...bread. Because that’s what we eat lots of, bread. We’ve made up years of avoiding carbs and white starches in a month and a half. Don’t get me wrong instant coffee, bread, jelly, yogurt and fruit is a fine breakfast by me but my waist line is beginning to suffer. Perhaps it’s the copious amounts of chocolate but either way I'm grateful for the hours of free time to workout. The only real disappointment, and I say disappointment because we’re foodies, is the food. I don’t want to complain because we still manage to eat well but the most descriptive word for the food here is: bland. I do need to mention the excellent quality of the poultry and meat, it’s all local, free range and I can honestly say it tastes better. Empanadas are a'plentiful. If you don’t know what an empanada is, it’s a small pocket of dough usually filled with a meat mixture or cheese and it's a snack o so delish. Another daily encounter is the avocado (palta) which is a big bonus for me since I love a good avocado and guac but tortilla chips are not an easy find. It’s kind of like having french fries without ketchup. Besides the empanada, you’ll find completos for a popular grab & go lunch. It consists of a meat, beef or hotdog, avocado, tomato, cheese and mayo on bread. I’ve enjoyed a few but I've lost interest, however, Billy manages to scarf one down from time to time.
Wow, two earthquakes in two weeks. I think our families suffered minor strokes while we were basking away in the sun. On Feb. 27th we were out at a lake and had no cell service or access to the news.
When we returned to town we were bewildered by the number of cars lined up at the gas stations so we stopped to ask a friend what was happening. We hustled over to Billy’s office to Skype our parents, who had already called the state department and submitted pictures of us in case we were lost, could you imagine we never stopped and asked? I can, there would've been a helicopter in the town square with our names on it! Nevertheless, we are very thankful that no one we’ve met was directly affected by the quake but of course any natural disaster of that magnitude in your country is devastating and sad. It’s nice to see so many people down here contributing their time and/or money to help their fellow Chileans in a time of need.
Last week we moved into our final abode until the end of May. The community is called Cabanas Los Alamos and it’s located about 3 km out of town. That’s right, I’m using the metric system now and converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, which isn’t the easiest of conversions for us math challenged folk (F= C*9/5 + 32), but I usually fall within a 10 degree range. I find it odd that the U.S. hasn’t adopted the metric system since every other country uses it but such it is. The 24 hr. clock is also pretty efficient. Oh FYI daylight savings time ends in Chile on April 3rd so we’ll be in the same time zone as NY and 2 hrs ahead of Colorado. So back to our new diggs, we live in a townhouse with 6 beds, 5 which are twin, and 2 bathrooms, so plenty of room for you to come and visit! We have a quaint kitchen with a stove (no oven), microwave, small TV, woodstove for heat and a sporadic wi fi signal. We can live without a dishwasher and laundry for a few months since the view is quite spectacular. The coolest part is our little quincho in the back; it’s a small room for bbqing with a charcoal pit. Getting the charcoal lit is a skill in itself but we are learning.
After we moved last Friday we decided to venture out in town for a few drinks. There are about three bars in town and a dance club which we hear is loud and smoky. Yep, shocking, people smoke inside bars and some restaurants. After a couple of drinks we started laughing about things we take for granted and things we miss. I pulled out paper and took notes. This is an on going list but I’d like to share a few now...
Things we miss:
Family and friends - it’s so amazing to be living in a different country, getting the true experience and meeting new friends but there is nothing like the familiarity of your family and friends at home. When they aren’t accessible it can feel lonely. I couldn’t imagine this experience without today’s IT. Skype, chat, and FB allow us to connect in a way a phone call alone couldn’t do.
Pizza - there are about three pizza places in town and they just can’t get it right. Maybe Chileans prefer pizza without tomato sauce but that leaves you with cheese bread. The funniest part is the toppings or excuse me, topping, because that’s what it is, a topping. When you order peppers and onions, you get one slice of pepper and one slice of onion on each piece. Our friends who live here are in the process of opening a gourmet pizza joint in the near future so there’s hope.
