Last Day of class

As usual the last day was anticlimactic, but today it was even more so than usual. I was dead tired and forgot to even take a photo. I ran into Susan who was passing through on her way to Viña and looks like she´s going to be in . I´m supposed to go to a dance show with the school tonight but I am so tired I don´t know if it will happen or not. I have to get everything organized with my trip and then go take a nap.

I got my first clue that Argentina hasn´t changed one bit. I got an email today that my flight to Argentina (on Aerolineas Argentina) was changed to earlier, early enough that it will be hard to take a bus to get to the airport in time and I don´t want to take a taxi. Anyway, I need to work on figuring that out and organizing the apartments I am going to see in Buenos Aries. We´ll see if I have energy to make it to the dance show or not.

Longest Day Ever

Today was the longest day ever. I was up until 4:30 this morning and now I am just dead tired, but I got to see a lot of really local places and Damian made it back about 24 hours ago from the South and I think Maud and Felipe will be back Saturday.

I even started off the day tired at school, but I don´t know why because I slept plenty the previous night. I can really feel the days ticking down now. It´s hard to believe that soon I´ll be in my 3rd country and then I´ll be back and Cleveland.

Diana and I went to the Mercado Central for lunch. It was crazy today with tourists, everyone and their brother was trying to get us into their restaurant (there must be 20 or 30 lining the market). We picked one that looked more local on the fringe and head a soup of shellfish and quiche like pie (pastel de choclo) of crab. It was OK but not great.

Afterward I managed to take a nap and hit the gym before Damian and I left to meet Diana and Tania to see some truly local places. First we went to a bar/restaruant/place to watch soccer called the techo....or something similiar that means roof tile. We had terramotos, which means earthquake. It´s a drink of ice cream sweet wine and juice. Pretty good.

Then we met up with more of Tania´s friends and went to this communist bar in Barrio Brasil. It was great because we were all a little buzzed by this point and Tania was geniuinely worried that I wouldn´t be comfortable in a communist bar. I guess I seem quite capatilistic....anyway, I told her that as long as I diddn´t leave with tatoos of red stars it was fine.

I took some great pictures of the bar and we had a fantastic time. I of course couldn´t understand everything but it´s awesome to me that I have these nights were I speak nothing but Spanish for hours. It really makes me feel like my trip was worth it.

Anyway Damian, Diana, and I caught a cab back to our neighboorhood at 2 or so (after agreeing with Tania not to start class until 10 the next morning) and I was ready for bed but when we walked Diana home she invited us in to have wine. I wasn´t interested in more alcohol, but potato chips seemed great. We finally made it out of there and back to our apartment at about 4 AM at which time I promptly collapsed.

Full Day

Today started off pretty relaxed. I ran a bit after with less trouble with my knee but only sprints. Hopefully I will be able to take a longer run tomorrow. I went back to the park Las Esculpturas and took some photos. I think it´s one of the best parks for just relaxing and taking in the view.

In the afternoon I took a long walk through Providencia and Las Condes. The map showed several parks, a shopping area, and the United Nations headquarters. It was really dry and the parks were mostly off-limits and almost a desert with some dry grasses. The UN headquarters was mostly obscured by heavy security and I decided it probably wasn`t a good idea to take photos anyway. The shopping street was interesting. It`s called Avenida Alonso De Còrdova and was almost American with Starbucks and Anne Taylor and people dressed in very European and American styles.

In the evening I met up with Rodrigo and Gaby with some of their friends at an Irish pub called Flanerty´s. As always superbien to be with them. I met Jean Bernard, a frenchman who works with Rodrigo and speaks perfect English, French, and Spanish. It`s crazy how many people I meet who speak so many languages. A couple also came by with their daughter and they both speak English, Spanish, and Japanese!


After the pub, Rodrigo and Gaby gave me a ride home and said that I should tell everyone in Cleveland hello. They also told me to orchestrate a deal so that Progressive could buy a company in Chile and we can spend our North American winter/South American summer in Chile the opposite time in Cleveland. Probably not, but I sure hope I can return and see more of the countryside and the South one day.

Maybe being South American is sinking in

No sign of my roommates but I trust they will be along in the next few days. The cat is getting a little bit crazy with only me around, but so far I can halfway keep her under control.


