FRIDAY:
After waking up late, I met my friend at the bus station. We decided to go to Pichilemu, a beach to the south, so after waiting in 5 wrong lines we got on the bus. There was no AC, and the bus was just sitting there, and a baby was crying, and we were not in the mood so we got off and went to Vina del mar instead. We jumped in the ocean and got tumbled by the huge waves, then watched the sunset over the coast. Then, we all tried to go out for sushi, but of course nothing is as simple as it may seem. We finally sat down at the table, starving, and asked for sake bombs. The chileans had no idea what a sake bomb was, so, like the good gringos that we are, we gave them a demonstration. On the second sake bomb we broke 3 of our glasses on accident, but managed to keep that hidden. Our sushi was increddddddible, so delicious, especially since we were starving. After finishing dinner around 12:30 (normal Chilean time), we walked around Vina looking for clubs, but there continued to be problems with each one (we weren't dressed up enough, they saw us drinking on the street, etc), so we ended up going to bed after a while, but the meal was enough to make it a wonderful night.
SATURDAY:
We agreed to go meet another group of friends to go on a "hike", which I was unprepared for, having only my chaco sandles and no camping gear, but we figured oh well we can make it work. That was the beginning of a trecherous 9 hour journey up a giant mountain. William was convinced that we could make the peak that day, even though the rangers warned us repeatedly that it couldn't be done because we had gotten to the park too late. But we said, darn it, we're americans! of course we can! And set off to hike the peak. The boys wanted to camp at the top of the peak, and the rangers said that it was impossible because.. dun dun dunnn.. there is a mysterious bug who resides at the upper levels of the mountain, who is small with salmon colored stripes, and if he bites you... you will die in 30 years. you don't know if you have been bitten, and there are no symptoms until 5 years later and there is no cure. So whether this is a myth they tell so you won't camp up there, or whether it's true, who knows - but if I die on valentines day when i'm 50 here is why. We saw on the map the campsite that looked furthest up, so our plan was to hike to the camp, set up and leave the gear, then finish the climb. After about 3 hours of extremely hard and verticle hiking with our packs, we run into the rangers again- "why the hell do yall have all of your camping gear with you, the campsite is 5 km down the hill, just 10 minutes from the park entrance, you stupid gringos! we told you!" us- "uhhhh", and then Jake pipes in "ohh yea, I saw the sign for the campsite but since it was 10 minutes in to the hike I thought it couldn't be the right one". So basically we hiked all that way with all of our camping gear, food, drinks, for nothing, in the heat of the day. Ahhh!! So then we just left our gear in a hidden spot on the trail and continued up. It was such hard hiking, having to use our hands a lot, it was slippery, and almost completely vertical. And I was in chacos, a sundress, with 4 hours of sleep under my belt. But I made it super far up, until the very last part leading up to the peak which was extremely slippery and you had to bear crawl, so Cassidy and I decided we had made it plenty far, so we sat there and took in the view. It was pretty scary up there, one wrong foothold and you were going to fall down the mountain. But believe me, we fell plenty of times on the way down. By the end of it my knees were killing me and I could barely walk. We made it back down to the campsite just as the sun set, and felt very accomplished for doing something that supposedly couldn't be done! That is our American spirit! :) Then Liz cooked a gourmet camping meal of spaghetti with sauteed veggies. I had to sleep in the tent, on the hard ground, with no pillow or blanket, and my ipod died after a little while. Worst night of sleep i've had in a long time, just laying there waiting for the sun to come up.
SUNDAY:
Our attempt to "get the hell out of there and get home" translated into a 6 hour misadventure home. when we finally reached Santiago we headed straight to California Cantina for gringo food, but, of course it was closed. So I went to the next street over to the amazing vegetarian restaurant for great mexican food, which was much more delicious anyway. then I passed out, my body aching,so extremely tired. happy valentines day!!
MONDAY:
Tonight Randy made curry from scratch, with a veggie curry for me!! sooooo delicious!!!!!!! As jenna said earlier today, "chileans hate flavor", so tonight we all savored the delicious spices and aromas that came from real food.
Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Cajon del
WEDNESDAY:
In downtown Santiago there is a huge, old, yellow castle/shrine that is dedicated to the place where (I think) the Spanish explorers came and founded Santiago. Of course, there was already an indigenous temple there, but the Spaniards built over it. But now its a beautiful park with a beautiful castle sitting on top. And, wouldn't you know it, the castle turns in to a dance club on Wednesday nights! So, last Wednesday, my friend Sebastian got a couple of us on "the list" to get in to the super exclusive party where professionals go after work to mingle and dance. The inside of the castle is a 3 story dance club... it's awesome. And outside the castle is all lit up and there are couches and places to lounge. So that is where I think we could find our wealthy Chilean husbands (ha, ha).
THURSDAY:
We had the delicious frozen yogurt treat in the coolest patio in Bellavista Santiago to cool off in the afternoon. I don't remember if I have described it or not, but you can pick any fresh fruit that you want, mixed in with fat free frozen yogurt, no sugar added, for a delicious (non vegan) treat.
Then, we came back to the patio that night and sat in the most pleasant atmosphere I've been in, up top of one of the restaurants, with the sun setting, good music, wine and sushi. Very, very, very nice. I could live in that patio, there are probably 10 restaurants that are all delicious, and they all have a different theme and decor.
FRIDAY:
One of the really nice things about Santiago is that there are lots of cool places to see right outside of the city. To visit Cajon Del Maipo (mountainous adventure region), all you do is take the metro to the end of the line, and it's a 2 dollar cab ride into the quaint town nestled in the mountains. We found another great campsite, right on the raging river (which is brown from the sediment, not pollution), and cooked up veggies and fish in foil, sang songs around the campfire, then slept next to the rushing river.
SATURDAY:
I wake up to the sounds of a loudspeaker coming from a distance, some music, and my tent is blazing hot already by 9:30 so I get up and walk towards the loud speakers... Of course, we unknowingly pitched our tents at the Chilean Rodeo fair grounds!!! Of course! So I meander into the corral, half asleep, and watch the opening ceremonies take place. Everyone (including one girl) was on their horses (which are shorter than horses in the States), wearing striped ponchos, wide brimmed hats, and spurs that are probably 3 inches in diameter. The cowboys would ride out in pairs and shoo a cow against the railing, up, down, then shoo her out. Again and again. It was very entertaining, more so because the location was beautiful - tall trees, a huge mountain in the background, and tons of families out there bright and early to enjoy the rodeo. I felt very close to Texas, not to mention how the Chilean flags were everywhere there and reminded me of home :)
Inspired by the spirit of the rodeo, we rented some horses and went on a wild horse ride through the mountains. We were trotting and cantering, screaming and laughing, perched precariously on the edges of cliffs, hoping our horses knew how not to tumble down the mountain. My friend's horse was a mama and her baby followed us, running, the entire way. The scenery was beautiful, I saw lots of cool houses, fields, and little streams of water. There are probably few things more exhilarating than trotting on a horse through the countryside, trusting it and trusting yourself to hold on. And that's where the Texan in me comes out!
After our horse adventure we went and cooled off in the pool which was very refreshing, then took the bus back to Santiago. Jenna cooked an amazing dinner for us (best Ive had in Chile), shrimp cooked in orange marmalade, candied walnuts, coconut, roasted veggies, and real salad- and it looked so easy! thank you jenna!
Seems that every weekend here, by the time Saturday comes around, we want nothing more than to go home and go to sleep early.
SUNDAY:
Sundays are so quiet in Santiago, it's a completely different city. Most everything shuts down, so I spent the morning walking around Provedencia, another neighborhood I love, and just kinda getting to know the streets and seeing what was there, without the millions of people swarming around. Then came superbowl Sunday, which we spent at California Cantina. It was paaacked, but we got there early and got great seats, enjoyed watching the game and celebrating this American holiday with our gringo compadres. The Chileans/Latinos that were there said "I like football ok, but I don't understand, what is with all the stopping??? You play for 5 seconds, then take a minute break to walk around the field and discuss, play for 2 seconds, stop again" My sentiments, exactly.
In downtown Santiago there is a huge, old, yellow castle/shrine that is dedicated to the place where (I think) the Spanish explorers came and founded Santiago. Of course, there was already an indigenous temple there, but the Spaniards built over it. But now its a beautiful park with a beautiful castle sitting on top. And, wouldn't you know it, the castle turns in to a dance club on Wednesday nights! So, last Wednesday, my friend Sebastian got a couple of us on "the list" to get in to the super exclusive party where professionals go after work to mingle and dance. The inside of the castle is a 3 story dance club... it's awesome. And outside the castle is all lit up and there are couches and places to lounge. So that is where I think we could find our wealthy Chilean husbands (ha, ha).
