Archive for September, 2007

Cabin Fever

25 September 2007 at 6:07 pm · Filed under purchases, travel

This weekend is our national staff women’s retreat. Carey and I have been planning this for some time, and I am really looking forward to it. (No, I won’t give away the surprise about what we are going to do there!) But the hardest part, as usual, has been the accomodations.

First, we looked online for cabins that we could use. The key to cabins is that we can cook our own food, and thus reduce the cost of the conference for our staff. At first, we found lots of cabins online between Santiago and Concepción, the two cities our staff women live in. But as we began to call these so-called cabins, we noticed that many of them are not equipped with kitchens or kitchenettes of any kind! I still can’t figure out how that can be a cabin, but we narrowed down the list.

Then we began to call about the prices. Commonly, even if they have a website, Chilean hotels and cabins will not list their prices. You have to call to find out how much it costs to stay there. Why have a website? So we narrowed it down to a few that we could afford.

Finally, we tried to get reservations. I sent two separate places reservation requests through their own websites. No response. Again, I ask you, why have a website? So I called them. Please use our website, one said. I did, I said. Try again, they said. I didn’t.

In the end, there is only one set of cabins that has kitchenettes, affordable prices, and will actually talk to us. Never mind that their website only worked for about three days, and now we can’t see it anymore. They sent me an email last week to confirm, and I responded in the affirmative, so we are all ready to go. Right?

Since I have had experience with this happening before, I also called to confirm that reservation a few days ago. “Oh yes, of course. Señora Amanda. We have your reservation right here. Just give us a call right before you arrive so we can unlock the front gates.” Okay, we are in business.

Today Coté called them to get directions to the cabins from the bus station. “A reservation for HOW MANY people? Six, right?” No, it is for ten people! “I don’t know if we have that much availability…” Coté called me right away.

I called them back, “Yes, Señora. We have your reservation. One cabin for five and two cabins for two people each.” That makes nine, I explain. They told me the big cabin would hold six before. (I have the email as proof!) “Hmm, well, I will see what I can do…”

I guess we will see what he can do, too….

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Happy Birthday to “Chile”

18 September 2007 at 5:48 pm · Filed under holidays, language

Today, September 18th, is the 196th anniversary of the founding of Chile. We’ve been calling it Chile’s birthday around here. My “Chile Moment” came today when Mark started singing “Happy Birthday” for the country.

He pronounced the word, “Chee-lay”, as is proper in Spanish. Jenna immediately started scolding him, “No, Daddy. No say chee-lay. Say chi-leee!”

img_0896.jpgimg_0896.jpgAfter trying a couple of times to convince her, he gave up and reverted to his prior ways. “Okay, Jenna. Chi-leee. Red or green?”

“No, Daddy. Chile is yellow. And brown.” I guess she meant the ground. Will there ever be anywhere where my child is completely normal?  

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The Empanada

12 September 2007 at 9:52 am · Filed under food, holidays, purchases

September in Chile is the beginning of spring and, as if to celebrate our exit from the cold and wet of winter, we celebrate two days back-to-back of national holidays. September brings the height of Chilean national pride, with national flags being sold everywhere and everyone looking forward to their days of vacation. It’s almost like if in the US our Fourth of July and Labor Day were rolled into one big holiday in April.

As you can imagine, the whole month is devoted to preparing for these holidays, celebrating these holidays, and recovering from these holidays. Part of the preparation includes the annual “10 Best Empanadas of Santiago” competition.

An empanada is something like a Hot Pocket, but homemade. It’s traditionally filled with pino (a mixture of beef, onions, and spices), a few raisins, a slice of hard-boiled egg, and an un-pitted black olive. It’s one of the very few foods that Chileans eat with their hands. (Fried chicken and pizza always require a fork and knife.)

When you pick up the empanada, it feels warm and firm. You hold it at one end of the semi-circle, and bite into the pointy part at the top. The first bite is usually mostly bread, because that’s where the crust comes together. But the second bite is usually the juiciest. The meat-onion juice may come squirting out the top if you are not careful, and the steam will make your glasses fog. As you eat it down, you will definitely need several napkins, and if you are in the company of friends or family, you may decide to lick up some of the juice that runs down your hands. 

This is the appetizer for the coming meal of grilled steak and boiled potatoes. Maybe a few tomatoes, but you ar definitely going to feel your meal later. No wonder they eat it at lunch. It takes all day and night to digest!

Yesterday on the way to pick up Rachel from school, I walked by the place I would put at the top of my personal Top Ten Places to Get Empanadas. Against my better judgment, I decided to buy one. The first bite was all bread, but in the second bite I struck paydirt: the grease-coated olive jumped out of my empanada and ran right down my chin and my jacket before bouncing off the toe of my shoe and onto the ground. Chalk that up to a Chile Moment!

I hope that wherever you are, you have a Happy Dieciocho!

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The crazy taxi driver

1 September 2007 at 9:04 pm · Filed under jobs, purchases, travel

I went to the bus station to pick up Millie, who visited from Ohio the past two weeks. She was coming back on a day bus from Concepción, six hours away. Millie had two suitcases and a backpack, which we got into the Metro and out at the end of the subway line near my apartment. We decided to take a taxi from there.

 At the subway exit is a taxi station. A group of taxi drivers have organized a system of waiting at the exit for passengers, each taking their turn.

We went to the lead taxi, who was supposed to take the next fare. I had to knock on his window before he would even acknowledge my presence. That was the first bad sign.

The second bad sign was that, after loading our bags and taking off, he did not turn on the meter. I leaned across the seat and pointed at the meter. He said, “It’s only three blocks. I’ll take you for free.” Big red flag. But by this time we were halfway to my destination. I just shrugged, “Okay,” I said.

I showed him where to pull in, and he got out to unlock the trunk, but made me lift the heavy bag. Well, it’s free, so I don’t complain. I hand him 300 pesos as a tip. Then it gets weirder.

He tells me I owe him 650 pesos. I remind him that he didn’t turn on the meter, and that he said it was free. He tells me it would be more than 300 pesos to take the bus. I tell him that 300 pesos is more than he would get if it were truly free, and I turn to leave, thinking him an ungrateful person. Millie, not understanding what has just happened, follows me.

As we walk away, and the taxi is waiting at the red light, the taxi driver stands up in the street and starts yelling at us that we are cheapskates, unethical, rude, uneducated, and of course, spoiled foreigners.

Knowing that it was his fault he didn’t turn on the meter when I asked in the first place, and also that he was stuck in traffic and wouldn’t leave his taxi unattended, we just walked away. “Another Chile moment for my blog,” I told Millie.

I hope she didn’t leave Chile with a bad taste in her mouth. It would be great to have her back again sometime.

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