Like I have probably said before the program that I am with... Institute for Study Abroad through Butler University, a few times in the semester does little day trips to different areas around Santiago in the hopes of helping us learn more about the culture and the country. On this Saturday in November the IFSA program put together a trip to two towns on the coast of Chile, Isla Negra (Black Island) and Valparaiso. Just to clear up any confusion that might already be starting Isla Negra is not actually an Island and to be totally honest it isn't even close to a real Island. I have no idea how it got its name, but I was a little disappointed when I figured this out, so I didn't want to get your hopes up as well.
In my blog about Valle de Elqui, I talked about Gabriela Mistral, the first Chilean to receive a Nobel Prize (literature - 1945). Well, if Gabriela Mistral was the first and not the only, there must be another Chilean Nobel Laureate huh? You are correct. Pablo Neruda, definitely the most famous Chilean author, was the second and final Chilean to receive a Nobel Prize again in Literature (1971). Neruda's poetry is beloved all around this country. My new host mother loves Neruda and has two books that comprise most of his works. Neruda, like most of the poets in Chile was from the left wing of the political perspective. Besides being a well known poet he also worked as a Chilean diplomat and politician. He was a member of the Chilean Communist party. He died shortly after the Chilean coup in 1973.
Isla Negra is famous because it was host to Neruda's beach home which has now been converted into a museum. Neruda had many odd collections in his life and this house has many of the collections preserved and on display. Photos of Isla Negra should be on Flickr if you look.
My criticism of Pablo Neruda is that he didn't practice what he preached. Most communists/socialists try to live simple lives because they believe that wealth should be shared. Well, Neruda had three homes in Chile... one in Santiago, one in Isla Negra, and one in Valapariso. It seems a little extravagant to me especially for a poet. More over these homes had no real practical purpose. It is not like he had to have a Valapariso home or the Isla Negra home. I feel it is different when people have properties because they spend considerable time at each place. For example if a US Senator has a home in his home state as well as a home in Washington DC, because he/she spends a lot of time working in Washington.
After we visited Isla Negra, we visited Valapariso a port city that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took a tour of the city and learned about its history. The city is quite remarkable really. It is placed on a hill thus everyone lives farther up the hill and works at the lower part of the city. This meant that it was hard to walk up and down the hills every day (especially since Chileans go home for lunch and return to work in the afternoon). Since this was a difficulty Funiculars and Elevators were built around the city. In most places a ride on one of these funiculars costs about 100 pesos or about 25 cents. It is probably one of the main reasons Valapariso was accepted as a world heritage site. They are quite unique.
The city is also very colorful. If you look on the side of the hill, it seems like every house is a different shade of a bright color. This is because historically, the seamen who lived in the city would paint their house a bright color so that when they were out on the boat they could pick it out on the hill side. On the right side of the blog there is a link to the wikipedia site about Valapariso. I hope you check it out because you could see pictures and learn more about the city.
The tour was very nice and that evening we returned to Santiago. I was wore out by all of the traveling, so I ate dinner and went to bed.
It is a little funny because all of my blogs end with me going to bed. The truth is I don't go out that much in Santiago A.) because it is expensive and I would rather spend my money on other things and B.) I just get tired from the days here. It seems like it is so much more work because unlike UST, you have to take public transportation or walk all over the city to get to your classes or really to do anything. This wears a person out!! =)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Exploring your own surroundings...
Traveling over the past six months and living in Santiago, I have come to the realization that exploring the area that you live in is extremely important. Whether you visit another country or the museum in your local town learning more about the area you live in is something that we all can and should do.
For example if you live in Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society has great places to visit all year round. These places are normally pretty cheap to visit and they are a great way to learn about the history in Minnesota. We have national, state, and regional parks in our state that are beautiful and are often overlooked as a possible travel destination. Who needs to go to Napa Valley in California or the Champagne Region of France to do a wine tour when you can do your own wine tour in the bluffs of southeastern Minnesota? There are so many things that you can do and they can be as long as a week, weekend, or even a day and cost little to nothing.
I have learned during this trip that there are many, many ways to cut costs and increase savings to make travel in the United States or even in other countries more affordable and thus more possible. Some of them include looking into cruises. Often cruises are cheap ways to see the world. Sometimes you can find 4 day cruises for 500 dollars and the awesome thing is that it includes almost everything--- food, entertainment, etc. Another item is travel for longer periods of time and less often.
It would be better to save your vacation and your money and take that one month long dream trip to visit Angor Watt in Cambodia. Often times the most expensive part of your trip is your airfare to the other country. Thus if you can find the time spending less money on one ticket and more time in the other country is a great idea, because you will save money in the long run. The Europeans I have met do this. They take a month or two off and visit Argentina and Chile and really experience the country and the culture. Where as many of the Americans I meet are in Chile for 2 weeks rushing to see everything they can. If you can do it, longer trips less often are definitely the way to go.
Another idea is to look into a Round the World Ticket (RWT). Yeah it sounds like it is for the rich and famous, but often times RWT's are cheaper then flights to one destination and back. Thus, if you have the month for the trip of your dreams you can spend $2,000 on a RWT and spend one week in Sydney, Australia; one week in Beijing, China; and finish your trip up with one week in Rome, Italy before returning home. Instead if you visited these three destinations distinctly, your airfare could cost you more then $6,000!!! That is a considerable savings.
If you want to travel on budget and save a lot of money... I mean a bulk of money--- the best bet is to stay in Hostels. Use websites like www.hostelworld.com to find rooms for as cheap as $5.00 a night (usually in poorer countries and for dorms). However, hostels often times have private rooms as well with private bathrooms. Thus the hostel becomes more like a bed and breakfast. These rooms obviously are more expensive --- sometimes $25.00, but at the same time they can still be considerably cheaper then staying at that Hilton or Best Western.
The main goal I want to make clear in this blog is that exploring your world doesn't have to be hard or expensive, with the proper time and planning, you really can do it on a budget and still have a great time. Even if you don't feel comfortable flying to Africa or Europe for a month, just find things in your hometown or state. I feel like Americans need to get up and get going when it comes to seeing their own country and the world. It doesn't have to be hard and it will be extremely rewarding.
Just be careful as they say you can get the travel bug... or the itch to see more and do more, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing! =)
For example if you live in Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society has great places to visit all year round. These places are normally pretty cheap to visit and they are a great way to learn about the history in Minnesota. We have national, state, and regional parks in our state that are beautiful and are often overlooked as a possible travel destination. Who needs to go to Napa Valley in California or the Champagne Region of France to do a wine tour when you can do your own wine tour in the bluffs of southeastern Minnesota? There are so many things that you can do and they can be as long as a week, weekend, or even a day and cost little to nothing.
I have learned during this trip that there are many, many ways to cut costs and increase savings to make travel in the United States or even in other countries more affordable and thus more possible. Some of them include looking into cruises. Often cruises are cheap ways to see the world. Sometimes you can find 4 day cruises for 500 dollars and the awesome thing is that it includes almost everything--- food, entertainment, etc. Another item is travel for longer periods of time and less often.
It would be better to save your vacation and your money and take that one month long dream trip to visit Angor Watt in Cambodia. Often times the most expensive part of your trip is your airfare to the other country. Thus if you can find the time spending less money on one ticket and more time in the other country is a great idea, because you will save money in the long run. The Europeans I have met do this. They take a month or two off and visit Argentina and Chile and really experience the country and the culture. Where as many of the Americans I meet are in Chile for 2 weeks rushing to see everything they can. If you can do it, longer trips less often are definitely the way to go.
Another idea is to look into a Round the World Ticket (RWT). Yeah it sounds like it is for the rich and famous, but often times RWT's are cheaper then flights to one destination and back. Thus, if you have the month for the trip of your dreams you can spend $2,000 on a RWT and spend one week in Sydney, Australia; one week in Beijing, China; and finish your trip up with one week in Rome, Italy before returning home. Instead if you visited these three destinations distinctly, your airfare could cost you more then $6,000!!! That is a considerable savings.
If you want to travel on budget and save a lot of money... I mean a bulk of money--- the best bet is to stay in Hostels. Use websites like www.hostelworld.com to find rooms for as cheap as $5.00 a night (usually in poorer countries and for dorms). However, hostels often times have private rooms as well with private bathrooms. Thus the hostel becomes more like a bed and breakfast. These rooms obviously are more expensive --- sometimes $25.00, but at the same time they can still be considerably cheaper then staying at that Hilton or Best Western.