THURSDAY:
We had the delicious frozen yogurt treat in the coolest patio in Bellavista Santiago to cool off in the afternoon. I don't remember if I have described it or not, but you can pick any fresh fruit that you want, mixed in with fat free frozen yogurt, no sugar added, for a delicious (non vegan) treat.
Then, we came back to the patio that night and sat in the most pleasant atmosphere I've been in, up top of one of the restaurants, with the sun setting, good music, wine and sushi. Very, very, very nice. I could live in that patio, there are probably 10 restaurants that are all delicious, and they all have a different theme and decor.
FRIDAY:
One of the really nice things about Santiago is that there are lots of cool places to see right outside of the city. To visit Cajon Del Maipo (mountainous adventure region), all you do is take the metro to the end of the line, and it's a 2 dollar cab ride into the quaint town nestled in the mountains. We found another great campsite, right on the raging river (which is brown from the sediment, not pollution), and cooked up veggies and fish in foil, sang songs around the campfire, then slept next to the rushing river.
SATURDAY:
I wake up to the sounds of a loudspeaker coming from a distance, some music, and my tent is blazing hot already by 9:30 so I get up and walk towards the loud speakers... Of course, we unknowingly pitched our tents at the Chilean Rodeo fair grounds!!! Of course! So I meander into the corral, half asleep, and watch the opening ceremonies take place. Everyone (including one girl) was on their horses (which are shorter than horses in the States), wearing striped ponchos, wide brimmed hats, and spurs that are probably 3 inches in diameter. The cowboys would ride out in pairs and shoo a cow against the railing, up, down, then shoo her out. Again and again. It was very entertaining, more so because the location was beautiful - tall trees, a huge mountain in the background, and tons of families out there bright and early to enjoy the rodeo. I felt very close to Texas, not to mention how the Chilean flags were everywhere there and reminded me of home :)
Inspired by the spirit of the rodeo, we rented some horses and went on a wild horse ride through the mountains. We were trotting and cantering, screaming and laughing, perched precariously on the edges of cliffs, hoping our horses knew how not to tumble down the mountain. My friend's horse was a mama and her baby followed us, running, the entire way. The scenery was beautiful, I saw lots of cool houses, fields, and little streams of water. There are probably few things more exhilarating than trotting on a horse through the countryside, trusting it and trusting yourself to hold on. And that's where the Texan in me comes out!
After our horse adventure we went and cooled off in the pool which was very refreshing, then took the bus back to Santiago. Jenna cooked an amazing dinner for us (best Ive had in Chile), shrimp cooked in orange marmalade, candied walnuts, coconut, roasted veggies, and real salad- and it looked so easy! thank you jenna!
Seems that every weekend here, by the time Saturday comes around, we want nothing more than to go home and go to sleep early.
SUNDAY:
Sundays are so quiet in Santiago, it's a completely different city. Most everything shuts down, so I spent the morning walking around Provedencia, another neighborhood I love, and just kinda getting to know the streets and seeing what was there, without the millions of people swarming around. Then came superbowl Sunday, which we spent at California Cantina. It was paaacked, but we got there early and got great seats, enjoyed watching the game and celebrating this American holiday with our gringo compadres. The Chileans/Latinos that were there said "I like football ok, but I don't understand, what is with all the stopping??? You play for 5 seconds, then take a minute break to walk around the field and discuss, play for 2 seconds, stop again" My sentiments, exactly.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Mucho Carrete y Isla Negra
THURSDAY:
Our trusty chilean amigo, Exe, invited us to be VIPs at a discoteca in his neighborhood. He and his friends continue to be so nice, welcoming, and fun fun fun (plus they are all great dancers). We probably upset some chileans when the 20 gringos cut in front of the line at the bar, but once we were upstairs in the VIP lounge it was awesome. We had our own dance floor perched above the regular dance floor, and we gringos tore it up. The Chilean boys move so well, and they are eager to try out all sorts of fancy steps. We all danced all night and from now on VIP is the way to go (I am spoiled already). After the bar, we had a gringo congregation/feast sprawled out in the parking lot of McDonalds- Classic. And they let us order through the drive-through window which they never allow in the states.
