Everything Here Is About Food

Santiago is weird.  There is no other word to describe this city.  Ask anybody.

Last weekend I went to the beach with my new flatmates.  It was definately interesting.  Both of my flatmates are from the States and bilingual (one has lived in Chile for 4+ years; the other has lived in Chile for over a year, and her family is from El Salvador), and the rest of the group was Chilean.  It was Spanish the entire time (except for the couple of times I had no idea what was going on and someone had to explain what was going on. 

The fact that it was all Chilean all the time made it a challenge, of course.  But what was also challenging about it was being dropped into a group of close friend without really knowing any of them.  This made me realize how much this move has made me grow as a person.  I never would have done something like that in the past.  This experience has really made me come out of my bubble.  I want to thank Santiago for that, despite its high level of weirdness. 

I got to try a fantastic new food last weekend!  They were patties made out of carne de soya, so it was kind of like a Boca burger or something of that nature.  This was so much better though!  Carne de soya is much like dehydrated tofu- you soak it in water and then mix it with stuff and it picks up the flavors of whatever you mix it with.  We mixed it with egg, onion, and bread crumbs, formed it into a paddy, and grilled it.  I put the grilled paddy on a toasted bun with palta (avocado), tomate, and lechuga (lettuce) and had a burst of flavor in my mouth.  I am going to get some carne de soya the next time I am at the store.  It is a great source of protein and can easily be added to almost anything. 

One last share about the fondas from the celebrations for the 18th- it can prove to be challenging to be a vegitarian, especially on the last night of a fonda.  There were no vegetarian dishes left at the fonda I went to the Monday after the 18th.  There were tons of antichuchos with more meat than any one person should eat (I thought Americans ate a lot of meat, but they have nothing on the Chilean anticuchos), but nothing sans meat.  I found caramel corn though.  And mote con huesillo.  It is this fantastic sweet drink.  They put mote (boiled wheat stuff) in a cup, and then they put a dried peach and peach juice in the cup.  It's fun.  Look:

Mote con Huesillos

I found a recipe, and I want to try to make it (for those that might be interested in trying such an ethnic beverage) when I come back to Iowa.  It might turn out right though because I hear the closest thing we have to mote is hominy.

I, along with many of my friends, feel that all we think about is food and what our next meal is going to be.  I am always thinking of what I can try to make (because half of the time I have to alter recipes and find alternatives- remind me to tell the story of  baking cookies).  I also love thinking about the new and exciting foods I get to eat while I am here (i.e. carne de soya).  Tomorrow I get to check out a Thai place with some friends.  We will see how this goes.

Finally, I just want to say that I think Travis is right (to some degree) about only being friends with people because it is convenient.  If you aren't right there, people kind of start to forget about you.  I have to decide if he was right about the part where you just stop being friends when the distance becomes to inconvenient.  I really started to think about all of this last week when all of my classes were getting canceled and I was starting to get bored out of my mind. 

Peace and love

Current Tunes: Dresden Dolls (I am in the process of moving all of my music from my iPod to my computer, so I am being reminded of all the great music I started to forget about.  I have been listening to this fantastic "faggy" (in the words of Travis) music while walking to classes today.)

¡Feliz Cumpleaño, Chile!

I wanted to share a few more things from last weekend with you all.  And this time, it is mostly photos and video.  I hope you enjoy.

I went to a couple of fondas (see my previous entry if you are wondering what a fonda is), and there were some interesting things to see.

First of all, there was so much candy and candied fruit!  It was overwhelming!  It was not only an insane amount of sweets, but they were so pretty, too!  Look!

Candy, Candy, and More Candy

And this was only one side of the candy booth.  There were two more sides filled with candy, just like this!  And look at all the candied stuff!

Candied Manzanas, Frutillas, Crezas, Malvaviscos, y Más

Clea, Jemma, and I got to talk to a huaso (think Chilean cowboy) about the insane spurs he was wearing and the outrageous price of huaso clothing.

Jemma, Clea, Huaso, Me

Crazy Huge Huaso Spurs

They also have traditional dances from different parts of Chile.  Here is some video of the dances from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which I thought  was the coolest.  These videos don't capture it, but there was definitely a lot of pan flute action and pelvic thrusting at other parts in the dance.  I am sad I didn't get it.

And this one is the females shakin' their groove thangs.

I got to play one of the coolest games ever.  It is called Squatter.  It is the classic Australian board game of sheep herding.  It is kind of like Monopoly, only tons better, and much more educational.  You are a sheep farmer, and you have to try to upgrade your land to the highest level and fill it with the maximum number of sheep pens allowed.  It sounds kind of easy, but not so much when you can only buy and sell sheep when you land on stock sale spots, and sometimes the market isn't very favorable to buy and/or sell sheep.  Then you have to repair fences, fix water lines, dip for fleas, and much much more.  I think it more accurately deals with the situation farmers and businesses face.  (And I think I know someone named Travis who would like the way it deals with market fluctuation and natural disasters).  When I grow up and have a house with a game room, I am for sure going to have Squatter in my game collection.

Squatter: The Classic Australian Game of Sheep Herding

¡Chi-Chi-Chi le-le-le! ¡Viva Chile!

This weekend was (well, I guess it kind of still is) Chile's bicentenario.  Yesterday was their independence day and today they celebrate the military.  The whole weekend has been filled with shenanigans and celebration.
Thursday afternoon we had party at work.  It was cool to be able to talk to some other people from work.  We don't get to see each other much because we are usually out and about at businesses teaching.  There was an insane amount of kabobs as well.  Like, bajillions.  And people ate bajillions.  There was also some really good bread and pico de gallo salsa type stuff for those of us (and by us, I mean me) who don't eat meat.  I am pretty sure I am the only person there that didn't eat meat.  That's fine- more bread for me!  There was drinking and dancing and eating and an all around good time.  It was much like Independence Day in the States, except they have traditional dances here that they do. 

Thursday night a group of us decided to see the light show at La Moneda.  It was pretty sweet.  It told the story of Chile's history through lights and sound.  If you know anything about Chile's history, you know it is kind of intense.  The energy was really intense too.  There were sooo many people there, and they were all feeling Chilean and patriotic.  It was definitely something to experience.

I also went to a fonda, which is just like a fair (think Iowa State Fair only slightly smaller), except there are stages where people do this traditional dance.  I don't really understand the dance.  It has a whole story, and it is very specific and generally confusing.

Today is the military parade.  I decided not to go.  I am not really that into watching the military march down the street.  Besides, I have the convenience of watching it on TV right now.  I don't think I am too disappointed with missing it.

Both Friday and  Monday are considered part of the holiday (I am assuming because it fell on a weekend?), so most things are closed.  I don't have work, which is kind of ok, but then I don't get paid.  It also kind of sucks because I really want to go to the grocery store.  I have some potatoes to eat, and that is about it.  There are a couple of places open today, but that is literally it- a couple of places.  And from the sounds of it, there isn't going to be anything open tomorrow either.  I really just want a Hy-Vee right now.  It would make my life (and by life, I mean belly) significantly more full.


Finally, please follow my volunteering blog, Allison Volunteers.  When I contact businesses, it will look better for me if more people are following my blog.  It looks like more people will read my public thanks for my businesses sponsors.  So follow me.  You should also like my cause on facebook.  It has the same effect.  Finally, you can follow me on Twitter.  This also has the same effect.  It's really not hard, and you only have to put up with it for less than a year.  Besides, it is for a good cause.