The main goal I want to make clear in this blog is that exploring your world doesn't have to be hard or expensive, with the proper time and planning, you really can do it on a budget and still have a great time. Even if you don't feel comfortable flying to Africa or Europe for a month, just find things in your hometown or state. I feel like Americans need to get up and get going when it comes to seeing their own country and the world. It doesn't have to be hard and it will be extremely rewarding.
Just be careful as they say you can get the travel bug... or the itch to see more and do more, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing! =)
Jupiter and the Southern Cross
This blog picks up from the Valle de Elqui blog.
After spending the day touring the valley we were left at Vicunia to hang out for the evening. We were suppose to meet the guide at the Mamalluca Observatory offices in Vicunia. We ended up waiting for a pretty long time, when he all of a sudden showed up. We went to the van with the guide and jumped in the van and were off to the races. Literally, the guide drove the van like we were in the Indy 500 through dirt roads. Every turn it seemed as if there was a road block and thus we had to make a quick turn around the corner to miss certain death. The guide informed us that the town always had construction and thus he never knew exactly the correct direction to the observatory since there were detours. It was an interesting ride to say the least. We finally made it to the observatory and we got out of the van in complete darkness. On the grounds of the observatory there were only a few lights where there were steps, but most of the grounds didn't have steps just ramps so that the use of lights was not needed.
Why would there be an observatory in northern Chile for tourists? Why is northern Chile a hub for astronomy? Well, let me tell you. Northern Chile is one of the most clear places in the world in relation to weather patterns and clouds. If you remember from my earlier posts the Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world, thus, as you can imagine there are only one or two days a year with clouds in northern Chile. Also, the desert climate makes human population difficult, thus there are very few lights that cause light pollution in the area. The only other place in the world with these same geographic details is Namibia in Africa. Namibia is not as stable of a government, thus Chile becomes the most desirable place in the world for observatories.
Both the European Union and the United States have their main telescopes in this northern region of Chile. They continue to plan to make more and bigger telescopes in the region. These plans though were put to a halt a few years ago because light pollution had become quite a problem in northern Chile. Thus the foreign governments, mainly the EU and the US, told Chile that unless they enacted a law that required special night time lights that decrease light pollution they would not build their telescopes in Chile. The Chilean government thus accordingly enacted a law that says that people will be fined if they have any outdoor lights that are not of the special night time lights required. You know these lights because we have them in the US as well. The difference is between the clear white lights that you sometimes see and the orange lights that are the special night time lights. In most of the world people have switched almost fully to the special night time lights --- especially local and regional governments. (I know this because my dad works on projects such as these.) I have also always wanted to know there makes a difference between lamp posts that have globes (like in New Prague) versus lamp posts that direct the light down towards the road. It would seem more likely that the lamp posts that direct the light down towards the ground would preserve more light and thus cause less light pollution. If you know you should tell me.
Anyways, our tour was very, very good. We went between stations observing the absolutely clear night sky. In the main observatory we saw stars in the telescope that were 2,000 light years away. This idea blew me away. This light year idea is so amazing. What it means is that the light you see in the telescope was given off 2,000 years ago and we are just seeing it now because it is that far away. Thus, if you were on that star and looking in a very powerful telescope at earth you would see a reflection of earth that would be during the time of Christ. Crazy huh? I think so. We also saw Jupiter, which is much closer to earth compared to these stars. Another thing I learned and thought was extremely interesting is that the most powerful telescopes in the world (well all the telescopes in the world) will only show you the pictures of planets and stars in black and white because our eyes cannot comprehend or register the colors. Which is also extremely interesting. Thus any pictures you see of planets and stars are doctored images not direct images. The images are what you would see if our eyes could comprehend the colors in the telescope.
At another station we were taught how to observe the night sky and find our direction in the south. Unlike the northern hemisphere the south doesn't have a star that is always in the south. Thus you have to use the southern cross to determine the center of the sky in the south. It is so beyond my understanding that from these points our entire sky pivots. I feel like once you understand this concept it is much easier to understand the position of the sky. We were also shown the zodiac star patterns. It was interesting to learn that you will never see your zodiac on your birthday because it is always hidden and not visible to viewers anywhere in the world. Since we went in September I could just see part of my zodiac symbol, Libra (October), but if I went back to the observatory today, I would not be able to see it. We also were able to see very clearly the milky way galaxy.
At one of these stations there was a group of students that were talking about what they were seeing. It was interesting to overhear what they were saying. (I must admit that they were a little ditzy, so that already affected my perception of them, but what they said made me think a lot.) They said that they found everything very interesting but that since they were Christian they didn't believe that these stars were really around for millions of years because God created the earth only so many years ago--- blah blah blah. You know the debate. It was just totally beyond my imagination that someone could think that these scientists who are really smart are just lying and that they really don't know anything. Then it made me start to question the importance of this idea (years etc.) in my faith and whether I could believe science and still at the same time believe my Christian faith.
I would love to hear other people's perspectives on this. My conclusion has been this so far: We can't possibly understand the creation of the universe and the process that God went through. The Bible is definitely the world of God, but it is not necessarily to be taken literally (7 days), something I know my Lutheran faith doesn't agree with me on. The most important conclusion that I came to is that the most important thing I have to believe is that Jesus Christ came to die for my sins and that through his Grace and my Faith, I am saved. The details of the creation of the universe or whether communion changes into the body and blood or is symbolic or is something else are mere details in my relationship with Christ. Maybe I am off my rocker, but I really need some other perspectives on this.
In any case, this tour has been one of the highlights of my entire trip. It was so fascinating and seeing the stars in this clear night sky was absolutely fantastic. If you ever get the chance to visit Chile or more specifically La Serena, I highly suggest it. If you can't visit Chile there is the Mamalluca Website that looks quite interesting as well.
After the tour we were driven back to La Serena and to our hostels. We were very tired from the long day of touring, so we hit the sack.
After spending the day touring the valley we were left at Vicunia to hang out for the evening. We were suppose to meet the guide at the Mamalluca Observatory offices in Vicunia. We ended up waiting for a pretty long time, when he all of a sudden showed up. We went to the van with the guide and jumped in the van and were off to the races. Literally, the guide drove the van like we were in the Indy 500 through dirt roads. Every turn it seemed as if there was a road block and thus we had to make a quick turn around the corner to miss certain death. The guide informed us that the town always had construction and thus he never knew exactly the correct direction to the observatory since there were detours. It was an interesting ride to say the least. We finally made it to the observatory and we got out of the van in complete darkness. On the grounds of the observatory there were only a few lights where there were steps, but most of the grounds didn't have steps just ramps so that the use of lights was not needed.
Why would there be an observatory in northern Chile for tourists? Why is northern Chile a hub for astronomy? Well, let me tell you. Northern Chile is one of the most clear places in the world in relation to weather patterns and clouds. If you remember from my earlier posts the Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world, thus, as you can imagine there are only one or two days a year with clouds in northern Chile. Also, the desert climate makes human population difficult, thus there are very few lights that cause light pollution in the area. The only other place in the world with these same geographic details is Namibia in Africa. Namibia is not as stable of a government, thus Chile becomes the most desirable place in the world for observatories.
Both the European Union and the United States have their main telescopes in this northern region of Chile. They continue to plan to make more and bigger telescopes in the region. These plans though were put to a halt a few years ago because light pollution had become quite a problem in northern Chile. Thus the foreign governments, mainly the EU and the US, told Chile that unless they enacted a law that required special night time lights that decrease light pollution they would not build their telescopes in Chile. The Chilean government thus accordingly enacted a law that says that people will be fined if they have any outdoor lights that are not of the special night time lights required. You know these lights because we have them in the US as well. The difference is between the clear white lights that you sometimes see and the orange lights that are the special night time lights. In most of the world people have switched almost fully to the special night time lights --- especially local and regional governments. (I know this because my dad works on projects such as these.) I have also always wanted to know there makes a difference between lamp posts that have globes (like in New Prague) versus lamp posts that direct the light down towards the road. It would seem more likely that the lamp posts that direct the light down towards the ground would preserve more light and thus cause less light pollution. If you know you should tell me.
Anyways, our tour was very, very good. We went between stations observing the absolutely clear night sky. In the main observatory we saw stars in the telescope that were 2,000 light years away. This idea blew me away. This light year idea is so amazing. What it means is that the light you see in the telescope was given off 2,000 years ago and we are just seeing it now because it is that far away. Thus, if you were on that star and looking in a very powerful telescope at earth you would see a reflection of earth that would be during the time of Christ. Crazy huh? I think so. We also saw Jupiter, which is much closer to earth compared to these stars. Another thing I learned and thought was extremely interesting is that the most powerful telescopes in the world (well all the telescopes in the world) will only show you the pictures of planets and stars in black and white because our eyes cannot comprehend or register the colors. Which is also extremely interesting. Thus any pictures you see of planets and stars are doctored images not direct images. The images are what you would see if our eyes could comprehend the colors in the telescope.