Our trusty chilean amigo, Exe, invited us to be VIPs at a discoteca in his neighborhood. He and his friends continue to be so nice, welcoming, and fun fun fun (plus they are all great dancers). We probably upset some chileans when the 20 gringos cut in front of the line at the bar, but once we were upstairs in the VIP lounge it was awesome. We had our own dance floor perched above the regular dance floor, and we gringos tore it up. The Chilean boys move so well, and they are eager to try out all sorts of fancy steps. We all danced all night and from now on VIP is the way to go (I am spoiled already). After the bar, we had a gringo congregation/feast sprawled out in the parking lot of McDonalds- Classic. And they let us order through the drive-through window which they never allow in the states.
FRIDAY:
Naturally, I slept through my alarm that morning because we were supposed to be at school at 8:30 to go on the school field trip to Pomaire and Isla Negra. Luckily, Jenna also overslept, so she and I headed out to El Tabo together to meet the rest of the group. The second we left Santiago we were stunned. I swear, this weekend we must have said "ohh, my god" about a thousand times just from the sheer beauty of Chile!!! Literally! The country side is soo green and lush, with farm houses scattered around, horses, flowers, vineyards. I would almost hate to sleep on the bus because I would miss out on the scenery. We arrived in El Tabo with instructions to find a campsite for a group of 15, and it was surprisingly easy. We found a spot right on the beach, which we later referred to lovingly as the Refugee Camp. Then we walked along the ocean, looking at the houses and dreaming about where we could live one day. Dinner was at a seafood restaurant right on the ocean, which we had all to ourselves. The sea is deep blue, and in this part of the coast there are tons of big black rocks, so where the sea hits them it turns in to light blue swells and then a kelp forest right near shore. After dinner we bought our standard camping food - bread, avocado, tomato, basil, and 3 bottles of nice wine for 8$. Next came one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. We had a mango pisco coctail, my ipod speakers, and we sat perched on some rocks in awe of the beauty and the magic that is this life!! Seriously, my heart was about to burst (which was a common occurance this weekend). Every minute of the sunset was more and more beautiful, and when we lacked the words to describe it we just said "oh, my, god" again and again. It was so incredibly incredible. I felt so unbelievably lucky to be there in that moment, to be here in chile, I really can't describe..
We then passed a fun night camping on the beach. I tripped over a soccer goal and face planted on the concrete while all the chilean families in the refugee camp clapped for me and laughed, so I took a bow. Then I bled. Not my most graceful moment.
SATURDAY:
Have you ever been so blessed as to be woken up at 8:30 in the morning by a cacophony of extremely loud spanish dance music and men cheering? No? You are missing out. It was pure hell. We were all woken up after only a few hours of sleep, so I stumbled over to our friendly neighbor's campsite and said "it's a little early, don't you think?" they looked around and checked their watches "no, it's 8:30 isn't it?" ummm yeaaa "what", they said, "does it bother you??" DUH. oh my, I cannot describe the level of annoyance that I felt at that moment. They were partying hard at 8 am and all we wanted to do was sleep. So, we relocated to the beach where we all tried to pretend like we weren't cold.
Anyway, then Jenna came and found me and we walked to Isla Negra! Oh my! Such a quaint, beautiful town nestled in a pine forest and perched above the ocean. I had the most incredible honeydew melon juice. The town is basically dedicated to Pablo Neruda, with most of the restaurants and shops dedicated to Neruda memoribilia. We walked to his house and I swear I had arrived in what my heaven will look like. His house is incredible. It is built to look like a ship, and the location... It is in the pine forest, with an incredible view of the rough ocean, and a sloping garden full of flowers and greenery. We had lunch at the restaurant right next to his house, coffee ice cream, and I almost died of pure bliss.
When I first bought 20 love poems and a song of desperation last year, I thought, "well, it's only 20 poems so i'm sure i'll glide through this really quickly", but instead I spent weeks on each one and the book took me months to get through because each one was so incredibly beautiful that I could just savor one stanza a night. So actually being in Pablo Neruda's house was incredible, imagining him eating at the table, seeing all the mast-heads (things on the front of ships) that he had collected, his collections of various trinkets. And his bedroom... wow! It is on the 2nd story with huge windows that have a perfect view of the sea and the room is full of light. If that was my room I would never sleep because I would never want to close my eyes. We even saw his closet with all of his clothes and the tuxedo he wore to the nobel prize ceremony! And he and his 3rd lover Matilde are burried right there by the sea. The house is absolutely gorgeous, and more so is the scenery. Give me a shack in a place like that and i'd be more than completely happy. It was incredible being able to see what Pablo saw, and see how he lived. If only he were still here so he could decorate my house. And, I got a postcard of him when he was younger and he actually was cute! (I had been a little dissapointed when I saw his picture as an older man). But really, Isla Negra is incredible.
