We are now in our very final days in Chile...wow....I can't believe it!
We catch a flight to the Twin Cities next week Tuesday where we'll get some time to catch up with my corner of the world for a wee bit before the great big day when we become grown ups again...it's coming!!!!
So once again, we transition into a new life, new culture, different language, different food and a great big kaboodle of uncertainty....not really knowing what's coming at us next. Luckily, we've now had lots of experience with the unknown and we aren't too afraid, as long as we are together....sappy and true.
I always get really sad leaving Santiago, especially seeing Rodolfo so happy and content here with his family and friends. I know when we walk down the cold windowless hallway that smells funny, waiting to enter the great big Delta Boeing, he's going to have that puppy look on his face, bending in odd ways to catch a last glimpse/sniff/feel of his country....I know we'll sit there for a minute in our seats and he's going to be really quiet, and after a few minutes, we'll hold hands, buckle in and he'll say, "I wonder when we'll come back. I'm really going to miss Chile." and my heart will break for him just a little bit, because I know it's my fault. I'm making him leave everything he loves here...for...well...me!
After living here for five months learning not just a language, but a culture, family structure, etiquette and eating an insane amount of bread and meat, I'll admit I have a little Chilean pride for my better half and I know we will be back!
Of course, there's a hundred thoughts a minute rolling thru my mind right now, mostly sentimental moments of, 'this is the last time I might walk by the crazy pigeon bench lady' 'last olive', 'last pisco sour', and then of course I have another, but everything we do now is suddenly in the light of
is this it?
the final Chilean grape I'll eat for maybe the next few years?!? I know....you're thinking you can buy Chilean grapes in the States too...trust me on this, they aren't the same! The grapes here? A million times sweeter/richer/better....and it's not just the grapes, quality of life in general here, FANTASTIC! The food. The climate. The mountains! It seems almost ridiculous to leave!
This was our 'test' to see if we could enjoy living here and the answer is most definately yes, it's just a matter of when.
4.30.2011
4.29.2011
El disco
We have just returned from a trip to the south of Chile to visit family!
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| The men who wear black and red...Tio Nano, Rodolfo and Pipe |
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| Their lovely crazy dog Vita who loves to lick everyone |
While we were there, Tio Nano treated us to a very special treat, his famous "disco"
What is a disco? Well! Lucky you, I took pictures!
 |
| This is El Disco!!!!! Literally, a disc. You begin by getting a nice wood fire burning! |
 |
| If you happen to have some smoked rabbit lying around, as did Tio Nano, you pre cook that a bit! (This was my first time eating rabbit, DELICIOUS!!!!!) |
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| pre marinade your meats...beef, chicken...mmmm.... |
Now it's DISC TIME!
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| saute 2 large sliced onions |
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| add rabbit |
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| the chicken |
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| don't forget to warm your red wine by the fire! |
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| add the meats |
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| pour white wine all over that puppy, creating a delicious sauce |
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| cover, while drinking a brew and catching up on current family events from crazy relatives who keep maniacally smiling in happiness and shooting embarrassing pictures. (sorry Tio Nano) |
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| before |
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| AFTER! and the internet world says: mmmmm. |
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| Now that the meat is lovely, add some muscles and seafood...you know, since you live by the ocean in this variation! |
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| oh yeah!!!!! |
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| Cut those chorizo's/longeniza's up a bit to get the juices all flowing |
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| appreciate the aromatic beauty that is wood grilled meat |
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| Dig in!!!!! |
Very good times have been had.
We are going to miss them so much!!!
Pan Amasado I'm going to miss you!
Pan = Bread
Chileans love bread
But more so a particular type of bread you can only find in places more "countryside" like called pan amasado.
When I first arrived, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Granted I'm not a huge bread fan, but to me, bread is bread! White. Wheat. Multi Grain....baguette, whatever, it's all kind of similar, no biggie. There's tons of it here. It makes you big and fat. Who cares!
And then.....I ate a lot of bread.
I have eaten SO MUCH bread.
I'm afraid I've become a bit of an addict now.
The thing is, when you eat a lot of bread, just like when you eat any particular thing a lot, you become a little picky about it, you learn more about it, you try all the options and after that! You start to have opinions...which types are better, where to find the best, which region makes the best...etc. etc. etc..
and that's when it hits you!
Pan Amasado is DAMN GOOD!!!!
What is Pan Amasado?
Homemade rolls (larger hamburger bun sized but with denser bread) slow baked over wood coals, usually found alongside fresh baked empanadas.
Where is it?
Driving along the country back roads of Chile, you'll find hand painted signs outside of little wooden shacks without doors, usually with little old grandma ladies peaking their heads out of a corner while working the giant black oven.
What does it taste like?
LOVE!
The closest I can compare it to is the flavor and texture of homemade biscuits....like the type you can find at KFC or Red Lobster, southern style love'n, but a billion times better!
I'm at the point where my mouth begins to water just seeing the word 'amasado'....
Ridiculous!
What does all of this perhaps mean?
Chile has finally gotten under my skin!
It's rustic homey flavors of wood smoked meat and smoked and dried spicey red chile powder - Merken, salads of tomato and onion with a sprinkling of olive oil and lemon....casseroles of meat and mashed corn with a hidden treat of hard boiled egg chunk and whole olive (with pit!) - pastel de choclo, all accompanied by a nice glass of Chilean red Carmenere.....
Damn you Chile and your exquisite simple down home cookin'
Your rustic simple flavors that at first seem too plain to be good, but win you over with time.
That's the thing about Chile....yeah there's a lot of annoyances, but just like pan amasado and Chilean men, somehow over time it gets to you and wins your heart.....(awww, shuck)
I'm going to miss it a lot!
Chileans love bread
But more so a particular type of bread you can only find in places more "countryside" like called pan amasado.
When I first arrived, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Granted I'm not a huge bread fan, but to me, bread is bread! White. Wheat. Multi Grain....baguette, whatever, it's all kind of similar, no biggie. There's tons of it here. It makes you big and fat. Who cares!
And then.....I ate a lot of bread.
I have eaten SO MUCH bread.
I'm afraid I've become a bit of an addict now.
The thing is, when you eat a lot of bread, just like when you eat any particular thing a lot, you become a little picky about it, you learn more about it, you try all the options and after that! You start to have opinions...which types are better, where to find the best, which region makes the best...etc. etc. etc..
and that's when it hits you!
Pan Amasado is DAMN GOOD!!!!
What is Pan Amasado?
Homemade rolls (larger hamburger bun sized but with denser bread) slow baked over wood coals, usually found alongside fresh baked empanadas.
Where is it?
Driving along the country back roads of Chile, you'll find hand painted signs outside of little wooden shacks without doors, usually with little old grandma ladies peaking their heads out of a corner while working the giant black oven.
What does it taste like?
LOVE!
The closest I can compare it to is the flavor and texture of homemade biscuits....like the type you can find at KFC or Red Lobster, southern style love'n, but a billion times better!
I'm at the point where my mouth begins to water just seeing the word 'amasado'....
Ridiculous!
What does all of this perhaps mean?
Chile has finally gotten under my skin!
It's rustic homey flavors of wood smoked meat and smoked and dried spicey red chile powder - Merken, salads of tomato and onion with a sprinkling of olive oil and lemon....casseroles of meat and mashed corn with a hidden treat of hard boiled egg chunk and whole olive (with pit!) - pastel de choclo, all accompanied by a nice glass of Chilean red Carmenere.....
Damn you Chile and your exquisite simple down home cookin'
Your rustic simple flavors that at first seem too plain to be good, but win you over with time.
That's the thing about Chile....yeah there's a lot of annoyances, but just like pan amasado and Chilean men, somehow over time it gets to you and wins your heart.....(awww, shuck)
I'm going to miss it a lot!
4.27.2011
A Chocolate Incident
Weight: 100 pounds...or enough to pin down a medium sized person
Hair color: brown
Body type: strong and muscular
Name: Chocolate
While visiting a family friend in Talca Chile, we were in process of grilling some meat outside and I got a bit cold, so I decided to get my jacket out of the car. I walked out the front door and was immediately greeted by their large and husky puppy Chocolate with the doormat in his mouth....he looked so cute and innocent, so I gave him a pat on the head and a little tug-o-war with his doormat.....
Meet Chocolate:
He's a bigger dog, but I've been around bigger....I'm not worried.
I made sure to close the door, so Chocolate wouldn't let himself in and of course when I tried the handle after it shut, realized I had just locked myself out...it's ok....I'll just call for help once I grab my coat!
As soon as I opened the trunk, I felt little paws wrap around my knee and shorly after that....
a rhythmic motion....
yup.
that's right.
I was being humped by Chocolate
Ok, no problem, I've been humped by dogs before, as long as no one sees, I'll be fine.
But Chocolate was having fun.
I closed the trunk, coat in hand and decided to head around the corner of the house, where I knew R man could see me and let me into the house...but, of course, Chocolate was in no mood...err....in the mood not to move. When I tried to lift my leg, I realized I couldn't. I was literally 'pinned' to the spot!
So then I decided to panic!
I first started screaming for help...not too loud to not wake the neighbors, "Rodolfo!?!" "Yoo Hoo!?!" "Rodooolfoooo?!?"
and I waited....and got humped.....
no response.
So then, I tried to push lovely Chocolate off my leg, which I think he then misinterpreted my fore arm as fore play and latched on with his jaws of death.....
and the real screaming began!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!! (very high pitched...as I was envisioning my arm becoming a new puppy toy in a corner somewhere) RODOLFO! HELP! RODOLFOOOOO!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! AHH!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!"
I looked down at a very happy Chocolate with with a glint of fun in his eye and shiny white perfectly lined sharp teeth my mind went blank and I had no idea what to do.
Oh my god. He's going to EAT ME! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!!!!!!
So I did what you are very much NOT supposed to do....
Like running in front of a bear....
Stepping on a snake....
Talking about the vikings in front of a Packers fan....
I started to chaotically shake my arm around, hoping lovely Chocolate would let go. Yup. That was me! Screaming like a banchee, flailing my arm around in a driveway with Chocolate attached growling in a very eerily satisfied way....awesome!
I somehow startled Chocolate out of his exciting chew toy with an outstretched leg which he immediately took interest in. (I thought that might be more difficult for him to chew off and I was losing the feeling in my arm, accept for the spots where tooth met skin.)
