So it´s definitely spring, rapidly transforming into summer here. How do I know this? Let me count the ways...
Plants:
Cherries, at approx. $2 for 2 pounds at the feria. Prices expected to drop.
Strawberries, around $1 for 2 pounds. The season is quickly ending.
Little broccoli buds on my broccoli plants! Nothing like thick stalks, but they´re looking like real broccolis.
Baby strawberries being cultivated from a strawberry plant that Alvaro bought on the street and kindly gifted me.
Spinach- sprouting from the seeds planted. Beating the carrots and peppers in speed of sprouting and germination.
Weather:
Sun.
No rain.
My bike and me, daily, together, without any problems.
Animals:
Baby birds in the yard learning to fly, cheeping constantly (but it´s cute).
Ants, everywhere.
Middle school couples PDA-ing it up everywhere.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
EAT BREAD.
I can´t believe I missed it, but I recently realized that International Bread Day was 16 October. Basically, every day in Chile is International Bread Day, but I can´t believe that I missed an opportunity to justify my excessive bread consumption. I thought I´d briefly inform you about the 4 main types of bread that I eat:
My favorite, hallulla (pronounced ay-yu-yah). It contains lard, but I love it anyway. It´s soft, can be broken in half when it´s fresh (which is best), and I like it best with some sort of jam or manjar (kind of like dulce de leche). I could eat this daily (and really do, for weeks on end).
My second favorite, the marraqueta (mar-ah-kay-ta). It´s like a mini french baguette, but there are usually four of the minis connected in one large group of breads. Each individual marraqueta can be easily ripped apart from the others. It needs to be said that because of the quantity of bread that chileans eat, most that I´ve met take out the ´dough´ or ´miga´ on the inside and choose not to eat it (especially with the fresh marraquetas). Somehow, perhaps, this makes the bread consumption healthier? I guess you´re not eating as much, so that´s always good. The outside part is crunchy like a baguette, and I particularly enjoy marraquetas with mashed avocado and cheese inside. They make good sandwiches with the miga taken out.
I´m also a major fan of the dobladita, a small triangular bread. The key to its deliciousness? Butter baked into the inside. QUE RICO. Dobladitas don´t need to be eaten with anything else- they´re delicious by themselves. Only for special occasions.
Finally, there is the pan de molde (mol-day). It´s basically sliced bread, and therefore not nearly as delicious as the other more roll-like breads. Molde is good though when I´m craving a real sandwich, not just some sort holed-out roll sandwich.
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Now, off! A comer! To eat bread in celebration of El Día de Pan!
Besitos. Jewels- no bread for you, sorry about the lack of rice products. I don´t think Chileans would understand even a translation of ´gluten´. LOVE!
My favorite, hallulla (pronounced ay-yu-yah). It contains lard, but I love it anyway. It´s soft, can be broken in half when it´s fresh (which is best), and I like it best with some sort of jam or manjar (kind of like dulce de leche). I could eat this daily (and really do, for weeks on end).
My second favorite, the marraqueta (mar-ah-kay-ta). It´s like a mini french baguette, but there are usually four of the minis connected in one large group of breads. Each individual marraqueta can be easily ripped apart from the others. It needs to be said that because of the quantity of bread that chileans eat, most that I´ve met take out the ´dough´ or ´miga´ on the inside and choose not to eat it (especially with the fresh marraquetas). Somehow, perhaps, this makes the bread consumption healthier? I guess you´re not eating as much, so that´s always good. The outside part is crunchy like a baguette, and I particularly enjoy marraquetas with mashed avocado and cheese inside. They make good sandwiches with the miga taken out.
I´m also a major fan of the dobladita, a small triangular bread. The key to its deliciousness? Butter baked into the inside. QUE RICO. Dobladitas don´t need to be eaten with anything else- they´re delicious by themselves. Only for special occasions.
Finally, there is the pan de molde (mol-day). It´s basically sliced bread, and therefore not nearly as delicious as the other more roll-like breads. Molde is good though when I´m craving a real sandwich, not just some sort holed-out roll sandwich.
/>Now, off! A comer! To eat bread in celebration of El Día de Pan!
Besitos. Jewels- no bread for you, sorry about the lack of rice products. I don´t think Chileans would understand even a translation of ´gluten´. LOVE!
