Jesse: Welcome back to Coffee with Gringos brought to you by Dynamic English. I'm your host, Jesse Andrews Maxwell and I'm joined today with my lovely co-host, Brittany Duke.
Brittany: Hello, everyone. How are you, Jesse?
Jesse: I'm well, thank you. Now, many of you listening can probably hear that Brittany has a bit of a different accent than I do. So, Brittany, where exactly are you from?
Brittany: So, I am from South Africa. Specifically Johannesburg, South Africa, one of the capitals.
Jesse: Okay. In 2019, I was actually fortunate enough to travel to South Africa.
Brittany: No ways.
Jesse: A very, very interesting country. So, what is your story and what brings you to Chile?
Brittany: So, I originally came to Chile in 2019 as a volunteer for this program called English Opens Doors. It's a U.N. program also with the Ministry of Education. And I was put in La Serena and basically I fell in love with Chile and decided to stay.
Jesse: Alright. Excellent. Now, you mentioned that you're from South Africa. What is the thing that you would say you like most about being from South Africa?
Brittany: So for me, I feel like I've learned a lot being South African, just because of how diverse South African culture is.
Jesse: Very diverse country.
Brittany: Yeah. You've been there, you know. Yeah. And what about you? You're from the U.S.. What's your story?
Jesse: Well, I'm originally from Oklahoma in the United States. I always say in the state of Oklahoma, there are more cows than there are people. And that's actually true. So pretty, pretty simple childhood. But similar to you, I came to Chile many years ago to study in Viña del Mar, and just kind of ended up falling in love with the place. So I'm still here.
Brittany: Chile has that effect on people.
Jesse: On some people.
Brittany: On some people.
Jesse: Some people, it can drive a little crazy. But yeah, for me, it works. So.
Brittany: And what do you miss most about the US?
Jesse: Oh, what do I miss most about the U.S.? Probably nothing. No, obviously I miss friends and family, but really the United States is a bit complicated. So I would probably say some of the junk food. There's some certain items maybe that a McDonalds here doesn't have for breakfast. The McDonald's breakfast is completely different here, so there are times where I really just want biscuits and gravy or an Egg McMuffin and I can't get those.
Brittany: Sorry, biscuits and gravy.
Jesse: Yeah. But when we say biscuits, they're actually like little bread rolls. They're not biscuits.
Brittany: They're not like cookies.
Jesse: They're not cookies.
Brittany: We say biscuits for cookies.
Jesse: Yeah, you say biscuits, but in the United States, a biscuit is more like a piece of bread. Yeah. So I would probably say the food.
Brittany: Yeah same.
Jesse: Family, friends and food. Those are the things that I miss the most, for sure. Now, what misconceptions do you think that maybe some people have about South Africa?
Brittany: You're looking at it.
Jesse: Okay.
Brittany: I feel like the biggest misconception that people have about South Africa is that everyone is black. That we ride animals to school or we use animals for public transportation like an elephant, a lion. Animals running wild in the streets. That's not true.
Jesse: True. Well, no, I know from having visited South Africa that's not true. But I will say one time I was going on a safari. On the way to the safari, it was rather strange to see a baboon sitting next to a garbage bin eating an apple. And it was just considered to be a very normal thing for the people around, and for me, I just thought it was very strange that a baboon is just wandering around the park.
Brittany: You were shooketh.
Jesse: I was a little, little surprised, to say the least.
Brittany: I mean, I feel like a baboon is just an extension of a monkey. And you do get monkeys in some parts of the world just hanging around.
Jesse: I mean, maybe hanging around in a tree. But this one was just kind of sitting next to a fence and a trash can, eating an apple and next to the highway. So that was a little strange for me.
Brittany: Fair enough.
Jesse: But I do know that there is that misconception about race.
Brittany: Yes. I mean, you were there. You've seen they are white South Africans, Indian South Africans, mixed race. Correct.
