I recently went to buy a guitar at the house of a Chilean and we ended up drinking tea on his front porch as he proudly told me how many times his house had survived earthquakes. He showed me all the cracks in the walls and joyfully recounted the earthquakes that caused each one. Where others would be afraid, Chileans embrace the fleeting joys of life knowing that at any moment the very ground beneath their feet could tremble and start their world anew.
