The metro is a prime location to discern the extent of the Chilean government's attempts to educate and better its citizenry. As opposed to the DC metro, which is equipped with one or two written advertisements by the Metro corporation (this being the extent of government involvement), the Santiago metro is almost exclusively dominated by ads put up by the government. Some read "Join the Chile without Corruption," reflecting a current state campaign. They generally showcase a group of individuals where one is breaking some sort of social rule: in a particular sign a middle aged man is snoozing away in a metro seat, his nearby seatmates, all elderly and therefore deserving of the seats, stare in disbelief. By social convention, as well as law, the man should have immediately given up his seat to the woman holding an infant standing next to him. Clearly, the word "corrupción" in Spanish also refers to moral decay.
The campaign invites Chileans to participate by sending their "best phrases to complete the dictionary of the corrupt." http://www.diccionariodelcorrupto.cl/ Here you can see the dictionary, and the signs put up by the campaign. The sign featuring the business meeting makes good use of the word I last wrote about: "pituto." It says: "The guy stirring his coffee got in by pituto." This is all sponsored by Chile Transparency, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education.
Another rather interesting government effort is the "Santiago in 100 words" essay competition. http://www.santiagoen100palabras.cl/ It asks Chileans to write a short story about anything, in under 100 words of course. Some of the winners and honorable mentions are posted up on advertising boards in the Metro stations and in the trains as well. I've been curious to note that the characteristic Latin American "magical realism" often shines through in these.
One ends up feeling that the government is really trying to interact with its people.
I'll translate a few.
"Things of Fortune: Plaza Brazil: We're going to go eat as "The Poor Chinese." On the table are fortune cookies. I open one and my fortune says: 'Help me! I'm trapped and enslaved in a fortune cookie factory!" by Carolina Valenzuela, 33 yrs old, La Florida [a region of Santiago.]
"Different Report: The detective detailed in good form the background of the case. The Forest Park criminal was identified with complete certainty. But in a surprising and inexplicable way, from within the text, the affected person erased the phrases that incriminated him, absorbed with indignation the ink from the pen, in continuation the pen, next the hand and then the entire detective." Patricio Zulueta, 64 yrs old, Santiago
And now for a little Chilean humour:
"Same: God made us in his image and likeness. It comforts me to know that he is just as ugly as me." Verónica Gutiérrez, 19 yrs old, Nuñoa
[In Chile people tease a lot, and it's not considered offensive to tease a good friend for "being ugly." There is, in fact, a song I was rather obliged to hear given that I was in the same car with the performers on my trip to the South. My mother and Tia Flor, between boughts of laughter, managed to sing: "Que mueran los feos, que se mueran los feos, que se mueran toditos, toditos. Yooooooooo no soy tan feo, pero como nadie me quiere, también me voy a morir." "Death to ugly people, death to ugly people, that all* should die, all*. IIIII'm not that ugly, but as nobody loves/likes me, I'm going to die too.
*diminuitive form.
It's indicative of the differences between the uses of English and Spanish that the song sounds hysterical and teasing in Spanish, and horribly offensive in English.
Another curiousity for another day: The subject of death is not avoided here. Perfectly healthy young people openly discuss their plans for death over lunch, while mantaining a cheerful mood.
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