Damn.. I was on such a roll with updating and then this week happened. Sorry for being lame. Let's be honest, I shouldn't even be writing right now. It's 2 Am, I'm getting up in 6 hours to go to my internship, but earlier tonight I had an exchange with Cecilia that I thought might be blog worthy. Blog-potential, if you will. You be the judge...
So, several of my friends and I are going to Viña del Mar (hellllo beach) this weekend with some of our Chilean friends. I was in a terrible mood today for multiple reasons, so instead of going out tonight I decided to stay home and bake brownies for the weekend. Peanutbutter chocolate chip brownies to be exact. Cecilia tends to stand over me when I bake, which I've gotten used to even though it still drives me insane. So, I forget to turn the oven knob after pre-heating (don't get me started on Chilean ovens... they just say 1-7 which is really helpful when I have to distinguish between 350 and 375). Anyways, my brownies start to puff up and I thought an explosion was nearing. I'm so frustrated at this point I just want to take them out of the oven and throw them out. Cecilia comes in and tells me they look abnormal. Thanks.
Here comes the really stellar part. She starts questioning me as to why I'm making something so "pesado" with both butter AND peanut butter (god forbid). I should probably mention that peanut butter is NOT all the rage in this country like it is in the good old US of A. Give these people peanut butter and jelly and bread and they'll be confused. Instead, mayonnaise is the condiment of choice. (Hold back your vomit...) So anyways, Cecilia is like WHY did you make these peanut butter brownies (I should probably also mention that last time I made them she really liked them and she also loves peanuts, but can't figure out that peanut butter is ground up peanuts with added SALT- another Chilean obsession). How could anyone POSSIBLY ever eat anything with two kinds of BUTTER. I was not in the mood. Normally, I might have smiled and gone along merrily with my baking, but tonight I was enraged. I called her out on her beloved Paula Deen-style mayonnaise servings. PEANUT BUTTER IS HEALTHIER THAN MAYONNAISE. She didn't buy it. Said something about how natural it is. I ignored her. I really wish I had back-up. Then she left the room which I took as surrender.
Okay, it's 2:23, but one more thing...
Everyone here wears shirts in English. Apparently, the Salvation Armies in the USA ship bulk quantities of clothing here to be sold in the thrift stores. As a result, every other person walking down the street is wearing a "Boston Redsox" or "University of Michigan" t-shirt. As another - less acceptable - result, people often wear clothing with really outrageous and inappropriate words/phrases. The other day, we saw a girl wearing a shirt saying "Hard Boy, Core Girl." Pretty much "insert your own insulting adjective" and I've seen it on a shirt. The lesson here ... never wear a shirt that showcases a language you don't speak. As long as we're in agreement on this, you can continue reading this blog. If not, go put on your "Dirty Skank" (in another language) shirt and navigate away from this page immediately.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
We don't have a Cat & And other tales..
So, have I told you about the cat? I can't remember if I have or not, so I'm just going to write, and if you feel yourself in one of those situations where you're already familiar with a story but it would be awkward to stop the story teller that mid-story.. all you have to do is stop reading. Easy as cake. I'll never know and won't be offended.
The CAT- After a couple weeks of being here, I realized there was a kittycat that kept showing up around our house - constantly in the back yard and occasionally actually entering the house. I thought it might be a stray since there are stray doggs like allllll over the place here, so I just ignored it. Before I knew it, the cat practically became a resident of the house right beside Coca, the deaf puppy. Cecilia would offer it little snacks, and I finally questioned its presence. Turns out, the story is way more ridiculous than I ever would have thought. The cat is not a stray. The cat has a family. The cat's family is not Cecilia and me. I was confused. The cat is ALWAYS here. When I asked Cecilia why this cat was always in our house, she answered that it liked us better than its own family. Figures. Then I noticed a pink collar on the cat, and apparently, it was Cecilia who had taken it upon herself to put a collar on a cat that doesn't belong to her. She didn't find this strange. I did. Whatever, I moved on. THEN the other day we were walking and she points to a house and whispers, "That's where the cat's family lives." This woman is loca... meaning we're a great fit.
