted for tax reasons) by writing down the time every bus goes by that part of the street and calling out the numbers to them.

Why do they do it? So that the driver knows whether there is a bus a short distance ahead that could be taking any potential clients. If there is, they will usually speed up to try and overtake it. In Chile, the bus drivers apart from those that work for Transantiago don't receive a fixed salary. They receive a small percentage of every passenger they take, hence the race against time and other buses.

Ten indications the Financial Crisis is not over yet (4)

More and more people put up leaflets on our appartment buildings message board offering their services. From architects to cleaners, from engineers to people selling home made food, it's all on there. When I first got here, there were like one or two notes. But the last two months it went up to around twenty. Predictions are that unemployment rate will rise to 10% this year in Chile.