On Friday, my boss invited me to go to Friday night services with him and his family. I met him at the office and after he closed up, we headed to Alto Las Condes because he had a quick meeting with the doctor. Alto Las Condes is a mall. The doctor's office is there because there is a lot of foot traffic and free parking.
After that quick detour, we headed the the Hebrew High School for services because the normal synagogue is under construction. Services were really nice. There isn't much different between services in the US and services in Chile.
After services, I went out to dinner with my boss, his wife, his daughter, and his daughter in-law. It was a nice dinner at the same Chinese restaurant that Tatu took me to about a month ago. Que rico!
Dinner ended around 12am, so the boss, the wife, and the daughter in-law went home, but I went out with his daughter. We went to her friends house and hung out. There were about ten of us there. It was a very chill evening. The big thing that Chilean Jews do is hang out and smoke hookah. It was an awesome atmosphere and the people were so nice, welcoming, and friendly. I hope I'll be hanging out with them again soon.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Lazy Day
Today is Monday, October 26, 2009. I woke up at 6:30am, had a bowl of oatmeal, and headed to the gym with my dog. He wanted to come inside, but he's not allowed. He trotted back home and I continued with my Spinning class.
Afterward, I made my way to the center of the city to stop at the Tufts office, and walk around Plaza de Armas. I picked up some postcards and a file for Orfebreria while soaking up some of the scenery.
The teachers are still on strike here, so there was a demonstration there. A popular slogan on the signs was "Investment in education is the best defense for the country."
It's an average day in Santiago. Nothing too exciting, but it's part of the experience, so I decided to mention it.
Afterward, I made my way to the center of the city to stop at the Tufts office, and walk around Plaza de Armas. I picked up some postcards and a file for Orfebreria while soaking up some of the scenery.
The teachers are still on strike here, so there was a demonstration there. A popular slogan on the signs was "Investment in education is the best defense for the country."
It's an average day in Santiago. Nothing too exciting, but it's part of the experience, so I decided to mention it.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Actividades de Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina is known for it's wine country. A winery tour had to happen.
We didn't waste much time. After meeting up with the Buenos Aires crew, finding Hillary a synagogue, and downing a quick lunch at a restaurant that seemed to be out of everything but pizza and Milanese, we were picked up at our hostel and whisked away for an afternoon of alcohol.
The first stop was an artisan liquor store. They made a bunch of different liquors including our favorite, frutas rojas, absenthe, and a pimentón picante. They also made various liqueurs such as dulce de leche, dulce de leche con banana y chocolate, chocolate avellana, y chocolate menta.
Aside from the alcohol, they also made jams. I had to buy the tres citrus and the zapallo con canela because they were only AR $13 or US $2.50. I have yet to try them, but I'm sure they'll be delicious. My host mom in Chile makes her own jam from the fruit that her parents grown on their farm, but I have a feeling these ones will give my mom's a run for her money. We'll see.
The next two stops were wineries that were pretty much the same. A quick tour of the bodega and then a quick wine tasting. Grenata, the first one, offered us a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec. (Just FYI: Carmenere : Chile :: Malbec : Argentina.) The second winery gave us a Syrah in addition to their Cabernet and Malbec, but all of the wines from the first winery were better, in my opinion.
The last stop on this tour was an olive oil factory. It was pretty interesting, especially since Hillary had met the owners son a few weeks back at a retreat in Cordoba, Argentina.
The olive oil was delicious, but what was I going to do with a bottle of Argentine olive oil?
That night we headed out for dinner. Argentine service is very different from American, and even Chilean food service. They aren't really in it for the tips, so they aren't too concerned with the customer.
A few notes:
1. Anything can be delivered in Argentina, including a coffee from one restaurant to a different one right across the street.
2. 10 minutes means half an our
3. Chances are they will not have your first or second choice on the menu.
After dinner we headed home. Not too exciting, I know, but we were tired from not sleeping well on the bus the night before.
Day two began with another great hostel breakfast and then we were picked up again to go hiking in the Andes. It was 2.5 hours up, lunch, and about 1.75 hours back down. We were accompanied by an adorable dog the whole way. I was impressed; it wasn't easy.
That night, we headed to the famous Las Tinajas restaurant that every Chilean talks about with Max's friend, Hannah who goes to Bryn Mawr, and her friend who goes to Haverford. It's tenedor libre and pretty delicious. We had to wait about an hour to be seated at a table that was vacant since we walked in, but once we sat down, we were pretty satisfied. After dinner, it was off to a bar to try Quilmes, Argentina's crappy beer that is cheaper than water. It wasn't great, but I'm glad I tried it. Chile's Escudo beats Argentina's Quilmes any day.