SUNDAY:
I spent the early afternoon walking around Barrio Bellavista, the hippy/bohemian neighborhood of Santiago (and where Pablo Neruda had his second house), there are tons of little places to see there but most of them were closed on Sunday.
These giant puppets- "la pequena gigante" and her tio were in santiago this weekend, so I went to go scope them out (see pictures above). The crowds were overwhelming. I swear I must have touched about half the population of Santiago in the moshpit trying to get a view of the puppets. People were pushy and sweaty, and I was freaking out because I was stuck in this giant cluster of people with no way to go forward or backward, I thought I would get trampled by this mob gone crazy for puppets. But eventually I found a "less" crowded area and waited around for the puppets to wake up from their siesta. They were awesome. I don't know exactly how many meters, but HUGE! They were operated by cranes and by men who would swing from the ropes that moved their arms. The two puppets walked down the streets of santiago, blinking their eyes and moving their bodies. It was really cool. But the crowds got to me and I had to get out of there. George, you wouldn't have lasted .5 seconds, but lili you would have loved it!!
Naturally, I slept through my alarm that morning because we were supposed to be at school at 8:30 to go on the school field trip to Pomaire and Isla Negra. Luckily, Jenna also overslept, so she and I headed out to El Tabo together to meet the rest of the group. The second we left Santiago we were stunned. I swear, this weekend we must have said "ohh, my god" about a thousand times just from the sheer beauty of Chile!!! Literally! The country side is soo green and lush, with farm houses scattered around, horses, flowers, vineyards. I would almost hate to sleep on the bus because I would miss out on the scenery. We arrived in El Tabo with instructions to find a campsite for a group of 15, and it was surprisingly easy. We found a spot right on the beach, which we later referred to lovingly as the Refugee Camp. Then we walked along the ocean, looking at the houses and dreaming about where we could live one day. Dinner was at a seafood restaurant right on the ocean, which we had all to ourselves. The sea is deep blue, and in this part of the coast there are tons of big black rocks, so where the sea hits them it turns in to light blue swells and then a kelp forest right near shore. After dinner we bought our standard camping food - bread, avocado, tomato, basil, and 3 bottles of nice wine for 8$. Next came one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. We had a mango pisco coctail, my ipod speakers, and we sat perched on some rocks in awe of the beauty and the magic that is this life!! Seriously, my heart was about to burst (which was a common occurance this weekend). Every minute of the sunset was more and more beautiful, and when we lacked the words to describe it we just said "oh, my, god" again and again. It was so incredibly incredible. I felt so unbelievably lucky to be there in that moment, to be here in chile, I really can't describe..
We then passed a fun night camping on the beach. I tripped over a soccer goal and face planted on the concrete while all the chilean families in the refugee camp clapped for me and laughed, so I took a bow. Then I bled. Not my most graceful moment.
SATURDAY:
Have you ever been so blessed as to be woken up at 8:30 in the morning by a cacophony of extremely loud spanish dance music and men cheering? No? You are missing out. It was pure hell. We were all woken up after only a few hours of sleep, so I stumbled over to our friendly neighbor's campsite and said "it's a little early, don't you think?" they looked around and checked their watches "no, it's 8:30 isn't it?" ummm yeaaa "what", they said, "does it bother you??" DUH. oh my, I cannot describe the level of annoyance that I felt at that moment. They were partying hard at 8 am and all we wanted to do was sleep. So, we relocated to the beach where we all tried to pretend like we weren't cold.
Anyway, then Jenna came and found me and we walked to Isla Negra! Oh my! Such a quaint, beautiful town nestled in a pine forest and perched above the ocean. I had the most incredible honeydew melon juice. The town is basically dedicated to Pablo Neruda, with most of the restaurants and shops dedicated to Neruda memoribilia. We walked to his house and I swear I had arrived in what my heaven will look like. His house is incredible. It is built to look like a ship, and the location... It is in the pine forest, with an incredible view of the rough ocean, and a sloping garden full of flowers and greenery. We had lunch at the restaurant right next to his house, coffee ice cream, and I almost died of pure bliss.
