When Milena was in the U.S. she told me that she would be spending her spring break in Kentucky. I was appalled, ¨Kentucky? Why in the world would you want to go to Kentucky?¨
This was essentially her reaction when I told her we wanted to go to Talca for our first weekend outside of Santiago. I like to pick random places in Lonely Planet so when I read that there was good hiking and tons of vineyards around Talca, I was sold. On top of that, it is only 3 hours away (which is pretty close by Chile standards). We decided to take the train, which was lovely and comfortable. A couchsurfer who I had contacted met us at the station and took us to the hostel he had found for us. It was run by a real cute old couple. The guy kept telling us that there was internet and that we could use it, WHEVENER we wanted. ¨3am, you can use the computer. Anytime you want, there is internet.¨
Our new friend and local guide, Jorge, took us on a town tour. We stopped to have mote con huesillo. From wikipedia: ¨It is made from husked wheat, mixed with sun-dried peaches that have been rehydrated in water for hours. The water in which the peaches were rehydrated is mixed with some sugar, and the wheat is mixed in a glass with the peaches and the peach-flavored sweetened water.¨ We sat down with locals on both sides of a U-shaped counter to try the only thing that was being consumed. Delicious (and a bit strange).
Wine tasting turns out to be pretty pricey in Santiago (only 2 tastes per vineyard) so we decided to do our own sampling. We bought only wines from the Maule Valley to enjoy and marvelled at the low prices. Jorge pointed to a really excellent wine, but warned that it was very expensive. It was about $13. Incredible.
The next day we rose early to go to Siete Tazas (seven cups) waterfalls. Road a bus that smelled like gasoline, hiked into the park, swam under a waterfall, just the usual stuff. :) Very beautiful place and a fun group. Jorge had all 10 of us over to his house for chancho en piedra, a local dish made by grinding garlic, chile and tomates. They served it with homemade grilled bread.
As it turns out, there really is nothing special about Talca itself, but with the beautiful national parks and wonderfully generous locals, the weekend was unforgettable.
More to come!
P.S. Check out my friend Wayne´s blog too. We´ve been traveling together, so he has the same stories, but we tell them differently. He´s super funny, so if you´d like to hear embarassing stories and see pictures (like one of me drinking boxed wine on a bus... yuck!) that I won´t post here, click bigtallwayne.blogspot.com. Why not make it a favorite?
February 05, 2009
February 03, 2009
Quick tidbits
Just a few fun thoughts, notes, stories in no particular order:
Ok, so I lied, there will be an order. I'm going to give little titles to subjects.
Milena:
-Has been working hard on her thesis while the rest of Chile is enjoying their 2-3 months of vacation.
- Must be the most patient person I know and for that, I more grateful than I can express.
- Milena made kuchen, a german dessert that I've eaten since I was a child. All Chileans seem to love it, so I had my mom send me the recipe.
- I call her mama sometimes to tease, since we are only 5 years apart in age.
- I owe my happiness here to her.
Hugo:
- Is in his first year of internship after medical school. Their 1st section is on surgery (yikes!)
- His university had their 1st graduating class in the med school and they tested 2nd in all of Chile, ahead of all of the long established programs (and only a small amount behind #1).
- Even after working all day, all night and then all day at the hospital, is still funny, spirited and a joy to spend time with.
- Calls me Mackie.
Tate:
-Is Estaban's nickname. I can't imagine calling him Estaban now. Nicknames are very popular here.
- Spent his summer here taking a college prep course in mathematics. This means he is a 15 year old who gave up his summer vacation to spend all day M-F preparing for his future as an engineer.
- Taught himself English and then competed in national English debates.
- Left for his hometown yesterday. :( We miss him already.
Teresa:
- Is our maid. I would trade my right arm to have her in the states.
- She is an awesome cook, so on Tues and Thurs we eat really well, including Chilean specialities like pastel de choclo.
- Irons my clothes and folds them perfectly. She even irons my underwear. For those of you who don't know the significance of folded clothes in my life, suffice it to say there are now pictures of my underwear on the internet because I was so excited about this.
Gata (aka Gatita):
- I'm pretty sure she belongs to me now. After crying outside my door during the night, Milena threw her outside. She climbed to my second story window to be in my room.
- Is sitting on my lap right now.