First he gnawed the bow off my shoe, then took hold of my pants, I like my pants!, so I started swatting him with my jacket, which was oh so much fun for Chocolate....all of course while trying to slowly creep towards the door, screaming away in a sort of slurred spanglish mix of profanity and things I thought sounded like Spanish that somewhere in my terror stricken brain, I thought might entice Chocolate to stop...all while Chocolate chewed/jumped/pulled/growled away happily....at this point I couldn't look anymore....like watching a train wreck...my poor shoes....
"Pare!"
"Ahora"
"No mas!!!!"
"OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!"
"*%$#@$%&%$##$%^&&%$#%^&&%$"!!!!!
You get the idea ....
and then the humping began yet again....
which allowed me to maneuver close enough to the front door to ballistically slam down my fist in chaotic rhythms in between humps in hope someone might remember I existed and come and save me.....
#$%^*^$$#@%^!
...hump...
where is....$%^$...
...hump....
what the $&*%...
...hump...
it's been an hour ^%$#
...hump...
you call yourself a $%^&%$ husband!
After what seemed like hours (probably 15 minutes max), I could hear hilarious laughter as heads appeared at the opened door...as I was close to tears with terror, at first I couldn't quite understand what was so funny....
***A disheveled women with a disparaged look on her face with dog 'attached'***
Rodolfo: (of course, jerk) "HA! HA! HA! Sarah! How could you!?! HA! HA! HA!"
Thank GOD they didn't have video surveillance!
We are NOT getting a dog.
Happy to be of service Chocolate.
Leave the money on the lawn.
Hair color: brown
Body type: strong and muscular
Name: Chocolate
While visiting a family friend in Talca Chile, we were in process of grilling some meat outside and I got a bit cold, so I decided to get my jacket out of the car. I walked out the front door and was immediately greeted by their large and husky puppy Chocolate with the doormat in his mouth....he looked so cute and innocent, so I gave him a pat on the head and a little tug-o-war with his doormat.....
Meet Chocolate:
He's a bigger dog, but I've been around bigger....I'm not worried.
I made sure to close the door, so Chocolate wouldn't let himself in and of course when I tried the handle after it shut, realized I had just locked myself out...it's ok....I'll just call for help once I grab my coat!
As soon as I opened the trunk, I felt little paws wrap around my knee and shorly after that....
a rhythmic motion....
yup.
that's right.
I was being humped by Chocolate
Ok, no problem, I've been humped by dogs before, as long as no one sees, I'll be fine.
But Chocolate was having fun.
I closed the trunk, coat in hand and decided to head around the corner of the house, where I knew R man could see me and let me into the house...but, of course, Chocolate was in no mood...err....in the mood not to move. When I tried to lift my leg, I realized I couldn't. I was literally 'pinned' to the spot!
So then I decided to panic!
I first started screaming for help...not too loud to not wake the neighbors, "Rodolfo!?!" "Yoo Hoo!?!" "Rodooolfoooo?!?"
and I waited....and got humped.....
no response.
So then, I tried to push lovely Chocolate off my leg, which I think he then misinterpreted my fore arm as fore play and latched on with his jaws of death.....
and the real screaming began!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!! (very high pitched...as I was envisioning my arm becoming a new puppy toy in a corner somewhere) RODOLFO! HELP! RODOLFOOOOO!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! AHH!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!"
I looked down at a very happy Chocolate with with a glint of fun in his eye and shiny white perfectly lined sharp teeth my mind went blank and I had no idea what to do.
Oh my god. He's going to EAT ME! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!!!!!!
So I did what you are very much NOT supposed to do....
Like running in front of a bear....
Stepping on a snake....
Talking about the vikings in front of a Packers fan....
I started to chaotically shake my arm around, hoping lovely Chocolate would let go. Yup. That was me! Screaming like a banchee, flailing my arm around in a driveway with Chocolate attached growling in a very eerily satisfied way....awesome!
I somehow startled Chocolate out of his exciting chew toy with an outstretched leg which he immediately took interest in. (I thought that might be more difficult for him to chew off and I was losing the feeling in my arm, accept for the spots where tooth met skin.)
First he gnawed the bow off my shoe, then took hold of my pants, I like my pants!, so I started swatting him with my jacket, which was oh so much fun for Chocolate....all of course while trying to slowly creep towards the door, screaming away in a sort of slurred spanglish mix of profanity and things I thought sounded like Spanish that somewhere in my terror stricken brain, I thought might entice Chocolate to stop...all while Chocolate chewed/jumped/pulled/growled away happily....at this point I couldn't look anymore....like watching a train wreck...my poor shoes....
"Pare!"
"Ahora"
"No mas!!!!"
"OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!"
"*%$#@$%&%$##$%^&&%$#%^&&%$"!!!!!
You get the idea ....
and then the humping began yet again....
which allowed me to maneuver close enough to the front door to ballistically slam down my fist in chaotic rhythms in between humps in hope someone might remember I existed and come and save me.....
#$%^*^$$#@%^!
...hump...
where is....$%^$...
...hump....
what the $&*%...
...hump...
it's been an hour ^%$#
...hump...
you call yourself a $%^&%$ husband!
After what seemed like hours (probably 15 minutes max), I could hear hilarious laughter as heads appeared at the opened door...as I was close to tears with terror, at first I couldn't quite understand what was so funny....
***A disheveled women with a disparaged look on her face with dog 'attached'***
Rodolfo: (of course, jerk) "HA! HA! HA! Sarah! How could you!?! HA! HA! HA!"
Thank GOD they didn't have video surveillance!
We are NOT getting a dog.
Happy to be of service Chocolate.
Leave the money on the lawn.
4.23.2011
To Be Regalon
When people visit SouthEast Asia from the States, sometimes people complain that locals aren´t very friendly in certain areas, because they never smile. I´m positive locals in small villages in SouthEast Asia smile all the time, they just don´t find it appropriate to use as a greeting to strangers on the street who dress funny and goggle at them!
The more I think about it, my first midwestern reaction of wanting to smile and greet every stranger on the street walking by is kind of, well, weird! Although it´s still in my automatic instinct to smile and wave like a crazy woman, this can be pretty rude in many parts of the world, even asking for trouble!
Just like somewhere in Vietnam, the Chilean form of kindness was difficult for me to break into for a long time....I just didn´t get it! For starters, Chilean life is based around family!!! Family comes first, last and inbetween! It´s the ultimate most important thing in the world! Outside of an immediate circle of family and close friends, friendliness isn´t really shown in Santiago....aka....you don´t smile and wave at strangers!
´Sarah! Put your hand down! Sarah! Stop smiling! Geez...you are embaressing me!´
When you have free time, you spend it hanging out with family - sitting while talking, eating, drinking, repeat!
This experience becomes a sort of Chilean understood ´feeling´which is also a ´state of being´called REGALON!
The best U.S. translation I have for this is a jumble of words I connect with family and home:
cozy, happy, content, warm, fuzzy, thoughtful, full, complete, comfy, relaxed, easy, satisfied
Midwest-Minnesota translation:
drinking cocoa after playing in the snow
Thanksgiving dinner with family
Roasting marshmallows over a fire while camping
Chilean Regalon has been tough for me to experience, perhaps like smiling in a small village in Vietnam, I´m not quite sure how to do it...or why!
My family doesn´t really just sit around and chit chat....come on! There´s always some kind of work that needs doing! Things to be done! Leaves to rake, cars to fix, clothes to wash...sit and do..nothing....weird!
When I had my first asado (Chilean barbecue) experience in Chile with R man´s family 6 years ago, I was so confused when the meal was over and everyone just kept sitting there talking!
Come on people, let´s go! There were dishes to wash! A table to be cleaned! Food to put away! T.V. to be watched!
I still have ticks of wanting to spring into action putting things away and setting order to chaos, but this of course interrupts the natural regalon vibe occuring and gets me in all kinds of trouble....
Can you be regalon alone?
Of course! Say, you´re preparing yourself a tea at your mom´s house....like R man did one day and suddenly out of nowhere - I feel so regalon!!!! - Translation: I feel so happy and homey in this house which holds the emotional presence of people I love.....awww.....it was pretty cute...like a happy attack!
From what I´ve figured out so far in my limited slightly skewed view on Chilean culture, being REGALON as a state of mind is being happy, but the kind of happy you can only achieve in the presence of people-places-things you really love....kind of a raw, carnal love....like diving into a roast chicken with your hands, or stuffing your face with ice cream straight out of the bucket...it can´t be faked. When you´re regalon, you say and do exactly what you want....when someone asks what you like, there is no polite correct response, accept the one straight from your gut!
Being regalon has definitely taken some getting used to for me, kind of like the way I keep my hand in my pocket walking down the street fighting the urge to wave...for as many things that I find difficult and unusual about Chilean culture, feeling regalon is one of my favorites!!!
The more I think about it, my first midwestern reaction of wanting to smile and greet every stranger on the street walking by is kind of, well, weird! Although it´s still in my automatic instinct to smile and wave like a crazy woman, this can be pretty rude in many parts of the world, even asking for trouble!
Just like somewhere in Vietnam, the Chilean form of kindness was difficult for me to break into for a long time....I just didn´t get it! For starters, Chilean life is based around family!!! Family comes first, last and inbetween! It´s the ultimate most important thing in the world! Outside of an immediate circle of family and close friends, friendliness isn´t really shown in Santiago....aka....you don´t smile and wave at strangers!
´Sarah! Put your hand down! Sarah! Stop smiling! Geez...you are embaressing me!´
When you have free time, you spend it hanging out with family - sitting while talking, eating, drinking, repeat!
This experience becomes a sort of Chilean understood ´feeling´which is also a ´state of being´called REGALON!
The best U.S. translation I have for this is a jumble of words I connect with family and home:
cozy, happy, content, warm, fuzzy, thoughtful, full, complete, comfy, relaxed, easy, satisfied
Midwest-Minnesota translation:
drinking cocoa after playing in the snow
Thanksgiving dinner with family
Roasting marshmallows over a fire while camping
Chilean Regalon has been tough for me to experience, perhaps like smiling in a small village in Vietnam, I´m not quite sure how to do it...or why!
My family doesn´t really just sit around and chit chat....come on! There´s always some kind of work that needs doing! Things to be done! Leaves to rake, cars to fix, clothes to wash...sit and do..nothing....weird!
When I had my first asado (Chilean barbecue) experience in Chile with R man´s family 6 years ago, I was so confused when the meal was over and everyone just kept sitting there talking!
Come on people, let´s go! There were dishes to wash! A table to be cleaned! Food to put away! T.V. to be watched!
I still have ticks of wanting to spring into action putting things away and setting order to chaos, but this of course interrupts the natural regalon vibe occuring and gets me in all kinds of trouble....
Can you be regalon alone?