We went to bed around 4am and woke up around 9am. There wasn't a whole lot of time before us Chilean had to catch our bus, so we headed to Parque San Martin for about half an hour. It's a ginormous park on the edge of Mendoza. I wish I could have spent more time there. It was okay since the bus ride through the Andes was pretty amazing that afternoon.
I was home in Santiago by 9:30pm. Great trip!
We didn't waste much time. After meeting up with the Buenos Aires crew, finding Hillary a synagogue, and downing a quick lunch at a restaurant that seemed to be out of everything but pizza and Milanese, we were picked up at our hostel and whisked away for an afternoon of alcohol.
The first stop was an artisan liquor store. They made a bunch of different liquors including our favorite, frutas rojas, absenthe, and a pimentón picante. They also made various liqueurs such as dulce de leche, dulce de leche con banana y chocolate, chocolate avellana, y chocolate menta.
Aside from the alcohol, they also made jams. I had to buy the tres citrus and the zapallo con canela because they were only AR $13 or US $2.50. I have yet to try them, but I'm sure they'll be delicious. My host mom in Chile makes her own jam from the fruit that her parents grown on their farm, but I have a feeling these ones will give my mom's a run for her money. We'll see.
The next two stops were wineries that were pretty much the same. A quick tour of the bodega and then a quick wine tasting. Grenata, the first one, offered us a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec. (Just FYI: Carmenere : Chile :: Malbec : Argentina.) The second winery gave us a Syrah in addition to their Cabernet and Malbec, but all of the wines from the first winery were better, in my opinion.
The last stop on this tour was an olive oil factory. It was pretty interesting, especially since Hillary had met the owners son a few weeks back at a retreat in Cordoba, Argentina.
The olive oil was delicious, but what was I going to do with a bottle of Argentine olive oil?
That night we headed out for dinner. Argentine service is very different from American, and even Chilean food service. They aren't really in it for the tips, so they aren't too concerned with the customer.
A few notes:
1. Anything can be delivered in Argentina, including a coffee from one restaurant to a different one right across the street.
2. 10 minutes means half an our
3. Chances are they will not have your first or second choice on the menu.
After dinner we headed home. Not too exciting, I know, but we were tired from not sleeping well on the bus the night before.
Day two began with another great hostel breakfast and then we were picked up again to go hiking in the Andes. It was 2.5 hours up, lunch, and about 1.75 hours back down. We were accompanied by an adorable dog the whole way. I was impressed; it wasn't easy.
That night, we headed to the famous Las Tinajas restaurant that every Chilean talks about with Max's friend, Hannah who goes to Bryn Mawr, and her friend who goes to Haverford. It's tenedor libre and pretty delicious. We had to wait about an hour to be seated at a table that was vacant since we walked in, but once we sat down, we were pretty satisfied. After dinner, it was off to a bar to try Quilmes, Argentina's crappy beer that is cheaper than water. It wasn't great, but I'm glad I tried it. Chile's Escudo beats Argentina's Quilmes any day.
We went to bed around 4am and woke up around 9am. There wasn't a whole lot of time before us Chilean had to catch our bus, so we headed to Parque San Martin for about half an hour. It's a ginormous park on the edge of Mendoza. I wish I could have spent more time there. It was okay since the bus ride through the Andes was pretty amazing that afternoon.
I was home in Santiago by 9:30pm. Great trip!
Mendoza, Argentina
The typical study abroad experience, based on the stories I've heard, is a stay in some great European city, full of culture and life, during the week, and trips to the other famous cities on the weekends in sketchy planes for five euros. South America isn't as developed as Europe, so the transportation system isn't as convenient and the major cities aren't as close to one another. Also, it's highly unlikely that you'll have a friend everywhere you go.
Despite the differences between the European and South American experiences, I had a chance to mold the two this past weekend. Emily, Steven, and I shipped off from Santiago on Thursday night and headed east towards the cordillera for Mendoza, Argentina, a small city known for its wine country. There we met up with Sam, Hillary (two Tufts students who are studying in Buenos Aires), and Max, a friend they met on their program.
It was a short stay, but very much enjoyable nonetheless.
I left my house in Las Condes at 9pm on Thursday, hopped on the bottom level of a double-decker bus (the nice level for US $3.50 more) at 10:25pm, and was headed for the Andes. We were awoken by the lights on the bus around 2am to hop off the bus with our baggage and go through immigration and customs. It was about 25 degrees out there, and needless to say, it wasn't the nicest way to wake up.