When I first bought 20 love poems and a song of desperation last year, I thought, "well, it's only 20 poems so i'm sure i'll glide through this really quickly", but instead I spent weeks on each one and the book took me months to get through because each one was so incredibly beautiful that I could just savor one stanza a night. So actually being in Pablo Neruda's house was incredible, imagining him eating at the table, seeing all the mast-heads (things on the front of ships) that he had collected, his collections of various trinkets. And his bedroom... wow! It is on the 2nd story with huge windows that have a perfect view of the sea and the room is full of light. If that was my room I would never sleep because I would never want to close my eyes. We even saw his closet with all of his clothes and the tuxedo he wore to the nobel prize ceremony! And he and his 3rd lover Matilde are burried right there by the sea. The house is absolutely gorgeous, and more so is the scenery. Give me a shack in a place like that and i'd be more than completely happy. It was incredible being able to see what Pablo saw, and see how he lived. If only he were still here so he could decorate my house. And, I got a postcard of him when he was younger and he actually was cute! (I had been a little dissapointed when I saw his picture as an older man). But really, Isla Negra is incredible.
SUNDAY:
I spent the early afternoon walking around Barrio Bellavista, the hippy/bohemian neighborhood of Santiago (and where Pablo Neruda had his second house), there are tons of little places to see there but most of them were closed on Sunday.
These giant puppets- "la pequena gigante" and her tio were in santiago this weekend, so I went to go scope them out (see pictures above). The crowds were overwhelming. I swear I must have touched about half the population of Santiago in the moshpit trying to get a view of the puppets. People were pushy and sweaty, and I was freaking out because I was stuck in this giant cluster of people with no way to go forward or backward, I thought I would get trampled by this mob gone crazy for puppets. But eventually I found a "less" crowded area and waited around for the puppets to wake up from their siesta. They were awesome. I don't know exactly how many meters, but HUGE! They were operated by cranes and by men who would swing from the ropes that moved their arms. The two puppets walked down the streets of santiago, blinking their eyes and moving their bodies. It was really cool. But the crowds got to me and I had to get out of there. George, you wouldn't have lasted .5 seconds, but lili you would have loved it!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Weekend
Thursday: We were invited by our Chilean friend Exe (exequiel) to go to his friend's house for the night, we had no idea where it was, who would be there, all we knew was to bring our camping gear and meet at the metro at 5:30. Sounds safe, right? Well it was incredibly beautiful! We were in an area of Santiago called Pirque, which I would liken to our hill country (close to the city, yet another universe away). William said he was going to bring down some texas longhorns and create a texas embassy out in the chilean country side. The place is greeeeen, surrounded by mountains, vinyards, some animals, perfect climate. Our host's house was a really nice ranch-style house, with a beautiful garden, tons of dogs, a pool, soccer field, and plenty of good music. We all had an amazing time, the Chileans were so hospitable and so nice to invite a bunch of gringos over who they had never met, they are all eager to hang out with us again. So we had a beautiful adventure into the country and got to swim and lounge at the pool the next day.
SATURDAY:
My Padrino Jerrimiah and I woke up early to go on a tour of the mountains. We started off at In Situ vinyard which was beautiful, nestled in the hills and near a river. They had some organic varieties as well, but 98% of their product was meant for export which seems to be the norm for everything here ranging from fruits to wine, then the Chileans are left with lesser quality... but still wow- the fruit here... I can't get enough!!! And you can get so many beautiful avoados for 1$. My go-to vegan meal has been sandwich with avocado, tomato, lettuce, garlic, roasted red peppers (when camping). Anyway. After the vinyard, we went to a family owned business that started in 1890, and it was these men who brew their own strong liquor drink called chicha which is like a boiled wine, then they also make aguardiente (50% alcohol) which Jerry took a shot of and maybe regretted later.. But the owner was so sweet and the business had been in his family for so long, but he said that his sons now have no interest in continuing it on.. After the chica brewery we headed into the Andes. The hills are amazing, during this time they are covered in bushes and flowers, kind of an arid climate it seems. But wow I would love to see them covered in snow. We went up to Farellones, Chile's first ski resort, and had lunch perched in the mountains watching little kids riding dirt bikes below us. It was still surprisingly hot at 9,000 feet.
Saturday night we all went out and did Karaoke until 5 am- we represented it Gringo style and sang- backstreet boys, michael jackson, queen, shaggy.. trust me everyone in the bar loved us... But I told the group that our goal by the end of 4 months should be to sing karaoke primarily in spanish (just like in Costa Rica where we horrified the locals every night butchering their beloved spanish music. But I can do a great rendition of Selena- Como la Flor). That's another fun thing about Santiago- the bars don't close until 5, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the night. And then sleep all the next day..