Of course! Say, you´re preparing yourself a tea at your mom´s house....like R man did one day and suddenly out of nowhere - I feel so regalon!!!! - Translation: I feel so happy and homey in this house which holds the emotional presence of people I love.....awww.....it was pretty cute...like a happy attack!
From what I´ve figured out so far in my limited slightly skewed view on Chilean culture, being REGALON as a state of mind is being happy, but the kind of happy you can only achieve in the presence of people-places-things you really love....kind of a raw, carnal love....like diving into a roast chicken with your hands, or stuffing your face with ice cream straight out of the bucket...it can´t be faked. When you´re regalon, you say and do exactly what you want....when someone asks what you like, there is no polite correct response, accept the one straight from your gut!
Being regalon has definitely taken some getting used to for me, kind of like the way I keep my hand in my pocket walking down the street fighting the urge to wave...for as many things that I find difficult and unusual about Chilean culture, feeling regalon is one of my favorites!!!
4.18.2011
4.17.2011
Home Town Pride
Rodolfo found this article about the culture of the Midwest and it got me thinking!
It's incredible how patriotic and sentimental I've become about being both American and Midwestern!
No, I'm not planning to vote for the host of a show on the top floor of a certain tower in New York....
After many, many years of participating in Anti War protests and looking at front yards of red, white and blue, I would see my flag on the back of someone's pick up truck and want to hit that truck out of the incredible anger I felt towards the self centered, elitist, chauvinistic ass holery of ...American truck drivers with bumper sticker patriotism....in other words...my flag had been kidnapped by people who apparently like to drink tea....the symbol of my country, the meaning of what I thought my country represented had changed into something ugly and foul and I didn't want it to represent me anymore.
Until last year, when I took it back.
Every single person who makes the decision to step outside of their borders of both their country and comfort zones becomes an ambassador to how the rest of the world sees America. This helped me see it differently as well!
The moment you speak the words to a stranger in a foreign land "I'm from such and such" you represent an entire people from an entire country/culture whether you like it or not!
I found myself walking straighter, speaking clearer, being nicer, trying harder in moments I really didn't want to. When people were staring at me and perhaps even hating me for no reason other then where I was from - words written on a passport - every move I made had an impact on how people viewed not only me, but also my country and I knew it. Not just for the reactions I received from locals, but also from other tourists/backpackers and myself!
"You're the first - smart, interesting, open minded, funny, caring, giving etc - American I've ever met!"
But it's not just how my friends from other countries now view America....like there's reason not to blow it up...they met someone real....it's a real place now to them...it's not just murdered prostitutes in alley ways and fat people watching t.v...their are people in the States just like them! I know I've changed how I view other countries, based on my own experiences with people who live in them....and for all of the bad in the States and every other country, it is important to remember that there is just as much good if not more! Although, I have to admit, the opportunities I've had simply because of what country I'm from are flabbergasting!
Now, let's get local.....
I've never had so much pride in being American. Minnesotan. From the East side of St. Paul...the slightly more dodgy end.
The further and longer I've lived away from home, the more connected I feel to the little traditional "US, Midwest, Minnesota" culture I've left behind and feel really proud of it!
Just this past week I met for a beer with a fellow Minnesotan and it was funny the things we both missed, which were for the most part, purely Minnesotan (Northern people who know how to drive in snow) traditions! Things like walking as an 'activity', baking, folk music, being cold and liking it - aka - shoveling, cooking with heavy black cast iron pots, shopping at savers...I found myself speaking with a little bit of a Minnesota twang and an urge to make up a casserole and bake cookies! It felt good to know that these things aren't simply my own personal eccentricities....it's how I was brought up and a part of who I am!
After growing up believing I was the only kid on the block without an interesting "ethnic heritage" to impress the other kids with...that I came from a country and origin without a particularly fascinating story to it....for a region that's blamed for 'talking like news anchors' I considered mid western life to be like our food, bland and boring...but now that I'm an adult....I like bland and boring! What's wrong with that? Now, I see my heritage as a solid base to build upon....think about it! Potatoes can take on any flavor! But what do you do without the potato?!?
Yesterday I made Thai style summer rolls, Rodolfo made Chinese style sesame chicken kebabs and for dessert his Aunt taught me how to make a nut cake with a special manjar frosting from a family recipe....a giant mess of cultural traditions mashed up together! All of that 'ethnic heritage' I felt I couldn't take part in? That's exactly the coolest part of what my heritage has become!! An openness to trying and learning new things! Feeling inspired to learn about all the parts and people of the world while also carrying on my simple mid west loves for fleece jackets and cozy blankies...warm cocoa on cold nights and lemonade on the hot ones...being open to other cultures IS my culture! That's America!
As much as I love my little neck of the Northwoods (my dads favorite Penzey's spice) I also now have a great pride in sharing that mid western simple yet savory kindness, politeness and sense of daily purpose with the rest of the world and incorporating all the brilliant spicy parts of life I learn there into who I am as well....
That's why I love St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mid West, the USA and all my friends and family in it!
You can't put all that on a bumper sticker.
It's incredible how patriotic and sentimental I've become about being both American and Midwestern!
No, I'm not planning to vote for the host of a show on the top floor of a certain tower in New York....
After many, many years of participating in Anti War protests and looking at front yards of red, white and blue, I would see my flag on the back of someone's pick up truck and want to hit that truck out of the incredible anger I felt towards the self centered, elitist, chauvinistic ass holery of ...American truck drivers with bumper sticker patriotism....in other words...my flag had been kidnapped by people who apparently like to drink tea....the symbol of my country, the meaning of what I thought my country represented had changed into something ugly and foul and I didn't want it to represent me anymore.
Until last year, when I took it back.
Every single person who makes the decision to step outside of their borders of both their country and comfort zones becomes an ambassador to how the rest of the world sees America. This helped me see it differently as well!
The moment you speak the words to a stranger in a foreign land "I'm from such and such" you represent an entire people from an entire country/culture whether you like it or not!
I found myself walking straighter, speaking clearer, being nicer, trying harder in moments I really didn't want to. When people were staring at me and perhaps even hating me for no reason other then where I was from - words written on a passport - every move I made had an impact on how people viewed not only me, but also my country and I knew it. Not just for the reactions I received from locals, but also from other tourists/backpackers and myself!
"You're the first - smart, interesting, open minded, funny, caring, giving etc - American I've ever met!"
But it's not just how my friends from other countries now view America....like there's reason not to blow it up...they met someone real....it's a real place now to them...it's not just murdered prostitutes in alley ways and fat people watching t.v...their are people in the States just like them! I know I've changed how I view other countries, based on my own experiences with people who live in them....and for all of the bad in the States and every other country, it is important to remember that there is just as much good if not more! Although, I have to admit, the opportunities I've had simply because of what country I'm from are flabbergasting!
Now, let's get local.....
I've never had so much pride in being American. Minnesotan. From the East side of St. Paul...the slightly more dodgy end.
The further and longer I've lived away from home, the more connected I feel to the little traditional "US, Midwest, Minnesota" culture I've left behind and feel really proud of it!
Just this past week I met for a beer with a fellow Minnesotan and it was funny the things we both missed, which were for the most part, purely Minnesotan (Northern people who know how to drive in snow) traditions! Things like walking as an 'activity', baking, folk music, being cold and liking it - aka - shoveling, cooking with heavy black cast iron pots, shopping at savers...I found myself speaking with a little bit of a Minnesota twang and an urge to make up a casserole and bake cookies! It felt good to know that these things aren't simply my own personal eccentricities....it's how I was brought up and a part of who I am!
After growing up believing I was the only kid on the block without an interesting "ethnic heritage" to impress the other kids with...that I came from a country and origin without a particularly fascinating story to it....for a region that's blamed for 'talking like news anchors' I considered mid western life to be like our food, bland and boring...but now that I'm an adult....I like bland and boring! What's wrong with that? Now, I see my heritage as a solid base to build upon....think about it! Potatoes can take on any flavor! But what do you do without the potato?!?
Yesterday I made Thai style summer rolls, Rodolfo made Chinese style sesame chicken kebabs and for dessert his Aunt taught me how to make a nut cake with a special manjar frosting from a family recipe....a giant mess of cultural traditions mashed up together! All of that 'ethnic heritage' I felt I couldn't take part in? That's exactly the coolest part of what my heritage has become!! An openness to trying and learning new things! Feeling inspired to learn about all the parts and people of the world while also carrying on my simple mid west loves for fleece jackets and cozy blankies...warm cocoa on cold nights and lemonade on the hot ones...being open to other cultures IS my culture! That's America!
As much as I love my little neck of the Northwoods (my dads favorite Penzey's spice) I also now have a great pride in sharing that mid western simple yet savory kindness, politeness and sense of daily purpose with the rest of the world and incorporating all the brilliant spicy parts of life I learn there into who I am as well....
That's why I love St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mid West, the USA and all my friends and family in it!
You can't put all that on a bumper sticker.
4.14.2011
pros/cons of living in Santiago
I'm a list maker.
If I have a problem, I make a list.
Is this our forever city?!?
TIME FOR A LIST!
Pros
Things I adore and love about Santiago/add to my quality of life/make me want to marry it and have its babies
If I have a problem, I make a list.
Is this our forever city?!?
TIME FOR A LIST!
Pros
Things I adore and love about Santiago/add to my quality of life/make me want to marry it and have its babies
- wide sidewalks, I love wide sidewalks! They make me happy! People walking everywhere! YAY!
- little public parks/trash cans/benches/cute old people sitting on afore mentioned benches
- great weather....greaaaaat weather...every. single. day! It's like living in tele-tubby land!
- bug free...accept for some occasional moths at night and scary giant black blood sucking bugs in the south...no country is perfect! Mosquitos and fruit flies though? Nope. Zilch!
- lots of beautiful exotic plants and flowers - which can be a slight "con" for allergies, but I love it!
- a view of the mountains anywhere....Rock! Literally!
- lots of little cars scooting around...good for the environment, good for parking! They're so cute!
- never getting pushed or hurried in a restaurant by a waiter for new customers, I love this so much!
- a great international bus system that's affordable and on time
- a great local public transit system that is also affordable and on time
- a growing bicycling community and many a new inter-city bike path getting environmentally friendlier by the minute!
- a new and old generation open to change and growth with a push towards becoming a force to be reckoned with on the international scale! Grrr...roar...grr some more!
- polite taxi drivers who don't rip you off and wear business attire!
- Paco's (Chilean cops) who also don't rip you off and seem to follow traffic rules surprisingly!