Class is good. It's almost like a private class and Ihave only one other student, Diana from the US. We only talk in Spanish. After class today I went with Diana and one other students to help them get and use local cell phone chips. I really enjoyed how much better I could function in Spanish now than even 3 weeks ago when I tried to do the same thing.

After a nap, I was going to take a shower but discovered there was no running water, hot or cold. The North American in me, thought what do I do?

1. Check in with the building and see if there is a larger problem?
2. Email my roommates to see if they remembered to pay the water bill?
3. Try and see if I could find a valve or some ther spot where water wasn't flowing?

The answer came from the South American. Don't do anything. So I took a long walk ran into a couple of friend and watched some people play rubgy in the park. When I came back the water was magically working. Problem solved.


My walk was through Bellavista (thanks for the recommendation Lacey). I eventually stumbled across the place that Filipe and Damian took me for beers my second day in the apartment. I might go back with friends tonight or I might just stay in.

Quiet Day

Didn't do a lot do. After school, I helped a neighbor with her computer, went to they gym, and played with the cat a bit. I'll have to make sure I either head out tonight to catch a film or do something interesting after school tomorrow.

Park of Statues/Soccer Game

I went for a run this afternoon, but I hadn´t run in a few weeks so I had to take it easy on my knee. Hopefully it will get used to running again fairly quickly.

While I was running, I found a really cool park near my house. It´s called Las Estatutas, which literally means the statues. If you find yourself in Santiago, it´s on the north side of the river just east of Pedro de Valdivia.

In the afternoon I went to a soccer game between Cola-Cola and Nublense. Cola-Cola are the Yankees of Chile, but they lost because their best players were in Mexico for an international match. It was pretty crazy, lot´s of people going nuts that we were foreigners and someone stole two tickets from a couple of students that had them out. Worth going but definitely glad I had Chilenos with me.

Empanadas al Juanco

I went over to Gabriel and Juan Carlos's house today to learn to make empanadas from Juanco (Juan Carlos). Juan learned from his mom and makes the completely from scratch. It took us several beers a few trips to the corner market and a couple of hours but we made about 30 pino (onion and beef) empanadas. I told Juanco and Gabriel that Lacey and I would have an empanada bake off when I got back, so get ready!










The hardest part is making the dough, which you can see Juanco and I doing. To make the pastry ou need:

Pastry:

• 1.5 kg flour


• 2 tbsps baking powder (optional, Juanco was out)


• 1 liter warm milk


• 3 tablespons salt

For the Filling:

• 3 tablespoons oregano


• 1.5 pounds beef, chopped into very small pieces


• 5 large onions


• 4-5 tsp. cooking oil


• 3 tsp. each of alino completedo, oregano, and paprika


• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped


• salt to taste


• 5 hardboiled eggs


• 25 black olives


• 50 raisins(soaked)

First, make the filling by sauteeing the onions under low hear for about 15 minutes, until they are translucent, Next add the spices, salt and meat and cook under low heat for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. While the meat is simmering you can go ahead and slice the shelled eggs into wedges.

To make the pastry, mix the flour and salt and then add the warm milk until you have a tough pliable dough. Warning, this part seems to be an art and there was a fair amount of milke left over. Once the pastry is ready, you can tear off piece and roll them as thinly as possible. Keep the dough you are not currently working under a towel to keep it warm and pliable.

To make an empanada spoon out the filling (with as little liquid as possible) along with 1 piece of egg; 2 rasins and 1 olive. By this point David and his boyfriend Claudio had come by so David showed me his method for folding empanads in addition to Juanco's

• Juanco's method (two at a time): Fold over the pastry and push it together to form two empanadas. Cut away the excess with a pastry wheel, fold over the crusts and press the edges together firmly by hand. This style is suitable for frying or baking.

or

• David's method: Carefully paint the rim of each piece of pastry with water, then fold the empty hemisphere over to enclose the filling, press the rim down. You should now have a semicircular turnover: paint the outer rim with water and fold it down again towards the center of the empanada. These can only be baked.

Bake the empanadas in a preheated oven at 400 degrees until the empanadas are nicely browned (about 20 minutes). Just before placing them in the oven, paint them with egg yolk to darken and crispen the crust.