Live music - we knew getting into this venture that we’d miss out on live music for five months but it's something we truly love to do and look forward to when we return. There are two radio stations here that play 80’s music and its pretty awesome although the amount of Rick Astley is a little disturbing, we were rick-rolled by b-sides the other day, obviously we were dying of laughter for awhile…
Things we take for granted:
Ice - I’ve been told refrigeration is the issue, but restaurants are stingy with or don’t even have ice. Not a huge deal but something we never really thought about until our drinks came with two cubes and we craved more.
Forced air heat - big ups to Bill for adding logs to the woodstove in the middle of the night or else we’d freeze. I remember having a woodstove as a child but we had forced air heat to supplement it. Fortunately we’ll be gone before it gets too cold.
Grocery store etiquette - there are two supermarkets here and they’re always crowded due to the fact that there isn’t anything else for miles away. Unfortunately I have to go every few days since some items are scarce (think tortilla chips) and it pays to make several trips a week. The shortage of carts is no joke. People literally wait at the end of the check out counters for carts. There’s no order in the aisles. People stand in the middle of the aisle with their cart next to them leaving zero passing room. When you attempt to make a move and say, “permiso” there is little to no reaction so you have to move their cart to get by. Oh how I'd love to drop an elbow. When you’re ready to checkout the lines are typically 8-10 people deep at anytime of day. Some people stand with their carts between two lines and wait to see which goes faster. This would never fly at home. Guess I can mention tipping now, you are supposed to tip the people who bag your groceries and pump your gas but not cab drivers. The max tip for food servers is 10%.
Sunday commerce - Well this is a pro and a con. North Americans (and I say North b/c it’s not PC here to say I’m from America since obviously we are all Americans down here) want what they want and wanted it yesterday. Last Sunday Billy and I tried to get take out and nothing was open since Sunday is a holy day and is to be spent with your family. I find it refreshing and sacred but frustrating when I’m hungry, don’t feel like cooking and can’t go out to eat!
Public bathroom supplies - Now I don’t think I’m high maintenance, in fact I belong to 24-hr fitness in Boulder, a no-frills gym which costs next to nothing to belong. But I have to believe that there is a sanitation law here of some kind requiring soap in the bathroom. At the one gym in town the dispenser is forever empty and the one roll of TP is located outside the stalls so you have guesstimate your needs before dropping your drawers. Gross.
Things we love:
Greetings: when you walk into a room you are expected to greet each person with a kiss on the cheek. Once in awhile my North American ways kick in and I just want to run in and out but otherwise it’s nice to acknowledge people and take the time out to say hello. There isn’t enough of this in the U.S., is everyone really that busy?!
Tap water – it's delicious, refreshing, and it's safe! Everyone raved about the tap water when we arrived and I am completely on board.
Less traffic: it’s a privilege here to own a car and therefore there aren’t many. Noise pollution barely exists except the use of the horn, they beep at everything. Public transportation isn’t advanced but they do have a neat phenomenon called a Collectivo. It’s basically a cab that takes a specific route in town. They are numbered according to their route so you look for the # that coincides with your neighborhood and hop in with other people headed that way. It’s cheaper than a cab (about a buck) and a smart alternative to a bus.
Hitchhiking: I was walking into town yesterday and someone pulled over just to see if I wanted a ride. I was enjoying my walk so I waved them on but it’s safe and common here to catch a ride into town which is something I’d never do in the states.
Cheap booze: I think its worth mentioning that a 1.75 liter of Stoli vodka is about $13!
Commerce: Besides a few Shell stations and Coca Cola billboards, there’s no giant commercialization. No Wal-Mart, Target, McDonalds, in fact, no fast food restaurants at all. Mom and Pop shops fill this town and it’s a nice change to be able to stop at the local panaderias for fresh bread and pastries and the fruit stand down the street when you need an onion.
Natural Beauty: SSIA (subject says it all).
Upon arrival we decided to drive a little further to check out the scenery before dusk. Because most of the roads here are unpaved and rocky we got a flat which apparently is super common here.