- conservative style - granted, it's no Buenos Aires, but generally speaking people dress nicely, smell nicely and take care to look their best! On a crammed bus, this is appreciated!
- generally speaking, Santiago is quite clean...pollution hangs in the air certain months, due to the surrounding mountains, but in comparison to many other cities in S.A. and the world, it's really good!
- no continual I.D. checks for purchasing/consuming alcohol...biggest culture shock ever returning home.
- fresh good and cheap fruit
- fresh good and cheap veggies
- damn good wine, if I do say so!
Now, the cons:
Things that drive me absolutely batty with frustration/can't and won't understand ever/W.T.F.
- paying for street parking. If a guy is holding a flash light and helps you pull your car into the street, after he has intentionally parked cars all around yours making it impossible for you to pull out independently, he expects payment....that's wrong.
- notaria's - in the States, we have Notary Publics who are public servants and free of charge...in Santiago, you stand in a long line at certain times of the day and you have to pay a Notaria a LOT of money to certify whatever paper work you have....wtf.
- 80's architecture. After visiting beautifully styled Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, etc., Santiago architecture is just plain yucky. Building after building much in the style of Americana suburbia, but only in the color grey...bleuk.
- Book Tax. What country in their right mind would decide to put an extremely high/almost impossible tax on the purchase of educational material meant to broaden horizons and improve the mental capabilities of a nation?!?!? Oh yeah...Chile. Not to mention, if you don't have a Chilean National I.D., you can't use/enter the not very pubic, public library!
- Starbucks/Starlight (in Chile), McDonald's, etc.. Something I've been disappointed all over the world with is how passionate people are internationally with fast/crap food, especially when a country has such excellent traditional foods to offer. Why eat a big mack when you can have a queso empanada followed by an Italiana (a giant sandwich stuffed with sliced beef, mayo, tomato and palta (avacado)....why whopper it up when you have that?!? I don't understand.....why copy bad food when you have such exceptionally great traditional foods which kick their asses???
- bright neon street cleaners....seeing men in bright orange jumpsuits on the streets scares me. It's like watching a bad sci fi movie from the 80's or entering a federal prison. It gives me the heeby geebies.
- bad manners; as suited up and well dressed as they are, everyone likes to budge and shove their way to the front of....whatever line they're in here.... and it drives me crazy! Walking/driving/getting on and off a bus/train it doesn't matter how old or young you are, people are RUDE! The only exception I've seen to this is when young men give up the old/disabled/pregnant person chair on the bus...that's it!
- curry...where is it? You can find sushi sold on street corners out of coolers by locals after music events....where's the curry?!? I'm dying for a chicken mussuman with some hootspa! Dying! I need me some chilies in my life!
- the blind spot. When you take your driving exam in the States, you have to check your blind spot or sometimes you fail! I can't believe how many accidents I've seen here which could be avoided by the driver simply looking over his shoulder before he turns/switches lanes! COME ON CHILE!!!!! Get with it!
- white people ads - I'm looking up at a billboard and there's someone who could be from Norway looking right back at me....it makes me pretty sick to look at....in the States, everyone is so focused to be politically correct/a rainbow nation/making sure everyone is represented fairly in our advertising/books/movies etc...when I look at billboard pictures in Chile, I have rarely seen a person of darker, not even tan skin tone looking back....I don't see a Chilean....where is your pride Chile? You are a beautiful people!!!! Be proud of who you are!
20 pros, 10 cons...
hmmmm......
4.13.2011
"make believe"
sometimes in the morning, Rodolfo and I sit and stare at each other in our jammies for an hour or so while drinking a coffee and go:
...blah blah blah blah blah....
You know how Mr. Rogers had a land of make believe? A dream world where anything is possible, grown ups dress up in funny costumes and dreams come true, problems get solved, the world is happy!
Well....that's what we do...."make believe".....it's been going on for about a year and a half now and every time we do it, it seems to make us feel better.
You see, we have no clue what we are doing...today, tomorrow, next month, next year, we have no lease to pay, no car to pay, no car insurance to pay and no job to pay it! (which works out well, right?)
So, in the same way perhaps other people sit and discuss their dreams of visiting far off lands, eating exotic foods and receiving fancy back massages before heading to work, we sit around in our jammies at (sometimes) 10:35am talking about our future coffee pot....let me explain....
For simplicity:
S - Sarah
R - Rodolfo
R: Where is our dish set anyways?
S: I wonder where we put our t.v.?
R: Should we keep the rice maker or live simply? Kitchen gadgets are overrated, right?
S: Do you remember that wine vacuum thingamajig we had? That was cool!
It's not only the material objects we dream about, there's also the future apartment we will some day have and it's where abouts...
R: I definitely want a guest room!
S: Should we live in Minnesota?
R: No. The East Coast! But where? North Carolina perhaps?
S: But then we'll need a car....
Which leads of course to....
R: Should we buy a car?
S: What if we end up moving somewhere where we don't need it?
R: What kind of car would we get anyways? Small for good mileage or big for a future stroller?
and that leads to...
S: Well that means getting a job.
R: We can't really pick up our things, get an apartment or buy a car until we know where we are going to work!
S: I guess we really shouldn't worry about any of this until we find jobs somewhere....
R: Perhaps we should start looking?!?
and right around then, coffee hour is adjourned.
We return from the land of make believe
and it's time to go take showers and make the bed.
...blah blah blah blah blah....
You know how Mr. Rogers had a land of make believe? A dream world where anything is possible, grown ups dress up in funny costumes and dreams come true, problems get solved, the world is happy!
Well....that's what we do...."make believe".....it's been going on for about a year and a half now and every time we do it, it seems to make us feel better.
You see, we have no clue what we are doing...today, tomorrow, next month, next year, we have no lease to pay, no car to pay, no car insurance to pay and no job to pay it! (which works out well, right?)
So, in the same way perhaps other people sit and discuss their dreams of visiting far off lands, eating exotic foods and receiving fancy back massages before heading to work, we sit around in our jammies at (sometimes) 10:35am talking about our future coffee pot....let me explain....
For simplicity:
S - Sarah
R - Rodolfo
R: Where is our dish set anyways?
S: I wonder where we put our t.v.?
R: Should we keep the rice maker or live simply? Kitchen gadgets are overrated, right?
S: Do you remember that wine vacuum thingamajig we had? That was cool!
It's not only the material objects we dream about, there's also the future apartment we will some day have and it's where abouts...
R: I definitely want a guest room!
S: Should we live in Minnesota?
R: No. The East Coast! But where? North Carolina perhaps?
S: But then we'll need a car....
Which leads of course to....
R: Should we buy a car?
S: What if we end up moving somewhere where we don't need it?
R: What kind of car would we get anyways? Small for good mileage or big for a future stroller?
and that leads to...
S: Well that means getting a job.
R: We can't really pick up our things, get an apartment or buy a car until we know where we are going to work!
S: I guess we really shouldn't worry about any of this until we find jobs somewhere....
R: Perhaps we should start looking?!?
and right around then, coffee hour is adjourned.
We return from the land of make believe
and it's time to go take showers and make the bed.
4.11.2011
R man - Happy 33rd!!!!!!
I'm married to a really special guy and today happens to be his birthday!!!!!!!!
I've realized this specialness for oh so many reasons, but especially when I'm talking to my parents or friends on skype and after a polite amount of time they ask, "so...Sarah...uh....where's Rodolfo?" Ok, ok, I get it! The dude has charm. His teeth sparkle. He has Ninja socks and a Balinese Batik shirt for very special occasions...the kid is cool!
So. Here's my top 10 reasons why R man rocks my socks off....
(you see, you can do these kinds of embarrassing things when you're married to someone! You want a good reason to get hitched? There it is! Hwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!)
1. R man HAIR. R man has big fluffy, curly, beautiful hair (which I will never have and am uber jealous of), he could have flash dance hair if he were a girl in the 80's! I will honestly miss it a lot when he cuts it off, particularly because it's soft and smells yummy! (plus, as proven at Lollapalooza, it makes him quite easy to spot in a crowd) He now compares himself to a Peruvian bamboo flute player on the street corner performing "El Condor Pasa" for the upteenth time....but really, that just makes him COOLER! Now, how many people can say THAT about themselves?
2. Folding Fool R man. The man can fold! R man is obsessed with the correct way to make a bed. Perfect folds, even lengths...he says he doesn't sleep well if the sheets aren't smooth. He likes to arrange the pillows like they do in hotels, with a slight crease of blanket under each pillow so they poof just so, that is, after he throws the pillow in my face multiple times while laughing hysterically.... I NEVER made my bed before I met him....he has me just about house trained.
3. Chilled out R man. He is extremely fluid-openminded-easy going. If plans change, he's ok. Something goes wrong? No problem. Weird food we've never tried? Why not! Want to party like it's 1999? He's your guy. The only thing he's picky about is what music he listens to while he's driving and the smell of fried food where he sleeps, but if you feel like learning how to dive, reading a novel, jumping off a cliff, taking a road trip or sitting around watching t.v....rock!
4. R man Styl'. R man is a big fan of the Calvin Klein Outlet...smart dresser....he likes to buy nice clothes at affordable prices that last a long time and look good while also feeling comfortable. In other words...he's got the swank. He's swank-a-licious. He's one of those people who manage to wear an "outfit" and make it snap. Too bad the same can't be said for me....I dress horribly, I admit it. Last week, I looked down walking to school and I was LITERALLY wearing every primary color along with black and white...thorough...hellooooo rainbow bright! Perhaps this is why so many people don't believe we are married when they first meet us? hmmmm.....
5. R MAC MAN. He's a techy electronic computer super dork and proud of it. I have to admit that this makes R man cool, particularly because he knows how to work every "I-thing" he owns to its max. He can play a song at someone else's party with his I-phone, or! He can play a song from his I-phone using his mac. Can you do that? I can't! Mystified. Plus....he's managed to take apart and repair his I-phone and it still works!
6. Manual R man . He can pretty much drive anything, anywhere, safely. This past year, it's been proven. Left side of the road. Manual geared motorcycle with buckets of water thrown at us. Stick shift car up the side of a mountain from a stop light with a car on his bumper (he actually has TWO techniques for that) Rush hour traffic in Santiago. The man is a driving fiend! No mountain too high or pothole too deep.
7. R man smile. Ok. Look at this smile! Loveliness. He could charm a pelican into landing on his pinky finger and regurgitating fish into his open mouth mistaking him for a baby fledgling pelican, because he's just that darn cute.