Friday, November 6, 2009
fruit, RUT, and toot...not such a great rhyme idea i guess
So, lots to update on.
a) I started my new classes, and they´re pretty cool. I teach tourism English to people involved in the tourism industry, and I have a book of material. My students are all way too advanced for the class, but I´ve learned that I´m pretty good at improvising, so I´ve managed to fill the 3 hours fairly decently. I ride my bike (downhill) to get there, and walk part way back with another gringa teacher who lives nearby, and then I ride up the hill to get home faster. I come home panting, but it´s good exercise, and I like that I can go faster that way. There´s no colectivo that would take me directly home, and I feel safer going up the hills nice and quick (relatively...) on a bike than walking, so I´m pretty pleased with my bike investment. Unfortunately, with my early morning classes and late night classes, I have long segments of time during the day (during which I should nap because I get tired!) that I´m not working. So schedule = not ideal, but students and class in general = going pretty well.
b) Last weekend I went to Quintero, another coastal town (not to be confused with my beloved Quintay). The flowers were in full bloom, I saw penguins (my first Chilean penguins!) ´pingüineando´ in the water, and just enjoyed walking around. Alvaro and I went with his dad, who is a marine biologist, and could point out some cool marine fauna. He and Alvaro both have good eyes for finding marine animals, so I saw starfish, urchins, shrimp, and a lot of other animals that I don´t know how to translate in English. I would post pictures, but that has to do with update c which is that
c) My computer charger cord broke, so I´ve been with limited internet access, limited to Alvaro´s dad´s computer. Quintero pictures when I can charge my computer again (hopefully to be remedied soon thanks to Rachel sending an extra charger my way--thanks, Rach).
d) SUMMER IS HERE. Which means so are strawberries (less than U$D 1 for 1 kilo...about 2 pounds for non-metric users), pineapples (OK, they´re still imported but I feel better about eating them when it´s nice outside), and asparagus. Rumor has it that peaches, apricots, melons, watermelons, grapes, and CHERRIES come next. I can´t wait! Oh, and it doesn´t get dark until like 9pm now, also pretty bomb.
That´s about it. Oh, and I´m THIS CLOSE to being for reals official here. I got my passport with my temporary residence visa in it, and I have my paper version of my carnet, which is basically like an ID card for people here. I´ll pick up my real plastic one in 2 weeks, and I´ll be official, with a RUT and everything (RUT is your ID number). With a RUT, I´ll be able to participate in the complicated Chilean system of not having 10% of your paycheck deducted by the person who fills out you check (kind of- it´s too complicated to explain). But yeah, I´m almost an official temporary resident here.
I hope that no one has swine flu and that everyone is staying warm. lots of warm love from me being sent up there.
a) I started my new classes, and they´re pretty cool. I teach tourism English to people involved in the tourism industry, and I have a book of material. My students are all way too advanced for the class, but I´ve learned that I´m pretty good at improvising, so I´ve managed to fill the 3 hours fairly decently. I ride my bike (downhill) to get there, and walk part way back with another gringa teacher who lives nearby, and then I ride up the hill to get home faster. I come home panting, but it´s good exercise, and I like that I can go faster that way. There´s no colectivo that would take me directly home, and I feel safer going up the hills nice and quick (relatively...) on a bike than walking, so I´m pretty pleased with my bike investment. Unfortunately, with my early morning classes and late night classes, I have long segments of time during the day (during which I should nap because I get tired!) that I´m not working. So schedule = not ideal, but students and class in general = going pretty well.
b) Last weekend I went to Quintero, another coastal town (not to be confused with my beloved Quintay). The flowers were in full bloom, I saw penguins (my first Chilean penguins!) ´pingüineando´ in the water, and just enjoyed walking around. Alvaro and I went with his dad, who is a marine biologist, and could point out some cool marine fauna. He and Alvaro both have good eyes for finding marine animals, so I saw starfish, urchins, shrimp, and a lot of other animals that I don´t know how to translate in English. I would post pictures, but that has to do with update c which is that
c) My computer charger cord broke, so I´ve been with limited internet access, limited to Alvaro´s dad´s computer. Quintero pictures when I can charge my computer again (hopefully to be remedied soon thanks to Rachel sending an extra charger my way--thanks, Rach).
d) SUMMER IS HERE. Which means so are strawberries (less than U$D 1 for 1 kilo...about 2 pounds for non-metric users), pineapples (OK, they´re still imported but I feel better about eating them when it´s nice outside), and asparagus. Rumor has it that peaches, apricots, melons, watermelons, grapes, and CHERRIES come next. I can´t wait! Oh, and it doesn´t get dark until like 9pm now, also pretty bomb.
That´s about it. Oh, and I´m THIS CLOSE to being for reals official here. I got my passport with my temporary residence visa in it, and I have my paper version of my carnet, which is basically like an ID card for people here. I´ll pick up my real plastic one in 2 weeks, and I´ll be official, with a RUT and everything (RUT is your ID number). With a RUT, I´ll be able to participate in the complicated Chilean system of not having 10% of your paycheck deducted by the person who fills out you check (kind of- it´s too complicated to explain). But yeah, I´m almost an official temporary resident here.
I hope that no one has swine flu and that everyone is staying warm. lots of warm love from me being sent up there.
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