Rubia

Soy rubia.

I'm blonde.

At least in Chile I am rubia. I never thought of myself as rubia before, but I get called just that all the time. My hair is not 'chilean;' it is not black and long and pretty, it is brown and brittle, so it breaks before it gets long. Some Chileans are rubio of course. Every great once in a while someone will say "oh, I thought you were Chilean!" but that does not happen too often. If I had long pretty Chilean hair I would braid it all the time and decorate it like the cueca dancers do.

There is this guy on the metros sometimes, I call him the recharge guy. He wears a bright orange vest, like a construction worker, that says RECARGA on the back, and walks around with a sign on a stick that says RECARGAR AQUÍ. You can put minutes on your phone by talking to him, for as little as 100 pesos. Just signal him over and he will whip out his phone to send minutes to yours. So if you want to buy minutes to your phone, ice cream, pocket calendars, other candy, pens, or other assorted oddities, just take public transportation. My favorite thing that I saw for sale on the street? Toilet paper.