8. R man 1,2,3's. The guy can add, subtract, multiply and divide very big/small/fractal/imaginary numbers in his head JUST by looking up at the sky....not really sure where the answers come from up there, but perhaps it's like pin ball? He looks up and the ball shoots to the back of his head via gravity, where apparently the answer is waiting and shoots back to the front in micro seconds....pretty cool stuff!
9. R man memory. The drawback of this super skill for me is that he has the ability to recall every single fight/conversation/debate we've ever had, but he generally doesn't use this skill against me, which is nice of him, but it's not very fun when you just want to have a good brawl for no reason. He can memorize maps and guide books and he's really good with names! Pretty handy on the road I have to say! He's like a GPS, Wikipedia, phone book and google search all rolled into one! The man must be hooked up to a backup drive, because I don't see how so much information can fit in one little fluffy haired head.
10. What makes R man particularly the coolest person in the world for me? For some reason, he thinks I'm pretty neat too. Can't beat that.
I'm smitten. Happy Birthday R man.
I've realized this specialness for oh so many reasons, but especially when I'm talking to my parents or friends on skype and after a polite amount of time they ask, "so...Sarah...uh....where's Rodolfo?" Ok, ok, I get it! The dude has charm. His teeth sparkle. He has Ninja socks and a Balinese Batik shirt for very special occasions...the kid is cool!
So. Here's my top 10 reasons why R man rocks my socks off....
(you see, you can do these kinds of embarrassing things when you're married to someone! You want a good reason to get hitched? There it is! Hwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!)
1. R man HAIR. R man has big fluffy, curly, beautiful hair (which I will never have and am uber jealous of), he could have flash dance hair if he were a girl in the 80's! I will honestly miss it a lot when he cuts it off, particularly because it's soft and smells yummy! (plus, as proven at Lollapalooza, it makes him quite easy to spot in a crowd) He now compares himself to a Peruvian bamboo flute player on the street corner performing "El Condor Pasa" for the upteenth time....but really, that just makes him COOLER! Now, how many people can say THAT about themselves?
2. Folding Fool R man. The man can fold! R man is obsessed with the correct way to make a bed. Perfect folds, even lengths...he says he doesn't sleep well if the sheets aren't smooth. He likes to arrange the pillows like they do in hotels, with a slight crease of blanket under each pillow so they poof just so, that is, after he throws the pillow in my face multiple times while laughing hysterically.... I NEVER made my bed before I met him....he has me just about house trained.
4. R man Styl'. R man is a big fan of the Calvin Klein Outlet...smart dresser....he likes to buy nice clothes at affordable prices that last a long time and look good while also feeling comfortable. In other words...he's got the swank. He's swank-a-licious. He's one of those people who manage to wear an "outfit" and make it snap. Too bad the same can't be said for me....I dress horribly, I admit it. Last week, I looked down walking to school and I was LITERALLY wearing every primary color along with black and white...thorough...hellooooo rainbow bright! Perhaps this is why so many people don't believe we are married when they first meet us? hmmmm.....
5. R MAC MAN. He's a techy electronic computer super dork and proud of it. I have to admit that this makes R man cool, particularly because he knows how to work every "I-thing" he owns to its max. He can play a song at someone else's party with his I-phone, or! He can play a song from his I-phone using his mac. Can you do that? I can't! Mystified. Plus....he's managed to take apart and repair his I-phone and it still works!
 |
| driving on the "other side" in S.A. |
7. R man smile. Ok. Look at this smile! Loveliness. He could charm a pelican into landing on his pinky finger and regurgitating fish into his open mouth mistaking him for a baby fledgling pelican, because he's just that darn cute.
8. R man 1,2,3's. The guy can add, subtract, multiply and divide very big/small/fractal/imaginary numbers in his head JUST by looking up at the sky....not really sure where the answers come from up there, but perhaps it's like pin ball? He looks up and the ball shoots to the back of his head via gravity, where apparently the answer is waiting and shoots back to the front in micro seconds....pretty cool stuff!
9. R man memory. The drawback of this super skill for me is that he has the ability to recall every single fight/conversation/debate we've ever had, but he generally doesn't use this skill against me, which is nice of him, but it's not very fun when you just want to have a good brawl for no reason. He can memorize maps and guide books and he's really good with names! Pretty handy on the road I have to say! He's like a GPS, Wikipedia, phone book and google search all rolled into one! The man must be hooked up to a backup drive, because I don't see how so much information can fit in one little fluffy haired head.
10. What makes R man particularly the coolest person in the world for me? For some reason, he thinks I'm pretty neat too. Can't beat that.
I'm smitten. Happy Birthday R man.
4.09.2011
when ewwww becomes mmmm
One morning years ago I found R man pulling something out of the oven for breakfast....R man...baking?
I was scared. I could tell by his face that he was hoping to impress and bedazzle me and my great love for oatmeal....(a true Minnesotan breakfast...grunt, grunt) So...he had boiled up some oatmeal, added lemon and sugar to it and then baked it in the oven...or something like that?!?
Of course, he wouldn't tell me this until I first tried it....and ran to the bathroom screaming believing he had lost it and added comet to a pile of dog poo and threw it on a cookie tray to bake....(lemon baked oats)
Then there's the time I came home to a pot of boiling wrinkled up ....balls.... that looked like little mini ...lets just say brains! "what is that?" "what are those?!?!?!?" "Rodolfo!" "AHHH!!!!!!" These turned out to be a traditional extremely popular dish of rehydrated dried peaches boiled in sugar with barley (Mote con Huesillo).
But I know....my own food traditions involve some eccentricities!
Root beer. I love root beer. To R man, it tastes like rotten mud water. Root beer is not allowed into the R man household....the smell of it, the look of it...it all really freaks him out. The fact that I love it with ice cream in a big cup is absolutely mortifying for R man.
On another day, Rodolfo walked in on my dinner preparations to a can of tuna, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a bag of spiral pasta and a bag of potato chips with a look of complete horror....."I'm not eating that...whatever that is you're making, I'm not eating it!" (tuna noodle casserole)
There are weird freaky foods in every country that local people are passionate about that just don't translate right, no matter how much we want them too.
R man will never convert me nor I him to some of our local favorites....however, there are some Chilean cooking techniques I've become rather fond of that I would have 'poo poo'd' in the States....here's a few....
Tomatoes
In Chile, they peel their tomatoes before cutting them up for salads...the tradition comes from when people used to get sick from some chemical or bacteria that used to be on the outside of the tomato...even though the outer skin is no longer harmful, they still do it. I used to be annoyed by this incessant need for peeling, but then I realized...it's waaaaaay easier to cut up a tomato without that hard outer skin attached! It doesn't turn into moosh if your knife isn't super sharp!
Onion
You know when you put fresh onion in a salad raw and it gives you that nasty taste/breathe for forever after?
By rubbing salt into your onion with your fingers and then letting it sit in some warm water with the salt, it takes the edge off of the onion and makes it sweet, but leaves that yummy crunch!
Boiled potatoes
Why did I never hear of this before?!?!? It's awesome!
If you're making potato salad, boil your potatoes the day before you need them, whole, with the skins on.
Stick them in your fridge for the night and the next day, they're cooked, easy to peel and not too hot to handle! It saves so much time, stress, and you get more potato out of the deal, because you haven't peeled half of the potato into the trash!
Pressure cookers
Ok. These things make me nervous and I'm not ready to try it out, but they are really cool! For cooking beans particularly.....they cook up beautifully in a very short amount of time! I've heard they can explode though...but it's definitely a cooking technique I want to learn!
Lemon
This fruit is a staple here for adding flavor to anything! It's in every fresh salad complementing any type of vegetable. A base to many cocktails, particularly the pisco sour. Chileans love lemon! Now, I do too! It's going to be sad to leave the lemon culture behind, since it adds so much flavor to foods and it's so healthy! Although, adding lemon to oatmeal? Seriously...that's taking it too far!!!!
I was scared. I could tell by his face that he was hoping to impress and bedazzle me and my great love for oatmeal....(a true Minnesotan breakfast...grunt, grunt) So...he had boiled up some oatmeal, added lemon and sugar to it and then baked it in the oven...or something like that?!?
Of course, he wouldn't tell me this until I first tried it....and ran to the bathroom screaming believing he had lost it and added comet to a pile of dog poo and threw it on a cookie tray to bake....(lemon baked oats)
Then there's the time I came home to a pot of boiling wrinkled up ....balls.... that looked like little mini ...lets just say brains! "what is that?" "what are those?!?!?!?" "Rodolfo!" "AHHH!!!!!!" These turned out to be a traditional extremely popular dish of rehydrated dried peaches boiled in sugar with barley (Mote con Huesillo).
But I know....my own food traditions involve some eccentricities!
Root beer. I love root beer. To R man, it tastes like rotten mud water. Root beer is not allowed into the R man household....the smell of it, the look of it...it all really freaks him out. The fact that I love it with ice cream in a big cup is absolutely mortifying for R man.
On another day, Rodolfo walked in on my dinner preparations to a can of tuna, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a bag of spiral pasta and a bag of potato chips with a look of complete horror....."I'm not eating that...whatever that is you're making, I'm not eating it!" (tuna noodle casserole)
There are weird freaky foods in every country that local people are passionate about that just don't translate right, no matter how much we want them too.
R man will never convert me nor I him to some of our local favorites....however, there are some Chilean cooking techniques I've become rather fond of that I would have 'poo poo'd' in the States....here's a few....
Tomatoes
In Chile, they peel their tomatoes before cutting them up for salads...the tradition comes from when people used to get sick from some chemical or bacteria that used to be on the outside of the tomato...even though the outer skin is no longer harmful, they still do it. I used to be annoyed by this incessant need for peeling, but then I realized...it's waaaaaay easier to cut up a tomato without that hard outer skin attached! It doesn't turn into moosh if your knife isn't super sharp!
Onion
You know when you put fresh onion in a salad raw and it gives you that nasty taste/breathe for forever after?
By rubbing salt into your onion with your fingers and then letting it sit in some warm water with the salt, it takes the edge off of the onion and makes it sweet, but leaves that yummy crunch!
Boiled potatoes
Why did I never hear of this before?!?!? It's awesome!
If you're making potato salad, boil your potatoes the day before you need them, whole, with the skins on.
Stick them in your fridge for the night and the next day, they're cooked, easy to peel and not too hot to handle! It saves so much time, stress, and you get more potato out of the deal, because you haven't peeled half of the potato into the trash!
Pressure cookers
Ok. These things make me nervous and I'm not ready to try it out, but they are really cool! For cooking beans particularly.....they cook up beautifully in a very short amount of time! I've heard they can explode though...but it's definitely a cooking technique I want to learn!