SUNDAY- we went to California Cantina (where we also watched the Texas/Bama game), which was actually started by 2 guys who went on this same study abroad program 10 years ago. But the place has great food- burgers, tex mex burritos, tacos, nachos, and cheap beer. It's almost as if you are stepping on American soil, but then you notice the guy in front of you has a huge rat tail in his hair. But we watched the Colts/Jets game and then the Patriots/Vikings game, very exciting. We're going to that same bar for the superbowl, the owners said they expect 1,000 people to be there watching it. But it's a good place to meet young expats and hear how they came to live and work in Santiago, everyone is basically following their heart!
MONDAY- Both of my classes were cancelled, so Jenna and I met up this morning in Bellavista (coooool hippy neighborhood where Pablo Neruda lived), and spent the day walking all around the city, shopping, taking pictures, etc. It was a wonderful way to spend a Monday, and it was the first time I had really walked that much in the city because I usually take the metro everywhere. But now I see that walking is much less crowded and it smells better. So maybe I will start walking home in the evenings. Also, today at the market I found a hat that had the outline of the state of Texas and inside of it was the Chilean flag (which you know looks so similar to Texas's flag) So I said that could be the logo if we ever start a restaurant or whatever down here...
it's all good!
SATURDAY:
My Padrino Jerrimiah and I woke up early to go on a tour of the mountains. We started off at In Situ vinyard which was beautiful, nestled in the hills and near a river. They had some organic varieties as well, but 98% of their product was meant for export which seems to be the norm for everything here ranging from fruits to wine, then the Chileans are left with lesser quality... but still wow- the fruit here... I can't get enough!!! And you can get so many beautiful avoados for 1$. My go-to vegan meal has been sandwich with avocado, tomato, lettuce, garlic, roasted red peppers (when camping). Anyway. After the vinyard, we went to a family owned business that started in 1890, and it was these men who brew their own strong liquor drink called chicha which is like a boiled wine, then they also make aguardiente (50% alcohol) which Jerry took a shot of and maybe regretted later.. But the owner was so sweet and the business had been in his family for so long, but he said that his sons now have no interest in continuing it on.. After the chica brewery we headed into the Andes. The hills are amazing, during this time they are covered in bushes and flowers, kind of an arid climate it seems. But wow I would love to see them covered in snow. We went up to Farellones, Chile's first ski resort, and had lunch perched in the mountains watching little kids riding dirt bikes below us. It was still surprisingly hot at 9,000 feet.
Saturday night we all went out and did Karaoke until 5 am- we represented it Gringo style and sang- backstreet boys, michael jackson, queen, shaggy.. trust me everyone in the bar loved us... But I told the group that our goal by the end of 4 months should be to sing karaoke primarily in spanish (just like in Costa Rica where we horrified the locals every night butchering their beloved spanish music. But I can do a great rendition of Selena- Como la Flor). That's another fun thing about Santiago- the bars don't close until 5, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the night. And then sleep all the next day..
SUNDAY- we went to California Cantina (where we also watched the Texas/Bama game), which was actually started by 2 guys who went on this same study abroad program 10 years ago. But the place has great food- burgers, tex mex burritos, tacos, nachos, and cheap beer. It's almost as if you are stepping on American soil, but then you notice the guy in front of you has a huge rat tail in his hair. But we watched the Colts/Jets game and then the Patriots/Vikings game, very exciting. We're going to that same bar for the superbowl, the owners said they expect 1,000 people to be there watching it. But it's a good place to meet young expats and hear how they came to live and work in Santiago, everyone is basically following their heart!
MONDAY- Both of my classes were cancelled, so Jenna and I met up this morning in Bellavista (coooool hippy neighborhood where Pablo Neruda lived), and spent the day walking all around the city, shopping, taking pictures, etc. It was a wonderful way to spend a Monday, and it was the first time I had really walked that much in the city because I usually take the metro everywhere. But now I see that walking is much less crowded and it smells better. So maybe I will start walking home in the evenings. Also, today at the market I found a hat that had the outline of the state of Texas and inside of it was the Chilean flag (which you know looks so similar to Texas's flag) So I said that could be the logo if we ever start a restaurant or whatever down here...
it's all good!
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