At another station we were taught how to observe the night sky and find our direction in the south. Unlike the northern hemisphere the south doesn't have a star that is always in the south. Thus you have to use the southern cross to determine the center of the sky in the south. It is so beyond my understanding that from these points our entire sky pivots. I feel like once you understand this concept it is much easier to understand the position of the sky. We were also shown the zodiac star patterns. It was interesting to learn that you will never see your zodiac on your birthday because it is always hidden and not visible to viewers anywhere in the world. Since we went in September I could just see part of my zodiac symbol, Libra (October), but if I went back to the observatory today, I would not be able to see it. We also were able to see very clearly the milky way galaxy.
At one of these stations there was a group of students that were talking about what they were seeing. It was interesting to overhear what they were saying. (I must admit that they were a little ditzy, so that already affected my perception of them, but what they said made me think a lot.) They said that they found everything very interesting but that since they were Christian they didn't believe that these stars were really around for millions of years because God created the earth only so many years ago--- blah blah blah. You know the debate. It was just totally beyond my imagination that someone could think that these scientists who are really smart are just lying and that they really don't know anything. Then it made me start to question the importance of this idea (years etc.) in my faith and whether I could believe science and still at the same time believe my Christian faith.
I would love to hear other people's perspectives on this. My conclusion has been this so far: We can't possibly understand the creation of the universe and the process that God went through. The Bible is definitely the world of God, but it is not necessarily to be taken literally (7 days), something I know my Lutheran faith doesn't agree with me on. The most important conclusion that I came to is that the most important thing I have to believe is that Jesus Christ came to die for my sins and that through his Grace and my Faith, I am saved. The details of the creation of the universe or whether communion changes into the body and blood or is symbolic or is something else are mere details in my relationship with Christ. Maybe I am off my rocker, but I really need some other perspectives on this.
In any case, this tour has been one of the highlights of my entire trip. It was so fascinating and seeing the stars in this clear night sky was absolutely fantastic. If you ever get the chance to visit Chile or more specifically La Serena, I highly suggest it. If you can't visit Chile there is the Mamalluca Website that looks quite interesting as well.
After the tour we were driven back to La Serena and to our hostels. We were very tired from the long day of touring, so we hit the sack.
Valle de Elqui
La Serena is a historical city in Chile, but most people go to La Serena because it is the front door to the Valle de Elqui a absolutely beautiful valley formed by the Elqui River. This valley is a prime place for growing grapes because of the winds and perfect light conditions.
We signed up for a Valle tour our first day in La Serena because we knew that is was a must on our visit list. We were picked up by our tour guide in a large van early in the morning from our hostel. After a short introduction to the tour and the local area we were off to the valley. During the tour we stopped a number of different places including a farm for the fruit chirimoya. If you click on the link it will take you to the wikipedia site for the fruit so you can see a picture and learn more about it. It is a very popular fruit in Chile, and I don't believe that there is an equivalent in the United States.
After the chirimoya farm we went to quite a few little towns in the valley which were all quite quaint. Most of them had a church that was very nice looking and of course good views of the Elqui River.
We also visited a dam that was built on the river. it regulates the water in times of floods and provides and excellent source of electricity. At the dam there was a very neat sculpture that had been designed as a gift to the Chilean people. It was a sculpture that had strings tied across it and as the wind blew through the valley and over the dam, the wind would vibrate the strings which were tuned to make a very harmonious sound. It was a really unique item. The dam had a side section that served as an emergency route when high water approached the top of the dam. In this section you could see very large fish swimming. Many people find dams like this to be horrible for the environment and I am sure that they are in some cases, however this dam and a debate on dams in Patagonia for my Spanish class forced me to research dams. The truth is you can actually build dams that do not hinder the ability of fish to spawn and you can create dams that are less envasive on the environment. I am not sure if this dam was built in this fashion, but I hope those fish survive.
After the dam we went to an artisan pisco factory. Pisco is kind of like a whisky however it is made from fermented grapes instead of fermented grain. The factory sells pisco which is artisan, meaning that it is made in small quantities and only sold in special places.. or it could also just be a tourist snag. Either way, I fell for it and bought some of the artisan pisco so that I can bring it home and share it with people. They also produced a special line of mango sour a drink where mango juice and pisco are mixed. I also bought some of this to bring home as well. I tried it and it was very, very good. The mango is a fruit which is grown all over the Elqui valley and thus, mango sour is a nice touch to remember the valley.
Our lunch was included and we went to this little hostel/restaurant that seemed like it was in a little crevice of the valley where no one could find it. The food was very good and after lunch we had the opportunity to chill in their lush green backyard. The people were especially friendly and I had a long conversation with one of the waitresses after lunch.
Pisco Elqui is a town that is named because of the abundance of pisco plants and factories in the valley. It is a famous town for the region which hosts many tourists throughout the tourist season. Rumor has it that the Chilean Government changed the town's name by law to Pisco Elqui in an effort to show that pisco is actually a Chilean invention. This fight between Peru and Chile continues today. Many people on both sides believe that Pisco was originally their drink. Thus there are "pisco" cities, valleys, rivers, roads, etc. to try and make that clear. I will not take a position on this on going fight, I will just say that I very much enjoy a fresh pisco sour now and then. In Pisco Elqui our tour group got about a half hour to enjoy the little town and visit the church and other historical sights.
After Pisco Elqui normally the tour would go the birth place of Gabriel Mistral, however, because our group wanted to visit the Elqui river our guide drove us to the river instead. We all got our feet wet in the river, but it was extremely cold because the water is straight from the snow melt. While it was bone chillingly cold, it was refreshing. After the river most of us fell asleep on our ride to Vicunia one of the larger cities in the valley.
Vicunia is the birth town of Gabriel Mistral, and author and winner of the first Chilean Nobel Prize in Literature. In the town there is a museum dedicated to her as well as just a nice little pueblito (little town). Our group was let off here for a few hours because we had reservations for a Observatory Tour that evening in Vicunia, thus we were allowed to hang out in the city while the others returned to La Serena and the tour guide brought a new group of tourists into the valley. During our few hours of freedom we got dinner and ice cream. It was a fun time just hanging out and the ice cream was delicious. Rumor has it that in Vicunia you can find Avacado flavored ice cream. We looked but didn't end up finding it.
We signed up for a Valle tour our first day in La Serena because we knew that is was a must on our visit list. We were picked up by our tour guide in a large van early in the morning from our hostel. After a short introduction to the tour and the local area we were off to the valley. During the tour we stopped a number of different places including a farm for the fruit chirimoya. If you click on the link it will take you to the wikipedia site for the fruit so you can see a picture and learn more about it. It is a very popular fruit in Chile, and I don't believe that there is an equivalent in the United States.
After the chirimoya farm we went to quite a few little towns in the valley which were all quite quaint. Most of them had a church that was very nice looking and of course good views of the Elqui River.
We also visited a dam that was built on the river. it regulates the water in times of floods and provides and excellent source of electricity. At the dam there was a very neat sculpture that had been designed as a gift to the Chilean people. It was a sculpture that had strings tied across it and as the wind blew through the valley and over the dam, the wind would vibrate the strings which were tuned to make a very harmonious sound. It was a really unique item. The dam had a side section that served as an emergency route when high water approached the top of the dam. In this section you could see very large fish swimming. Many people find dams like this to be horrible for the environment and I am sure that they are in some cases, however this dam and a debate on dams in Patagonia for my Spanish class forced me to research dams. The truth is you can actually build dams that do not hinder the ability of fish to spawn and you can create dams that are less envasive on the environment. I am not sure if this dam was built in this fashion, but I hope those fish survive.
After the dam we went to an artisan pisco factory. Pisco is kind of like a whisky however it is made from fermented grapes instead of fermented grain. The factory sells pisco which is artisan, meaning that it is made in small quantities and only sold in special places.. or it could also just be a tourist snag. Either way, I fell for it and bought some of the artisan pisco so that I can bring it home and share it with people. They also produced a special line of mango sour a drink where mango juice and pisco are mixed. I also bought some of this to bring home as well. I tried it and it was very, very good. The mango is a fruit which is grown all over the Elqui valley and thus, mango sour is a nice touch to remember the valley.
