This Must be the Place, my packing song

As I pack today, I can't help but think about the amazing first season of the tv series Rome I just finished or how great it would be if by some miracle I found out before stepping on the plane that Frei and Piñera weren't the two candidates to go on to the segunda ronda of the presidential elections (big fat chance, I know, but I'm dreaming big).

And I'm also excited to see my sister graduate from Georgetown after 27 months of hell in their nurse anesthesia program because that's means that we all get her back after her almost 2 1/2 year stint of nothing but studying and working (we're really kicking it off with a 2-week trip to Peru in April).

I also get to see one of my absolute favorite people in the world after almost 2 years apart, my best friend from college whom I adore/admire/respect/have the most fun ever with, H. She's flying to Virginia from Seattle on Friday and I have the perfect and most fitting surprise planned for when I pick her up at the airport (I'll post pictures from my NEW laptop that actually works once I get it from the DC apple store).

And of course, I am so happy to be spending the holidays with my parents and my sister. My family needs some quality holiday time together this year after the year and a half we've had with two untimely and obviously painful deaths in the family and my parents' ongoing struggle to keep their house. Of course, it would be so much better if Italo were going with me because he seems to make everyone feel better, but it just wasn't in the cards this year so we'll have to make due.

Off to try and fit as many bottles of wine in my suitcase possible without going over the 50-pound limit. Here's a great live version of the song:


Happy Holidays!!

How to Alienate a Gringo

I'm following Heather's and Abeja's lead on how to alienate a gringo. Since we offend easily, this could be an endless list but I'm keeping it short and Chile-specific:

1. Say you don't understand their Spanish
This is certainly true sometimes, but come on, you reallllly can't understand that she just said hola? I can always call the moment a cashier or taxi driver is going to quadruple the speed at which he speaks (yes, this is Chileno-specific) and the number of chilenismos he uses. Lots of Chilenos LOVE when Gringos don't understand them and Gringos, of course, hate it.

2. Ask, "are you all really as cold/unfriendly as you seem in movies"?

This question itself doesn't bother me at all, it's just the number of times I've had to answer it.


3. Cut in line

short Chilena with her empty shoulder bag pushes in front of you in line to cargar her Bip--nuff said

4. Give your children bebida when they say they´re thirsty

This one's obvious, but it gets to me more and more as I see the children drinking coke getting younger and younger (think a baby who can't walk yet drinking it from his/her bottle)

5. Make Jote(wine + coke = gross) out of the nice bottle of wine they brought for you

i may have to continue this one but that's all I've got for now...

I stole a kitten last night

Yes, my two group blog posts are half-finished and yes, Italo and I accidentally stole a kitten last night.

We were enjoying a Saturday night at home with wine, peruvian takeout, and Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes after an exhausting afternoon translating and editing for my boss, but we were interrupted by the persistent cries of what was clearly a distressed kitten. Larry David had to wait while we got the keys to our rooftop hot tub (had NO idea we had one) to see where this kitten was. We didn't find anything up there so we started down the stairs so we could check out of the hall windows.

On the 7th floor, we realized the cries were coming from an apartment which was strange because any cat owner in their right mind wouldn't let cries like that go unattended. So, I peaked out the hall window and saw a kitten stuck out on the edge of the apartment balcony and started freaking out because I thought the kitten would either fall off of it or try to jump to me.

Fast forward to after Italo tried to fit through the window that wouldn't slide open while I held his legs so he wouldn't fall and we had successfully saved/stolen a beautiful kitten from our building supervisor's apartment. By the time we got to the first floor, I was so worried the guy who owned the cat would no doubt think we were NUTS for taking his cat and also probably think we were trying to rob his place. Luckily, our doorman had our back since several people had called down asking about the kitten and he promised to keep calling the guy on his cell phone and to leave a note for him when he got home if he didn't pick up.

So that's how we spent the night with the cutest, but most messed up kitten I've ever seen. I think the fact that his owner leaves him out on the balcony for 24-hour stretches doesn't help his issues. We ended up having to call the owner early this afternoon to come get him even though apparently he got home last night. That's almost as weird as our "taking" the cat in the first place, ja.