THE CAR WATCHERS- When you go out at night to a bar or club or restaurant in the United States, there's usually a parking lot or street parking or SOMETHING. In Chile... not so much. Since we've started going out with Chilean friends who have cars, I've noticed that it's a bit different. When you park on the street in a neighborhood near a club, there are young guys standing on the street who sort of direct you into a spot. You get out, do your thang at the dance club, and come back at 4 AM [insert your personal bedtime here] and, assuming your car is still there, you provide a small sum of money to these young men who are still standing there. Whereas you might be thinking... oh how nice they looked after my car, most Chileans (understandably) are not so thrilled with this whole system. Apparently, these men present themselves as "caretakers of autos." In reality, if someone is going to steal your car, they aren't going out of their way to stop the thief. At the end of the night, if you don't give them money (a mil or two- about $2-4), they've been known to do some damage to your car themselves. BOGUS.
More tales coming soon...
The CAT- After a couple weeks of being here, I realized there was a kittycat that kept showing up around our house - constantly in the back yard and occasionally actually entering the house. I thought it might be a stray since there are stray doggs like allllll over the place here, so I just ignored it. Before I knew it, the cat practically became a resident of the house right beside Coca, the deaf puppy. Cecilia would offer it little snacks, and I finally questioned its presence. Turns out, the story is way more ridiculous than I ever would have thought. The cat is not a stray. The cat has a family. The cat's family is not Cecilia and me. I was confused. The cat is ALWAYS here. When I asked Cecilia why this cat was always in our house, she answered that it liked us better than its own family. Figures. Then I noticed a pink collar on the cat, and apparently, it was Cecilia who had taken it upon herself to put a collar on a cat that doesn't belong to her. She didn't find this strange. I did. Whatever, I moved on. THEN the other day we were walking and she points to a house and whispers, "That's where the cat's family lives." This woman is loca... meaning we're a great fit.
THE CAR WATCHERS- When you go out at night to a bar or club or restaurant in the United States, there's usually a parking lot or street parking or SOMETHING. In Chile... not so much. Since we've started going out with Chilean friends who have cars, I've noticed that it's a bit different. When you park on the street in a neighborhood near a club, there are young guys standing on the street who sort of direct you into a spot. You get out, do your thang at the dance club, and come back at 4 AM [insert your personal bedtime here] and, assuming your car is still there, you provide a small sum of money to these young men who are still standing there. Whereas you might be thinking... oh how nice they looked after my car, most Chileans (understandably) are not so thrilled with this whole system. Apparently, these men present themselves as "caretakers of autos." In reality, if someone is going to steal your car, they aren't going out of their way to stop the thief. At the end of the night, if you don't give them money (a mil or two- about $2-4), they've been known to do some damage to your car themselves. BOGUS.
More tales coming soon...
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Fancy hotels just aren't for us...
Have you ever met Dave Munro? Self-proclaimed cheapest Scotsman ever born; however, turns out Dave has a wild side and decided to pull a Donald Trump on us by booking a room at the ritzy Sheraton Hotel in Mendoza. Really classy, really sterile.... really not for us.
As much as I hated to stifle my pa's wild spending spree, we HAD to move. It just wasn't our style... there was no free wi-fi and despite the sprawling western-style breakfast, there was no jelly for my toast. Also, my mom went a little wild and attempted to use the bidet (European butt washer) and was shocked when the overzealous water pressure created a large pool of water all over the bathroom floor. Efff that. Instead, we moved into a place that was $100 less per night (yeahhh) and is 100% more Munro-style. It still has a bidet, incase you were wondering. Something tells me there might be a second attempt. Eileen is very persistent.
