P.D.A.

This afternoon in the park at Los Dominocos, as Ceci and I were spectating a vigorous futbol game amongst gringos, she had a lucid moment about the general state of Santiago.

"This is America, only with a few more fruit stands and parks."

And in some ways, it's true.

Lamentably, you can still find a McDonald's cheesburger in Santiago. It may go by the alias "McFiesta," but they ain't foolin' nobody. McDonald's is not Chile, even if you slap a Spanish word onto the processed slab of death.

Starbuck's, Coca-Cola, Nestle, etc. Obviously, other industrious gringos have long since invaded this place, before we gringos were even a thought. Guess that's globalization for you.

But.

I would like to return to Ceci's original statement: "This is America, only with a few more fruit stands and parks."

I would like to return, in particular, to the parks of Chile.

Around here, every square inch of grass is occupied by canoodling, kissing, slobbering, groping young couples.

And even if (North) America has significant city green-space, it certainly does not have that Chilean element of P.D.A.

In Santiago at any given moment, in any given park, there will be at least twenty couples sprawled on the grass, attempting a public rendition of the horizontal polka.

For someone who likes to play frisbee, such as myself, it can be awkward to break up the face-sucking for a retrieval.

I have heard several theories as to why these couples cannot "just get a room, already."

1) They cannot "get a room," because the majority of them still live in a room under the roof of their somewhat conservative Catholic parents, and they will probably continue to live with their parents until they get hitched. Apparently it's not uncommon to live with your family well-into your twenties and even into your thirties.
2) They come from conservative families, so they publically express their physical love as an act of rebellion.
3) They are making up for the years of sexual frustration suffered under the dictatorship. How noble of them.

As if their invasion of every park in Santiago was not enough to satisfy their cravings for a good ol-fashioned game of tonsil hockey, these couples also make-out on the metro, on the bus, in the street, in hallways, in elevators, in libraries, and anywhere else even remotely public.

It's unnerving. And I would by no means label myself as a prude.

But seriously?

Por ejemplo:
We are waiting for the bus.
It's 7:30 a.m.
Your boyfriend has a gnarly mullet.
Amiga, is now really the time for foreplay?
And is this bus stop really the place?

Otro ejemplo:
The McDonald's McFiesta eaten by a young woman;
the Nikes on the feet of her lover;
the Orbitz gum they pop in their mouths:
these brands are not Chile.

But the act in which these consumers are about to participate?
P.D.A?
Distinctly Chile.