And all today I've heard his cries from the balcony which kills me. He didn't cry at all in our apartment so something's up with that guy. A picture or two is coming (yup, we took pictures of our loot) while I try to figure out the deal with this guy. We named him Balconcito in honor of our first encounter.

Thanksgiving Apartment

I wanted to tap into my Thanksgiving spirit today and say that I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life: my family, my friends, my job, my amazing boyfriend, my education, my dog, free podcasts in the morning, Chilean wine, and Felicity reruns on Sony, but that post would get too cheesy. So I'd like focus on one thing and declare that I am shamelessly and forever grateful for MY APARTMENT!*

It may sound materialistic and shallow, but I am totally, as in 100%, obsessed with my apartment and neighborhood. So much so that I had to write about it and clearly, i don't get inspired to write that much so it truly is a great place, hah.

But back to the place. Each time I walk out the door I feel lucky to live where I live with the new coffee shop with good wifi literally 3 steps from my door and my pal across the street at the liquor store who sells us overpriced bottles of wine almost daily (yikes, we drink a lot of wine!). And every time I walk in the door I think, "I'm so lucky to have this huge patio and honest and friendly doormen."

And yes, I'm a Santiago Centro girl and proud of it. I love the convenience of living near tons of banks, restaurants, servipags and sencillitos. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the city...at all...ever. And I've lived in Las Condes, Providencia and San Ramon so it's not that I don't know what I'm missing or in the case of San Ramon, not missing (sorry suegra!).

OK, I know that no one would be jealous of my siutico landlord or the absurd gastos comunes we pay, but there's no way I could afford our place in the U.S., especially not smack dab in the center of the city and I'm eternally thankful that I can here.

I guess I can't say that with a straight face since all you have to do is read back a few months to read about my bitching and moaning, but it's partly true.

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving and happy eating to everyone, and a special shoutout to my adorable little place: I appreciate you (and of course my family, friends and Italo).



*After reading Lydia's mi mama/nuestra mama post, I feel Chilean saying my apartment since it's OUR apartment, but it's MY post :) and it's riddled with the word my to prove it

Culture Shock?

I was talking to my best friend from home the other day about how much happier I've been lately when it comes to my life in Chile. Granted, I attribute a lot of this to the fact that I love my new job and hated the old one, but he attributed it to my having finally gotten over my culture shock.

At first, all I could think about was the silly seminar on culture shock all study abroad students at my school had to attend before they left for whichever country the had chosen. Then, I took offense and thought, "Hey, I've lived here for more than two years now. I'm way past that study abroad stage.". But I thought about it more and I think he was right. I think I've moved on to another level of what I like to call "cultural comfiness".

I really resisted Chile when I first moved back here without realizing it, but it manifested itself in my never doing "permanent" things here. I never got health insurance, I never bothered to get a cuenta rut and I was always planning for when I left in a year or two. Now, I'm making up for that lost time by really living here.

I think my job change factors in here again because not only do I like it, but I also think the experience I'm getting there will help me in the future regardless of where I end up living and working. Also, the people there are more settled here. There's no group of foreigners here to teach for 6 month or a year and then leave. Everyone's here now and maybe for good if they're not already from here. It's a really good feeling to know your boss hired you to stay as long as you want instead of until your 1-year contract expires.

Also, I don't know what changed but I've been able to get closer to Italo's family, especially his mom and sister. Our relationship is stronger and a lot less tense, but I can't explain it well beyond that. All I know is we're communicating so much better now when before, I was always frustrated because there was always a barrier that made it really hard for us to see eye-to-eye.

Going along with this idea, I'm able to think about Chile on its own, not compared to the U.S. Instead of thinking how it would be in the U.S. and bitching about how it is here, I can (sometimes!) avoid that entirely. For example, Italo and I went to Oktoberfest in Malloco last weekend and I had the best time ever. Normally, I don't like big events like that here because the lines are a mess and it's impossible to get water (see my Cumbre de Rock Chileno post) and good food. And to top it off, getting back by bus takes forever. This time, I not only didn't mind any of that, I hardly noticed. And I remember thinking, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here right now (I only tried 3 beers the entire day so it wasn't the alcohol talking).