Serve hot from the oven and eat with a napkin.

We also made pebre, a classic Chilean salsa that has cilantro, meaning that I love it.

Ingredients
fresh cilantro leaves
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1/4 cup water
fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 teaspoon powdered hot red pepper
salt to taste
3 garlic cloves , minced

And here you can see a finished product. Towards the end of the evening Gabriel's niece and her boyfriend, who are both Swedish, came by and we talked for a while, mostly in Spanish. Then David gave me a ride home and I was asleep 5 minutes later

Plaza de Armas y Catedral Santiago

I walked to the Plaza de Armas and Plaza Congreso today. They were both nice places, not spectular but interesting. The Cathedral of Santiago in the Plaza de Armas is the most elaborate building I've seen in Santiago and worth a walk through. Today was
quite hot with tons of sunshine. I can only hope the weather is as good in Argentina.

School is out for summer

At least that's how it feels. I finished my classes with Susan and Tawny today and our teacher Luis. They are both leaving this weekend. Susan is travelling a bit before studying at the University of Santiago in Valparaiso and Tawny is headed to Peru (hopefully to get some sandboading in via Andrew from Cleveland).

They've been great to take classes with. Just yesterday Tawny and Luis taught me to trill my "r" It's still not correct but it's a lot closer. Maybe by the time I make it back to Clevland :)

Well tonight is a party at the school followed by a relaxed weekend here and then I have 1 week of "advanced" classes, which are reading and vocabulary not grammar, and then I'm off to Argentina, my final stop!

Rodrigo y Gaby

I finally caught up with Rodrigo y Gaby. It was awesome! We talked completely in Spanish, so tonight I feel like I can speak Spanish. Tomorrow I´m sure I´ll run into someone who I can´t understand at all. I have so much respect now for their English. It´s so good that it´s easy to forget that they had to learn it and they have to be able to switch back and forth between English and Spanish (at least they have both learned other languages).

We had tons of traditional Chilean food, pastel de choclo (kind of corn pudding or corn bread with different meat and vegetables and hard boiled eggs), a kind of appetizer with crackers, cheeze, and shellfish, tomatoes, avocados, pisco, and Chilean wine. It was the best meal I´ve had in the country.

Their apartment is awesome. It´s on the top floor of their building with a great view of Sanhattan (Santiago + Manhattan) which is so named because although it´s much smaller than Manhattan it has several new high rise buildings.

They say hi to everyone at Progressive and you guys should call or write them. I´m quite certain that they would love to practice their English on the phone (use Gizmo or Skype and you can call for $.02 per minute) or via email.

All right, Got to go to bed and then wake up early so I can study for a couple of hours. Fingers crossed.

Quinta Normal

My class is wrapping up. Assuming I can pass the test, I will be on to more practice but probably no more new grammar. The rest of my trip will just be practice and trying to correct errors or things I forget.

This afternoon I went to the Quinta Normal Park near Gabriel and Juan Carlos's house (the guys I stayed with when I first got into town). The park was OK but very ordinary. It has several museums but they were all closed when I got there.

I also walked down to the Estacion Central train station (in the photos). It's a pretty dangerous neighborhood at night but seemed OK during the day and the architecture of the train station is cool.

After my walk I had beers with Gabriel and Juan Carlos and talked for a while with a new couchsurfer that's with them from Germany. He speaks great English and German but no Spanish. He's been travelling for months without being able to speak to most people in their native language...kind of crazy.

Alright, off to bed. I need to find time to study and meet up with Rodrigo and Gaby tomorrow.

Taking in a Movie

Haven't done much today. I'm going to go hang out with Rodrigo and Gaby on Thursday, it will be wild to try and speak Spanish with them. I wonder how I'll seem with so much less to say?

I want to try and catch a beer with my hosts from couchsurfing my first night here and take in a film with my friend Francisco between now and then.

I also have to fit in some time to study. I need to make sure I pass my test this Friday so I can spend my last week here in the next level.

Tonight turned out to be the night I watched the film "El Camino de los Ingleses." It was in Spanish from Spain and I could only understand about 10%...well hope for better luck next time.

