Cake and Chilean theater.

Hey heyyy!

As usual, it's been a while... not because I'm lazy (although that's more than true), but more because life has just been pretty casual with not much to report on. Yesterday was Chilean Navy Day (so.. in addition to not having to go to my internship, Michelle Bachelet also gave a speech sort of like The State of the Union in the US). It was awk. I tried to watch it on tv, but I realized as I was watching that I couldn't pay attention to what she was saying; instead I was so annoyed by all the stylistic problems that she would be critiqued on in the US. Chileans talk fast, but she was motoring through this speech. She was also holding a piece of paper and pretty much (not even trying to hide it) reading off of it. Super awk. I had to turn it off.

I didn't do much on the day off, until night time when 6 other girls and I went to see a play for our spanish class. It was wild. I wasn't all that excited to go, but once we got there and had some food before hand (some food= the BEST piece of cake I've ever had in my life. And I have high standards. There were 7 of us and we all ate one piece and were all full. And don't be like... oh you're just girls that's nothing. NO. NO. I can eat cake with the best of them. This slice of cake was JUMBOlicious). The play was actually really good too. It was a story of 5 people and how their work and love lives interact. I actually understood more of it than I expected, except for one scene where there was a conflict between two men who were supposedly uncle and nephew. Okay, have you ever gone to a play or movie and like... imagined some crazy storyline that didn't really exist but would have been better than the one that actually existed? In my wildest dreams, these two men (uncle and nephew) were gay lovers. Turns out my dreams aren't that wild. When we came out my friend who's really into arts/plays/spanish explained what happened to the rest of us (she's much less of a philistine than I am).... yup turns out they were gay lovers. Go figure. Pretty progressive for Chile (although the play was Argentine so that explains a little). Still, the Chileans were going buck wild with laughter.

Not much else to report on, except that Jamie arrived safely in Buenos Aires yesterday! It's not like I know that because he's emailed me or anything.... but good thing I have my mom to forward me his emails so I know what's going on.

One more week of classes/final tests/papers and then EASTER ISLAND!

1. I signed up (and paid $90) for the marathon... so there's no backing out now. Cheering sections welcome.

2. It rained today for the second time in 3 months. Un aguacero.

3. Go to this website: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/. Enjoy.

4. Tomorrow in Spanish class we are having a debate about the upcoming Chilean elections. I and 3 others are speaking in favor of Sebastian Piñera, the billionaire, Harvard-educated, scandal-plagued candidate who is up against Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, who was president prior to Michelle Bachelet (in Chile, presidents cannot have consecutive terms but they can run more than once). Should be fun.

5. Today for development class we went on a field trip to a school called "La Escuela de Esperanza" to play with kiddies in the "Adopta un Hermano" [Adopt a Brother] program. It was nice to see a more rural part of Santiago.

6. I don't remember if I already told you this, but I'm officially going to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas (each for one day) in August. I hope to 1)eat at as many all-I-can-eat buffets as possible 2)see Celine Dion in concert and 3)get a drive-thru marriage. If you're interested in being the lucky guy, please present yourself with a life-time supply of grape Now-and Laters (male dowry) at the base of the Vegas roller coaster of your choice. If we pick the same coaster, it was meant to be...

7. Is anyone still reading this?

If Oprah can do it I can.

October 10, 2009.....

In addition to celebrating my brother's cumpleaños, I will also be running a marathon in Baltimore. I had to write this here so that you all could remind me and not let me quit...

Inspirational comments welcome....

fotos!!

There's an actual blog entry below, but these are the long overdue pictures from Mendoza, Argentina that my dad has been pressuring me to add... alas, the only way anything ever gets done in my life... or at least with this blog.


Classic Dave... getting schooled on proper boozing...

Momsies and I getting suited up for our big dive....






















Eileen Hoffman part of the mile high club...























My expert Tito and I... he told me it was his first time too...


Dave joins the club!

In case you were concerned, I do actually have a couple friends... or at least people who will pose in pictures with me.


OK KEEP READING..... grab the ugliest outfit you own that hopefully involves a large bow or a hideous pattern, because in the next post, we travel back in time!!

LOS ANOS 80!!!

Friday night was by far the most epic birthday experience of my life thus far... pretty sure it won't be topped for a while. We rented out a smallish pretty shady bar in Providencia so we could throw an over-the-top 80s themed bash. At first, I was a little worried that maybe I would be the only one passionate about this theme, but my doubts were quickly pushed away when the masses started arriving. Everyone in the program came (allll decked out to perfection in bright colors, spandex, sequins, shoulder pads, sweat bands, side pony tails, leg warmers, high-tops, etc) and brought all the Chilean friends we have met thus far (a lot of the chileans also dressed for teh occasion, which was excellllent) The only way I can describe the night is with pictures below (stole them from everyone else... hope they don't mind)

Why 80s? Why not.... do you know me? Okay, but seriously, some explaining is necessary. This country is for some reason stuck a few decades behind the rest of the developed world. It's sort of awkward... I think we all had some issues trying to explain to our host families what exactly the theme of the party was (because... they didn't necessary think this was anything out of the ordinary). I showed the dress I purchased to several Chilean women (Cecilia, our neighbor Ines, and Cecil's daughter-in-law) and they all said "Ohhh que bonita" (Oh how beautiful...) I wish you could all see this dress. I don't really have an adequate picture that does this dress justice but I can guarantee you'd be laughing if you saw it. But not the Chileans... it's still like perfectly fashionable here. Another reason why this country is perfect for me I suppose...

