This is Choripan {chor-ee-pahn}. It is pronounced it with an "ah"...p-ah-n... It is a delicious grilled sausage (chorizo) on some grilled bread (pan). It is lovely. It is wonderful. It looks so innocent...and then Bam!...you're in love. Your life changed forever. It is one of my favorite things so far in Chile. This is also Choripan. Oh, have I mentioned that I adopted a puppy? (I realized that I made this announcement on Facebook but have withheld this lovely news from my non-Facebook-blog-readers...sorry!) She is about 5 months old, weighs approx. 9 kilos, and loves:
Now, you're probably asking yourself "Why did she name her dog Choripan? She isn't even the same color! I hope she doesn't plan on eating her!" And those are great and valid questions...and I hope you're not disappointed with the answers.
1) I have a history of naming my pets after food...so I wanted to keep the tradition alive! 2) Choripan/Chori sound nice and are easily pronounced in both English & Spanish. 3) It is a great conversation starter! Someday I should record people's faces when I tell them her name...priceless. 4) I can imagine the day when she is in the park or street, playing and running, and I yell "¡Choripan! ¡Choripan!" and everyone looks at me to see if I am selling choripan...ha ha ha....and if I ever adopt another pet, I think I will surely call it: ¡Terremoto! (Which means Earthquake...and is also a delicious drink!)
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¿Cómo se llama usted? {como-say-ya-ma-oo-sted}: What is your name? 1) Me llamo Yenifer. {may-ya-mo-Jennifer} 2) Some frequently used names that I have come across so far: Paula, Sebastian, Alvaro, Maria, José, Juan, Ana, Carolina, Juan Pablo, Juan Carlos, Yoselin. A few other common names at my school come from English names: John, Michael, Kevin, Brian, & Diana….and often they come with their own unique spelling: Jhon, Maikol, Maichel, Brayon, Boiron, Dahiana, Diahna. Why these names you may ask? A teen today was born in the 90s. What was going on in 90s Pop Culture? Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, & Princess Diana’s death. 3) It is common for parents to pass their names on to their children. A great example of this are my neighbors to the east: Francisco & Claudia and their two sons Francisco & Claudio. “Hello, Miss.” Teachers are called by their first names, not last names. At my school, this is often preceded by “Profe” or if you’re older “don/doña”or if you’re in the English department “Miss” for females and “Teacher” for males. Where John & Elise teach, teachers are lovingly called “Tío” (Uncle) & “Tía” (Aunt). Apellido {ah-pay-yee-dough}: Last name; surname
In Chile, women do not change their last name when they get married and the children carry two last names, with their parents passing on their first last name to the child. My full name would be: Jennifer Lynn Proeber Stuhr. As you can imagine, this almost always makes for a good conversation: Chilean: “And what is your second last name?” Me: “I don’t have one. We only use one last name in the United States.” Chilean: [confused look] “Mmm…” Me: “When a woman gets married, she usually changes her last name to that of her husband and that is the name passed on to their children.” Chilean: [shock! gasp! horror!] “Qué machista!” Me: [giggle] “Well, it doesn’t seem that way to us. It is our way of showing a new family is beginning...and young girls spend their free time daydreaming how their crush’s last name would sound with theirs…My dream has been to marry someone with the last name Lopez...” [tension eases as we all laugh] Most common final remarks: A) “Wow, that certainly is different, but I just can’t imagine…” B) “No, nuh-uh, never. Just not right. How do you preserve your family names?” C) [dreamingly changing their last name] D) “My brother-in-law’s friend’s cousin has the last name Lopez…” All over the world countries serve their own version of “handheld pies”. Some are sweet; others are savory. Some are baked; others are fried. You may be familiar with them as turnovers, puff pastries, dumplings, runsas, pasties, tiropitakia, calzones, or their outdoorsy camping cousin: pudgy pie. In Latin America, these delightful delicacies are called “Empanadas” and they are the zig to my zag. While there are a variety of empanadas served here, traditional Chilean empanadas are called “Empanadas de Pino”. This delicious filling includes: meat, onions, a few raisins, a piece of hard-boiled egg, & one olive. My landlords invited me over last Saturday to bake some homemade empanadas to inaugurate their new clay oven that Mario had built. Mario & Coralí have been an amazing blessing to me here. They have 2 teenagers, Mario & Paula, who are fun to talk to and incredibly kind. Whenever I am invited to their house or I stop by to pay my rent, I know that staying for just a little while is not going to be an option...they are very convincing! (Click on the photo below to activate the slideshow!) Quick poll question: And, as you may suspect, eating this glorious comfort food has the tendency to make your heart sing. Fittingly, a local group, Los Choros del Canasto, has written a song about Chilean empanadas! It is the first song on this video (0:00-3:10), and if you like the music, enjoy the other 26 minutes too! “Aaaayyy Empanadita!” |
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