Our lunch was included and we went to this little hostel/restaurant that seemed like it was in a little crevice of the valley where no one could find it. The food was very good and after lunch we had the opportunity to chill in their lush green backyard. The people were especially friendly and I had a long conversation with one of the waitresses after lunch.
Pisco Elqui is a town that is named because of the abundance of pisco plants and factories in the valley. It is a famous town for the region which hosts many tourists throughout the tourist season. Rumor has it that the Chilean Government changed the town's name by law to Pisco Elqui in an effort to show that pisco is actually a Chilean invention. This fight between Peru and Chile continues today. Many people on both sides believe that Pisco was originally their drink. Thus there are "pisco" cities, valleys, rivers, roads, etc. to try and make that clear. I will not take a position on this on going fight, I will just say that I very much enjoy a fresh pisco sour now and then. In Pisco Elqui our tour group got about a half hour to enjoy the little town and visit the church and other historical sights.
After Pisco Elqui normally the tour would go the birth place of Gabriel Mistral, however, because our group wanted to visit the Elqui river our guide drove us to the river instead. We all got our feet wet in the river, but it was extremely cold because the water is straight from the snow melt. While it was bone chillingly cold, it was refreshing. After the river most of us fell asleep on our ride to Vicunia one of the larger cities in the valley.
Vicunia is the birth town of Gabriel Mistral, and author and winner of the first Chilean Nobel Prize in Literature. In the town there is a museum dedicated to her as well as just a nice little pueblito (little town). Our group was let off here for a few hours because we had reservations for a Observatory Tour that evening in Vicunia, thus we were allowed to hang out in the city while the others returned to La Serena and the tour guide brought a new group of tourists into the valley. During our few hours of freedom we got dinner and ice cream. It was a fun time just hanging out and the ice cream was delicious. Rumor has it that in Vicunia you can find Avacado flavored ice cream. We looked but didn't end up finding it.
Chilean Indpendence Day
We woke up around 1:30pm. It was really hard to do, but we knew that we didn't want to waste any time sleeping when we could be exploring the city and most importantly the beach. We took showers and got ready for the day and then we were off to fill our empty stomachs.
EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. It was their Indpendence Day, I know, however everything was closed. We had all been told that La Serena was the 'place to be' for the 18th of September and the entire town looked like sleepy hollow. We finally found a place that was open for lunch and we ate there. I had a meal that consisted of 3 plates for 5 bucks. It was very good, however the desert was really strange. It was a peach that was in some suguary sauce with little nuts. It tried it and wasn't that thrilled, so I shared it with everyone and got some ice cream instead. The waiter said that this desert was a typical Chilean dessert. I wasn't impressed.
After lunch we went to the beach and the famous La Serena lighthouse. It was so much fun and we just chilled on the beach for quite awhile taking pictures of the sea, the lighthouse, and each other. We had a great time and the best part was that we sat and watched a fantastic sunset over the sea. It was absolutely fantastic seeing both the sunset and sunrise within a 24 hour period.
After the sunset we walked back to the hostel to change clothes and get ready for the Independence Day Fonda (party)! The Fonda was in Coquimbo and we took a very expensive taxi to get there. We first went to a place to eat and I had the best pizza I have had in Chile. It was fantastic. It was in a little restaurant close to where we went out the night before.
After dinner we took a collectivo (a cheaper ride) up the hill to the Fonda. I did´t know waht to expect at the fonda and was really surprised when I got there. It was more like a state fair or city celebration then a party. There were places to buy EVERYTHING from cowboy hats, to shoes, to other items. There were places to play bingo, drink alcohol, eat empanadas, and ride rides etc. It was fun to walk around and enjoy the sights but it wasn´t exactly what I expected it to be. We stayed for an hour or so soaking in the 'traditional' fonda, but we all were tired from our party the night before and new we had our tour of the Elqui Valley the next day. So we decided that returning to the hostel, via bus, was a better idea. We did that and called it an 'early' night.
EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. It was their Indpendence Day, I know, however everything was closed. We had all been told that La Serena was the 'place to be' for the 18th of September and the entire town looked like sleepy hollow. We finally found a place that was open for lunch and we ate there. I had a meal that consisted of 3 plates for 5 bucks. It was very good, however the desert was really strange. It was a peach that was in some suguary sauce with little nuts. It tried it and wasn't that thrilled, so I shared it with everyone and got some ice cream instead. The waiter said that this desert was a typical Chilean dessert. I wasn't impressed.
After lunch we went to the beach and the famous La Serena lighthouse. It was so much fun and we just chilled on the beach for quite awhile taking pictures of the sea, the lighthouse, and each other. We had a great time and the best part was that we sat and watched a fantastic sunset over the sea. It was absolutely fantastic seeing both the sunset and sunrise within a 24 hour period.
After the sunset we walked back to the hostel to change clothes and get ready for the Independence Day Fonda (party)! The Fonda was in Coquimbo and we took a very expensive taxi to get there. We first went to a place to eat and I had the best pizza I have had in Chile. It was fantastic. It was in a little restaurant close to where we went out the night before.
After dinner we took a collectivo (a cheaper ride) up the hill to the Fonda. I did´t know waht to expect at the fonda and was really surprised when I got there. It was more like a state fair or city celebration then a party. There were places to buy EVERYTHING from cowboy hats, to shoes, to other items. There were places to play bingo, drink alcohol, eat empanadas, and ride rides etc. It was fun to walk around and enjoy the sights but it wasn´t exactly what I expected it to be. We stayed for an hour or so soaking in the 'traditional' fonda, but we all were tired from our party the night before and new we had our tour of the Elqui Valley the next day. So we decided that returning to the hostel, via bus, was a better idea. We did that and called it an 'early' night.
Weekend in La Serena
For the weekend of September 18th (Chilean Indpendence Day) a group of COPA students, including me, went to La Serena, Chile. La Serena is the third oldest city in Chile after Santiago and Arica. I had class on Wednesday, September 17th, unlike most of my fellow students, so I went to my geography class at 8:30am and then I went straight to the bus terminal after class to meet Sarah Reingold, a COPA student who was riding on the same bus as me.
The bus ride was long, but definitely not the longest bus ride I have ever been on. It was 7 hours to La Serena and supposedly by personal car it was suppose to be about 4, so that was irritating, but the ride was beautiful. Especially when the panamerican highway went along the coast and you could see the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the amazing waves crashing along side the coast. It was absolutely gorgeous.
We arrived in La Serena and grabbed a taxi to our hostel. The hostel was very nice and in a part of town that seemed very safe, which was good. After we got to the hostel we called our other friends who were going to meet us in La Serena. We met Carla, Dorien, Amy, and Ruth at the Plaza de Armas after we grabbed some dinner at a little restaurant in town.
La Serena reminded me a lot of the center part of Lublin, Poland or Vilinus, Lithuania. Especially since in these cities like in La Serena the center was extremely developed and European looking, however the outskirts of the town were a little more sketchy/non-developed. Overall, it has been interesting to see the extreme influence of Europe in many of the places I have traveled to in Chile.
We met up with the group and went out to a bar to hang out for a little while because it was pretty early (by Chilean standards). Carla and Dorien knew a Chilean, who was taking a Law classes on Human Rights with them, and lived in La Serena. He got into contact with some of his friends in La Serena and we arranged to go out with them that night. Which was interesting, especially since I didn´t know them (and neither did the girls), but we got together with them and they took us to one of their friends house. It was a good time as we got to know Chileans and such.
We left their house later and went to meet Carla and Dorien´s Law school friend at the bus station since his bus got in around midnight (yeah midnight--- I don´t know how I survive all these Chilean shinanigans.) After that we went to a town nearby called Coquimbo which had a lot of bars, etc. We went to one that was very special because it had dancing.
The Chileans have a national dance named the Cueca. The bar that we went to had people dancing cueca which was fun to watch, however very, very difficult to learn (especially since you all probably know that I am the worst dancer in the world). You can see the cueca in this youtube video. It is quite the sultury dance if I say so myself. The man and woman are not suppose to stop looking into each other´s eyes unless they are turning, creating some very 'hot' moments.
At the bar we also tried Chica a very sweet drink that is taken during the Chilean Independence Day weekend. I definitely tried it, but at the same time was scared to beacuse many people had told me that it was dangerous!! Supposedly, the reason it is so dangerous is because you think that it is just a sweet drink and it is actually a very potent drink. Thus, you end up getting tan barracho muy rapido (very durnk very fast). I had one drink glass and thought I would die (due to the warnings), so I didn't have anymore. Other people just kept drinking it and never did get sick... so I guess its just another thing Chileans get really scared about, but really don't know what they are talking about.