This week I really need to buckle down and actually think about doing work. For my environmental class I'm working with 2 other chicas on a paper about eco-labeling (like products that are certified with various green promises... organic, sustainable, etc). My part will talk about the differences with this practice in different parts of the world (mainly the US/EU vs. South America). Since South American nations are big exporters, they are starting to have to bump up the eco-labeling stuff to stay competitive in international markets, but domestically, they don't really seem to be as concerned/interested in the reasons behind these eco-labels. Sorry if I'm boring you... however, I'm fascinated... perhaps a future senior capstone topic? Hollllerrr. So ahead of the game.

I've been wanting to chat a little about environmental stuff in this country....
It's very strange. Compact florescent lights are everywhere, there is little to no heat in houses (trust me, I'm currently freezing...), very few people use driers for clothes, all the produce is local, office lights actually get turned off at night unlike in the US where office buildings always seem to stay aglow during the noche. However, ask someone about the possibilities of printing double-sided and they'll look at you like you're out of your mind (or at least at the university I attend...). In some ways it seems like Chile is so far ahead of the US in terms of environmental stuff, but that's probably a consequence of actually being behind. I hope they never get to the point of laziness/wastefulness where the US is. At one lecture I attended for my internship, one of the speakers mentioned that Chile as a country has not yet become comfortable with the idea of certifications and eco-labeling type stuff that has been popularized in the US (for example: Nothing like the US Green Building Council LEED certification exists here), so I think it's hard for the country to progress in more institutional sustainability type stuff until more of these regulatory organizations exist. However, as I mentioned, they're doing pretty well with the personal behavior stuff...

The majority of this post is about food... shocking I know.

Aghhhh. I feel like it's been years, and let's be honest... if i tell myself to do homework right now I'm just going to be on Facebook, so might as well update while things are fresh in my mind.

After my last post, my mom sent me an email suggesting that perhaps I was a little too harsh on Cecilia. Let me be clear ... I love Mama Cecilia. She amuses me to no end, makes delicious vegetarian comida (what will I do without her lentils, garbonzos, etc?), and generally let's me do lo que quiero without being overprotective. Thank god.

Anyways, just finished one of the best meals I've had here yet (some sort potato/avacado salad with the traditional lemon/olive oil/salt dressing that could make a dirty shoe taste good, a tomato stuffed with salmon, and deviled eggs- shoutout to 2 Amys, the only other place I've ever had deviled eggs). This meal was followed by Cecilia's very own Betty Crocker-style boxed brownies topped with dulce de leche. Didn't even know that they existed in Chile, but delish nonetheless...
Cecilia, her 30 year old son Tomás whom I looooove (I wish he would be a normal 30 year old Chilean and live with us still) and I spent the meal time mainly discussing Jumbo and China ... naturally. Generally when Cecilia goes off on one of her rants about disliking something, Tomás and I roll our eyes at one another with the unspoken thought: "yeaah, she's crazy and slightly offensive but she's an old Chilean woman so whatever." Today was a little different in that they were both expressing a very anti-China sentiment (because... they are sneaky in business transactions, kill all the females, eat rats, are COMMUNISTS). As usual, my suggestion that perhaps we should not be blaming the entire population of one billion people for these problems was pretty much completely disregarded, and I finally put an end to the conversation by declaring my love for Chinese food and suggesting that we all eat it together sometime and only then would we continue this conversation. Case closed.

Speaking of ethnic food... had a delcious Indian meal on Thursday night with some friends at one of about 4 Indian restaurants in Santiago. Lentils, rice, naan, chicken tikkamasala. I was really overdue and can't wait until Indian food once again regains a steady place in my diet.

While Indian food is rare but still good here, hummus is rare and gross here. En serio. I tried it once and immediately called upon my parents to bring some tahini into this country immediately so I could make my own. Last night was the night it went down... and it really hit the spot. Garbonzos in the can aren't really common here, so we soaked and pressure cooked some, and then made a magic combination that will have to be duplicated real soon since it was gone about 5 minutes after arriving at the asado (BBQ) that our Chilean friends were throwing. Cecilia also loved it (after telling me that she was going to have to keep the kitchen door closed for a week to extinguish the smell of the entire head of garlic that we used). She already told me I should make it again this week. It's time for Cedars/Sabra/Julie's future hummus company to get the hint: Chileans love hummus so it should be sold here.

Several other random notes:

Friday was El Dia de Los Trabajadores (Labor Day) in Chile (and I think everywhere else in the world except the good old US of A). I was shocked. It's a legit holiday here. NOTHING - not even Jumbo - was open. Can you imagine malls being closed on Labor Day in the U.S.?? Giving labor a chance to breathe instead of just creating another excuse to go sale shopping? Preposterous.

On Friday, while everything was closed, my friend Kaitlan and I ran ten miles in possible preparation for a Rock and Roll Half Marathon in September in Virginia Beach. I'm still not sure if it will work out because hotels seem quite expensive, but the entry fee to the race includes a free rock concert and glass of beer afterwards and during the race there are 20 bands on 14 stages to pump up racers... http://www.rnrvb.com/home.html. I think I might have to participate. Does anyone know anyone who lives in VA Beach?

My post-South America summer is shaping up to be very minimal but packed with excitement. I get home to NY on July 16th, head to Philly for a Taylor Swift (don't judge me, I won't judge you) concert on August 1st with some of my new friends from this program, possibly head to the Outer Banks between August 2nd and August 5th, at which point I will fly to Arizona for a 4-day conference before flying back to Boston for a week in Ptown, Cape Cod with my family for our annual drag-queen fill. Then I'll come home, pack my life up again and head back down to DC to move into my NEW HOUSE!!! Hooray! I have the master bedroom... so visitors encouraged!