Temuco - Big Little City

Temuco is a big city but not a big city. It is urban and modern but then again not. It is the regional center, full of commerce; busy, bustling, and growing but the economy is primarily agriculture with a strong tie to the land and the Mapuche (indigenous) culture. It is not unusual to see the Mapuche driving their horse carts through the streets, selling their produce at the feria (open market), visiting in the central plaza (the center of community life) or living in their unique houses in the surrounding country-side.

Like many things we have encountered so far in Temuco, commerce is full of contradictions. You can find many conveniences here with grand department stores and malls on the scale of the U.S. Each carries a full line of merchandise and offers a revolving credit card with special points, prizes and deals to sign up or purchase with their card. Yet we found only two models of an iPOD stereo player in the whole city.

There seems to be an overabundance of banks and credit offices with several on every block. Yet they all seem to be full of people at all times of the day. How can that so people have that much business to do in all those banks all day long?

Cell phones rule the day with everyone having the apparatuses tied to their ears. Distributors are found in just about every store. Yet the land phone lines are strictly controlled. You are required to have your national “Identity Card” to obtain a home phone. Additionally as foreigners, we were required to show our work contracts. If you are using a cell phone to call a land line, you must dial a special code.

Small businesses grease the economy but the supply network is incredibly segmented. One can find computer equipment for sale just about everywhere. However, one store sales the hardware, another sales accessories, another sales electronic add-ons and another sales the printer inks. If you need system administrative assistance that is yet another store. Software? You got it now: go to another store. Everyone gets a cut and the entrepreneurial spirit thrives.