Jesse: There's a lot of Indians.
Brittany: A lot of Indians, yeah. And what about you in the US?
Jesse: Misconceptions about the US? I would say the biggest misconceptions that people have, one, is that everyone is fat in the United States, which there are a lot of obese people in the United States. You know who you are. But, I would also say there's a big misconception that if you are from the United States, that must mean that you're rich.
Brittany: Yeah.
Jesse: Yeah. And unfortunately, that's not the case either. And that everybody walks around with guns, which a lot of people do own guns in the United States. But not everybody walks around with the gun on their hip. So, those are probably some of the biggest misconceptions about the United States.
Brittany: Mm hmm.
Jesse: So, yeah.
Brittany: And just a question, because you're a foreigner living in Chile, and even though people know more about the US in the world than they do about South Africa. I feel like some people have told me some really interesting things about my own country that I never realized. So I've had atleast like six people in my time in Chile ask me, “Okay, Brittany, do you swim in the ocean in South Africa?” I'm like, “Yes, yes, people swim.” And they say, okay, “But how can you swim if there are sharks?” And I'm like, “Sharks? Aren't there sharks in Chile? Did sharks not like make it this far, to this part of the world?”
Jesse: You know, from the best of my knowledge, because of the current, the sharks in Chile stay way out in the ocean and don’t normally come close to the shore.
Brittany: So that's what I heard, like recently. And I was really surprised because I thought that the whole world, and South Africans also just the swimming with sharks all day, every day. But no. So that was interesting because I never thought about that.
Jesse: Yeah. You know, I don't think we've ever had shark attacks in Chile.
Brittany: No, never.
Jesse: Not a not a common thing, which is fine for me.
Brittany: Absolutely. I’m ok with that.
Jesse: I'm perfectly okay with it.
Brittany: So has that ever happened to you? Where you're like, “Oh, that's actually true.”
Jesse: About the United States? Not particularly. I'm pretty heavy on the news. So, I try and stay informed. Yeah. And yeah, unfortunately, the United States has so many issues that it's kind of hard to keep up with all of them.
Brittany: Every country I feel like.
Jesse: Absolutely. Yeah. So, being from South Africa, and I'll tell you about my culinary experience in South Africa. It was very surprising to me that some of the animals are eaten. For example, I was in a place and they served me a paté made from zebra.
Brittany: Zebra? Are you?
Jesse: Yeah. Now, these were apparently the zebras were humanely treated humanely, I guess, as possible, but died of natural causes. And so they said, hey, let's make some paté. And just, you know, I did not like the taste. It was not good. But one thing that I did love in South Africa was the jerky made from ostrich.
Brittany: Biltong.
Jesse: Biltong, that's what you call it. And biltong is delicious. And I want more of it.
Brittany: It's beautiful.
Jesse: Yeah. It was a really, really interesting thing to say, “Oh, I'm eating ostrich.” But with that being mentioned, what would you say is your favorite South African food?
Brittany: So I feel like biltong.
Jesse: Okay. Okay. We have that in common.
Brittany: And then also. So I'm half English, half Afrikaans. Okay. And so I grew up on my mom's side of the family with a lot of Afrikaans food, traditional food.
Jesse: Now, what is Afrikaans food?
Brittany: So it's kind of like a twist on traditional English food. So, it's just like different spices. You get like these things called pumpkin fritters, which are like fried pumpkin-like cakes, almost. And things like bean and potato mash. I don't know. I feel like it's kind of what I imagine food in the south of the USA to taste like.
Brittany: So maybe you can relate, you know, like very rich and hearty food.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah. The food in the South is typically heavier, richer.
Brittany: Lots of meat.
Jesse: Lots of meat, lots of creams.
Brittany: Yes, butter. .
Jesse: Yeah, lots of butter. We always say in the southern United States that it's just meat and potatoes. That's the basic. Some form of meat and some form of potato.
Brittany: The staple.