Concho y Toro

I went to Concho y Toro Vineyard today with 3 friends from school. It was a long subway ride and then a short bus ride to get there. Getting there was in itself pretty interesting as we ended up in a part of town where we clearly drew attention and had to switch from the train to the bus in what is supposedly a dangerous neighborhood after dark, but we didn't have any problems aside from stares.




The vineyard is beautiful and huge. It turns out the Concho y Toro is the 3rd largest producer in the world. We got to see vineyards, taste wine, and visit the bodegas or wine caves. The tour was in Spanish and our guide spoke really clearly and slowly and I was just amazed because I could understand essentially everything he said. For anybody in the US, I highly recommend Casillera del Diablo Carmenere, it's a Concho y Toro brand that sells for about $8 here, not sure in the states. It's a great wine and it's a breed that only grows in Chile because it's the last country in the world free of a particular fungus that attackes grapes.



On the way back, we figured out that Eva and Susan should be in Argentina the same time as Lacey and I so we will have to get together and check out the city.

Long Day in Valparaíso

I had a great, but long, day in Valparaiso today. First thing after I woke up, Ably and I headed to the ascensor at aduana. The ascensors (literally elevators) are devices over a 100 years old built to help people get up the extremely steep hills, or cerros, in Valparaiso.

Next we took the buss to Cerro San Sebastian where I took a photo from the balcony of
Pablo Neruda's house after wandering around inside. It's really an interesting house with weird architecture and all kinds of stuff the poet brought back from all over the world.

Next I took a boat tour in the harbour and some seals playing on the keel of a cruise ship. Then Ably and I had a lunch of seafood empanadas and pastel de choclo (kind of a cornbread pot pie with chicken and eggs inside).



After lunch I met up with César, a guy I met through couchsurfing. He was awesome and we walked all around town. He showed me all kinds of places I never would have found on my own including a really quirky magic store and lots of interesting grafiti/murals. We stopped to get fresh juice at a jugeria and I had a nice fresh Tuna Juice. Don't worry it's not fish. In Spanish, tuna is a fruit from a cactus and tuna fish is atun.

That night, I went over to Salomón and Laura's house. They are friends of Laurie's from when she studied in Santiago and now live in Valparaiso (They say hi Laurie). They had just returned from vacation in Brazil and Uruguay so we traded photos and talked about what Lacey and I might do if we take the ferry from Buenos Aries to Uruguay.

Then we went for pizza on Cerro Alegere. Went to a famous little bar, J.J. Cruz casino social club and had chorillana (french fries covered with eggs fried onions and beef) and a local microbrew. If you are in Valparaiso, head east from the NE corner of Plaza Victoria and within 2 blocks you'll see a tiny alley on the North side of the street. The bar is at the end of the alley and has a sign that is visible if you look down the alley from the street.

I got home around 1 AM after a long day of walking the hills and passed out. Traveling to Valparaíso was awesome and I highly recommend it and Chile to all of you if you have the chance.

Traveling to Valparaíso

Going by bus this afternoon to Valparaiso, I realized it's a bit nuts how much better buses function in the Americas other than in the US. I remember using the greyhound in college to go to Atlanta or NC. It was relatively expensive, dirty, and mildly scary or at least sketchy.

Buses in South America are, by comparison, cheap, clean, efficient, and go everywhere. I'm going to Valparaíso for about $7 to travel 75 or so miles. In almost every way the US is an easier place to live with better infrustructure, but not buses or trains.

Took a farewell photo with Helen and Maud. I probably won't see Helen and Maud together again as Maud is leaving by bus and Helen will be in the South on vacation with her dad, when Maud gets back.

I met Mario, a friend of a friend at the bus station in Valparaiso. It turns out he's an English professor, which explains his perfect English and his desire to speak to me in English. Mario took me to his sister-in-law's, Alby. Alby is incredibly nice and teaches philosophy. We walked around the plain of Valparaíso saw the port, old buildings, a free concert, and lots of people. Alby cooked us an amazing dinner of pork baked with mustard. After dinner we talked for a long time in Spanish, and one on one we talked very easily. I think the accent is easier away from Santago. We watched TV a little bit before bed and I could understand almost all of the news but only 30% of reality shows.

