1. You lose your breath walking to your local panaderia (located a block away).
While Northeasterners in the US have occasional snow days, Santiaguinos have excessive pollution days. Smog levels in the Chilean capital are easily five times what the World Health Organization deems a safe maximum threshold, compelling health authorities to create “smog alerts” for high pollution days. Running outdoors becomes especially challenging as you find yourself gasping for breath within 30 seconds and wondering if you are, in fact, causing yourself more harm than good with your physical activity. The fact that during winter, smog ominously hangs over the city much like dark clouds hover over Mount Doom is also a bit disconcerting.