Jesse: Good to go. That's the staple right there. So now, South Africa, you mentioned that there is a heavy Indian influence. How much of the Indian influence has affected the South African food?
Brittany: A lot. Because I feel like we eat spicier food. I mean, me being in Chile, I'm like, “Where is the spice? Where's the picante?”
Jesse: Right, so for those of you who are not in Chile, who are either watching or listening. Chileans do not like spicy food.
Brittany: Nope. Like not even pepper sometimes.
Jesse: And I know, like, black pepper is considered spicy for Chileans, so I agree. But I've always found it ironic that in the United States, we don't pronounce this country Chile. They say Chile. So a chili is a chili pepper, which is spicy. And the country of Chile is the complete opposite.
Brittany: Exactly. It’s ironic.
Jesse: Yeah. So how do you, what do you do here to get that spicy? Do you add a lot of spices to your food?
Brittany: Basically. And I also feel like the spices, so, for example, oregano, it's not as strong. The flavor is not as strong here. So I live with another South African in Santiago, and we just, we just put, put, put as much as possible.
Jesse: Yeah.
Brittany: And then also we found, like, these backstreet kind of Asian markets where they sell, like, spicier spices. .
Jesse: Now, you say backstreet Asian markets, are these black markets involved in some illegal spice trade?
Brittany: No, you just wouldn't find this in like a mall or like a mainstream area.
Jesse: Okay. No, I agree. I enjoy spicy food, so it is always a challenge to get that spice level up, because I think here in Chile, about as spicy as they go is Merken.
Brittany: Yeah, and aji. But aji is like -
Jesse: Yeah, but to me, I mean, you could, I could eat Merken by the spoonful. And it's not spicy. It's not going to do anything.
Brittany: Sorry, guys. It's true. What about you? What is your favorite food from the US? What do you miss? I mean, you said junk food.
Jesse: I definitely miss the junk food. But no, I think again, I'm talking about the South, something that we have where I'm from, it's called a chicken fried steak. So, we basically take a normal perfectly good steak and you beat it, you pound it to where it's flat, very similar to -
Brittany: Tenderizing.
Jesse: You tenderize the meat by hammering it down and I can't think of the name of the German dish, but it's very -
Brittany: Schnitzel?
Jesse: Schnitzel. Very similar to schnitzel. Then you will bread that in panko and then deep fry it like you would fry fried chicken. It's so delicious. And it's something that I can't get here.
Brittany: Wait, but there's no actual chicken?
Jesse: No, it is a chicken fried steak. Okay, so the batter and the preparation is similar to fried chicken. That's why it's a chicken fried steak.
Brittany: I got you. I got you.
Jesse: Yeah. So what, on the note of food, what do people in South Africa, a lot of people maybe eat that you refuse to eat?
Brittany: I feel like in Africa in general, it's quite common for people to eat the innards of animals.
Jesse: Okay so the intestines.
Brittany: Of beef, goat. Yeah. And I just can't. Like, I've tried tripe, I've tried kidney. It just has the strongest flavors, that it's just too much for me.
Jesse: Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah, there's several things here in Chile as well. Anything that comes to mind in Chile that you won't taste?
Brittany: Horse.
Jesse: Yeah, that's an interesting one because we were talking about the biltong and I say jerky. But here they actually have jerky made from horse meat.
Brittany: Exactly.
Jesse: I find it a bit strange. It's really salty, too. It’s really salty. Really, really salty. I think the thing for me here in Chile, it's called prieta - blood sausage.
Brittany: Yes.
Jesse: No, no. Just the name and the way it translates to English, blood sausage. No.
Brittany: That's the thing. Once I was at, like a New Year's Eve party, and obviously there was an asado, okay a barbecue, and they served prieta. And I probably would have tried prieta, if nobody had told me what was actually inside.
Jesse: But they made that mistake of telling you. Okay. Excellent.
Brittany: And what strange things do people eat in the US?