I absolutely have to find a way to speak Spanish regularly when I get home. I'm going to be good enough that if I keep practicing I'll be functional.

Off to the Beach

Finished another week of classes. Things are going good, I think that I'm begining (just beginning) to get the hang of the Chilean accent. Had a great BBQ after class today and now I'm going to work out before I shower and take the bus to Valparaiso. Probably won't have internet access so I'll post my pictures when I'm back.

My first reservation in Spanish

I succesfully made reservation ever in Spanish, to go with 3 other students to the Concho y Toro vineyard outside Santiago. I have a huge fear of speak Spanish over the phone because it's even harder than in person. Admittedly it wasn't the most elegant conversation in the world but I'm excited nonetheless.

Schol is good. I'm talking more and with slower speakers I'm understanding more. I'm hoping to go out with my roomies (Maud and Helen) tonight as I haven't done anything at night in a few days. Looks like Maud is going to head South for vacation too so I'll have a week to myself to try and hang out with other Chilenos until Damian and Felipe get back.

Now I should really study, I have to memorize lots of verbs that require specific prepositions and there's no way around it...pure memorization. I also have to give a 10 minute oral presentation in Spanish tomorrow that I'm not ready for.


Tomorrow I'm taking the bus down to Valparaiso for the weekend. It's supposed to be a bit like San Francisco in climate and geography. I'll be sure to post photos.

Futbol

Finally played soccer again for the first time in 4 years. I played with other students after school today. It was a good time. Class is still going well. We are now on vebs with prepositions as part of their stucture. Pure memorization, which I don't really like, but it's something I need.

Went to all you can eat sushi with another student from my class, Susan, and got some information on a local winery, Concho y Toro, so that I can go take a tour with some other students next week.

Now I need a shower and a nap!

Quiet Day

Today has been a pretty quiet day. I'm enjoying my class. I'd like it to go a little faster, but it's been good at forcing me to talk more. I feel a little bad for one of the other students because she's so advanced that I think it's a bit boring for her.

Took a nap when I came and then swapped rooms in the apartment (into the room Shawn was using) to get a harder bed. I love the view in my old room but the soft bed was killing me.

Ran some errands and came home to do my homework and update the blog. Maybe I'll go out with the roomies tonight. Saw Francisco, Maud's friend, again when he came over around lunch time. He's really cool and speaks extremeley clearly which I find to be an amazing quality these days.

There are a few vineyards nearby that are accesible without a car so I plan to check them out tonight to see if I can visit one after school.

Back to San Cristobal

Enjoyed first day of new class. Same two students. class is a little slow but I'm speaking more which I like.

After class I went to sushi with several students. Then Even and I walked to San Cristobal and took the Tereferico (gondola) up to the top. It was really an a,azing view. It's like a ski lift and at one point the lift stopped and we were suspended, way up, just drifting in the breeze. It was a little crazy. After looking around, we went down to the bottom on the other side by Funicular (like a train track but no motor, you just ride down).

I came home afterward, tired, and napped, worked out and then made dinner with my roommates. I corresponded with some folks via couchsurfing and email to try and coordinate my weekend trip to Valparaiso.

Some other folks came over and we had some wine and talked for a while. Met another friend of Maud's, Francisco, who does freework AV work. He gave me some more music recommendations so have to go later this week and buy:

1. Los Tres


2. Los Tetas


3. Bajo Fundo Tango Club


4. Los Hivas

I also saw Pato and Negro again. They are super cool but they talk so fast it's crazy. The promised to take me longboarding one day (skateboarding downhill on a really long board).

Long Hot Day in the City

Turns out the party was at house last night, well at least I understood enough Spanish to know it was a party. Parties go late here. I went to bed at 230 and woke up at 630 or 700 to get so,e water. The party was still going and the power had been cut to our floor in an attempt to quiet us, which oddly enough is apparently common. In the afternoon the elevator guys told us hoz cool we are (can't operate the elevator by yourself here)...good example of different culture.



Got up for good at 10 AM and zalked to see a rugby match with Helen and her friend Rowena but the pub was closed. Helen bought flowers to placate an angry neighborand I headed off to explore.










I walked through a bunch of parks and then went to the Bellas Artes Musuem, check out the photos. Afterwards I went to a large fish and produce market, Mercado Central.

