Thursday, July 19, 2012

Food: The Delicious Down-Low

Of all the foods that would inspire my to write this post, bacon would be the original inspiration. My roommate was cooking with bacon the other day (see pictures below) and I started thinking about Chilean food. I combed through some of my photos and nabbed a couple related to Chile and my food experience here. 

So starting with bacon, here are some of my Chilean food field notes. 


They sell bacon in little cubes that buyers have to cut themselves. 

This little cube cost about $2 USD (about $10-12 per pound)!

Speaking of meat, here is some typical Chilean BBQ (or asado, as they call it here) food. Notice the chorizo in the fire. The piece of meat in the front of the photo is one big piece of meat that rotates and roasts in the fire. Vegetarian heaven!

The Chileans do not eat that many sweets but they love the pastries once in awhile. Someone bought these pastries for me. The one of on the right is an apple pie/custard pastry and the one on the left is like a seven layered cake. Yum!

Peanut butter and hummus are my food staples in the USA. When I arrived in Chile I realized neither existed here. So, I learned how to make my very own basil hummus (left) and peanut butter (right).

Bakeries are all over this country. Little bakeries dot the street corners and produce some pretty amazing bread. However, this loaf came from the kitchen of yours truly. :) 

Most countries are famous for certain foods. Chile is famous for its empanadas. Empanadas are stuffed in the middle with cheese and other deliciousness (meat, seafood, veggies, etc.). They are sort of a Latin American calzone. The empanada pictured above is HUGE and comes from my favorite empanada restaurant in Chile. You can munch on this while watching the sunset over the Pacific. 



Goodbye First Semester!!!

On Tuesday, I finished my last final! Woohoo! I have not yet received all my grades but I do know that I passed my classes. Thanks to everyone who supported me. This certainly felt like the longest semester of my life (maybe because finals lasted 6 weeks :) and I am glad this one is behind me.


Monday, July 16, 2012

Changes: Around, Within, and Throughout

Over the weekend, I went for a long walk along the coast with some friends. We are currently in the middle of winter here and walking along the cloudy, chilly coast made me realize that I have lived in Chile long enough to watch the seasons change from the middle of summer to the middle of winter. Changes are inevitable in life. Some changes we plan for and others surprise us. Some changes are more challenging and others are subtler.

In many ways, my time leading up to and living in Chile is part of a larger season of change in my life. However in the last few weeks, I have been more aware of the changes in my life. When I pause for long enough, I suddenly become more conscious of the changes happening all around me in many moments. Some of them are more obvious changes, for example: finishing my first semester in Chile, saying goodbye to a roommate and friend, sharing new experiences, etc. And other changes become apparent to me only after siphoning through my everyday experiences and recognizing changes around and within me, for example: realizing my Spanish is improving, letting go of some of my preconceived notions, following through on different dreams, etc.

My walk along the coast reminded me that some changes are like the tides and the seasons, they come and go without seeking my consent or bending to my will. And other changes are like the walk itself, they are changes that exist within my agency and are influenced by actions.

Moving to Chile was a huge change in my life and my time here has forced to reevaluate changes I would like to make in my life and to embrace how to live in a world that is constantly changing all around me. I am learning to see continually changes around me, within me, and throughout my life.

The coast this weekend-