Jesse: Oh, that's a good question. But really, and I always try to explain this, that the United States is really like 50 miniature countries all in one. So, things that people maybe eat in the south, they would not eat in the north or vice versa. West coast, east coast. And I would say probably the things that I refuse to eat are either pig's feet. Yeah. It's exactly what it sounds. And they're pickled. Okay, so you will see a jar and it has a substance, a liquid.
Brittany: What color?
Jesse: Clear, but it's fermented vinegar of some sort. And then you literally see the feet of pigs in the jar.
Brittany: Delicious.
Jesse: So, yeah.
Brittany: And it looks like a pig's foot?
Jesse: It's literally a pig's foot. The hoof is still intact with the part of the leg. Yeah. Pig's feet. Yeah, it's, it's interesting, but I absolutely refuse.
Brittany: I mean, just the way it looks. At least if it didn't look like a pig's foot, you know.
Jesse: Yeah, but it's literally like, you know. Yes. Imagine like some, some fish is served with the head still intact and this is the foot served with the toenails still intact.
Brittany: Not appetizing at all.
Jesse: No, not at all. So, have you ever traveled to the US?
Brittany: No, but my best friend, South African, she actually lives in the US, so. And now I have some, some American friends. I definitely plan on going there.
Jesse: Okay. Where does your friend live?
Brittany: I always forget.
Jesse: Okay.
Brittany: But it is. I'm pretty sure - Sarah, forgive me if I'm wrong, but it's like Rhode Island or something like that.
Jesse: Yeah, I used to live in Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a really, really nice state.
Brittany: Nice.
Jesse: Very nice. Yeah. So if you could go anywhere in the US. Yeah. Other than to see your friend in Rhode Island, what do you think would be your destination?
Brittany: So if I had to only pick one, I would definitely say Orlando.
Jesse: How did I know? Everybody wants to go see Mickey Mouse at Disney.
Brittany: Oh, no, not Disneyworld. I want to go to, what is this town called? It's, um, it's known for, like, witchcraft, and it looks almost like a European city.
Jesse: I'm not sure. Harry Potter world?
Brittany: No.
Jesse: Yeah. I don't know.. I've never been to Disney World, so.
Brittany: Okay.
Jesse: No. So. Alright.
Brittany: I got it. New Orleans, New Orleans.
Jesse: New Orleans. New Orleans. However, New Orleans is not in Florida. New Orleans is in the state of Louisiana. They're close by each other. So it's a few, maybe a thousand kilometers apart. But yeah, there. Yeah. New Orleans is a very, very interesting city. Very, very fun. Yeah.
Brittany: My bad.
Jesse: Be careful with the hand grenades. In New Orleans, they serve a drink that is probably about this tall. For our listeners, you can't see, but probably about two and a half feet tall, and the bottle resembles a grenade and it is filled with Everclear and other terrible alcohol. It tastes very sweet, so it's very dangerous because you don't realize how drunk you are until it’s too late.
Brittany: It's kind of like a terramoto in Chile.
Jesse: It's very similar. Yeah. It’s the same sensation.
Brittany: Thank you for the tip.
Jesse: Yeah, that's my advice for you, is to avoid the hand grenades. So, Brittany, this has been an interesting chat to introduce you to the viewers and to the listeners. But here we're going to play a game. Alright. So this is a game I like to call First Response. Alright. There are no correct or incorrect answers.
Brittany: Okay. Let me get ready for this one.
Jesse: Yes. So I'm going to ask these questions and I want your honest answer. Alright. So if you go to jail, what crime did you commit?
Brittany: Fraud. Yes. Like tax fraud, definitely.
Jesse: Okay. So to those in the tax services, if you're listening here, we've got a criminal on our hands that apparently hasn't paid her taxes.
Brittany: Not true.
Jesse: Alright. Now, if you weren't doing your job right now, what would you say is your dream job?
