oh chile!

not trying to be racist or anything but i swear chileans walk differently than what i was used to. they seem to dart back and forth, changing direction without too much warning... just some hidden cultural cue that suggests they're about to veer off course. it's also like a gang-mentality... if you are walking alone you might have to deal with people walking three alongside each other blocking off any spot for you to squeeze through (no they don't fall behind and make a vertical rather than horizontal line). i've now become accustomed to intentionally sticking out my elbows and forcing my way through rather inhospitable crowds and passersby.

9's look like p's, g's look like q's and q's are backwards.

m's look like n's here and n's look like n's.

1's look like upside-down v's.

frutilla is strawberry and chileans think fresas are something else.

it's weirdly comforting to know that chile is a plastic nation, everything goes in plastic. i feel like i'm home! you have to anticipate the plastic and intercept the grocery item, pastry, whatever commodity it may be and ASSURE them you will live without being plastic-ed out.
[oh what is that you say sir? well i have another plastic bag right here i can use instead of your new shiny one!] - by the way this is pure sarcasm for those of you reading who don't know me well enough.

any decent mexican food ingredients are imported, very expensive and aren't high quality anyway (same for indian food).

the really good ice cream is so freaking expensive!

they can't make flan here (sorry guys, but you know it's true)! they call it flan but it's like instant jello mixed with some milk with really bad food coloring and flavoring.

all the vendor stands with sweets and snacks within 5 feet of each are making me fat.

i blame the US for using feet, inches, fahrenheit, non-military time and everything else that's weird and isolationist. late in the summer, i told a lady it was 85 degrees outside and she almost died.

i wish i didn't stand out like a sore thumb here. sometimes it might be nice to be mistaken as chilean. hasn't happened yet, doubt it will.
[girl in store] ¿eres chilena?
[me] ¿me pareces chilena?
[girl] no

let me throw a good one in here, though clearly goodness is not the aim of this post.... the bread and baked goodies are to die for!

learning chilenismos can be treacherous... you MUST inquire about every word you hear before re-using it because chances are it's quite inappropriate for nearly any audience.

i'm a little bit upset i haven't yet mastered my monthly trip to the bank. somehow I end up being the one who waits forever in line with my ticket while people diligently sneak up to the counter and get in before me! really i'm impressed. so, you wait for an hour and a half and then you fill out the bank slip when you get up to the teller. it does provide for good personal service, however.

3 cheers for chile, who has successfully denied Walmart access to its territory. chile can economically afford to support its local commerce and say no to the corporate giant. i guess that's what being close to the largest western exporter of fresh produce and copper gets you.

when people get pissed at you here, they might just throw a rock at you. watch out! yes it's true, the continual threat of minute legalities and lawsuits just doesn't exist here. if you want the story you need to leave a blog-like comment and ye shall know!

be careful, also, on a bike here. you might die, for a variety of reasons.

if people think heterosexism is bad in the states, they should come here.

damn cans of anything in the grocery store are either outrageously expensive for what you get or they're obsolete. don't take the 89 cent cans of chicken stock for granted anymore, you people!

you also can't go anywhere without seeing people make-out. it's a little excessive.

the peddlers on the street have inspired me to save objects like it's USA cerca 1929 (we're talking a serious reusage and monitoring of all paper products, cardboard, plastic bags, paperclips, twist-ties, tape and rubber bands).

i tried out this café, "classic café", that i had been wanting to patronize for quite a while and i was intrigued by the english name (which is an all too frequent occurrence for a country that very largely does not speak ANY english)... anyway, there is a sign "english spoken" in the window. i asked my waitor (in spanish) about it and he responded with... the old owner spoke a lot of english and he put that sign there but he's sold the place to the new owners and no one speaks english here now ¿cachai?

rumor has it chile recently has disallowed bringing in objects like peanut butter via personal air travel. confirmation of this could bring about a very sad day for me (as you all well know by now).

on another positive note, the metro pleasantly smells like freshly cut cedar. i've yet to figure that one out.

i've been amazed by the incredible bluntness, but at the same time, distant nature of people here... case and point... one of my students wrote on her exam "i don't want to see [that movie] because i don't like chinese actors" whoah! try that one on for size...
also, i ask kids in class... did you guys study? what i will get in return is an real sample size of who actually studied for the test (2 people raise hands, rest of class solemny shakes head "no"). they're completely honest; it's unique and refreshing!