By the time I was done there, I was hot and sweaty. It took me forever to get home because I couldn't find the bus I wanted and the metro wasn't working near me. So I walked to a

different line and came home.

Helen had made chicken curryand by the time we finished, Felipe came by with Maud and Diana and we all went to "Cerro San Cristobal" to drink beer and watch the city. It's a giant hill with a statue of the Virgin Mary and an amazing view. I could see the mountians all the neighborhoods my apartent and all the places I went today.Fabulous!

Came back and while I was talking with Lacey everyone was running around the house. Damian and Felipe left by bus for the south of Chile for 2 weeks for vacation and Diana left for Germany. I'm not sure how long Maud is around, but Helen is leaving in about 5 days for 3 weeks vacation with her Dad when he gets in from England, probably the same day I'm planning on going to Valparaiso for the weekend.

I enjoyed all the things my roommates showed me this weekend but ready for a couple of days of just going to school, sightseeing, and studying.

Great photos from the top of Santiago, San Cristobal

Felipe and I in the front seat, believe it or not the other five people are in the back.

1. 

1. 

At the top of the hill with Maud.

Me with Damian, Helen, Diana, and Maud.

Finally, the amazing view of Santiago.

Woke up late and remembered shopping in South America is impossible for me

We didn't go out last night until about 1 AM. Which sounds completely crazy but is very normal for Chile or Argentina. Damian, Felipe, Cathy, Maude, Diane, and I went to Ile Havana, a salsa club (or salsateca here a version of discoteca). It was fun, but I was beat when we got home and slept until 10 AM this morning.

Helen announced she was going to make "eggy bread" for breakfast. I was quite intruiged and planted myself in the kitchen to watch. Turns out that's British for french toast. The only weird part was that Damian and Helen ate theirs with ketchup and hot sauce. It's another world here folks.

Anyway, I finally got motivated after a nap and went to a big mall out in the northeastern edge of town, Parque Arauco. Went via bus, which is always an adventure, but always worthwhile. The mall is in a neighborhood called Las Condes and it's very American in appearance. The mall was huge and nice. Bigger and more impressive than anything I can think of in Cleveland. Anyway, there were huge end of summer season sales at the mall, so it was packed and there was less inventory than normal.

The good thing is now I have more summer clothes to use when I get back to the States. The bad news is that I remembered:

1. I have to buy the largest shirts for sale in Chile and Argentina. They just make the people different here. I tried some larges and mediums and the results were ridiculous. They hardly cary any XL's bought I think I bought the 4 shirts they had in the mall.
2. I also remembered that all the pants are either too small or too large. Apparently while there a few rare folks on the continent with my torso, no one has my waist or legs. I finally found an outdoor/rock climbing shop and managed to get a pair of pants and shorts.

So now I can put off laundry for a few more days and I have more clothes as I was running low. The joy of travelling with just a carry on backpack is how little you have to carry, but it's periodically annoying because you have so little and over time things get lost or destroyed. I managed to destroy a pair of pants on Monday (no wonder it didn't seem as hot the first day, I had a giant hole in pants) and was down to one pair.

More non-fashion related news tommorow. I'm going to nap before I head out with the roommates to a going away party for Diana (from Germany) tonight.

Passed my test and started seeing the city

Passed my test today, which is good because it means I am on track to finish all the grammar normally taught to foreingers before I go to Argentina and then I think I'll take private lessons there. If I hadn't passed , I would have had to retake the test.

After the test, we had a farewell lunch for the students who are leaving (they have one every Friday). We had hotdogs with gaucomole and salsa (called completos aqui). So far the food isn't blowing my mind but they have empanadas which raises any country in my book.

My friend Eve, from the school, and I went to Santa Lucia after the test. It's a park that consists of a hill with a castle and tower and a great view of the city. I really enjoyed the park. It was the first time I had time to just walk around and be a tourist.

After the park, before I came back to the apartment, we went to the University of Santiago and checked out a quaint little nieghborhood behind the University at the intersection of Paris and London. Damian had told me about it being a different world and he was right.

OK, now I'm going to workout take a nap and then go out with my roommates after Lacey calls me.