Brittany: Hmm, I feel like this is something that I battle internally with all the time, but I would say a human rights lawyer.
Jesse: A human rights lawyer. And if I understand right, you are currently studying law?
Brittany: Yes.
Jesse: Okay. Yeah. Excellent. Nice. Do you have a favorite book?
Brittany: No, I really don't.
Jesse: Do you know how to read? Is that something that you learned? Do they teach you how to read in South Africa?
Brittany: Definitely not.
Jesse: Oh no. Yeah. Your teacher was a baboon and a giraffe. Yeah. There you go.
Brittany: These are the stereotypes that we try to avoid, see?
Jesse: And you did not live in a grass hut?
Brittanay: No, not all my life.
Jesse: Alright. Do you have a favorite flower?
Brittany: No, yes, a daisy.
Jesse: A daisy? Yeah. Okay. Is there an artist or an actor that is generally liked by most and that you can't tolerate? Because for me, Daddy Yankee. I don't understand.
Brittany: I get it.
Jesse: I don't understand the appeal.
Brittany: No, I feel like every song sounds the same.
Jesse: That's my opinion. Yeah. Okay. But he's universally popular, and I just don't care. So.
Brittany: Yeah, mine would definitely be Tom Cruise.
Jesse: You know, I met Tom Cruise one time.
Brittany: No ways.
Jesse: Many years ago, he was promoting one of the Mission Impossible films, and he walked past, and I was kind of taken aback because he is so short.
Brittany: I've heard.
Jesse: He is a tiny little man. Tiny. My mother was about five-ten, tall for a woman. My mother was shocked and said she had to basically bend over like she was going to take a photo with a little child. Because Tom Cruise is really, really short. I was surprised. I mean, I'm a tall guy, but I looked down. I was like, that's Tom Cruise.
Brittany: That's interesting.
Jesse: So whenever we talk about the camera, makes things look bigger. I think that's that's true.
Brittany: Certainly true in this case.
Jesse: Absolutely true. Alright. Now, you mentioned an actor that you don't necessarily like. Do you have a favorite actor or actress?
Brittany: You know what's. Okay. So Meryl Streep, I love Meryl Streep.
Jesse: Amazingly talented.
Brittany: I also really liked Johnny Depp before this whole fiasco with his ex.
Jesse: Okay.
Brittany: So, yeah, I don't know. It put a sour taste in my mouth, so.
Jesse: Alright. Yeah, yeah. Taste change.
Brittany: What about you?
Jesse: Oh, my favorite actress by far by far is a British actress named Minnie Driver.
Brittany: Minnie Driver.
Jesse: Minnie Driver. So Minnie, if you're watching, I know you have a podcast as well. You can always invite me to be a guest on your podcast. Many questions. I would love to be there. Yeah. Minnie Driver is by far. By far. She's a talented actress, musician. She has a podcast. She's beautiful. Great sense of fashion and really, really dark sense of humor that I absolutely adore.
Yeah. And she's an author. She just recently published a book. Do you go to concerts much?
Brittany: No, not much. Especially, you know, the pandemic has complicated things. I would like to.
Jesse: But the concerts you have been to, what would you say was the best concert of your life?
Brittany: Mhm. So there's this band, kind of like an electronic alternative band in South Africa called Good Luck. And I've seen them perform three times and I absolutely love them. Please come to Chile.
Jesse: You hear that? Good luck, if you're listening or watching. We need some good luck here in Chile. Alright. What is the thing that irritates you the most or your pet peeve?
Brittany: My pet peeve.
Jesse: Yeah.
Brittany: I definitely say, I really don't like dealing with arrogant people.
Jesse: Yeah, arrogant people. Yeah, I can understand that.
Brittany: Yeah, it's hard to not, it's hard to keep my cool in situations like that.
Jesse: But you typically compose yourself well. Alright. Last few questions here. What is your favorite Chilean curse word?