- Only likes to eat while being pet. Milena takes her shoe off next to the food bowl and pets her with a bare foot (and we think we spoil our cats!).
Comida (food!):
- Typically there are set menus at cafes around the university with 2 choices for $3-4.
- Can include pastas or a chicken or beef dish with a side of rice or potatoes. They usually come with soup and salad and a dessert (most times fresh fruit).
- Bread is always served (yes!!) and is spread with butter, jam or pebre. Don't forget to click on cool links.
Ok, so I lied, there will be an order. I'm going to give little titles to subjects.
Milena:
-Has been working hard on her thesis while the rest of Chile is enjoying their 2-3 months of vacation.
- Must be the most patient person I know and for that, I more grateful than I can express.
- Milena made kuchen, a german dessert that I've eaten since I was a child. All Chileans seem to love it, so I had my mom send me the recipe.
- I call her mama sometimes to tease, since we are only 5 years apart in age.
- I owe my happiness here to her.
- Is in his first year of internship after medical school. Their 1st section is on surgery (yikes!)
- His university had their 1st graduating class in the med school and they tested 2nd in all of Chile, ahead of all of the long established programs (and only a small amount behind #1).
- Even after working all day, all night and then all day at the hospital, is still funny, spirited and a joy to spend time with.
- Calls me Mackie.
Tate:
-Is Estaban's nickname. I can't imagine calling him Estaban now. Nicknames are very popular here.
- Spent his summer here taking a college prep course in mathematics. This means he is a 15 year old who gave up his summer vacation to spend all day M-F preparing for his future as an engineer.
- Taught himself English and then competed in national English debates.
- Left for his hometown yesterday. :( We miss him already.
Teresa:
- Is our maid. I would trade my right arm to have her in the states.
- She is an awesome cook, so on Tues and Thurs we eat really well, including Chilean specialities like pastel de choclo.
- Irons my clothes and folds them perfectly. She even irons my underwear. For those of you who don't know the significance of folded clothes in my life, suffice it to say there are now pictures of my underwear on the internet because I was so excited about this.
Gata (aka Gatita):
- I'm pretty sure she belongs to me now. After crying outside my door during the night, Milena threw her outside. She climbed to my second story window to be in my room.
- Is sitting on my lap right now.
- Only likes to eat while being pet. Milena takes her shoe off next to the food bowl and pets her with a bare foot (and we think we spoil our cats!).
Comida (food!):
- Typically there are set menus at cafes around the university with 2 choices for $3-4.
- Can include pastas or a chicken or beef dish with a side of rice or potatoes. They usually come with soup and salad and a dessert (most times fresh fruit).
- Bread is always served (yes!!) and is spread with butter, jam or pebre. Don't forget to click on cool links.
- Tomatoes and avocados are consumed daily. Almost everything comes with avocado on it here. It makes me so happy.
- Also, popular are hot dogs. Weird? Yes. Called completos, they usually have tomatoes, avocado and a TON of mayo. Sometimes pickled stuff, onions, aji (chili) sauce and other condiments.
- Someone told me that Chile consumes more ice cream per capita than any other country in the world. We have tried flavors such as tomate, basil and lemon, harina tostada (which is kind of like toasted flour), lucuma, watermelon, mango and a million more.
-Milena was telling me about Chilean food and told me about a strange fruit "papaya." I said, "oh yeah, we have papaya in the States." Then she was sure I was mistaken, so she explained what it was, until I promised to send her a pic from the grocery in Reno. Hee hee.
That's it for tonight. I need to write about our weekend adventures, because they are truly spectacular. More time needed. Love you guys!
- Also, popular are hot dogs. Weird? Yes. Called completos, they usually have tomatoes, avocado and a TON of mayo. Sometimes pickled stuff, onions, aji (chili) sauce and other condiments.
- Someone told me that Chile consumes more ice cream per capita than any other country in the world. We have tried flavors such as tomate, basil and lemon, harina tostada (which is kind of like toasted flour), lucuma, watermelon, mango and a million more.
-Milena was telling me about Chilean food and told me about a strange fruit "papaya." I said, "oh yeah, we have papaya in the States." Then she was sure I was mistaken, so she explained what it was, until I promised to send her a pic from the grocery in Reno. Hee hee.
That's it for tonight. I need to write about our weekend adventures, because they are truly spectacular. More time needed. Love you guys!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
