Important Questions

So I think I have left  several important questions unanswered about Chile.

1.     How’s the food?

      The food, as Fr. Maher would say, “bears an unfortunate resemblance to English cuisine.” In other words, everything is pretty bland, and if it’s not bland it’s salty. French immigrants (I heard…I’m skeptical) are the ones who impressed upon Chileans the importance of bread for every meal, but the influence seems to have stopped there. All the Chileans I have heard from insist that Chileans eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but I honestly am not impressed by their greenery consumption. Markets here are full of fresh produce, and every household is stocked with avacadoes and such, but las verduras don’t usually make an appearance for breakfast or dinner, and shine briefly in a minor feature at lunch. Cabbage, lentils, beans, boiled eggs, and hotdogs all seem to be staples in my house.

            That said, there are perks to eating in Chile. The fruit and vegetables are really good compared to Alaskan fare, and the plethora of bread is high quality. Pastries are super cheap here, you can get a donut or manjar-covered cookie for around 50 cents. Street vendors also sell raisins, peanuts, and all kinds of candies for small prices. My written Spanish class took a field trip to a local market, where I bought some raisins for the first time – they were the best raisins I have ever eaten. Fresh, chewy, huge golden delights….This may prove dangerous to my waistline…

2.     What do people wear?

Fashion feels like a less-preppy Europe. People are more willing to wear bright lipstick or colorful pants, but leather and darker jackets are still a staple. A lot of people wear American sweatshirts (the thrift stores seem to be full of gringo student cast-offs) and clothing can be more beat-up or casual without being looked down upon. So it’s a scruffier Europe – none of the American glitz and plethora of accessories and new things.

3.     Sports?

One Word: Futbol. Aka soccer. Yesterday THE game was on between Chile and Iraq; Chile creamed Iraq 1 to 6, but despite the easy win the university cafeteria was packed with students glued to the tv above the microwaves. A classmate and I used the microwaves, and had more fun watching the crowd watching the tv than actually watching the game. Chile scored, everyone let out a yell and then immediately went back to the serious business of staring xrays through the tv. This was not the superbowl, this was not an appropriate moment to speak or distract from THE GAME. We ate lunch outside.

And 4. what did you do yesterday? 

Yesterday a group of kids from the church had a surprise birthday party for one of us adopted gringos. We gathered at an apartment, arranged our little potluck contributions (I’m glad they have this tradition here, Europe is missing out), put on crazy hats, and lay in wait for Stephen to be lured to the spot. He was pretty wide-eyed when we all yelled ‘sorpresa’ and gave him a hat too. Conni made ‘pulpas’ or squid, as part of the buffet. Pulpas, in this case, are hotdogs cut into sections and then each section is cut crossways part way through, making the sausage into a squid shape. As it cooks the cross-cut sections curl upwards, so they really do look like little squid. To eat them you dunk them in cheese or eat them plain. Kinda fun. After munching on the grand assortment of junk food, we had fun playing charades (with easy Spanish vocab words…they went easy on us) and then we played mafia. It was so good to laugh and be a part of a group. And we didn't have to worry about getting home too early because today is a holiday for the Assumption of the Virgin. Yay Catholicism!