TreesYes, I put my Christmas tree up....on October 24th to be exact. Be a Scrooge if you must, but you will not squelch my Christmas joy! I now will have over 2 full months to enjoy the twinkling lights, romantic glow, and general Christmas cheer. TripsThe last weekend in October included a two-day extension of fun because both Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Chile! (Oct. 31: Evangelical Church Day / Nov. 1: All Saints Day) The weekend quickly got packed with fun activities! Check them out here: 1) Mountain School Visit Tucked away up in the mountains way beyond the city of Longaví is a place called Loma de Vásquez {lo-ma-day-vahz-kez}. Along the dirt road you will find a small school for the children who live "nearby". There are 11 students from 1st to 6th grade who will greet you with warm smiles and send you off with hugs and a smile. Something that makes this primary school special is that because most of them live too far to travel every day, there is a dormitory where they stay during the week. We were honored to be received there as guests...and I am considering putting in my application! ;-) You can see more pictures and read more about our visit on Jon & Elise's blog post HERE...and as you may have guessed, Jon made a video about the trip and it is posted below. Enjoy! 2) Beach For Saturday, some church members organized a bus to take a trip to the beach! We had a great group and I had lots of fun flying my kite, building sand castles, relaxing, and having great conversations! 3) To the mountains again! Monday a group of 13 friends (and friends of friends) got together to explore the beauty of the Andes. Our destinations included: a border crossing with Argentina, Laguna del Maule, and the Inverted Waterfall. (And we saw another amazing bonus waterfall on our way to the inverted!) Yes, you read that correctly...an inverted waterfall! The wind that blows is so strong that it pushes the water right back up, producing a really cool effect! Another name for the waterfall is "Rainbow Falls"...but unfortunately it was too cloudy, so I guess we'll have to go back another day! HERE is a link to lots more fun pictures! TortillaWhen you ask for a tortilla in Chile, you will NOT get either of these: In Chile, the word tortilla is used for a delicious bread that is popular especially during the cold winter months. This dense bread's full name is Tortilla al rescoldo {tor-tee-ah-all-race-cold-oh} and it is traditionally baked in ashes. For those of you visual learners, here is a neat 2-minute video showing the whole process! (If you're feeling short on time or patience, fast-forward to about 1:30!) But, now to the REAL reason that I want to tell you about tortilla: This cute little guy showed up on the streets of our neighborhood a few weeks ago. I decided to name him Tortilla both because I love the food and he kind of has that coloring. Tortilla follows us to the park nearly every day and plays with Choripan. He is a sweet doggie, is always smiling, and loves to chase Choripan around. The other day he waited at the bus stop with me and sometimes he accompanies me when I walk downtown. It makes me so sad to think that someone tossed him out of their house but thankfully someone in the neighborhood puts food and water out for him every day. Does anybody want to come to Chile and adopt him? TeethI had been having a metallic-ish taste in my mouth for about a week, so this past Thursday I went in to the dentist to get it checked out. I found out that part of one of my wisdom teeth was infected and basically falling apart. The lovely Dr. Sandra asked if I wanted her to take it out right away and so I said "Sure, why not?" Neither of us realized that it would take an hour and a half and a large stack of nearly every tool in her office to accomplish the task. The tooth was so far back and only half there that it was hard for her to grab onto. We bonded over the pain, tears, sweat, blood, saliva, and laughter and now I feel like we are pretty much besties for life.