chileans are incredibly good at getting by on limited energy resources (though if you think this is because they are environmentally courteous you would be dead wrong). no seriously, they wear warm clothes and always have their jackets on inside in the winter but heating is just not an option (too expensive). so, they are thrifty; drinking multiple cups of tea and wearing gloves that allow dexterity do the trick (for writing, teaching, computering). i have never utilized the benefits of solar whatever more in my life. my daily routine is dictated by what the sun decides to do. it makes all the difference in the world.

i am dying for drip coffee (oh elena's on central ave. in albany. get me some please). it took me 10 minutes to explain what regularly brewed coffee is to a very hip young man (in spanish of course) in response to him having made yet another latté when i thought i had successfully asked for drip coffee.
me: [in response to seeing him add steamed milk] no, no, um, just the milk on the side.
him: (confusion and unintelligible spanish). oh an expresso?
me: well kind of, more like an americano but not quite as strong, and not with steamed milk.
him: oh
me: it's like, you have the coffee grinds and you put hot water (like alot of hot water) through them and you DON'T add steamed milk (using hand signals here like i am in class) and the milk is added cold from the refrigerator.
him: [frowns] cold? we don't have that here.
me: [smiles] thanks. (yea i know you don't have that here but if you let me behind where you are i could make it for myself).

*according to some, there is a place where you can get somewhat comparable drip coffee (Juan Valdez shops). Anyway, a friend of mine said a bunch of Chilenos went in, asked for instant and when the clerk explained no, only fresh Colombian drip-coffee, they walked out unsatisfied and unsatiated. Anything but Nestlé instant just would not do!!

on a more serious/focused note, experiencing these cultural differences has been a blast, completely fun and intellectually inspiring...

Caitlin Digs The Peanut Butter

A little photographic evidence of Caitlin truly enjoying the P.B.

peanut butter

this is a bit late but

our peanut butter went to china...

and now it's here

and i'm enjoying it QUITE a bit

food packaging

so... chilean food isn't exactly good for you. this of course, excludes fruits and vegetables of chilean origin. but i mean.. the FOOD... the empanadas, breads, sweets, candy, hotdogs, fried dough with sauce (sopaipillas) and greasy beef sandwiches. there's also a ton of packaged items. they sell these twinkie-like things with either chocolate or vanilla frosting. they have bags and bags of different chips and salty sweets. they have like 15 different kinds of chocolate (chocolates bars, truffles, bonbons, alfajors), sugary candies like gum drops, different flavored marshmallows, jordan almonds, hard candies, candied nuts (did you know the guys who do the nuts 4 nuts stands in nyc are chilean?), brownies, manjar or marmelade stuffed donuts.... the list goes on...

you know how you look at a package of chips while you're eating them in new york and they say they were made in seattle? well i got used to expect that sort of thing in the states. half the reason why packaged food has a bad rep and you can convince yourself it's gross. in chile though, you might look at your bag of chips and realize it was packaged only a few miles away or in a town two hours away. does it mean this stuff has less preservatives? no. does it mean it's any better for you? i'm sure not. does it convince you that it's not completely gross and almost kind of desirable? kind of... and that's the scary part.

pleasant surprises

so i've been here for a little more than 3 months (mind you this post was written a month ago) since then we have done more cool things :)

i am impressed and amazed i have been able to do the following (in addition to teaching)...

1) hike a volcano

2) see a glacier lake

3) hitchhike and see some of the most amazing things ever

4) visit and chat with a mapuche about native culture

5) relax in hot springs during a rain storm next to a raging river

6) go whitewater rafting

7) go salsa dancing

8) participate in a couple of latin american jam sessions

9) navigate chilean public transportation in the depths of rural territory

10) visit and tour a chilean winery

11) hold an awesome party enjoyed by chileans and gringoes alike

and in less than two weeks we are headed to argentina to pick up some maté mugs and check out mendoza :)

smoggy day. clear day

you pretty much have two options in santiago.

a day like this...




and a day like this... and sometimes it rains which makes things a little better...



umm. yeah. sometimes the pollution is so bad it burns your throat, eyes. you can taste it. i completely took living in upstate new york for granted. so many chileans have health problems as a result. i realize my privilege of being able to choose to live in a smog-filled city. that being said, i couldn't live in santiago for more than a year, i need fresh air. there's no doubt i am taking a year off my life for choosing to live here.

the andes were bangin' this morning

this is what a few days of rain and cold does to santiago. you can actually see how brilliant (of course the picture never does justice to what you can see in real life) the mountains are. it is crazy they are that close (you never would know it on an average day) and that is what they really look like. the rain here has caused snow accumulation over there, good news for skiing, yay!