Today we headed out to the country for a vinyard tour with a really neat tourbus company that also owns a hostel. For $20 (60 pesos) each, we visited 2 vinyards (each with several wine tastings) and one olive oil factory. There were some other gringos on the tour and then some Argentinians and Ecuadorians. It was pretty awesome, except that I felt like everyone else on the tour kept taking one small sip of the wine and then dumping it out - not my style.
The olive oil factory tour was alone worth the $20 for the delish pieces of bread soaked in olive oil and sun dried tomatoes that were provided at the end. Enough said.
Tomorrow, the Munro/Hoffman family gets wild and is going PARA-GLIDING. You heard me (or read me..), Mamacita Eileen Hoffman is getting a mile high to sail through the sky. She's expressed serious concern about yakking her breakfast down on the townsfolk of Mendoza, but she didn't stop us from putting a deposit on her participation, so SHE'S GOING! Pictures to come, get excited.
As much as I hated to stifle my pa's wild spending spree, we HAD to move. It just wasn't our style... there was no free wi-fi and despite the sprawling western-style breakfast, there was no jelly for my toast. Also, my mom went a little wild and attempted to use the bidet (European butt washer) and was shocked when the overzealous water pressure created a large pool of water all over the bathroom floor. Efff that. Instead, we moved into a place that was $100 less per night (yeahhh) and is 100% more Munro-style. It still has a bidet, incase you were wondering. Something tells me there might be a second attempt. Eileen is very persistent.
Today we headed out to the country for a vinyard tour with a really neat tourbus company that also owns a hostel. For $20 (60 pesos) each, we visited 2 vinyards (each with several wine tastings) and one olive oil factory. There were some other gringos on the tour and then some Argentinians and Ecuadorians. It was pretty awesome, except that I felt like everyone else on the tour kept taking one small sip of the wine and then dumping it out - not my style.
The olive oil factory tour was alone worth the $20 for the delish pieces of bread soaked in olive oil and sun dried tomatoes that were provided at the end. Enough said.
Tomorrow, the Munro/Hoffman family gets wild and is going PARA-GLIDING. You heard me (or read me..), Mamacita Eileen Hoffman is getting a mile high to sail through the sky. She's expressed serious concern about yakking her breakfast down on the townsfolk of Mendoza, but she didn't stop us from putting a deposit on her participation, so SHE'S GOING! Pictures to come, get excited.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The bottom of the world!
Here I am- it's 6:14 AM and I'm in my 7th hour at the Santiago airport. After returning from Southern Chile late last night, I'm meeting my parents here in about an hour and we're taking off for Mendoza, Argentina at 9AM. They've been here for a couple days already and I'm anxiously awaiting to hear how that's gone over with their minimal Spanish and overwhelming gringo appearance. I could suggest that my dad take a turn at this blog writing with a Lee Greenstein-esque guest appearance, but his typing is so slow (law school really needs to hire 6th grade typing teacher extraordinaire Mrs. Linford) that it might take the rest of his vacation to complete any such task. All I know so far is from an email I received from my mom saying the gypsies have already tried to scam them (something I have yet to experience myself, but doesn't surprise me to hear). Even in a place like Chile where fanny packs are considered really popular/hip, my Dad will still find a way to stand out....
Okay, enough about the old folk. Onto Patagonia! The trip as a whole was great - put me in a hotel and I'll be fine, but the place is a little different than I expected. For Christmas, my brother gave me the book In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. I'm ashamed to say I really haven't started it yet except for the introduction by Nicholas Shakespeare, which definitely echoed a lot of how I felt about the Patagonia I saw - mainly the small town of Puerto Natales.
One line in particular struck me (sorry this isn't a 7th grade DBQ but I guess I'm too lame to write my own words):
"In Patagonia, the isolation makes it easy to exaggerate the person you are: the drinker drinks; the devout prays; the lonely grows lonelier, sometimes fatally." We were only there for 3 days, and I clearly wasn't lonely surrounded by 20 energetic students, but I can certainly understand the depression and loneliness that I'm sure is quite prevalent. The economy of the town is overwhelmingly based on tourism which was both good (delicious delicious vegetarian restaurant called "El Living" where I ate 2 meals including a grilled PB and banana sandwich that you can't appreciate until you've been in Chile and deprived of PB) and bad (the poverty in the town was pretty obvious and there was basically nothing going on outside of the several main tourist streets).