Lemon
This fruit is a staple here for adding flavor to anything! It's in every fresh salad complementing any type of vegetable. A base to many cocktails, particularly the pisco sour. Chileans love lemon! Now, I do too! It's going to be sad to leave the lemon culture behind, since it adds so much flavor to foods and it's so healthy! Although, adding lemon to oatmeal? Seriously...that's taking it too far!!!!
4.08.2011
Gringa Shock - Tiempo
Tiempo means time...that's the direct translation...the reality in Chile? Time with an attitude.... time chilled out ...time goes on a holiday and forgets to come home again...
Perhaps you've heard of Latin time?... Yes, they have clocks here too, and they definitely use them for work and professional meetings, but for non work related activities, time becomes another (quite vague) concept entirely.
When R man and I first moved in together in the States six years ago, time was an adjustment for both of us, particularly the meaning of dinner time! But also parties, meeting friends, any social event that is given a pre scheduled time of arrival.....it was definitely difficult for both of us, both growing up in completely different cultures of what "on time" meant to us and trying to find a compromise.
Dinner Time:
"You're late! The pasta is overcooked! The cake is burnt! I had everything set and you never showed up! That's the LAST time I ever make you dinner again!!!"
"But mooshi mooshi.....(that was my nickname back then..heehee) You said 6:30pm! It's 7pm! I'm here! What's the problem?!?"
That was the classic fight/misunderstanding. Definitely our biggest first conflict as a couple....besides the budget....
Dinner length:
Minnesotans can eat dinner in 30 minutes! 6-6:30pm...t.v., bed, done.
Chileans? Try 8-11pm! 2-3 hours to eat dinner! One Chilean dinner takes the same time as a week of dinners in Minnesota! It's a very casual laid back hang out rather than a chow down...I personally like chowdowns sometimes.....they're just totally different styles!
*On weekdays in Chile, sometimes dinner is skipped completely for a more informal once (tea time) earlier in the evening...this depends on the family, but it's not a hearty meal....that's the closest Chile gets to a meat and potatoes midwestern supper....4pm toast with tea!
Latin party time:
To say a party starts at 9pm here could mean to show up around 10-11pm, as late as mignight...or even later! We showed up for a birthday party at 2am last month!
I'm the kind of person who ends up arriving 5 minutes early to a party, because I don't want to be late! I'll sit in my car or walk up and down the street rather then leave my house later then expected. It's the rigid Scandinavian in me....we don't like to be a nuisance to other people, but also don't want our good names tainted by showing up at a party late! Hellith shall freezeth over!
Living in the States, we had Latin friends from all parts of the world and it was interesting to notice who would arrive when at a party and how that correlated to which country they came from! You think I'm crazy, but it's true!
Who is the latest? Puerto Ricans by a land slide! When more than one Puerto Rican shows up at 1am for a party that started at 9pm...at more then one party? That's impressive!
Chilean time:
But now, we are living in Chile! So, let's talk about Chile!
Where I expected Rodolfo to change his schedule to US/Midwestern standards in the States....now that we are here, it's a continual adjustment for me to remember to play by Chilean rules. Take it easy, play it cool, chill out....AHHH!!!! I have to turn my mental clock of expectations back 2-3 hours every day, or I freak out!
I've completely abandoned my planner....it has no purpose here! No one here plans social events ahead of time. Which means, you can't plan ANYTHING! No one does it! If someone has a party or a barbecue, you generally won't hear about it until the day of/day before! No one knows what they are doing until they are in process of doing it! For birthdays, it's occasionally a week in advance...but that's it! No more then that!
For me, this experience is like nails on chalkboard! I used to live by my planner! I would have died without it! Dates with friends scheduled sometimes months in advance. It was the only way I could see people!
I once invited people to a birthday party in Madison 2 months in advance, thinking it polite so that people could save the date. Some Chileans showed up at my house a month early confused to a dark house with a locked door!!! (I'll admit now, that was a bit early)
Chile:
Me:
"How's the 2nd Tuesday of next month looking for you for coffee?" "ooh....bad? what about the month after that?"
After another of my recent recurring time freak outs, Rodolfo told me the story of a birthday party he organized for himself the morning of his birthday his first few months in the States...he couldn't understand why only a few Chileans came and no one else...but he had to suck it up, he was no longer on Chilean time.
That story almost broke my heart, poor lonely - pre Sarah - Rodolfo all alone on his birthday. I just want to go back in time and bake him a big ol' birthday cake....boo....
I have to admit that this new slower perspective on time has helped me, as frustrating as that is to admit. When I find myself waiting for...?!?I'm not sure what?!?...I sometimes forget I'm in Chile and freak out, but then there are other great moments where I'm eating a delicious meal or talking with some of Rodolfo's friends or family who are all sitting around laid back and relaxed, enjoying each others' company over a beverage/barbecue/just standing around for the heck of it and I have to admit, in those moments? I get it!
Perhaps you've heard of Latin time?... Yes, they have clocks here too, and they definitely use them for work and professional meetings, but for non work related activities, time becomes another (quite vague) concept entirely.
When R man and I first moved in together in the States six years ago, time was an adjustment for both of us, particularly the meaning of dinner time! But also parties, meeting friends, any social event that is given a pre scheduled time of arrival.....it was definitely difficult for both of us, both growing up in completely different cultures of what "on time" meant to us and trying to find a compromise.
Dinner Time:
"You're late! The pasta is overcooked! The cake is burnt! I had everything set and you never showed up! That's the LAST time I ever make you dinner again!!!"
"But mooshi mooshi.....(that was my nickname back then..heehee) You said 6:30pm! It's 7pm! I'm here! What's the problem?!?"
That was the classic fight/misunderstanding. Definitely our biggest first conflict as a couple....besides the budget....
Dinner length:
Minnesotans can eat dinner in 30 minutes! 6-6:30pm...t.v., bed, done.
Chileans? Try 8-11pm! 2-3 hours to eat dinner! One Chilean dinner takes the same time as a week of dinners in Minnesota! It's a very casual laid back hang out rather than a chow down...I personally like chowdowns sometimes.....they're just totally different styles!
*On weekdays in Chile, sometimes dinner is skipped completely for a more informal once (tea time) earlier in the evening...this depends on the family, but it's not a hearty meal....that's the closest Chile gets to a meat and potatoes midwestern supper....4pm toast with tea!
Latin party time:
To say a party starts at 9pm here could mean to show up around 10-11pm, as late as mignight...or even later! We showed up for a birthday party at 2am last month!
I'm the kind of person who ends up arriving 5 minutes early to a party, because I don't want to be late! I'll sit in my car or walk up and down the street rather then leave my house later then expected. It's the rigid Scandinavian in me....we don't like to be a nuisance to other people, but also don't want our good names tainted by showing up at a party late! Hellith shall freezeth over!
Living in the States, we had Latin friends from all parts of the world and it was interesting to notice who would arrive when at a party and how that correlated to which country they came from! You think I'm crazy, but it's true!
Who is the latest? Puerto Ricans by a land slide! When more than one Puerto Rican shows up at 1am for a party that started at 9pm...at more then one party? That's impressive!
Chilean time:
But now, we are living in Chile! So, let's talk about Chile!
Where I expected Rodolfo to change his schedule to US/Midwestern standards in the States....now that we are here, it's a continual adjustment for me to remember to play by Chilean rules. Take it easy, play it cool, chill out....AHHH!!!! I have to turn my mental clock of expectations back 2-3 hours every day, or I freak out!
I've completely abandoned my planner....it has no purpose here! No one here plans social events ahead of time. Which means, you can't plan ANYTHING! No one does it! If someone has a party or a barbecue, you generally won't hear about it until the day of/day before! No one knows what they are doing until they are in process of doing it! For birthdays, it's occasionally a week in advance...but that's it! No more then that!
For me, this experience is like nails on chalkboard! I used to live by my planner! I would have died without it! Dates with friends scheduled sometimes months in advance. It was the only way I could see people!
I once invited people to a birthday party in Madison 2 months in advance, thinking it polite so that people could save the date. Some Chileans showed up at my house a month early confused to a dark house with a locked door!!! (I'll admit now, that was a bit early)
Chile:
"Hey, want to come to a barbecue in a couple hours?"
Me:
"How's the 2nd Tuesday of next month looking for you for coffee?" "ooh....bad? what about the month after that?"
After another of my recent recurring time freak outs, Rodolfo told me the story of a birthday party he organized for himself the morning of his birthday his first few months in the States...he couldn't understand why only a few Chileans came and no one else...but he had to suck it up, he was no longer on Chilean time.
That story almost broke my heart, poor lonely - pre Sarah - Rodolfo all alone on his birthday. I just want to go back in time and bake him a big ol' birthday cake....boo....
I have to admit that this new slower perspective on time has helped me, as frustrating as that is to admit. When I find myself waiting for...?!?I'm not sure what?!?...I sometimes forget I'm in Chile and freak out, but then there are other great moments where I'm eating a delicious meal or talking with some of Rodolfo's friends or family who are all sitting around laid back and relaxed, enjoying each others' company over a beverage/barbecue/just standing around for the heck of it and I have to admit, in those moments? I get it!
4.07.2011
Babel
or, otherwise known as, thoughts walking home from my Spanish exam!
Learning a language can be really hard!
Yo soy suck para hablar Espagnol.
When you really think about it, all of this language learning is just about obsolete anyways!
I'm pretty sure I failed. If I didn't fail, I did really, really bad. First time ever a student has moved from level 2 down to level 1. I know it. This will be my fate. Crap. Crap. Crappers.
Language technology is growing so quickly!!! First there was babelfish, now you have google translate! Next thing you know, we'll all have instantaneous oral ear translators! That or, English language domination?!?
Who are you looking at weird suit guy? You think I can speak spanish don't you?!? hmmm? You think if you asked me where the minimart was, I'd have an answer for you....Well! I don't! But you don't need a mini mart anyway suit guy....those candybars?? Waaaay over priced. You need to get yourself a lunch box! Seriously! Then you wouldn't have to ask a stranger for directions, would you? Stupid stinky language test...stupid...ugh. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.
Pretty soon it will be like Star Trek! Or the United Nations! Everyone walking around with portable ear translation devices with instant culturally correct translations! "How is your day?" "My brother's second wife is taken with child on the fourth full moon of the year, so very well!" and tada!
Oh poop. R man is going to kill me. Two months of classes and what....failure.....poop. poop. poop.
Perhaps if we all stopped learning languages, that would put more pressure on instant translation technology! We just stop learning all together and another solution will present itself!