At customs, a huge Argentine man came up to the three of us and asked us where are luggage was. We were unable to locate it in the huge pile of bags for a while, but once we did, we let him know where it was. Without checking it, without thinking twice, he just told the baggage handler to put it back on the bus. I guess the Argentine government isn't that worried about Americans and what they're bringing in. You think things would have been the same had they known Emily was from Southern California? (Just kidding, Emily.)
Anyway, we rolled into the bus station in Mendoza around 6:30am on Friday. It was early, we hadn't slept to well, and we were tired. We were told the hostel was really close by, so we decided to walk. About 40 minutes later, we actually arrived. Yeah, we got a little turned around, but the actual walk from the bus station was about 30 minutes, especially when you are carrying luggage.
The hostel was nice. We arrived early, couldn't check in, but they offered us a great Argentine breakfast anyway. All of the hostel breakfasts in the past have been typical, flavorless bread, butter and jam served with coffee or tea. This hostel had variety. Medialunas, Argentine style, other pastries, toasted bread, biscuits, and real coffee and tea to go with it. It was a nice welcome.
That morning we walked around the city, waiting for the Buenos Aires crew to arrive. Steven, Emily, and I headed to the main street, but found ourselves walking about 30 minutes in the wrong direction. We didn't really have any place we wanted to go, but later that afternoon, we realized everything we wanted to see was to the left and we wasted about an hour going to the right. It wasn't a huge deal. We saw a little more of Mendoza. We did happen to stumble across a huge chocolate store. That was a find. They even gave us free chocolate covered raisins when we walked in. How non-Chilean.
Despite the differences between the European and South American experiences, I had a chance to mold the two this past weekend. Emily, Steven, and I shipped off from Santiago on Thursday night and headed east towards the cordillera for Mendoza, Argentina, a small city known for its wine country. There we met up with Sam, Hillary (two Tufts students who are studying in Buenos Aires), and Max, a friend they met on their program.
It was a short stay, but very much enjoyable nonetheless.
I left my house in Las Condes at 9pm on Thursday, hopped on the bottom level of a double-decker bus (the nice level for US $3.50 more) at 10:25pm, and was headed for the Andes. We were awoken by the lights on the bus around 2am to hop off the bus with our baggage and go through immigration and customs. It was about 25 degrees out there, and needless to say, it wasn't the nicest way to wake up.
At customs, a huge Argentine man came up to the three of us and asked us where are luggage was. We were unable to locate it in the huge pile of bags for a while, but once we did, we let him know where it was. Without checking it, without thinking twice, he just told the baggage handler to put it back on the bus. I guess the Argentine government isn't that worried about Americans and what they're bringing in. You think things would have been the same had they known Emily was from Southern California? (Just kidding, Emily.)
Anyway, we rolled into the bus station in Mendoza around 6:30am on Friday. It was early, we hadn't slept to well, and we were tired. We were told the hostel was really close by, so we decided to walk. About 40 minutes later, we actually arrived. Yeah, we got a little turned around, but the actual walk from the bus station was about 30 minutes, especially when you are carrying luggage.
The hostel was nice. We arrived early, couldn't check in, but they offered us a great Argentine breakfast anyway. All of the hostel breakfasts in the past have been typical, flavorless bread, butter and jam served with coffee or tea. This hostel had variety. Medialunas, Argentine style, other pastries, toasted bread, biscuits, and real coffee and tea to go with it. It was a nice welcome.
That morning we walked around the city, waiting for the Buenos Aires crew to arrive. Steven, Emily, and I headed to the main street, but found ourselves walking about 30 minutes in the wrong direction. We didn't really have any place we wanted to go, but later that afternoon, we realized everything we wanted to see was to the left and we wasted about an hour going to the right. It wasn't a huge deal. We saw a little more of Mendoza. We did happen to stumble across a huge chocolate store. That was a find. They even gave us free chocolate covered raisins when we walked in. How non-Chilean.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Bee´s Knees
Like always, it has been a while. There hasn´t been a lot going on though, so there wasn´t much to write about.
This past weekend was a long weekend. It was Columbus Day (yeah, he discovered South America too). Most of the Tufts people went on trips, to Mendoza, Argentina or Valdivia, Chile (to the south). I stayed back and took in Santiago for a few days. Went to a bar on Friday night, cooked enchiladas with Gabrielle and Emily on Saturday night, went to Pierre´s house in Buin on Sunday and came back on Monday. It was a nice weekend.