Our group trip to Patagonia was a lot of different things, so I'll just give you some highlights that stuck with me:
-None of us really knew what to expect going into the trip (were we going to be the Chilean version of Jon Krakauer, soon to be documenting near-death expeditions?). No, we were not. We spend wayyyy more time on buses (1st day: Torres Del Paine National Park) and boats (2nd day: the glacier visit) than any of us expected. I think it's difficult to be dissatisifed though - we were at the bottom of the world!
-While we were on a bathroom/consumer stop the first day at a gift shop, I bought a hat for myself. As I was paying, I noticed the cashier was wearing a Mountain Hard Wear coat similar to mine. I pointed it out, and he gave me a free Bon Bon. Score... I knew buying this overpriced (albeit on sale) coat would eventually be worth it.
-GLACIERS ARE MELTING... turn off those lights!
Okay, sort of ridiculous, but sad and true. When we got to the glacier, i think we were all amazed by both their wonderful blue color and also by their very evidently shrinking appearance. Even the comparison between the picture on the brochure and the real thing was pretty substantial. After viewing the glacier and once back on the boat, they think it's really cute to give you a glass of Pisco (liquor) with glacier ice. First of all, perhaps a terrible idea to be offering alcoholic beverages to potentially sea-sick travelers. But also, what the F. Sort of made me mad...
And alas, let's end on a good note....
Okay, enough about the old folk. Onto Patagonia! The trip as a whole was great - put me in a hotel and I'll be fine, but the place is a little different than I expected. For Christmas, my brother gave me the book In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. I'm ashamed to say I really haven't started it yet except for the introduction by Nicholas Shakespeare, which definitely echoed a lot of how I felt about the Patagonia I saw - mainly the small town of Puerto Natales.
One line in particular struck me (sorry this isn't a 7th grade DBQ but I guess I'm too lame to write my own words):
"In Patagonia, the isolation makes it easy to exaggerate the person you are: the drinker drinks; the devout prays; the lonely grows lonelier, sometimes fatally." We were only there for 3 days, and I clearly wasn't lonely surrounded by 20 energetic students, but I can certainly understand the depression and loneliness that I'm sure is quite prevalent. The economy of the town is overwhelmingly based on tourism which was both good (delicious delicious vegetarian restaurant called "El Living" where I ate 2 meals including a grilled PB and banana sandwich that you can't appreciate until you've been in Chile and deprived of PB) and bad (the poverty in the town was pretty obvious and there was basically nothing going on outside of the several main tourist streets).
Our group trip to Patagonia was a lot of different things, so I'll just give you some highlights that stuck with me:
-None of us really knew what to expect going into the trip (were we going to be the Chilean version of Jon Krakauer, soon to be documenting near-death expeditions?). No, we were not. We spend wayyyy more time on buses (1st day: Torres Del Paine National Park) and boats (2nd day: the glacier visit) than any of us expected. I think it's difficult to be dissatisifed though - we were at the bottom of the world!
-While we were on a bathroom/consumer stop the first day at a gift shop, I bought a hat for myself. As I was paying, I noticed the cashier was wearing a Mountain Hard Wear coat similar to mine. I pointed it out, and he gave me a free Bon Bon. Score... I knew buying this overpriced (albeit on sale) coat would eventually be worth it.
-GLACIERS ARE MELTING... turn off those lights!
Okay, sort of ridiculous, but sad and true. When we got to the glacier, i think we were all amazed by both their wonderful blue color and also by their very evidently shrinking appearance. Even the comparison between the picture on the brochure and the real thing was pretty substantial. After viewing the glacier and once back on the boat, they think it's really cute to give you a glass of Pisco (liquor) with glacier ice. First of all, perhaps a terrible idea to be offering alcoholic beverages to potentially sea-sick travelers. But also, what the F. Sort of made me mad...
