esmerílemelo

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Sorry I haven't update this for a while. Some of you might notice that this is largely comprised of answers to your recent questions

We had a chilean-american lunch the other day. We had empanadas, I made some chili, and we had torta for dessert. Empanadas are a type of pastry with meat inside. Some were beef, some shrimp, some scallops. The beef empanadas always have one olive and one piece of hard boiled egg and I don't know why. Torta is a general word for cake, but this particularly rich torta consisted of smooth merangue, crispy merangue, and frozen merangue, with strawberries. It was most excellent.

people eat a lot of bread. a lot. Chile is in second place for eating the most bread. After germany.

Society here seems very cheauvanistic. The women do most of the housework, but they always should be helped when encountered with a door or a heavy object. It's not uncommon for them to go to college and work, but they still usually do most of the housework. It might seem unfair to us, but here, it's just the way it is.

Parties here start at 11 ish and end whenever. I haven't seen the end of a party yet. Large numbers of people show up, few directly invited. I get the impression that it's usually an open invitation, or an invitation to anyone from a certain grade in the school, etc. The main attraction is dancing, to regaetón and electrónica. Regaetón is a style of music from Puerto Rico or Panamá (it's disputed)(thank you, unknown commenter), comparable to rap. The basic rhythm is pretty much the same in every song. It's good for dancing, not so good for listening. Those are the parties of the youth, at least.

School is good. Informal. It doesn't matter where you sit. Move the desks wherever. No need for hall passes. There's less homework, but more need to study. I can understand most of what's said when I really concentrate, but it's hard to keep it up.

We're coming up on the fiestas patrias of Chile. Roughly equivalent to the fourth of july, but instead it's a celebration of the first meeting of the independent chilean government. more on this later.

a new word I learned. I think it's spelled "esmerílemelo" (pronounced ess-meh-REE-leh-meh-loh), which means roughly "sharpen that for me" Say that 5 times fast.

I miss you people. Tell me when there'll be a party with a lot of people I know, so I can call.

september 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate day. Spread the word

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Photos

pelican
went to huasco, a little town about 45 minutes from Vallenar. lots of pelicans

Comments

[Aunt Libba]

Excelente
Dear Ian, I love your comments. You do a great job of explaining food and cultural differences. Cameron made me a reggaeton CD because it was ubiquitous in the Bronx. I agree it's not much to listen to. When I lived in Mexico for a month I tasted a great cake that had custard poured onto which seeped into the holes. The food memories are among the strongest. We also ate mangos on shrimp forks and had fruit paste of membrillo with a piece of cheese on top. Nice to learn about different ways to teach and learn also. That will serve you well when you get to college. There you also have less homework. You are at an age to pay a lot of attention to what your learning style is. It will save you a lot of time to understand the fastest way to get information to "stick." I'm so proud of you and love you always. Aunt Libba

[james]

me gusta la gasolina....
i love your cat picture! reggaeton is NOT (i repeat, ¡NOT!) mexican. it's puerto rican and/or panamanian (there's a dispute). yes, chileans celebrate their independence as the 18th of september, 1810, the date when they formed the first "junta de gobierno" (governing committee or council, essentially), though independence was not achieved until 1818 (and not recognized by spain until 1844). i'm always amused at american history books listing chilean independence as 1818 when chile considers their independence to begin in 1810. the US only DECLARED independence on july 4 1776. they did not achieve independence until the treaty of paris on september 3, 1783. however, no one in the US seems to consider the 3rd of september 1783 as the date of US independence. ¿do you see where i'm going with this? as far as chilean chauvenism, there certainly are more clearly defined gender roles than in the US, but don't kid yourself. look at most families and in the US it is still women who do most of the house work (cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids) even when these mothers are educated and have a carreer. chile does, however, have the lowest female labor participation rate in the western hemisphere (meaning fewer chilean women work outside the home than anywhere else in america). torta simply means cake with frosting, in all it's various forms. however, if you go to a mexican restaurant and order torta, you will get a sandwich (mexico is the only country where torta means sandwich). anyway, good luck with the rest of your time in chile. i'm sure independence week will be a blast (don't eat or drink too much!).

[anonymous]

Comida
You talk about food mucho.