We closed the bar (something I didn't think I would ever do in my life and something I will probably never do again) but it was fun. We then went to the beach and hung out there and watched the sunrise over the mountains on the 18th of September (the Chilean Independence Day). I can now say that I have gone 24 hours without sleeping, which again, I thought I never could do. After we saw the sun rise, we returned to the hostel and promptly went to bed althogh I wasn´t really that tired at the moment. It was good to get some sleep though for the next day.
The bus ride was long, but definitely not the longest bus ride I have ever been on. It was 7 hours to La Serena and supposedly by personal car it was suppose to be about 4, so that was irritating, but the ride was beautiful. Especially when the panamerican highway went along the coast and you could see the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the amazing waves crashing along side the coast. It was absolutely gorgeous.
We arrived in La Serena and grabbed a taxi to our hostel. The hostel was very nice and in a part of town that seemed very safe, which was good. After we got to the hostel we called our other friends who were going to meet us in La Serena. We met Carla, Dorien, Amy, and Ruth at the Plaza de Armas after we grabbed some dinner at a little restaurant in town.
La Serena reminded me a lot of the center part of Lublin, Poland or Vilinus, Lithuania. Especially since in these cities like in La Serena the center was extremely developed and European looking, however the outskirts of the town were a little more sketchy/non-developed. Overall, it has been interesting to see the extreme influence of Europe in many of the places I have traveled to in Chile.
We met up with the group and went out to a bar to hang out for a little while because it was pretty early (by Chilean standards). Carla and Dorien knew a Chilean, who was taking a Law classes on Human Rights with them, and lived in La Serena. He got into contact with some of his friends in La Serena and we arranged to go out with them that night. Which was interesting, especially since I didn´t know them (and neither did the girls), but we got together with them and they took us to one of their friends house. It was a good time as we got to know Chileans and such.
We left their house later and went to meet Carla and Dorien´s Law school friend at the bus station since his bus got in around midnight (yeah midnight--- I don´t know how I survive all these Chilean shinanigans.) After that we went to a town nearby called Coquimbo which had a lot of bars, etc. We went to one that was very special because it had dancing.
The Chileans have a national dance named the Cueca. The bar that we went to had people dancing cueca which was fun to watch, however very, very difficult to learn (especially since you all probably know that I am the worst dancer in the world). You can see the cueca in this youtube video. It is quite the sultury dance if I say so myself. The man and woman are not suppose to stop looking into each other´s eyes unless they are turning, creating some very 'hot' moments.
At the bar we also tried Chica a very sweet drink that is taken during the Chilean Independence Day weekend. I definitely tried it, but at the same time was scared to beacuse many people had told me that it was dangerous!! Supposedly, the reason it is so dangerous is because you think that it is just a sweet drink and it is actually a very potent drink. Thus, you end up getting tan barracho muy rapido (very durnk very fast). I had one drink glass and thought I would die (due to the warnings), so I didn't have anymore. Other people just kept drinking it and never did get sick... so I guess its just another thing Chileans get really scared about, but really don't know what they are talking about.
We closed the bar (something I didn't think I would ever do in my life and something I will probably never do again) but it was fun. We then went to the beach and hung out there and watched the sunrise over the mountains on the 18th of September (the Chilean Independence Day). I can now say that I have gone 24 hours without sleeping, which again, I thought I never could do. After we saw the sun rise, we returned to the hostel and promptly went to bed althogh I wasn´t really that tired at the moment. It was good to get some sleep though for the next day.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wait? I met Boy George? Sweet!
My program director does everything and anything. She quite talented. She has been the official translator for Kofi Annan (the former UN Secretary General) and the Rolling Stones. Not only does she translate, she runs the COPA-IFSA program in Santiago, Chile and Valparaiso, Chile. On top of that, she use to be a professional ice skater, and now she is a judge on a Chilean TV program called, Stars on Ice (a type of program like Dancing with the Stars).
As you can imagine we were all interested to see this in action. The first night of the TV program, we went to a bar and watched it. It was pretty cool and we all decided that we wanted to see it live. Katty arranged for us to go to the program on the 11th of September. We got there really early and we got to hang out and watch them do some pre-recording for the show. Since the Chilean independence day was coming up on the 18th, they had a group of traditional dancers and a popular singer perform. It was neat to see exactly how all of this television magic was done. Later on as the recording was going on, Katty came over and said that we were really lucky and that Boy George was going to be coming to the show to play for the program. It was exciting because we were going to meet some really famous person.
Boy George came and he performed his songs. One of them being "Yes We Can" a song he wrote that gave me chills up my back. (Check out a link to a youtube video of the song.)It was a great song that really reminded me that this election really is about Hope v. The Past. It reminded me of why I am voting for Obama in this election. After he was done recording he came over to the audience and we started talking to him telling him that we were for Obama and that we were gonna vote for him. His response was "Is there really a choice?" It was great fun and a few of us got pictures with him (not me). It was a cool experience.
Being on Dancing with the Stars was fun, but it got boring pretty quickly. We were in the TV studio between 7:30pm and 1:00am. It was a very long night.
As you can imagine we were all interested to see this in action. The first night of the TV program, we went to a bar and watched it. It was pretty cool and we all decided that we wanted to see it live. Katty arranged for us to go to the program on the 11th of September. We got there really early and we got to hang out and watch them do some pre-recording for the show. Since the Chilean independence day was coming up on the 18th, they had a group of traditional dancers and a popular singer perform. It was neat to see exactly how all of this television magic was done. Later on as the recording was going on, Katty came over and said that we were really lucky and that Boy George was going to be coming to the show to play for the program. It was exciting because we were going to meet some really famous person.
Boy George came and he performed his songs. One of them being "Yes We Can" a song he wrote that gave me chills up my back. (Check out a link to a youtube video of the song.)It was a great song that really reminded me that this election really is about Hope v. The Past. It reminded me of why I am voting for Obama in this election. After he was done recording he came over to the audience and we started talking to him telling him that we were for Obama and that we were gonna vote for him. His response was "Is there really a choice?" It was great fun and a few of us got pictures with him (not me). It was a cool experience.
Being on Dancing with the Stars was fun, but it got boring pretty quickly. We were in the TV studio between 7:30pm and 1:00am. It was a very long night.
Remembering the 1973 Military Coup
Well, its a topic that I have to write about, but to be totally honest, it is a topic that I am quite embarrassed to say my country was involved in.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected the President of Chile. This was extremely important because Salvador Allende was a member of the Socialist Party and a Marxist. Thus he was the first democratically elected communist president in world history. The United States was not happy with this outcome because they were worried that it could cause an "epidemic" of communist regimes in South America and because the consequences were great for American companies and interests in Chile.
It also needs to be said that this election was a fairly close one. The only reason Allende won the election was because he represented a coalition of three political parties: the communists, the socialists, radicals, and social democrats. This coalition was called the Popular Unity Party (UP). The vote in 1970 was split in three ways between the UP coalition, the Christian Democrats, and the Conservatives. Allende did not win a plurality of votes instead only 36% of the population actually supported the UP coalition. As you can imagine winning only 35% of the population through a coalition of 4 parties makes governing very difficult. He was confirmed by the Chilean Parliament because they worked with the Christian Democrats to gain the votes needed in the confirmation vote.
Part of these negotiations was that all now 5 parties would share in the governing process. Allende was required to have a certain number of people in his administration from each party. This created an administration which was not unified and did not work cohesively. Allende immediately worked to instill his political policies, including land reform (taking land from wealthy land owners and giving it to the poor) and also nationalizing the copper industry (especially the copper mines that were controlled by American companies).
Not surprisingly the United States immediately denounced the new Chilean government and started to raise economic sanctions against the country.
At first the Allende policies had a very good effect on the economy including increased industrial and GDP growth. This did not however sustain itself and by 1972, Chile experienced inflation equivilent to 140%. This coupled with mandated prices set by the government created a huge economic mess. Literally the Chilean system looked to be falling apart at the seams.
If you believe that the country was polarized in 1970 during the election, then in 1973 after the economic crisis you would believe that the country looked super, super polarized. With a stalemate between the three parties and no answer to the economic crisis. The military deposed Allende, who committed suicicde, during a brutal attack on the Presidential Palace on September 11, 1973. Here is a CBS news report from September 11, 1973.
Today, after CIA and White House documents have been released we see that the US was involved in the planning and aid of the military coup de'tat lead by the Chilean military. Here is a good youtube video about the US involvement of the Coup.
