If you go to Chile...

Well, here I am in Chile. I think that this blog will be a bit long, but I will try to drag it out. In quick succession:

Malu and I arrived.

We met Ricardo and his family, who got as at the airport, and was an all around excellent guy. He was very welcoming and helpful, and he and is wife Pabla play guitar and sing great. Observe:

*Side note, you will notice mention of Las Condes in the song, and in the post song conversation. Keep this in mind for subsequent posts when I will be posting pictures of Las Condes today. 

Malu and I familiarize ourselves with the Metro and Bus system of Santiago. 

I am still tired because I pulled an all-nighter for a horrible post exam Law Review write-on that was due the day we flew out. 

Malu and I went to Viña del Mar/Valparaiso. There was nothing that we did that I haven´t discussed at length in previous posts here, here, here, and here, but it was good times since Malu had never seen the place. 

We saw Iron Man 2 in the Viña del Mar Mall, which was fun. 

We went to Limache, and barely caught up with my mother´s cousin before we left. He arrived in the nick of time to visit.

We went to Villa Alemana to visit my cousin Roberto. It was also good times. 

We went with Roberto to the Zoo in Quillpue, which I believe that I visited when I was 8. It was trippy, back then, it seemed like a really long trip by train, but it only is a little ways inland in actuality. 

Malu left Sunday morning to Peru :(

I buy groceries. 

I perform a massive cleaning of my filthy hovel. 

I started my externship. The building is upscale, and I will post a picture of my office view. (More on the work in subsequent posts).

That brings you up to date. There are a few things that may warrant a bit more comment. While in Chile, Malu and I found a random guy on the street that cooked chorizo (sausages) and stuck them on bread. This cost a dollar, and we scooped on lots of pebre and it was delicious.

*The second one isn't a completo, she just looks funny so I thought I would share. 

Malu tried her "completo" which is Chilean for "nasty foot-long hot dog slathered with grotesque amounts of avocado and mayo." Also known as "vianessa", you can learn all there is to know about an completo at this dudes blog.

Did I mention that I hate avocado? I do. Chileans love it. Malu hates avocado as well, so... she also feels as I do about the completo, which is to say: detest. (that is a lie, she actually didn´t mind hers, but that was only after she scraped off the majority of what makes it nasty in the first place and essentially ate a normal hotdog.)

The bus and metro system in Santiago is pretty nifty I must say. It isn´t perfect, but it sure beats paying for cabs or walking. While it is expensive (as are many things here in Chile), it is worth it. 

Chileans love their centers of commerce, and they are all out buying. There are people buying everything everywhere. I am glad to see that the US has succeeded so completely in exporting materialism, because frankly, the Chinese need more money. 

My room. This could merit a post all of its own, but I will decline to go into such detail. Basically, I found it online, it is tiny, it is in a house, and the landlords are a French girl (maybe a year or two older than me) and her live in Chile boyfriend. I have a soft bed. The shower is functional and has hot water. The place is close to my work, and ideally situated very close to a super market. That is about it for pluses. Now the minuses. As I mentioned, the room is small. How small? Lets just say that Malu looks large in it. I live on the 2nd floor, and share a bathroom with the two other renters, who each have a larger room than I (and I suspect that they pay less rent aswell). They are slobs. Nice enough types, but the place was disgusting when I arrived. The kitchen, the bathroom, and the living area (which, consequently, are all also tiny). They all smoke (except frenchie, she is 4 months pregnant. She may smoke, but I haven´t seen her much), and so I smoke too. Supposedly, they aren´t supposed to smoke indoors, but its winter and they must, apparently, smoke. So it sucks for me. My room is situated above the theatre (projector and many speakers), area of the landlords. The live in watches movies/TV untill 1 am or later every day, and loudly. Come to find out, sound passes just as easily as smoke through ill fitted boards. 

It is only a month.

That is my mantra these days. 

I also suspect that my room floor is not 100% flat. This is because my chair has wheels, as does my desk, and if I sit there long enough, I move backwards to the door. Also, it is noticeable when laying upon my bed. I digress. The room is sufficient, and I have decided, post super cleaning performed by yours truly, that I most care about the shower and bed in a living area. Everything else can (and in this case, does) suck and it does not matter.

