So many things I need to write about. So little time. Here goes-
My Sunday was filled with a long- but informative and quite enjoyable (to be on a bike that is..) bike ride around the city of Santiago. It was a tad too lengthy and they advised us not to bring lunch- because apparently snacks would be sufficient. Close, but no cigar. Therefore the HANGER that ensued was no match for the epic confusion of why NOTHING was open because it was sunday. Come on Chile! Wake up! I believe you could say this is what happens when Chileans go out until 4am in the morning and sleep in the next day, eat lunch maybe at 2pm and then enjoy their time with the fam. This is no exaggeration, I swear my host sister came home at 4am a few weekends ago. The parties don't start til at least midnight up in this joint.
Despite my growing hanger and of course...desperate need to pee, I resisted the (not so) tempting appeal of street food that seemed to be calling to my dear friend David. Don't worry we both survived- I just survived by examining my options and learning how to make my own sandwich from the corner shop's slightly sketchy looking turkey and fresh bread. David on the other hand satisfied his hanger with greasy piece of fried chicken, yum. If Chile is good at one thing, its make fresh, delicious bread (with no nutritional value...but what's new- iceburg lettuce, white rice, cookies and turkey anyone?).
Speaking of nutritional value...quick side story, before I forget...
So that green leaf lettuce. Mama Isabel informed me that she purchased it to make a tortilla (egg dish from Spain- cachai?). That's right- she bought three heads of green leaf lettuce to wilt down and scramble up with 4 eggs. Anyone interested in Chilean food recipes? Here ya go. They like their food simple, bland (I'm sorry- I must have drank the haterade this morning..) and with always made with the same ingredients- think tomatoes, corn, rice and perhaps chicken. Luckily my mama doesn't make anything fried (yet) and I like I said, I can always count on a nice turkey sandwich or a yogurt(;
Two more food stories-
First, I tried a fruit which is referred to as "Tuna" which according to google is actually a Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit- It kind of tastes like a kiwi with a non-furry skin, kind of more like a melon flavor with huge seeds like a passion fruit. Maybe you should google it too(:
Secondly, yesterday Mama Isabel made a typical chilean dish known as "Pastel de Choclo" which means corn cake (it's more like a Chilean Sheppard's Pie if you will). It had ground beef, onions, chicken, olives and hard boiled eggs (I'm sensing a theme with the hard boiled eggs and olives- refer to the previous post and my description of a typical Chilean Empanada). Then you put a corn pudding type mixture on top and bake it in the oven. It was pretty good! Like I said they like their food incredibly bland (Mama despises black pepper and occasionally salts her food) so the dishes never really have much flavor but nevertheless, easy to eat. It's funny- my friends and I were reflecting on the fact that the food is never phenomenal here, I don't know if I would ever try to recreate anything back at home, because although some dishes are better than others- we are seriously spoiled with variety and flavors in the US. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that most dishes have simple, cheap ingredients like corn and potatoes which aren't on my list of favorite foods.
Before I turn this into a food blog...back to Lollapalooza! Once we were no longer hypoglycemic we proceeded to enter the lively music festival just a few blocks away. The magical music of Lolla included
Alt-J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ywRGSTl6U
Bastille
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5WiewjQtZ8
and some hippy, weed smoking reggae performer.
In other news, I still don't know exactly what classes I'm taking- I'm currently milking an opportunity to get an old class of mine bumped up to the 4000 level so that I don't have to take this dumb International Relations class that starts at 8:30am, is on a friday (friday classes are a no go if you want to travel on the weekend- ie: NOBODY takes friday classes) and is full of students who enjoy sharing their discontent with American foreign policies (which albeit I just listed that as a negative aspect of the class- it is pretty insightful to hear their perspective). Hope that made sense. The other issue with my classes here is that my class at the Universidad de Chile was supposed to start last monday- then I discovered that it started this monday- until the professor was a no show. Typical.
As far as ceramics goes....I'll have to fill you after manaña- I have class bright and early- that's right- another 8:30am class.
xoxo
 |
| "San" hattan (see if you can figure that one out) |
Despite my growing hanger and of course...desperate need to pee, I resisted the (not so) tempting appeal of street food that seemed to be calling to my dear friend David. Don't worry we both survived- I just survived by examining my options and learning how to make my own sandwich from the corner shop's slightly sketchy looking turkey and fresh bread. David on the other hand satisfied his hanger with greasy piece of fried chicken, yum. If Chile is good at one thing, its make fresh, delicious bread (with no nutritional value...but what's new- iceburg lettuce, white rice, cookies and turkey anyone?).
Speaking of nutritional value...quick side story, before I forget...
So that green leaf lettuce. Mama Isabel informed me that she purchased it to make a tortilla (egg dish from Spain- cachai?). That's right- she bought three heads of green leaf lettuce to wilt down and scramble up with 4 eggs. Anyone interested in Chilean food recipes? Here ya go. They like their food simple, bland (I'm sorry- I must have drank the haterade this morning..) and with always made with the same ingredients- think tomatoes, corn, rice and perhaps chicken. Luckily my mama doesn't make anything fried (yet) and I like I said, I can always count on a nice turkey sandwich or a yogurt(;
Two more food stories-
First, I tried a fruit which is referred to as "Tuna" which according to google is actually a Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit- It kind of tastes like a kiwi with a non-furry skin, kind of more like a melon flavor with huge seeds like a passion fruit. Maybe you should google it too(:
Secondly, yesterday Mama Isabel made a typical chilean dish known as "Pastel de Choclo" which means corn cake (it's more like a Chilean Sheppard's Pie if you will). It had ground beef, onions, chicken, olives and hard boiled eggs (I'm sensing a theme with the hard boiled eggs and olives- refer to the previous post and my description of a typical Chilean Empanada). Then you put a corn pudding type mixture on top and bake it in the oven. It was pretty good! Like I said they like their food incredibly bland (Mama despises black pepper and occasionally salts her food) so the dishes never really have much flavor but nevertheless, easy to eat. It's funny- my friends and I were reflecting on the fact that the food is never phenomenal here, I don't know if I would ever try to recreate anything back at home, because although some dishes are better than others- we are seriously spoiled with variety and flavors in the US. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that most dishes have simple, cheap ingredients like corn and potatoes which aren't on my list of favorite foods.
Alt-J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ywRGSTl6U
Bastille
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5WiewjQtZ8
and some hippy, weed smoking reggae performer.
 |
| We had to take a picture to prove we were there! |
As far as ceramics goes....I'll have to fill you after manaña- I have class bright and early- that's right- another 8:30am class.
xoxo
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