This coup de'tat eventually yielded the rule of Augusto Pinochet who became dictator and served as the leader of Chile until 1990. His administration and rule is marked by an application of extremely conservative neo-liberal economic policies and a total disregard for human rights.
Every year on September 11, the country has numerous protests around the city and around the country. In many years Chilean police forces are killed by protesters. Many colleges, high schools, etc. close for the day because the threat of protests are too high to legitimize a normal day.
I did leave the apartment on September 11, 2008 and everything during the day was normal. It wasn't until that night that we saw on television the protests. It looked extremely scary with fires and barricades. It was quite the site to see. When we ask everyone about the protests and why exactly these people protest, they really don't have an answer. The people that are protesting are not protesting the Pinochet government (Pinochet is now dead) or protesting to remember their lost loved ones. Instead these people seem to be protesting for the simple reason that they can. This year 3 Chilean police officers were in the hospital with severe wounds, however I don't think anyone died.
If you want to read more about the Chilean Coup of 1973 here is a link to wikipedia.
In this article you will find quotations by American leaders who helped fund, plan, and aid the Chilean Coup. I included two of my favorite here:
"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." - Henry Kissinger (Nixon Secretary of State)
"Make the economy scream [in Chile to] prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him" — Richard Nixon (US President to the CIA)
In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected the President of Chile. This was extremely important because Salvador Allende was a member of the Socialist Party and a Marxist. Thus he was the first democratically elected communist president in world history. The United States was not happy with this outcome because they were worried that it could cause an "epidemic" of communist regimes in South America and because the consequences were great for American companies and interests in Chile.
It also needs to be said that this election was a fairly close one. The only reason Allende won the election was because he represented a coalition of three political parties: the communists, the socialists, radicals, and social democrats. This coalition was called the Popular Unity Party (UP). The vote in 1970 was split in three ways between the UP coalition, the Christian Democrats, and the Conservatives. Allende did not win a plurality of votes instead only 36% of the population actually supported the UP coalition. As you can imagine winning only 35% of the population through a coalition of 4 parties makes governing very difficult. He was confirmed by the Chilean Parliament because they worked with the Christian Democrats to gain the votes needed in the confirmation vote.
Part of these negotiations was that all now 5 parties would share in the governing process. Allende was required to have a certain number of people in his administration from each party. This created an administration which was not unified and did not work cohesively. Allende immediately worked to instill his political policies, including land reform (taking land from wealthy land owners and giving it to the poor) and also nationalizing the copper industry (especially the copper mines that were controlled by American companies).
Not surprisingly the United States immediately denounced the new Chilean government and started to raise economic sanctions against the country.
At first the Allende policies had a very good effect on the economy including increased industrial and GDP growth. This did not however sustain itself and by 1972, Chile experienced inflation equivilent to 140%. This coupled with mandated prices set by the government created a huge economic mess. Literally the Chilean system looked to be falling apart at the seams.
If you believe that the country was polarized in 1970 during the election, then in 1973 after the economic crisis you would believe that the country looked super, super polarized. With a stalemate between the three parties and no answer to the economic crisis. The military deposed Allende, who committed suicicde, during a brutal attack on the Presidential Palace on September 11, 1973. Here is a CBS news report from September 11, 1973.
Today, after CIA and White House documents have been released we see that the US was involved in the planning and aid of the military coup de'tat lead by the Chilean military. Here is a good youtube video about the US involvement of the Coup.
This coup de'tat eventually yielded the rule of Augusto Pinochet who became dictator and served as the leader of Chile until 1990. His administration and rule is marked by an application of extremely conservative neo-liberal economic policies and a total disregard for human rights.
Every year on September 11, the country has numerous protests around the city and around the country. In many years Chilean police forces are killed by protesters. Many colleges, high schools, etc. close for the day because the threat of protests are too high to legitimize a normal day.
I did leave the apartment on September 11, 2008 and everything during the day was normal. It wasn't until that night that we saw on television the protests. It looked extremely scary with fires and barricades. It was quite the site to see. When we ask everyone about the protests and why exactly these people protest, they really don't have an answer. The people that are protesting are not protesting the Pinochet government (Pinochet is now dead) or protesting to remember their lost loved ones. Instead these people seem to be protesting for the simple reason that they can. This year 3 Chilean police officers were in the hospital with severe wounds, however I don't think anyone died.
If you want to read more about the Chilean Coup of 1973 here is a link to wikipedia.
In this article you will find quotations by American leaders who helped fund, plan, and aid the Chilean Coup. I included two of my favorite here:
"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." - Henry Kissinger (Nixon Secretary of State)
"Make the economy scream [in Chile to] prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him" — Richard Nixon (US President to the CIA)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
You asked for it!
Well, I was asked recently by my Aunt Rose if there was any good desserts/food down here in Chile. My response was that the best food I have had was empanadas de pino and Tres Leches Cake (Milk Cake). I found the recipes for these and I am going to post them on here.
As of September 09, 2008 I only have the Tres Leches Cake recipe but I am looking for an empanada de pino recipe. I will put it on here when I get it.
Torta de Tres Leches (Milk Cake)
INGREDIENTS
5 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.) Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
3.) Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
4.) Cream butter or margarine and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract, beat well.
5.) Add the flour mixture to the butter or margarine mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, mix until well blended.
6.) Pour batter into prepared pan.
7.) Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
8.) Pierce cake several times with a fork. (This allows the milk to permeate the cake.)
9.) Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
10.) Whip whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup of the sugar together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!
Another variation is that you can make two 8" or 9" cakes and stack the two cakes. This is most traditional here. Be careful because both cakes will be "wet" from the milk that they soak up. Put whipping cream in between the two layers, and cover the entire cake with whipping cream. I promise this is amazing. Sometimes a nice strawberry, group of blueberries, or raspberries go well with this cake as well.
As of September 09, 2008 I only have the Tres Leches Cake recipe but I am looking for an empanada de pino recipe. I will put it on here when I get it.
Torta de Tres Leches (Milk Cake)
INGREDIENTS
5 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.) Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
3.) Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
4.) Cream butter or margarine and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract, beat well.
5.) Add the flour mixture to the butter or margarine mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, mix until well blended.
6.) Pour batter into prepared pan.
7.) Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
8.) Pierce cake several times with a fork. (This allows the milk to permeate the cake.)
9.) Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
10.) Whip whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup of the sugar together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!
Another variation is that you can make two 8" or 9" cakes and stack the two cakes. This is most traditional here. Be careful because both cakes will be "wet" from the milk that they soak up. Put whipping cream in between the two layers, and cover the entire cake with whipping cream. I promise this is amazing. Sometimes a nice strawberry, group of blueberries, or raspberries go well with this cake as well.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Meet my newest host family!
My new host family consists of my mom Veronica and her son Rafael. Veronica works at the Catholic University (Universidad Catolica) with the University of California - Berkley exchange students. Because she works in an environment with exchange students she understands very well the difficulties that I am going though and she helps out a lot. It is really nice to be able to talk to her every night over dinner. She can make some really good food too!
Rafael is 24 years old and is attending school for Business and Trade. He is hoping to go to the United States in December to work at a ski resort in Colorado or Utah through a program for 6 months. I am not really sure exactly how that is going, but I think it is on track.
It is a little odd because young people live with their families until they get married, so sometimes you see people that are 35 years old still living with their parents. It makes for saving a lot of money, but at the same time it is something that I am not accustomed to. Especially since most American students go to college after high school and then only return to live with their parents over the summer or in many cases live in their own housing for the rest of their lives. What is even more extreme is that the parents really do treat their kids like kids until they get married and move out. They cook for them, serve them their food, etc. It is pretty intense. I am not 100% sure, but I don't even think Rafael (24) knows how to do laundry because his mom still does it for him.
Overall, this host family is a ton better then my old host family and I am enjoying being here a lot more. I feel more at home and they are much more welcoming.
I will post a picture of my host family when I get a chance.
Rafael is 24 years old and is attending school for Business and Trade. He is hoping to go to the United States in December to work at a ski resort in Colorado or Utah through a program for 6 months. I am not really sure exactly how that is going, but I think it is on track.
It is a little odd because young people live with their families until they get married, so sometimes you see people that are 35 years old still living with their parents. It makes for saving a lot of money, but at the same time it is something that I am not accustomed to. Especially since most American students go to college after high school and then only return to live with their parents over the summer or in many cases live in their own housing for the rest of their lives. What is even more extreme is that the parents really do treat their kids like kids until they get married and move out. They cook for them, serve them their food, etc. It is pretty intense. I am not 100% sure, but I don't even think Rafael (24) knows how to do laundry because his mom still does it for him.