And now you have seen the entirety of my living space. 

 

J-Cruz and Hamburg Restaurants. yum and yum.

These restaurants have made their theme lots of neat stuff that they've been able to accumulate over the years by being in Valparaiso, a large port city. Here are some views into the good times to be had there.

Estos restaurantes se han abierto el tema de cosas interesantes que han podido acumular en los últimos años por estar en Valparaíso, una gran ciudad portuaria. Éstos son algunos puntos de vista en los buenos tiempos que había allí.

Journal Post, Observation # 9 Chilean food.

About food.
There are many interesting things that I could recount from my week in Chile, but I worry more about food than anything, so here is a short recap of some dishes that I ate Also, upon suggestion of my cousin Roberto, I will attempt to write all further posts in Spanish as well as English.

Sobre comida.
Hay muchas cosas interesantes que pude recalcar de mi semana en Chile, pero preocupo más acerca de comida de cualquier otra cosa, entonces acá tienen a un resumen de algunos platos que probé. También, actuando según la sugerencia de mi primo Roberto, intentare escribir todos anotaciones en español también como ingles.

1) Humitos:


I’ve never had these before but they are basically Tamales. Mashed up corn, cooked wrapped up in the leaves, and some type of herb for seasoning (my Aunt Elba told me the name of the herb, but I have subsequently forgotten.

Nunca antes les he probado, pero básicamente son tamales. Maíz molido, cocinado enrollado de las hojas, y algún tipo de hierba para sazonar. (Mi Tía Elba me dijo el nombre de la hierba, pero ya me lo olvidé.)

2) Empanadas:
I am sure that I cannot get away with calling this a Chilean food, as I have seen them in ample quality elsewhere. But, I can tell you that what the Chileans call Empanada “Pino”, which is beef, egg, olive, and sometimes raisins, is what in Peru they call Empanada Chileno. Which, taking into account the prevalence of this particular combination of foods in the Chilean “pastel de choclo” and other dishes, I attribute this flavor to Chile.

Seguro que no puedo decir que esta es una comida chilena, como les he visto en diversos otros lugares. Pero si puedo decir que en Perú se les llaman empanadas chilenas. Que, tomando en cuento la presencia de esta combinación particular en las comidas de chile como pastel de choclo y otros, atribuyo este sabor a Chile.

3) Meat and Pebre:

Meat, especially beef, is well received and readily devoured by one and all. For the birthday my cousin’s (Diego) son, we ate a delicious meal which consisted of meat, bread, pebre, and of course, Coca Cola. The meat was beef, cooked up in the oven and salty and delicious. The bread in Chile is different than that of Peru, although there is such a variety in both countries that I am sure that you could find some of the same in both. But the common bread in Chile is called “pan batido” in Viña del Mar and “marraqueta” (SP?) in Santiago. It has a somewhat hard crust with at soft interior, is ovalish in shape with a line down the middle. There are lots of other breads, and a principle difference between common breads in Peru and Chile is that the Chile bread is denser and a touch saltier. Pebre is VERY Chilean. It is similar to salsa, but generally not spicy. It is made with chopped onions, tomatoes, and a LOT of cilantro- it is actually greenish in hue. This is applied liberally to bread and meat alike and I like it.

Carne, especialmente res, es bien recibida y devorada con gusto por todos. Por el cumpleaños del hijo de mi Primo Diego, comíamos a una cena delicioso que fue carne, pan, pebre, y presupuesto, Coca Cola. La carne fue res, cocida en el horno y fue salada y rica. La pan de Chile es diferente al pan de Perú, pero hay tanto variedad en las dos países que seguro que podrías encontrar lo mismo en ambas. Pero el pan común de Chile se llama pan batido en Viña del Mar y marraqueta (SP?) en Santiago. Tiene la parte exterior poco duro y es suave por adentro, tiene una forma oval, con una línea partiéndolo en dos. Hay muchos panes en Peru y Chile, pare una diferencia principal es que los panes son mas densos y salados en Chile. Pebre es MUY chileno. Es similar a la salsa, pero por lo general, no es picante. Consiste de cebolla cortada, tomates, y mucho cilantro- ya es verde. Se aplica liberalmente al pan y la carne igual y eso me agrada mucho.

