A Week of Firsts

¡Hola, hola! So, I know I've been horrible about posting, and all I can say is I told you so! I have officially been in Chile for an entire week so far, and I'm loving it. Here's the details: this week (as indicated by the title) has been a week full of firsts. So let's get started with the list!

1) First Meal: I wrote about this in my last post (I think), but I thought I'd just bring it up again, because it literally was the first meal I had in Chile! So, we had beef that she cooked in some really yummy broth and mixed with onions, potatoes with oregano, salad, bread, and red wine. Can't forget dessert though, blueberry tart mmmm :) All of it was delicious, Vero loves to cook, and she went all out on this one. So here's the neat part: before every meal we eat, she prepares a mini-portion and presents it to her ancestors to eat at a small shrine like thing in her room. She's spiritual, I'll explain later. Here's the picture of our meal, mini-sized:

2) ¡Piscola!: Alright, so here is your chilean fun fact of the day: PISCO. Yeah. Pisco. What is it you ask? Well, it is the classic alcohol of Peru and Chile. Pisco is to Chile/Peru as tequila is to Mexico. ¿Cachai? So, it is a hard alcohol that is somewhat similar to tequila, but those who don't like tequila still love pisco. Its distilled from grapes, aaaand that's all I know. So the classic pisco drink is a pisco sour, which is pisco, lime juice and sugar. ¡Delicioso! However, this drink is a lunch thing, which is how we get to piscola. The hot drink with the youths here is a piscola which is, can you guess? Right! Pisco and cola aka coke. So, my first piscola was had on Thursday (8/1) at a nice little bar called Café Journal, right up the street. Of course, on our first night out we hoped we would meet friends! Did we, you ask? Yes! BUT. They were allllll Americans. All 20 of them. Yeah, 20. So, I now have a large network of American friends, but that's not too exciting, you know how that goes, so what's next?

3) My first trip to the beach: Friday (8/2) me Alexa and Erica (the other two girls from AU) took a walk down to the beach and had a sunset picnic. Talk about beautiful! The beach is a few blocks away, only about a ten minute walk, and we stopped for empanadas and pisco along the way. So what was so exciting about the beach trip? Two things: first, arguably the most beautiful thing about Viña are the sunsets--the color of the sky changes as the sun sets, but it changes in sections, which results in a BEAUTIFUL rainbow-esque pattern across the sky. So, set that on top of the sea, and tell me you've seen something more beautiful, because I know I haven't. Second, on our lovely beach picnic, we met a girl from Brazil who studies abroad in Argentina, and we made our first foreign friend! We took her out while she was here, but sadly she left Sunday morning. The good news is that I know have someone to visit in Argentina, which will be a whole adventure of it's own!

^ A view of the city from the beach ^

^ Sunset (sorry its crooked, I'm no pro) ^

4) Lomitos: Alright, before I can get to what a Lomito is, I have to explain to you what a completo is. A completo is a chilean style hot dog that is LOADED with stuff, and I kid you not, it is loaded. It comes in an extra large bun, and is covered with tomato, cheese, guacamole AND mayo. And when I say mayo, I don't mean a little bit of mayo, I mean MAYO. There are different types of completos that come with different things, but they all have either guac or mayo... talk about fattening. So, a lomito is the same thing, only it is not a hot dog, instead it is sliced pork meat, cooked in a pan, and cut up. Philly cheese steak-esque, only a lomito is served in a hamburger bun. Now, my first lomito came loaded with cheese, tomato, and bacon (I asked for no mayo, because yikes). It was delicious! Only here's the thing: it was the size of my face, I kid you not. So, I had a meal for two whole days. Yum yum!

5) Class: Monday night (8/5) was my first class, yay! The class, Conflicto social en latinoamérica (social conflict in Latin America), is my only class that I have with other foreigners. Our class consists of 8 Americans, 5 Canadians, 2 Australians, 3 Germans, and 1 Mexican. It's all in Spanish, and the professor is Chilean. We dove into the lecture off the bat, and it was super interesting. The lesson was all about how to define Latin America, and we went through a brief historic recap of the conquistadors and such, but discussed things that I hadn't heard before. Of course, I was fascinated. I won't bore you with the gory details, so on to the next one!

So those are all of the eventful firsts that I can think of, but I'm sure I've missed some... I'll keep you up to date! Well, one last thing: if you have a smart phone (not a Blackberry, sorry Zodle), you can download an app called "What's App" for free. This app lets one text ANYONE in the world with a working cell phone number, so long as that number is saved in their contacts, and there is an internet connection. So, if you can get it, email me and I'll put your number in my phone and text you! Hope to hear from you soon!

Cariños