Overall, this host family is a ton better then my old host family and I am enjoying being here a lot more. I feel more at home and they are much more welcoming.
I will post a picture of my host family when I get a chance.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Independent Study Advisor
I met my independent study advisor for the first time the other day and it was quite interesting. Now I am technically involved with four universities here in Chile: the Catholic University, the University of Chile, Diego Portales Univesity, and the University of Santiago, Chile. It is pretty intense getting to know all of the University campuses and systems because each one is different.
My independent study advisor is Patricio and he is a history professor at the University of Santiago, Chile. He has been an immense help through the process of my research project.
I am writing this about a month later then when I actually met the professor and all I can say is that this project is a lot of work. The University of Saint Thomas wants me to cover world history from 1500 to the present and I am attempting to learn world history through the lens of Chilean Copper and Neo-liberal Economic policies. It has been a challenge to say the least. My paper cannot just be a history paper it has to have a thesis, thus my thesis is that Neo-Liberal Economic policies have helped the Chilean Copper Industry and the Chilean economy over the years. In the mean time I am trying to glean information about mercantilism, globalization, colonization, independence movements, the international system, etc. all through this lens. To be honest, I don't know how I could write this paper and keep it under 80+ pages. I am starting the long process of writing it now. It is due December 5th, so I have about a month to write. I think it is going to be a stressful month, but when I have a document that is more then 80 pages in length all in Spanish, it will be quite an accomplishment.
My independent study advisor is Patricio and he is a history professor at the University of Santiago, Chile. He has been an immense help through the process of my research project.
I am writing this about a month later then when I actually met the professor and all I can say is that this project is a lot of work. The University of Saint Thomas wants me to cover world history from 1500 to the present and I am attempting to learn world history through the lens of Chilean Copper and Neo-liberal Economic policies. It has been a challenge to say the least. My paper cannot just be a history paper it has to have a thesis, thus my thesis is that Neo-Liberal Economic policies have helped the Chilean Copper Industry and the Chilean economy over the years. In the mean time I am trying to glean information about mercantilism, globalization, colonization, independence movements, the international system, etc. all through this lens. To be honest, I don't know how I could write this paper and keep it under 80+ pages. I am starting the long process of writing it now. It is due December 5th, so I have about a month to write. I think it is going to be a stressful month, but when I have a document that is more then 80 pages in length all in Spanish, it will be quite an accomplishment.
One Family to the Other
Well you may have heard. I changed host families. There were some bad situations with my last host family and I really didn't feel all that great about them after we first started to live together. Yes, in my earlier posts I exclaimed that my host family was wonderful, but after a little time, it became quite clear that a change was needed.
Basically to explain the situation, my home itself was not the best place (and I am not just being an American who wants a nice house) my room was constantly damp. I would get in my bed at night and my sheets would even be a little wet. My books felt like they had saturated with water and my bath towel was always wet from the day before. This, I believe, probably led to mold or other problems (which I never saw but expected was there). My clothes would come back from the laundry and they would still be damp as well. It just wasn't very much fun. The house had an electronic gate where you could only access the house if you had the electronic button. This button (only 2 of them at a time) would sometimes and randomly stop working. One weekend I was informed that the button stopped working and that I would be unable to leave the house. I was upset because, I am paying to live in the house and I should be able to leave when I want to. When Saturday came, I wanted to go out with my friends and I talked to my host mom on the phone (they were out partying) and said that I wanted to leave. She was upset and told me "I told you about the key this weekend." I got to go out but it was a hassle and did not make me feel very welcomed. They had 4 dogs as well. These dogs were very skinny and every morning I would take my breakfast of (a bun with bread) out with me to the bus stop. The dogs would jump all over me because they wanted the food. They did not get fed enough at all --- to my standards, and they would sometimes get into fights over the food. When they got into fights, they would then go out and kick the dogs. It was not a place that I wanted to be quite frankly.
Another reason was that my host family smoked. Now, my mother smoked, but I believe that I must have some problem with cigarette smoke, because I was sick for quite some time with this family. I believe it may have been connected with this smoking habit. Even their 8 year old kid had a horrible cough all the time and finally they took him to the doctor and the doctor was like --- well perhaps you shouldn't smoke around him, so instead they would put their kid in the living room and close the door to the kitchen and continue to smoke anyways --- with me in the room. I also didn't spend that much time with them because they smoked after dinner and when they lit up, I would leave --- which they later told me was disrespectful, because I did not hold a conversation well. On top of that was told that I was disrespectful because I did not recognize (as in say hello and how was your day) as soon as my host dad came through the door from work. I believe myself to be very respectful person and to be totally honest, I was quite offended by these remarks.
They had a nana or servant, and they pretty much treated her very badly. Sometimes when the host dad was not happy with her he would call her "fatty". Which I did not like very much, because Pamela worked very hard for them. Another time, Pamela asked for Saturday off (she informed me that under their original agreement she would have Saturday and Sunday off, however they changed that when she moved in with them) and they got angry at her for doing so. She worked from approximately 6 am to 12 pm every night. She was a student at a local university studying tourism. I am keeping in contact with her via facebook. Pamela said that she was just going to leave on her Sunday off someday and never return. This was awkward for me because I knew that she was going to leave at a specific date, but she didn't want me to tell the family. Another problem I had one time was that my host mom let her son stay home from school (because he decided he didn't want to go to school --- which is weird) and Pamela was suppose to go to the grocery store. Well she wasn't allowed to take Jaime to the store with her and she wasn't allowed to leave him home, so she couldn't go to the store. When my host mom called to see if she had went to the store she lied to her and said that she did, in the hopes that I would watch Jaime and she could go to the store later. Well, my host mom asked to talk to me on the phone and at the same time Pamela asked me to lie for her. It was really confusing and eventually ended with my host mom yelling at me over the phone. Yeah, Pamela got into trouble and I was stuck in a bad place.
On the note of Jaime and school, he would just randomly decide not to go to school some days. I started counting how many days he missed of school and it ended up being that out of the 3 weeks I counted, he only went to school about 5 times. I was quite confused at this. Often times as well, Jaime would be so "enthralled" with the television, that his mom would have to feed him with his fork to his mouth the food. Mind you Jaime was 8 years old. It was really awkward for me to be in this environment.
Another main problem I had was with the food situation. I was never full when eating at their house and there was never anything to eat if I needed something in between meals. When we ate our meals if I was still hungry after dinner and I asked for more they would tell me there wasn't any more. Nothing ever changed in this respect either. They made a bean soup every Monday that I tried but hated. I told them that I didn't eat beans and they said that if they pureed it that it would be different. I tried this as well and I still didn't like it. Instead of changing the Monday menu, they kept it the same and told me I could have bread and butter. Another time, they made me dinner knowing that I was going out that night with friends. They didn't eat with me because they said they weren't hungry. I left but forgot something and came back about 20 minutes later. I found them eating Sushi that they had ordered. Pamela later told me that they didn't want to buy Sushi for me because it was too expensive, so they waited for me to leave. It just didn't feel, again, like the environment I wanted to experience.
COPA got in touch with the housing coordinator and I toured three houses/families on a Saturday and I picked one that I liked a lot. (More about my new family in another blog.) I was also told that the housing coordinator would come to the house and tell my family the situation and all I would have to say to them was --- thanks for everything and leave.
When the day finally came to move (I didn't tell my family anything before hand because COPA suggested that I not tell them because it would be better if it came as a surprise and they could not treat me worse because of my decision to move) Janette the housing coordinator called my house to let my family know that she was coming to pick me up and move me. My family was obviously surprised because I hadn't said anything. The process did not go as well as I had hoped. Janette took almost an hour and a half to come and pick me up leaving an hour and a half of awkward conversation with my host family (not to mention they had Muriel's mom at the house and Jaime's parents were on their way over. Muriel came into my room and she told me that Janette was going to come pick me up and that I needed to pack my things. I said okay. She was visibly upset and said she wanted to know what happened. I tried to tell her that the situation was not good for me and I needed something different. She didn't understand. She told me that "Christians don't do this to each other, they talk about their problems first" and "we are a family not a hotel". It was awkward, but I just said I was sorry and she said that it was fine --- but obviously it wasn't fine to her.
I finished packing my stuff and she came back into my room and asked me if they could have a minute with me (Janette still hadn't arrived) and I said okay. They started smoking in the kitchen and it was them on one side of the table and me on the other. It was almost like a little inquisition. They wanted more details of things that were wrong and why it wasn't working. I told them it just wasn't a good fit, which they didn't understand. I told them that their smoking was making me sick and that I just needed a different environment. My host dad told me that the reason I was sick all the time was because I didn't wear shoes in the house and because I didn't dress properly for the weather (which I wore the same clothes here I would wear in the winter in Minnesota--- and it never got below 32 degrees F here). I basically said that I disagreed with them. They drew the Christian card again playing off of my religion and spiritual beliefs and I ended up just telling them sorry and returning to my room.