And alas, let's end on a good note....
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Only in Santiago...
Okay, so after going to bed at 6 AM (don't question.. that's just how life is here), waking up at 9 AM, going to Santiago's own amusement park FANTISILANDIA all day, I should be resting, drinking tea, and thinking about how good sleep will be tonight. That's how life would be if this place were normal. BUT NO. Never. Instead, I'm sitting in my bed looking at the explosion of clothes that is my floor, and procrastinating packing for my flight to Torres del Paine, Patagonia in 4 hours (at 2 AM). So, yeah... that's where I am.
I haven't updated in a while, so in lieu of recounting two weeks of my life, I'll just tell you about today and promise to start updating more.
Got home at 4:30 AM this morning after hanging out with some of the chicas in the group and our new Chilean guy friends who are awesome beyond words. Unfortunately, they all speak really good english so we don't practice spanish enough, but it's nice to have non-creepy guy friends to talk to. Last night, we dined at an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant in Providencia (hellllo dessert pizza!) It basically made my life.. I wish I had pictures.
Today, after 3 hours of sleep, and a trip to Jumbo (don't even remember what I bought, I just like to go there...), eight of us headed to FANTISISLANDIA. I had no idea what to expect from a Chilean amusement park (death might have been in my thoughts...?), but when we arrived, it seemed pretty legit. The first ride we went on was probably the best theme park ride I've ever experienced. I'm at a loss of words to describe it.. but there was reggaeton blasting in the background and everyone was smiling. Basically, the place was just great - the perfect mix of fun and trashy at the same time with short lines and cheap food.
Now, after a second trip to Jumbo to buy snacks for the trip, I'm half packed, and half falling asleep as I await to be picked up around 12:30 by the airport shuttle. After a several hour flight to Punto Arenas, I believe there's a several hour bus ride, and then we'll arrive in Torres del Paine National Park, in the Chilean part of Patagonia. I've packed pretty much everything I brought to Santiago because it's going to be freeezing in the South and because I won't have to come home and get more clothes between my return flight on Thursday night and my flight to Mendoza, Argentina with my parents early Friday morning. Yiiikes, this should make for some interesting blog entries. Now I should actually finish packing....
I haven't updated in a while, so in lieu of recounting two weeks of my life, I'll just tell you about today and promise to start updating more.
Got home at 4:30 AM this morning after hanging out with some of the chicas in the group and our new Chilean guy friends who are awesome beyond words. Unfortunately, they all speak really good english so we don't practice spanish enough, but it's nice to have non-creepy guy friends to talk to. Last night, we dined at an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant in Providencia (hellllo dessert pizza!) It basically made my life.. I wish I had pictures.
Today, after 3 hours of sleep, and a trip to Jumbo (don't even remember what I bought, I just like to go there...), eight of us headed to FANTISISLANDIA. I had no idea what to expect from a Chilean amusement park (death might have been in my thoughts...?), but when we arrived, it seemed pretty legit. The first ride we went on was probably the best theme park ride I've ever experienced. I'm at a loss of words to describe it.. but there was reggaeton blasting in the background and everyone was smiling. Basically, the place was just great - the perfect mix of fun and trashy at the same time with short lines and cheap food.
Now, after a second trip to Jumbo to buy snacks for the trip, I'm half packed, and half falling asleep as I await to be picked up around 12:30 by the airport shuttle. After a several hour flight to Punto Arenas, I believe there's a several hour bus ride, and then we'll arrive in Torres del Paine National Park, in the Chilean part of Patagonia. I've packed pretty much everything I brought to Santiago because it's going to be freeezing in the South and because I won't have to come home and get more clothes between my return flight on Thursday night and my flight to Mendoza, Argentina with my parents early Friday morning. Yiiikes, this should make for some interesting blog entries. Now I should actually finish packing....
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