Sunday was a big day though. I used the Metrotren for the first time. It´s nothing big, it´s just that I had never been on it before, so I was a little nervous about how it all worked and everything. It´s actually a really pleasant ride outside of the city. The tracks run along a highway que junta el campo con la ciudad, but it doesn´t take anything away from the views of the rolling hills and the Andes mountain range to the east. I took the train out to Buin to visit Pierre at his family´s house. He was out there because his dad had been visiting for two weeks so Pierre was staying with him. His dad left for Belgium on Saturday afternoon, so I went out there to keep Pierre company on Sunday. We ended up going to an asado, my first one and hopefully not my last.
Pierre´s friend, Daniel, came to the house to pick us up. His uncle (only 20 years old) drove with his girlfriend in the passenger seat and the three of us squished in the back of a teeny tiny Chilean sedan. We arrived at another gated community, but not as nice as Pierre´s. We sped down the road to the end of the block and arrived at a house that didn´t look any different than the others. We walked in and there was the grandfather of the family, his daughter, and her husband in the kitchen. There were a couple of huge pots on the stove and I could hear the sound of a bunch of guys giving each other a hard time in the back yard. We walked out there and there were about five or six teenage guys, all with Heiniken in hand, chatting up a storm...huevon this, huevon that, ¿cachai, po? It was a cool scene. The obese mut sat there staring up at them waiting for the asado to begin.
Finally the husband walked out with a huge tray of meat. The sausages went on first. The the pork loin, then the pork ribs, then the flank steak, then the chicken, then more sausages. First course, Choripan, I´m guessing it comes from chorizo y pan...aka a sausage on a delicious, fresh-baked roll. Then the pork loin was taken off the flame, cut into large, bite-sized pieces and hands dove in like starving pihranas. The bottle of Kraft barbecue sauce was gone faster than you could imagine.
In addition to the many types of meat, there was a few types of beer, three types of pisco, whisky, rum, and coke and sprite. It was a feast. There were also two salads. One was just lettuce with lemon juice and salt and the other was ensalada chilena, or tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. They were both good. After I thought I was done eating, I was offered homemade chicken soup. I was way to full to take them up on the offer, but now I wish I had.
I had a really good time talking to everyone. I was an American at a Chilean barbecue and everyone wanted to chat me up. The people were really friendly and very welcoming. I had a good long chat with the father of the family about everything. He is really well traveled. He´s from Ecuador, lived in France, Switzerland, the U.S., and now Chile. He was an enormou man with a belly that seemed to hit the Andes, and he was a cool guy. Really laid back and relaxed. I hope I get to see him again, pick his brain about things. We´ll see.
That night, Pierre and I followed a couple of the other guys to a friend´s house to hang out. It was a good time, but again, being the American, people wanted to chat me up like crazy, but when people have had a few drinks and are surrounded by their chilean peers, the language gets mutilated beyond belief, so it was really hard to understand.
I had a great time that day. Hope to go back to Buin soon and can´t wait for the next asado!
This past weekend was a long weekend. It was Columbus Day (yeah, he discovered South America too). Most of the Tufts people went on trips, to Mendoza, Argentina or Valdivia, Chile (to the south). I stayed back and took in Santiago for a few days. Went to a bar on Friday night, cooked enchiladas with Gabrielle and Emily on Saturday night, went to Pierre´s house in Buin on Sunday and came back on Monday. It was a nice weekend.
Sunday was a big day though. I used the Metrotren for the first time. It´s nothing big, it´s just that I had never been on it before, so I was a little nervous about how it all worked and everything. It´s actually a really pleasant ride outside of the city. The tracks run along a highway que junta el campo con la ciudad, but it doesn´t take anything away from the views of the rolling hills and the Andes mountain range to the east. I took the train out to Buin to visit Pierre at his family´s house. He was out there because his dad had been visiting for two weeks so Pierre was staying with him. His dad left for Belgium on Saturday afternoon, so I went out there to keep Pierre company on Sunday. We ended up going to an asado, my first one and hopefully not my last.
Pierre´s friend, Daniel, came to the house to pick us up. His uncle (only 20 years old) drove with his girlfriend in the passenger seat and the three of us squished in the back of a teeny tiny Chilean sedan. We arrived at another gated community, but not as nice as Pierre´s. We sped down the road to the end of the block and arrived at a house that didn´t look any different than the others. We walked in and there was the grandfather of the family, his daughter, and her husband in the kitchen. There were a couple of huge pots on the stove and I could hear the sound of a bunch of guys giving each other a hard time in the back yard. We walked out there and there were about five or six teenage guys, all with Heiniken in hand, chatting up a storm...huevon this, huevon that, ¿cachai, po? It was a cool scene. The obese mut sat there staring up at them waiting for the asado to begin.