Lastly, I'm not as anxious about being away from my friends and family back in the U.S. I was having a really difficult time feeling at ease knowing I was so far away from "home". This made me a nervous wreck at the strangest times because I always thought something bad was going to happen. I still feel like that because bad things have happened, but I have a much more grounded and logical approach to it.

I guess my friend was right that it was a sort of culture shock I had to get over to get to this point because I've never hated Chile, I've just never felt completely comfortable here. Now, I can honestly say that it feels like home for the time being. Maybe it's because we might be leaving next year?

Hummus in Chile made easy (well, easier) and Pho

I make hummus a lot wherever I am because in my book you can't go wrong with lots of olive oil, garbanzos and garlic, but here in Chile it's much more of a process because you have to soak and cook the garbanzo beans before you even start. I'm so used to soaking and cooking beans that that part doesn't doesn't bother me, but not having a food processor for after I cook the beans is a bit frustrating.

I've often gone to town with my pot and "masher" (a.k.a. glass cup) for over an hour trying to turn those darn beans into a smooth paste, but the finished product is never what I'm hoping for. I have a blender, but it can't handle too many solids so it's been useless so far. But on Sunday, I finally did it!

I always buy garbanzos without the skin and this Sunday at la Vega was no different. What was new was that they only had the really small beans without skin which seem to be the answer. I also put them into the blender immediately after they were done so they were really hot. Then, I added all of the other ingredients and was finished in under 10 minutes which beats my previous "making hummus in Chile" record by a ton.

Italo has become a master pita chip maker so we had a delicious Sunday night snack with a bottle of Concha y Toro Riberas Camenere (not as good as the Syrah or the Cabernet Sauvignon in my opinion) and scrabble.

Earlier that day, I made Vietnamese Pho from what I think is the perfect recipe because it's so easy to follow and delicious. It turned out a lot better than my first attempt a few months ago because I bought more beef bones for the stock and did a better job cutting off the fat before I cooked them. What's so wonderful about being in Chile and making pho is that churrasco is a cheaper, easier to find and still yummy alternative to flank steak and the spices and sauces that go in it will last me forever.

All in all, I had a very successful Sunday cooking which is my all time favorite way to spend a day of rest at home with my man. My next cooking adventure will be trying this ridiculously delicious sounding stew recipe my mom gave me that involves soaking a pork shoulder in 2 bottles of red wine and TWENTY cloves of garlic over night.

"Chilean" Craving?

Today for lunch I didn't feel like cooking because I've been sick in bed all day, but I was pretty hungry and craving what is to me a really Chilean lunch even though I'm not sure it qualifies as a plato (dish). When I mentioned it to Italo, his jaw practically fell to the floor since I almost always insist on 1 of 2 things: picking up takeout or going to la vega and cooking some elaborate meal. So when I suggested something easy and inexspensive, it was surprising.

What was it you ask? 20-minute white rice, a tomato, and one of those frozen hamburgers from the grocery store although I would have been happy with any meat. What makes it so Chilean to me is that it was arranged on my plate so that the tomato juice dripped onto my rice making it kind of a soupy concoction and I ate it all with a dollop of MAYONNAISE!

One thing I love about a meal like that is that it's so filling and inexpensive, but what I have always complained about in the past is the fact that a "meal" that is a very common lunch special or menu at countless restaurants here is (to me) something you make in college when you're too broke to go to the grocery store so you throw together whatever's left. Granted, I'll never consider it a culinary treat, I will admit that I overreacted a little bit and that it leaves me totally happy and satisfecha (full)...sometimes.

My question is what are other people's not-so-Chilean Chilean cravings? Rice, tomatoes and meat are certainly not what I think about when I think of Chilean cuisine. Instead, I think of cazuela, pastel de choclo and machas a la parmesana, but perhaps it's the combination and the memories of eating it with my host mom while I was studying abroad here (think the Clos commercials in the metro when he remembers la despedida de su hijo) that instantly remind me of Chile.