When Janette came, they acted like everything was fine and nothing was wrong. I gave them hugs and said thanks for everything (which I thought I originally would only have to do). It was really weird. Janette and I left and I went to my new home.
Looking back on it, I feel like the Gonzales were using me as a source of income. They didn't care very much about my experience and instead were worried about making sure they could get the money they needed. I think this is why they were so specifically upset that I ended up leaving. I found out that my host family was being paid $700+ a month for me to live there and when I found that out and compared my service I received, I really knew it was time to move on.
I got into contact with the student who stayed with them last semester (who happens to go to Macalester College only a few blocks from Saint Thomas). She said that she really didn't like her host family that much either and that it probably was a good idea that I moved. This made me feel a lot better because it meant that it wasn't just me being a big dork, they really weren't a good host family.
Well, this has been a rambling rant about host families --- sorry if you are still with me and you are missing the exciting climax. It was an interesting situation. I will write more about my new host family in another blog post.
Basically to explain the situation, my home itself was not the best place (and I am not just being an American who wants a nice house) my room was constantly damp. I would get in my bed at night and my sheets would even be a little wet. My books felt like they had saturated with water and my bath towel was always wet from the day before. This, I believe, probably led to mold or other problems (which I never saw but expected was there). My clothes would come back from the laundry and they would still be damp as well. It just wasn't very much fun. The house had an electronic gate where you could only access the house if you had the electronic button. This button (only 2 of them at a time) would sometimes and randomly stop working. One weekend I was informed that the button stopped working and that I would be unable to leave the house. I was upset because, I am paying to live in the house and I should be able to leave when I want to. When Saturday came, I wanted to go out with my friends and I talked to my host mom on the phone (they were out partying) and said that I wanted to leave. She was upset and told me "I told you about the key this weekend." I got to go out but it was a hassle and did not make me feel very welcomed. They had 4 dogs as well. These dogs were very skinny and every morning I would take my breakfast of (a bun with bread) out with me to the bus stop. The dogs would jump all over me because they wanted the food. They did not get fed enough at all --- to my standards, and they would sometimes get into fights over the food. When they got into fights, they would then go out and kick the dogs. It was not a place that I wanted to be quite frankly.
Another reason was that my host family smoked. Now, my mother smoked, but I believe that I must have some problem with cigarette smoke, because I was sick for quite some time with this family. I believe it may have been connected with this smoking habit. Even their 8 year old kid had a horrible cough all the time and finally they took him to the doctor and the doctor was like --- well perhaps you shouldn't smoke around him, so instead they would put their kid in the living room and close the door to the kitchen and continue to smoke anyways --- with me in the room. I also didn't spend that much time with them because they smoked after dinner and when they lit up, I would leave --- which they later told me was disrespectful, because I did not hold a conversation well. On top of that was told that I was disrespectful because I did not recognize (as in say hello and how was your day) as soon as my host dad came through the door from work. I believe myself to be very respectful person and to be totally honest, I was quite offended by these remarks.
They had a nana or servant, and they pretty much treated her very badly. Sometimes when the host dad was not happy with her he would call her "fatty". Which I did not like very much, because Pamela worked very hard for them. Another time, Pamela asked for Saturday off (she informed me that under their original agreement she would have Saturday and Sunday off, however they changed that when she moved in with them) and they got angry at her for doing so. She worked from approximately 6 am to 12 pm every night. She was a student at a local university studying tourism. I am keeping in contact with her via facebook. Pamela said that she was just going to leave on her Sunday off someday and never return. This was awkward for me because I knew that she was going to leave at a specific date, but she didn't want me to tell the family. Another problem I had one time was that my host mom let her son stay home from school (because he decided he didn't want to go to school --- which is weird) and Pamela was suppose to go to the grocery store. Well she wasn't allowed to take Jaime to the store with her and she wasn't allowed to leave him home, so she couldn't go to the store. When my host mom called to see if she had went to the store she lied to her and said that she did, in the hopes that I would watch Jaime and she could go to the store later. Well, my host mom asked to talk to me on the phone and at the same time Pamela asked me to lie for her. It was really confusing and eventually ended with my host mom yelling at me over the phone. Yeah, Pamela got into trouble and I was stuck in a bad place.
On the note of Jaime and school, he would just randomly decide not to go to school some days. I started counting how many days he missed of school and it ended up being that out of the 3 weeks I counted, he only went to school about 5 times. I was quite confused at this. Often times as well, Jaime would be so "enthralled" with the television, that his mom would have to feed him with his fork to his mouth the food. Mind you Jaime was 8 years old. It was really awkward for me to be in this environment.
Another main problem I had was with the food situation. I was never full when eating at their house and there was never anything to eat if I needed something in between meals. When we ate our meals if I was still hungry after dinner and I asked for more they would tell me there wasn't any more. Nothing ever changed in this respect either. They made a bean soup every Monday that I tried but hated. I told them that I didn't eat beans and they said that if they pureed it that it would be different. I tried this as well and I still didn't like it. Instead of changing the Monday menu, they kept it the same and told me I could have bread and butter. Another time, they made me dinner knowing that I was going out that night with friends. They didn't eat with me because they said they weren't hungry. I left but forgot something and came back about 20 minutes later. I found them eating Sushi that they had ordered. Pamela later told me that they didn't want to buy Sushi for me because it was too expensive, so they waited for me to leave. It just didn't feel, again, like the environment I wanted to experience.
COPA got in touch with the housing coordinator and I toured three houses/families on a Saturday and I picked one that I liked a lot. (More about my new family in another blog.) I was also told that the housing coordinator would come to the house and tell my family the situation and all I would have to say to them was --- thanks for everything and leave.
When the day finally came to move (I didn't tell my family anything before hand because COPA suggested that I not tell them because it would be better if it came as a surprise and they could not treat me worse because of my decision to move) Janette the housing coordinator called my house to let my family know that she was coming to pick me up and move me. My family was obviously surprised because I hadn't said anything. The process did not go as well as I had hoped. Janette took almost an hour and a half to come and pick me up leaving an hour and a half of awkward conversation with my host family (not to mention they had Muriel's mom at the house and Jaime's parents were on their way over. Muriel came into my room and she told me that Janette was going to come pick me up and that I needed to pack my things. I said okay. She was visibly upset and said she wanted to know what happened. I tried to tell her that the situation was not good for me and I needed something different. She didn't understand. She told me that "Christians don't do this to each other, they talk about their problems first" and "we are a family not a hotel". It was awkward, but I just said I was sorry and she said that it was fine --- but obviously it wasn't fine to her.
I finished packing my stuff and she came back into my room and asked me if they could have a minute with me (Janette still hadn't arrived) and I said okay. They started smoking in the kitchen and it was them on one side of the table and me on the other. It was almost like a little inquisition. They wanted more details of things that were wrong and why it wasn't working. I told them it just wasn't a good fit, which they didn't understand. I told them that their smoking was making me sick and that I just needed a different environment. My host dad told me that the reason I was sick all the time was because I didn't wear shoes in the house and because I didn't dress properly for the weather (which I wore the same clothes here I would wear in the winter in Minnesota--- and it never got below 32 degrees F here). I basically said that I disagreed with them. They drew the Christian card again playing off of my religion and spiritual beliefs and I ended up just telling them sorry and returning to my room.
When Janette came, they acted like everything was fine and nothing was wrong. I gave them hugs and said thanks for everything (which I thought I originally would only have to do). It was really weird. Janette and I left and I went to my new home.
Looking back on it, I feel like the Gonzales were using me as a source of income. They didn't care very much about my experience and instead were worried about making sure they could get the money they needed. I think this is why they were so specifically upset that I ended up leaving. I found out that my host family was being paid $700+ a month for me to live there and when I found that out and compared my service I received, I really knew it was time to move on.
I got into contact with the student who stayed with them last semester (who happens to go to Macalester College only a few blocks from Saint Thomas). She said that she really didn't like her host family that much either and that it probably was a good idea that I moved. This made me feel a lot better because it meant that it wasn't just me being a big dork, they really weren't a good host family.
Well, this has been a rambling rant about host families --- sorry if you are still with me and you are missing the exciting climax. It was an interesting situation. I will write more about my new host family in another blog post.
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