Finally the husband walked out with a huge tray of meat. The sausages went on first. The the pork loin, then the pork ribs, then the flank steak, then the chicken, then more sausages. First course, Choripan, I´m guessing it comes from chorizo y pan...aka a sausage on a delicious, fresh-baked roll. Then the pork loin was taken off the flame, cut into large, bite-sized pieces and hands dove in like starving pihranas. The bottle of Kraft barbecue sauce was gone faster than you could imagine.
In addition to the many types of meat, there was a few types of beer, three types of pisco, whisky, rum, and coke and sprite. It was a feast. There were also two salads. One was just lettuce with lemon juice and salt and the other was ensalada chilena, or tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. They were both good. After I thought I was done eating, I was offered homemade chicken soup. I was way to full to take them up on the offer, but now I wish I had.
I had a really good time talking to everyone. I was an American at a Chilean barbecue and everyone wanted to chat me up. The people were really friendly and very welcoming. I had a good long chat with the father of the family about everything. He is really well traveled. He´s from Ecuador, lived in France, Switzerland, the U.S., and now Chile. He was an enormou man with a belly that seemed to hit the Andes, and he was a cool guy. Really laid back and relaxed. I hope I get to see him again, pick his brain about things. We´ll see.
That night, Pierre and I followed a couple of the other guys to a friend´s house to hang out. It was a good time, but again, being the American, people wanted to chat me up like crazy, but when people have had a few drinks and are surrounded by their chilean peers, the language gets mutilated beyond belief, so it was really hard to understand.
I had a great time that day. Hope to go back to Buin soon and can´t wait for the next asado!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Events
Fun things that have happened since Spring Break in Peru:
1. Visit to Pierre's house in Buin which included a delicious lunch prepared by his very French grandmother and a harvest of the delicious palta from a tree hanging over their driveway.
2. Dinner with Pierre's father when he came to visit.
3. Happy hour with terremotos at La Bicicleta one week and happy hour with microbrews at HBH the next with the with the girls from Orfebrería (the second outing was to celebrate Belén's birthday)
4. Celebrating Charles' birthday with helados artesanales at San Sebastian on Wednesday and with pizza, drinks, and Red Sox vs. Yankees at Basic Bar on Friday
5. Fantastic Chinese lunch in El Golf with Tatu
6. First ever Spinning class
7. First ever road race with Gabrielle singing the whole time (It was wonderful).
8. Wine tasting with Jumbos at Ben Schneider's Ñuñoa house
9. Italian style pizza in Parque Arauco with Tatu
10. Dinner with the host family's future in-laws (Matias is getting married in March)
11. Czar is the new pololo my dog brought home while I was in Peru
12. Iom Kippur services on Sunday night and Monday morning with Steven Weiss at Jabad in Lo Barnechea
13. Meeting with Deloitte where they actually offered me an internship
Shall we leave it at lucky number 13? Maybe so. . .
14. Drinks with Tatu, meeting three Danish executives working in Santiago, and being told not to buy Soprole but to buy Colun.
15. Running into Macarena and Rodrigo at Parque Arauco which made me feel like I have some sort of social life in Chile
There, that's 15, a good number; much easier to work with than 13.
1. Visit to Pierre's house in Buin which included a delicious lunch prepared by his very French grandmother and a harvest of the delicious palta from a tree hanging over their driveway.
2. Dinner with Pierre's father when he came to visit.
3. Happy hour with terremotos at La Bicicleta one week and happy hour with microbrews at HBH the next with the with the girls from Orfebrería (the second outing was to celebrate Belén's birthday)
4. Celebrating Charles' birthday with helados artesanales at San Sebastian on Wednesday and with pizza, drinks, and Red Sox vs. Yankees at Basic Bar on Friday
5. Fantastic Chinese lunch in El Golf with Tatu
6. First ever Spinning class
7. First ever road race with Gabrielle singing the whole time (It was wonderful).
8. Wine tasting with Jumbos at Ben Schneider's Ñuñoa house
9. Italian style pizza in Parque Arauco with Tatu
10. Dinner with the host family's future in-laws (Matias is getting married in March)
11. Czar is the new pololo my dog brought home while I was in Peru
12. Iom Kippur services on Sunday night and Monday morning with Steven Weiss at Jabad in Lo Barnechea
13. Meeting with Deloitte where they actually offered me an internship
Shall we leave it at lucky number 13? Maybe so. . .
14. Drinks with Tatu, meeting three Danish executives working in Santiago, and being told not to buy Soprole but to buy Colun.
15. Running into Macarena and Rodrigo at Parque Arauco which made me feel like I have some sort of social life in Chile
There, that's 15, a good number; much easier to work with than 13.
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