4) Chorrillana:

This is a yummy, yet simple dish. It’s somewhat like the Peruvian dish, “lomo soltado”, but I like it better. It consists of small strips or chunks of beef, chopped onions, some fried eggs (but not many and very subtly mixed in with the meat). This is heaped atop a bunch of French fries. I don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s really tasty for some reason. So much so that I recalled it from when I was 8-years-old and went back to the restaurant, which is an awesome places called J-Cruz that I’ll discuss at length in subsequent posts.

Esto es un plato sencillo, pero rico. Es parecido al plato peruano, lomo soltado, pero esto me gusto más. Es pedazos de res, cebollas picadas, algunos huevos fritos (pero no muchos y sutilmente combinado con la carne). Esto viene encima de un montón de papas fritas. No se que es la razón exactamente por que es tan rico, pero es muy sabroso. Tanto que me acordé de ello de cuando tenía 8 años y volví a este restaurante, que es un lugar muy chévere que se llama J-Cruz y que explicaré mas en anotaciones subsecuentes.

5) Corvina:

Is fish, and it’s pretty dang good. I like it because it is relatively boneless. I had this in La Serena where my cousin Daniel lives that is 7 hours north of Viña by bus. We went out to a restaurant on the beach and that’s where I had my fish dish. It was supposed to be somewhat spicy (although after living in Arequipa the Chilean’s have nothing that can get my tongue). In any event, this corvina was fried, which was fine, but it also came with some large sautéed mushrooms over it with rice. I was reluctant to dive in as I’m not all that big on mushrooms, especially these big ones called ‘sera’. However, I am pleased to say that the whole thing was really good. I love it when I find a new food that I enjoy.

Es pescado, y bien rico. Me gusta porque es de muy pocos espinas. Esto comí en La Serena por donde vive mi primo Daniel y es como a siete horas norte de Viña en bus. Fuimos a un restaurante en la playa y es allí donde comí mi plato pescado. Supuestamente tenia que ser picante (pero después de vivir en Arequipa no hay nada en Chile que puede afectar mi lengua). En todas maneras, esta corvina fue frito, que estaba bien, pero también tenia alguna champiñones encima con arroz. Fue reticente meter mi tenedor, porque no soy de muchos champiñones. Sin embargo, estoy contento decir que todo fue muy rico. Encanto cuanto encuentro nuevo comida que me disfruto.

CHI CHI CHI, LE LE LE, VIVA CHILE!!!

That's what they yell here at soccer games. Where is "here" you ask? Why, none other than Chile, birthplace of my mother, and country I had to go to this week for visa purposes. You get 90 days in Peru as a tourist and than you have to either leave the country or go to Lima to do some ridiculous paperwork.
ANYWAY.
I got on a bus in Arequipa Friday the 19th at 10:30 am. I got to Vina Del Mar at around 9 am on Sunday. Peru doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, but Chile does. But to complicate things, because of the recent Quake, the Chileans are putting off DST until April. So what that means is that when I crossed the border into Chile, it ceased to be 6 pm and became 8 pm.
Just a note about the scenery between Arequipa and a City in Chile called Coliapo: IT SUCKS. Unless you like sand.



What you can see above is basically what you get for 15+ hours on the bus. Money in Chile is confusing to me. Something that has always bothered me is the enormity of the numbers involved. The current exchange rate is 526 Pesos to each dollar. And the basic unit of money here is 1000 pesos. More to come.

I'm a sad guy Chile

For those of you who don't live on this planet, there was a major earthquake in Chile on Saturday the 27th. The epicenter was near Concepcion Chile and it was especially stressful for me due to my mother's family that lives there. I wish I could say that I had a happy birthday (also Saturday, but the earthquake kind of rained on that particular parade. Fortunately, my family is OK, but watching the footage of the Tsunamis, etc, is heartbreaking. The family here did give me a delicious cake, but more on that tomorrow. Today, I am merely posting this sad face that I made in illustrator. I hope that Chile is in all of your prayers.