I wonder how many languages I know how to say poop in....hmm....merde...or is it mierde?
I say we build another tower! Babel it up and perhaps the higher powers will change their minds and put things back the way they were before they got all pissed off and intimidated by us!
Caca. Kak. Kinyesi
Uniting all people's from all Nation's together into one. One singular international language!
Akterdekk...ok, that one I looked up.
Yes! I love it! GREAT IDEA!!!!
Whoa....whoops! Almost just kicked a pigeon!....Better stop thinking about how much I suck at Spanish or I might just step on one......
If we could all understand each other, there would be no more misunderstandings! No more looks of "uh...huh? whatta? huh?"
Dirty, odd looking, giant rat bird!! You think you can mess with me?!? Hit me in the head and get away with it!?!?! You goin' down rat bird!!!! That's right! I'm going to slowly run after you until your stubby legs get tired and then I'm going to step on you! So ha!
...and walla.... World Peace! Ergo, me not learning Spanish anymore will of course, over time, perhaps a few hundred more years..... right about when we lose our pinky's thru generations of non use....bring about world peace!
Ok. People are beginning to stare....I suppose I should stop chasing this pigeon around before someone tries to talk and/or yell at me in words I don't know........
....how do you explain to a Paco (Chilean cop) you're seeking revenge on a pigeon who once pummeled you in the head? caca....all right. fine. I'll keep studying Spanish...grrrr.
Learning a language can be really hard!
Yo soy suck para hablar Espagnol.
When you really think about it, all of this language learning is just about obsolete anyways!
I'm pretty sure I failed. If I didn't fail, I did really, really bad. First time ever a student has moved from level 2 down to level 1. I know it. This will be my fate. Crap. Crap. Crappers.
Language technology is growing so quickly!!! First there was babelfish, now you have google translate! Next thing you know, we'll all have instantaneous oral ear translators! That or, English language domination?!?
Who are you looking at weird suit guy? You think I can speak spanish don't you?!? hmmm? You think if you asked me where the minimart was, I'd have an answer for you....Well! I don't! But you don't need a mini mart anyway suit guy....those candybars?? Waaaay over priced. You need to get yourself a lunch box! Seriously! Then you wouldn't have to ask a stranger for directions, would you? Stupid stinky language test...stupid...ugh. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.
Pretty soon it will be like Star Trek! Or the United Nations! Everyone walking around with portable ear translation devices with instant culturally correct translations! "How is your day?" "My brother's second wife is taken with child on the fourth full moon of the year, so very well!" and tada!
Oh poop. R man is going to kill me. Two months of classes and what....failure.....poop. poop. poop.
Perhaps if we all stopped learning languages, that would put more pressure on instant translation technology! We just stop learning all together and another solution will present itself!
I wonder how many languages I know how to say poop in....hmm....merde...or is it mierde?
I say we build another tower! Babel it up and perhaps the higher powers will change their minds and put things back the way they were before they got all pissed off and intimidated by us!
Caca. Kak. Kinyesi
Uniting all people's from all Nation's together into one. One singular international language!
Akterdekk...ok, that one I looked up.
Yes! I love it! GREAT IDEA!!!!
Whoa....whoops! Almost just kicked a pigeon!....Better stop thinking about how much I suck at Spanish or I might just step on one......
If we could all understand each other, there would be no more misunderstandings! No more looks of "uh...huh? whatta? huh?"
Dirty, odd looking, giant rat bird!! You think you can mess with me?!? Hit me in the head and get away with it!?!?! You goin' down rat bird!!!! That's right! I'm going to slowly run after you until your stubby legs get tired and then I'm going to step on you! So ha!
...and walla.... World Peace! Ergo, me not learning Spanish anymore will of course, over time, perhaps a few hundred more years..... right about when we lose our pinky's thru generations of non use....bring about world peace!
Ok. People are beginning to stare....I suppose I should stop chasing this pigeon around before someone tries to talk and/or yell at me in words I don't know........
....how do you explain to a Paco (Chilean cop) you're seeking revenge on a pigeon who once pummeled you in the head? caca....all right. fine. I'll keep studying Spanish...grrrr.
4.06.2011
Veni. Vidi. No Vici.
I came. I saw. But I sure as heck didn't conquer....
OUR TOP 10 FREAKIEST FOODS OF THE WORLD!
Things we tried and didn't like, tried and couldn't successfully swallow, could have tried and decided against it or never want to see again because it scares us.
1. Durian: An Asian spiky hard fruit on the outside (a brother to Jack Fruit) with a pulpy white inside that grows on big trees and is considered a fine delicacy...and smells and tastes like dirty foot. It's forbidden in many places to take it on many forms of public transportation. In Singapore, we talked ourselves into sampling a special local street vendor dish of Durian Ice cream wrapped in two slices of chocolate flavored wonder bread. We spent the rest of the evening trying to get the taste out of our mouths buying coffee and cokes from mini marts and trying not to spit in the country which forbids spitting....yuck! You can even smell it coming out of your pores the next day....ewwww....this is just from the ice cream!
2. Fried bugs: Popular in Asia as well, you can find larvae, caterpillars etc, fried to a crisp with chilies and spices at many outdoor festivals/special occasions. We never did find the courage to try one. I don't regret it. I'm sure it tastes like chicken, but life is too short!
3. Raw shrimp: When we were in Tokyo, our friend took us out for sushi which was a very special treat for us. The only thing we couldn't find it in ourselves to finish on the gigantic wooden sushi boat in the certain of the table was the pinkish/whitish/transparent raw shrimps. I took a bite thinking it was a normal shrimp and when I bit down expecting a firmness, I got slimed. After a slight panic I unsuccessfully attempted to pull with my teeth to cut it in half, but it had a consistency similar to raw...hmm....what I imagine a jelly fish might be like to try and bite down on....it was either all of it, or none of it and I had to spit it out, not wanting to know what it would feel like sliding down my throat.
4. Cow Brain: I got the incredible opportunity to try grilled cow brain at a special meat barbecue restaurant (Argentinian style Parillada) in Santiago a few years ago. You have the option of two platters; normal meat, or odds and ends...we got one of each. Odds and ends included my first delicious taste of blood sausage, livers, kidneys and of course cow brain, which I chewed and could not successfully swallow due to the soft squishy texture and unusual flavor, which my mind has blocked the details of...eating brain just doesn't seem like a good idea to me...like cannibalism or something....not that there is anything wrong with it...eating animal brain that is, the more of the animal eaten, the better! It just sort of seems wrong in my mind....weird.
5. Silk Worm Poo Tea: In Louang Probang Laos, we took a tour of a local silk factory. On the premises, they also had a lovely small french style cafe to sit and chill out at after your tour. The menu included; coffee, sandwiches and many varietes of tea including....silk worm poo tea. Hey, you know it's local! They take the poo from their on site silk worms while they're growing and make tea out of it, which the waiter guaranteed had the same effect as red bull. We couldn't do it. Silk farmers and locals also enjoy eating the worms themselves.... once they die cooked up over rice....it's supposed to be very healthy!
6. Lao Lao is a local Laos village drink which is distilled from rice. Kind of like whiskey. When we spent a night in a small village near Louang Namtha Laos, the village elder came to sell our group a barrel full of Lao Lao and sat down to drink with us. It would be pretty rude not to at least try it.... It tasted to me like a combination of ethanol and urine...I was potentially not far off as they continually added liquid of an unknown variety from a mysteriously non-labeled jug into a crate of floating debris...which included rice! Our 18 year old Vietnamese tour guide proceeded to get toasted and spent the next entire day hung over with blood shot eyes crooning his favorites while floating down the river as we kayaked, killing our ears...can you die from drinking large amounts of ethanol and pee?
7. "How spicy?" You sometimes learn the hard way in Thailand, this is a question not to be taken lightly. A "little spicy" will have your mouth on fire. "Very spicy" will send you out the door screaming for mommy. No spicy? Bearable.
8. Cow cheek: In Soweto, South Africa, Rodolfo took a bike tour from Lebo's Soweto Backpackers (an awesome hostel trying to improve its community/raise awareness about Soweto for tourists), where they let you sample local cuisines along the way. This for Rodolfo included cow cheek, which he told me should definitely be included on this list. He didn't go into detail. He took a picture of the back of the shack where they splayed the inedible remains of the rest of the cow....wow....
9. Pap/Nsima/Ugali/etc. There are lots of names for this corn meal mash throughout Africa as it is a basic staple for a meal along with a small bowl of beef stew (in some places, beef flavored water with piece of bone) beans and steamed greens....pap is kind of like grits....nothing wrong with it, we just ate our life times supply and can't consume it any longer. It has a way of filling your tummy up, but in an empty way, where you see yourself eating a lot, but it doesn't give you that full, satisfied feeling that you're looking for, like eating snow.
10. Piure: A Chilean seafood delicacy that grows inside of hard clay and local fisherman pull it out using a sharp knife. A bright red mussel like crustacean with an extreme earthy iron flavor.....like laundry detergent. You either love them or you hate them! I personally jumped up from the table screaming bloody murder.
Later on, I tried piure smoked on a grill melted into a whole brick of soft cheese and it was exquisite! So....perhaps when its strong flavor is matched with other flavors, it's easier to handle!
Another member of this slimy odd flavored Chilean seafood family is the sea urchin (those big spikey black balls), which ties with the piure in my book for weird and funky flavor. You eat it here in Chile by the bowl full with condiments of chopped onion, lemon and chopped parsley. I also tried this one for my first time here in Chile this past December and was not prepared for the slimy unusual texture, but I liked it! At first the oozy mouthful feels a bit like a tongue or ?tongues?, but quickly disintegrates into a fine pulp with an extreme ocean flavor...you either love it or you hate it!
OUR TOP 10 FREAKIEST FOODS OF THE WORLD!
Things we tried and didn't like, tried and couldn't successfully swallow, could have tried and decided against it or never want to see again because it scares us.
 |
| taking the Subway 2nd to the right: Durian! |
 |
| Rodolfo's first and last Durian ice cream sandwich |
2. Fried bugs: Popular in Asia as well, you can find larvae, caterpillars etc, fried to a crisp with chilies and spices at many outdoor festivals/special occasions. We never did find the courage to try one. I don't regret it. I'm sure it tastes like chicken, but life is too short!
 |
| I couldn't find a fried bug pic Here's a Thai monkey instead! He likes to eat bugs! |
 |
| Center front of sushi boat of love - freaky shrimp! They look so normal, don't they?!? |
4. Cow Brain: I got the incredible opportunity to try grilled cow brain at a special meat barbecue restaurant (Argentinian style Parillada) in Santiago a few years ago. You have the option of two platters; normal meat, or odds and ends...we got one of each. Odds and ends included my first delicious taste of blood sausage, livers, kidneys and of course cow brain, which I chewed and could not successfully swallow due to the soft squishy texture and unusual flavor, which my mind has blocked the details of...eating brain just doesn't seem like a good idea to me...like cannibalism or something....not that there is anything wrong with it...eating animal brain that is, the more of the animal eaten, the better! It just sort of seems wrong in my mind....weird.