But aside from making a new friend, do you wanna know what the best part is? It only cost 40,000 Chilean Pesos = $60 USD (and without going through any insurance)! I would leave a picture of the event here...but since I am trying to keep the blog child-friendly, here's a picture of a happy tooth:
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I think I have finally recovered. There was food. So. Much. Food. For many days. Wednesday through Monday. I'm tired all over again just thinking about it all. Here are a few highlights: Wednesday, September 14thWednesday was a big day for our school. The students put together a presentation that represented Chile's history and key cultural icons and also featured dances from different regions of the country. Afterwards everyone got together as the families, students, and school staff shared typical food. Children kept bringing me food. I ate 10 different things. Then the staff had our own little celebration afterwards...with, you guessed it, more food. Thursday, September 15thThursday was Longaví's parade and our school was proud to march. Since the parade was not until 4:30pm, everyone came to school after lunch, around 2:30. You may be wondering what marching in the parade exactly entails? I think one student summed it up the best like this: "We wait for 2 hours and then walk for 2 minutes." Saturday, September 17thOn Saturday I went with Jon & Elise out to el campo {el cahm-po} [the countryside] to share in the festivities of the lovely family of Maria Rosa & Gustavo. What did I learn this weekend? I actually really enjoy oysters and mussels. Especially raw with lemon. #surprised #wow #delish Check out this video that Jon made of our day, including a trip to a beautiful nearby river! Also make sure to check out their blog post for some great pictures from the weekend! Sunday, September 18thSunday we went back to Maria Rosa & Gustavo's house where there was lots more food, family, fun, and cueca! Check out this video summary of another great day! Check out other celebration week related videos Jon has done about Chile's National Dance "The Cueca" and Fiestas Patrias celebrations at his rural Chilean school (which includes dances from all over Chile). You have probably realized by now that you should be subscribing to Jon's vlog on YouTube! Subscribing to his vlog will also bring you great benefits such as: news, joy, happiness, tidbits about our lives in Chile, and random appearances by yours truly. Coming soon to a blog near you...Stay tuned for another update coming to you very soon about an AMAZING hike we took last Saturday. Here's a teaser: Also coming soon, the first installment in a section I'm going to call "Meet & Greet" where I will introduce you to special people in my life here in Chile! Mystery Guest #1 is...a secret.
If you've been reading this blog for awhile you've had the pleasure of seeing my beautiful puppy, Choripan {chor-ee-pahn}. She is silky soft, muy tierna y regalona (very sweet and cuddly) and the best part about coming home. In May this lovely lady turned one year old! One casual evening in March, Choripan and I were on a walk when we came across another cute little puppy who was wandering the streets. He followed us and played nicely with Choripan...and on our way home I tried to return him to the house by the corner market where I thought for sure he belonged. The shop lady explained that he had been abandoned a couple of weeks before and didn't have a home. {insert heart melting} He looked so young and frail but still managed to have a smile on his face and play nicely with Choripan...and because of that I just couldn't leave him there on the streets. I named him Mote {Mo-tay} after this lovely summertime cold drink "Mote con huesillo" made from peach juice and barley. Mote resided with us for nearly two months, put on a healthy weight and got his updated shots and many much needed cuddles. (He never quite understood where to correctly go potty though...I apologize once again, Jon & Elise...) #thatfacethough They played well together...AKA they made a mess together and Choripan was happy there was someone to share the blame with... There are a few active volunteer groups here in Linares in defense of our animal friends. One is called "Sociedad Protectora de Animales de Linares". They are quite active on Facebook, constantly helping to reunite people with their lost pets and offering low-rate sterilizations. Another great service that they offer is helping animals in need find loving families. Every Saturday for a few hours they set-up in the Plaza of Linares and help facilitate adoptions for newborns or rescued animals. I went two Saturdays scouting out a family who might want to adopt a cute grey haired puppy. Though Mote was very well behaved and as cute as ever the first Saturday, he just couldn't compete with twenty cute newborn pups. However, we ventured to the park two weeks later and were successful at finding a family for Mote! And while we're discussing dogs, let me tell you about Porotos {po-row-toes} First, here is the food: On the left, porotos granados and on the right, porotos con riendas (literally, "beans with reins"). The second is a delicious winter bean soup/stew with squash and spaghetti noodles...and I haven't had a bad bowl yet! If you know Spanish there are lots of recipes on the internet to try, but for those who don't speak español THIS was the best one I could find for you...give it a try! This is Porotos the dog. I had seen him a time or two in the park before and one night Choripan and I found him dying under a tree in the park by our house. Ok, well, I thought he was dying...so I took him home for the night and decided that if he was still alive the next day I would take him to the vet. Though he didn't move much, if even at all overnight, 24 hours later the vet called to say that it was just a lung infection, Porotos was already doing better, the owners had been identified, and the dog's name is actually Gary. Horray for happy endings! FYI: Here in Chile May 13 started Winter Daylight Saving (until August 13). We are currently 1 hour ahead of Central Time Zone. And last, but certainly not least...
Kathy, our new director for Kingdom Worker's: Chile, came for her first visit in May! We had a wonderful time getting to know her, showing her around, and introducing her to people at our schools and church! We look forward to working together and her next visit! Thank you, Kathy! 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!) 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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