this is the view i got today while running on the treadmill in the gym on the 19th floor. certainly not a boring start to this busy day.

living without an oven

i've never ached for the desire to make my own blueberry muffins as much as i do now. we don't have an oven. i've said to several witnesses, "i swear, the next chance i get i promise i will make brownies from scratch, just for the ability to bake my own things!" i used to bake a lot when i was a kid. i had my own easy-bake oven and everything. then one time (using a real oven) i wasted a pound of pecans (expensive!) because i forgot to take the pie out when it was time. there was also the time i added a cup of baking soda instead of a tablespoon to chocolate chip cookie dough. i remember my mom and brother laughed and laughed, i was so embarassed. anyway, then i joined 4H and i think i learned to make pretty decent baked goods. since i have become an adult, baking has lost a ton of interest for me, until now! i don't generally love chilean food. i do love their baked breads and such but i tried a muffin the other day and it just wasn't as good as one i could have made. baking things would certainly give me the ability to make food taste the way i would like it to. having a oven would allow us to make more than soups, stews, stir frys and burgers.

though i have to say, we certainly push the envelope anyway.

take a look at the attempt at making baked? stuffed peppers on the stove-top. it was... interesting and really not that bad (though our desire to save money by buying quinoa in bulk at la vega resulted in having to eat glass shards- apparently cheap quinoa doesn't go through any kind of refinining process that screens the stuff out).

salchicha de sangre

scott and i went out to lunch at a place close to us we really like for bread, pastries and empanadas but we had never tried their lunch special before...

so we go to order and scott's like, what are "priétas"? (spelling is definitely wrong there).
the response included something like "relleno de sangre" (filled with blood). immediately, i think, no thanks. i'll have the mashed potatoes, please. scott's like, "i'll take it."

turned out it was blood sausage. if i had eaten it i'm sure i wouldn't have iron problems for weeks.

ironically i had some this past weekend in mendoza, ar because it came in our parrilla (aka bbq meat festival- pronounced "par-eeja" in argentina) and it was quite good, much better than the grilled intestines. yum!

anyway, as we were dining over pig and cow insides (come on, you gotta experience life, i suppose) i told an argentine guy we had made friends with that i used to be pretty much vegetarian for quite a while and his outward, stereotypically argentine response was... sounds pretty boring.

to be or not to be... a pack rat

before i came down here, i remember at least a couple of people gave me a hard time about bringing so much stuff. they'd say cait: "it's not like you are going to a deserted island. they'll have toothpaste there." i had three bags that were filled with clothes, shoes, teaching materials, toiletries and medicine. i also had two carry-on bags that held my computer and several books. needless to say, i was pretty bogged down. at logan airport, a couple of people wanted to know where i was going with all that stuff. i felt a lot better after i revealed that the stay was more than a month or two, that it was actually 10 months (at least). when i got to the hostel here, a couple of backpacker dudes commented about how much stuff the teachers had. like we were being completely frivolous.

well, last week's experience sure paid off for me in the planning ahead category. i had brought a completely new container of saline solution down with me from the states. unfortunately, the time had come where i needed to purchase more. scott and i noticed that saline solution is not sold at drugstores or grocery stores on shelves like it is in the States. we realized we now needed to ask an attendant if they could produce this magical mystery juice and present it before us so we could know what we were dealing with. as we were bantering back and forth about what the price difference could be, i have to say i was shocked when i found out just how much it was. a bottle of optifree express (around 8 bucks in the States) was 15 dollars!!! What! i couldn't believe it. at home, i buy the cheapest saline solution i can find (which usually costs about $3.50 a bottle). i had noticed a lot of chileans with eye glasses but this was just wrong. scott wasn't as surprised as i was. pancho asked him 2 weeks ago, "why do all you gringoes have bad eyes?" don't know pancho, couldn't tell you.

this experience was coupled with a more positive one. realizing that i had yet again been lapsing into sleeping more, feeling groggier and having little energy, i now know i will never get by in life without my iron supplement. the problem is it is expensive (40 US) and comes in a glass bottle and given that, it doesn't travel very well. my herbalist friend (who owns uncle sam's goods in troy) recommended (through e-mail) that i try siberian ginseng or alfalfa here. feeling a little down that i would have to pay almost 9 mil to be able to put lenses on my eyeballs, i found myself wandering into a holistic, naturopathic store. i looked, i saw...they sold my iron supplement! i couldn't believe it! well how much was it? i winced at the pain of hearing a price.... wait for it... 12 dollars!!! my floradix iron tabs cost a third of the price down here. why?? it doesn't make sense.