5. Silk Worm Poo Tea: In Louang Probang Laos, we took a tour of a local silk factory. On the premises, they also had a lovely small french style cafe to sit and chill out at after your tour. The menu included; coffee, sandwiches and many varietes of tea including....silk worm poo tea. Hey, you know it's local! They take the poo from their on site silk worms while they're growing and make tea out of it, which the waiter guaranteed had the same effect as red bull. We couldn't do it. Silk farmers and locals also enjoy eating the worms themselves.... once they die cooked up over rice....it's supposed to be very healthy!
 |
| Towards the bottom snuck in between Mulberry Tea and Beal Fruit Tea....oh yeah! |
 |
| Dinner in our hut in the village Moments before Lao Lao time! |
 |
| A typical northern Laos village |
 |
| Spicy currys/salads to go for Thai locals Not meant for the tourist pallette! |
 |
| Thai menu's in English/menu's in general are few and far between The very last option looked particularly enticing to us. |
 |
| beef cheek with pap...mmmmm |
 |
| outside the beef cheek restaurant |
9. Pap/Nsima/Ugali/etc. There are lots of names for this corn meal mash throughout Africa as it is a basic staple for a meal along with a small bowl of beef stew (in some places, beef flavored water with piece of bone) beans and steamed greens....pap is kind of like grits....nothing wrong with it, we just ate our life times supply and can't consume it any longer. It has a way of filling your tummy up, but in an empty way, where you see yourself eating a lot, but it doesn't give you that full, satisfied feeling that you're looking for, like eating snow.
 |
| A quite delicious Ugali with greens, beans and meat stew in Tanzania This was one of the best we had. When it's cooked well, it can be delicious! |
10. Piure: A Chilean seafood delicacy that grows inside of hard clay and local fisherman pull it out using a sharp knife. A bright red mussel like crustacean with an extreme earthy iron flavor.....like laundry detergent. You either love them or you hate them! I personally jumped up from the table screaming bloody murder.
Later on, I tried piure smoked on a grill melted into a whole brick of soft cheese and it was exquisite! So....perhaps when its strong flavor is matched with other flavors, it's easier to handle!
 |
| Sea urchin is the the tan colored material in the bowl. I quite like it now in small portions! The same goes for piure. |
Another member of this slimy odd flavored Chilean seafood family is the sea urchin (those big spikey black balls), which ties with the piure in my book for weird and funky flavor. You eat it here in Chile by the bowl full with condiments of chopped onion, lemon and chopped parsley. I also tried this one for my first time here in Chile this past December and was not prepared for the slimy unusual texture, but I liked it! At first the oozy mouthful feels a bit like a tongue or ?tongues?, but quickly disintegrates into a fine pulp with an extreme ocean flavor...you either love it or you hate it!
4.05.2011
howta-lolla-palooza
This past weekend was dedicated fully to Lollapalooza Chile! YEAH BABY!
Both R man and I felt inspired by the experience to write a little something...music festivals being something near and dear to R man's heart...it's cute!
As a foreigner in a Chilean music event and newby to music concerts in general, here are some pointers I learned for howta-lolla-pa-looza it up Chilean style!
1. Skin protection - most Chileans were not wearing a hat or sun screen because they tend not to burn, but as a super whitey, that is not a point to blend in on! Wear lots and lots of sun screen and a big ol' hat, cuz you gonna burn and burn bad! I myself was partaking in a lovely 70 spf sunscreen (take that sun!) and wore my jacket over my head (to Rodolfo's manly cool horror) for good measure, much in the style of a burka... that pretty much did the trick!
2. Shade.... Along with skin protection, take breaks! Noon sun in Chile is way intense. Unlike other places in the world, most of the heat comes from direct sun contact. As soon as you step in the shade, you'll feel great!
3. Water! Drink lots and lots of water! At a festival in the States, you would try to consume just enough not to faint but also to avoid scary long lined bathroom experiences....but here....the lines are short/non existent for port-a-potty due to the lack of popularity water drinking has here in Chile. Coco Cola and beer, yes. Water? Nope. If there is an event in Chile where beer is not served (as was Lollapalooza), you are guaranteed a short line for el bano!
My one major complaint on how Lollapalooza ran as a festival was its access to water. Entering the festival the first day, I held a large bottle of water in my hands, which they allowed thru. The Second day, I pulled it out of my purse at the gate and was DENIED....watta huh?!?
Lollapalooza had a massive water tank available for refilling your water bottle...
1. This is hard to do when your bottle is DENIED....grumble grumble grumble....
2. People were very disrespectful with the water tank...taking showers in it, leaving the water running when they were finished....standing and staring at it...geez louise....like you've never seen free water before? Be COURTEOUS! Fill your bottle, turn off the tap, run along! MANNERS PEOPLE! EEEK!!!! Apparently, if something is free and available, it's to be wasted!?! EEEEEERRRRRRRK!
4. Both Rodolfo and I were really disappointed that they put all of our favorite "less popular" groups in a really small enclosed venue that was difficult to enter and exit. Due to the small size, the massive crowd that they were not expecting to see show up for "Cat Powers" and "Cold War Kids" couldn't fit into the performance hall and they closed it off with an army of Chilean police officers on horse back for most of the day.....a good thing from this? I know Chileans are beginning to have better taste in music....sorry, I love Madonna and all but really Chile? The negative? We didn't get to see these groups play, how stinky. The festival ended on a strong note though...Kanye West singing "Stronger"....hee.hee.hee....it was pretty awesome!
5. Do not...DO NOT get too close to the stage. Rodolfo tried to warn me! He tried! The moment a group comes on stage, there is a massive - wave like - surge of people who push towards the front! I've never experienced anything like it! This could be because I tend to stay towards the back in concerts, but Chilean crowds are a bit more intense and indiscriminate of personal space as well! I decided to wait the hour before The Killers opened to get a good spot in the front....bad idea....the moment they started playing I was enveloped into the sea of bodies. The crowd surged in and I was crushed between strangers unable to breathe, covered in sweat from people I didn't know, bouncing up and down with the crowd not of my own will...I get that this could be fun if you have great knees.....are bigger than I am....are a single 18 year old guy...want to have Brandon Flowers' babies.....but that is not me! Nope! Boundaries! Personal space! Breathing! Knees! Free will! I like these things!! Love them!!! I have an invisible box and I like it that way. Yuck!!!!! Cringe....coodies.....ew....still trying to forget the trauma....
So there you go....lessons learned from an awesome weekend at Lollapalooza *Chile! YAY!
Both R man and I felt inspired by the experience to write a little something...music festivals being something near and dear to R man's heart...it's cute!
As a foreigner in a Chilean music event and newby to music concerts in general, here are some pointers I learned for howta-lolla-pa-looza it up Chilean style!
1. Skin protection - most Chileans were not wearing a hat or sun screen because they tend not to burn, but as a super whitey, that is not a point to blend in on! Wear lots and lots of sun screen and a big ol' hat, cuz you gonna burn and burn bad! I myself was partaking in a lovely 70 spf sunscreen (take that sun!) and wore my jacket over my head (to Rodolfo's manly cool horror) for good measure, much in the style of a burka... that pretty much did the trick!
2. Shade.... Along with skin protection, take breaks! Noon sun in Chile is way intense. Unlike other places in the world, most of the heat comes from direct sun contact. As soon as you step in the shade, you'll feel great!
3. Water! Drink lots and lots of water! At a festival in the States, you would try to consume just enough not to faint but also to avoid scary long lined bathroom experiences....but here....the lines are short/non existent for port-a-potty due to the lack of popularity water drinking has here in Chile. Coco Cola and beer, yes. Water? Nope. If there is an event in Chile where beer is not served (as was Lollapalooza), you are guaranteed a short line for el bano!
My one major complaint on how Lollapalooza ran as a festival was its access to water. Entering the festival the first day, I held a large bottle of water in my hands, which they allowed thru. The Second day, I pulled it out of my purse at the gate and was DENIED....watta huh?!?
Lollapalooza had a massive water tank available for refilling your water bottle...
1. This is hard to do when your bottle is DENIED....grumble grumble grumble....
2. People were very disrespectful with the water tank...taking showers in it, leaving the water running when they were finished....standing and staring at it...geez louise....like you've never seen free water before? Be COURTEOUS! Fill your bottle, turn off the tap, run along! MANNERS PEOPLE! EEEK!!!! Apparently, if something is free and available, it's to be wasted!?! EEEEEERRRRRRRK!
4. Both Rodolfo and I were really disappointed that they put all of our favorite "less popular" groups in a really small enclosed venue that was difficult to enter and exit. Due to the small size, the massive crowd that they were not expecting to see show up for "Cat Powers" and "Cold War Kids" couldn't fit into the performance hall and they closed it off with an army of Chilean police officers on horse back for most of the day.....a good thing from this? I know Chileans are beginning to have better taste in music....sorry, I love Madonna and all but really Chile? The negative? We didn't get to see these groups play, how stinky. The festival ended on a strong note though...Kanye West singing "Stronger"....hee.hee.hee....it was pretty awesome!
5. Do not...DO NOT get too close to the stage. Rodolfo tried to warn me! He tried! The moment a group comes on stage, there is a massive - wave like - surge of people who push towards the front! I've never experienced anything like it! This could be because I tend to stay towards the back in concerts, but Chilean crowds are a bit more intense and indiscriminate of personal space as well! I decided to wait the hour before The Killers opened to get a good spot in the front....bad idea....the moment they started playing I was enveloped into the sea of bodies. The crowd surged in and I was crushed between strangers unable to breathe, covered in sweat from people I didn't know, bouncing up and down with the crowd not of my own will...I get that this could be fun if you have great knees.....are bigger than I am....are a single 18 year old guy...want to have Brandon Flowers' babies.....but that is not me! Nope! Boundaries! Personal space! Breathing! Knees! Free will! I like these things!! Love them!!! I have an invisible box and I like it that way. Yuck!!!!! Cringe....coodies.....ew....still trying to forget the trauma....
So there you go....lessons learned from an awesome weekend at Lollapalooza *Chile! YAY!
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