Brittany: Que wea. Or que chuca.
Jesse: Okay. Not necessarily a curse word, I don't think.
Brittany: Chucha?
Jesse: I don't think que chuca is necessarily a curse word.
Brittany: Okay. So what's yours?
Jesse: Culiao.
Brittany: Culiao. Okay. But you need to say it, in like a sentence, so I can hear how you say it.
Jesse: Este weon culiao.
Brittany: Me encanta.
Jesse: Something like that. Alright. What is your favorite English curse word?
Brittany: My favorite English curse word. I probably use shit the most. For me, uck is like really strong. Not that I don't use it, but shit.
Jesse: Yeah.
Brittany: And you?
Jesse: Fuck.
Brittany: Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Jesse: That's by far the best word. I think that's probably the best word in any language ever invented.
Brittany: But it's quite funny because I speak Afrikaans, because my mom's Afrikaans, as I mentioned. So when I'm really angry, Afrikaans just comes out and then I swear in Afrikaans. So, for example.
Jesse: So, give me an example of some cursing in Afrikaans.
Brittany: Okay. So if I had to stub my toe, for example, on a piece of furniture, “Nee, fokit, man.”
Jesse: Wow.
Brittany: “Agh nee, fokit man.”
Jesse: That almost sounds like German.
Brittany: Yeah, everybody says that. German, Arabic, Russian.
Jesse: Kind of a mix of all of those. But you have to say it with that passion, that rage.
Brittany: Yeah. And that's what makes it feel so satisfying when you say it.
Jesse: Okay. Right after the show, you're going to have to teach me some of these curse words so I can just start, just randomly spit it out. Yeah. Alright. And final question, Brittany. If I were and I'm not going to do it because I don't have, but if I give you $1,000,000, what is the first thing you're going to do with that money?
Brittany: The first thing I would do if you gave me $1,000,000 is, I would buy a house in Chile.
Jesse: Okay.
Brittany: Because I'm tired of the visa struggle.
Jesse: Okay.
Brittany: So I would buy a house. Get my visa automatically, hopefully, and then help my family come over.
Jesse: Okay, so you wouldn't just spend it all on cocaine and prostitutes?
Brittany: I would try really hard not to.
Jesse: Yeah, but you would be tempted. Okay. Yeah. Well, yeah. So. Excellent. Well, I think that's all the time we're going to have for today. So those of you watching, thanks for watching. To those of you listening, thanks for listening. And we'll see you back here the next time on Coffee with Gringos.
Brittany: See you guys soon.
KEY VOCABULARY, PHRASES AND SLANG
Garbage bin (UK) or trash can (USA) (nouns) = a container where you throw away your garbage or trash
Example: Every Friday I take out the trash.
Shooketh (slang) = an expression used to react to a crazy or unbelievable situation
Example: I can’t believe you were in a car accident, I’m shooketh.
Fair enough (phrase) = to say that something is reasonable or acceptable
Example: “I’m only going to the mall tomorrow because I’m tired.” “Fair enough.”
Shore (noun) = the land along the edge of the sea or a lake
Example: I love to stand on the shore and appreciate the view of the sea.
Hoof (noun) = the foot of a cow, horse, sheep, goat and pig
Example: The horse has injured it’s hoof and needs to go to the vet.
Hearty (adjective) = used to describe food that is large, filling and delicious
Example: Lasagne is my favourite meal because it’s so hearty.
Hut (noun) = a small and simple house, usually made from mud or grass
Example: Grass huts are surprisingly warm in the winter.
Taken aback (phrase) = to be surprised or shocked.
Example: When he asked me to marry him, I was so taken aback.
Keep my cool (phrase) = to stay calm and unbothered
Example: Last year, I was in a car accident but I was able to keep my cool.
To swear or to curse (verb) = to say a bad word, usually not acceptable by society, that is used to express a strong emotion
Example: I try not to swear even though it feels very satisfying when I’m angry.