"Make us some coffee, say hey to the sun"

Well hello, 34 followers! As Mama Swayze pointed out, it's been about a week since our last post. Are we turning into blog slackers? Sorry. It's just that nothing suuuuper exciting has been going on around here. It's still exciting to us just to be here most of the time, but nothing very blog-worthy is happening. But, just to assure you that we're alive and well, here's a quick update:

It's officially the school year again. We got by during the first few weeks doing minimal work, but now it's starting to feel more and more like real school. We're actually spending looots of time in the library (mostly because it's warm), trying to keep up with history reading and Quechua worksheets. And sometimes Abby gets assigned a 300-page book in Spanish, to finish in a week. 

So we had a very low-key weekend, including several hours spent at a Starbucks we tracked down near my house. Yep, a Starbucks. I'd like to say that we only go to cool, local Chilean cafes, but I have to just admit that we went to our beloved Starbucks, such a staple of our Nashville lives. And it was awesome! Not only did we get lots of work done, it was the coolest Starbucks ever! Two stories, and just fancier than anything we have in the USA. We took a picture to prove it to you.

Besides this exciting outing, Abby got to come over for lunch TWICE and hang out with my host family finally, and we had a mini-adventure on Sunday that she'll fill you in on hopefully tomorrow.

The title of this post is from a wonderful song by my faves, The Weepies, called "Simple Life." I thought it was appropriate because we've sort of just been living a simple life for the past couple of weeks. We go to class, we go home for dinner, we read things... but it's still great to be doing all of that in Santiago. And I'm trying to soak up every minute, because the calendar keeps reminding me that the halfway point is hurrying towards us. Yikes! 

We have some pretty big adventures coming our way in the next month, so fasten your seatbelts. This blog is about to get way more exciting...

Happy First Day!

In honor of our beloved Vanderbilt starting classes today, 

Allison would like to say, "Go Dores!"

PS- this picture is from about a month ago... we just thought the black and gold was funny. In the background you can see two of our Chilean friends (!), a Chilean stray dog, and our campus!

Del Pino Family Adventure Day

It's your lucky day! Two updates from the Chile Cheese Blog. That's because I (Madeline) went on my very own adventure today.

So I got home last night, so worn out and dirty from the hours spent crawling up Cerro Pochoco, and my host madre told me that we were going on a family outing today! Destination: Cajón del Maipo. According to wikipedia, Cajón del Maipo is "a canyon located in the Andean southeastern portion of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. It encompasses the upper Maipo River basin, where the river has entrenched itself in a narrow valley." Basically, it's a beauuutiful area about an hour south of the city, and the longer you drive, the deeper into the Andes you are (and the more smog-free the air becomes!). 

 

So we packed up the minivan this morning (8 people + 7 seats in the car= 1 improvised seat built out of pillows...), and drove out of Santiago. I had no idea where exactly we were headed, so it caught me by surprise when we pulled over onto a patch of grass and started to set up camp. We ate hot dogs and choripán (chorizo + bread... so basically just a fancier hot dog.), and sandwiches and more bread, and finished off the day roasting marshmallows. We hiked a little and explored our surroundings, which included a few waterfalls! Mostly, we were just there to soak up the Great Outdoors-- what a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

In addition to the joy of getting to see all of this lovely nature, I had the best time with my Chilean familia today! They are just the best (Don't worry, REAL family-- you guys are still better.). They're so funny and warm and snarky, and they just love each other, and they love life. The whole car ride home tonight, we played the "fire hydrant game" (grifo in Spanish). The goal? Spot a fire hydrant and shout "grifo!" It was pretty great, and very similar to a game we play in my real family called "cow."

I'm showing you this for two reasons: 1) You can spot la Fer and her dad having some quality time, and    2) That big orange sign basically means "bridge in bad condition." We drove across that bridge. Twice.

La Fer and la Carla, posing for me in their matching fleeces.They really love Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga.

"'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you."-Isaiah 54:10

Tripping up the mountain

Oh man, do Madeline and I have some stories and pictures to share with you. I write this post with cuts on my hands and aches in my bones because, on Saturday, we ascended the almighty Cerro Pochoco, a wannabe-mountain right outside Santiago. Our reliable adventure guide, Mary Morr from Colorado, had read a couple days before the hike that it'd be pretty simple. 30-minute ascent, 30-minute descent. Pedazo de torta. Piece of cake. I think I'll now walk you through what turned out to be a very taxing (albeit enjoyable) day.

We all met in Las Condes, Madeline's neck-of-the-woods, and then boarded the bus that would drop us off two miles from the trail-head. Sitting at the bus stop was a cute little mutt Allison named "Rudy" (maybe for his persistence and don't-quit attitude?). That dog followed us for hours ... all the way to the top of the mountain (well, almost, but I'll explain later). 

We got a little lost on our search for the trail-head. A windy road took us to a sign that read, "Al Cristo" ("To Jesus"). As we were about to go to Jesus just because it seemed like He might know The Way, some nice Chileans told us we were all wrong, that we had to go back down the road and climb this staircase.

There's Rudy!

And who did we see when we got to the top? Jesus! And others! Turns out going to Jesus would've been the right choice all along ...

Once on this path, the view started getting prettier. We passed by what seemed to be cherry blossom trees, some wildflowers, and a charming antique-y orange car.

And then the view of the mountain we would soon conquer emerged!

When we got to the trail-head, all we saw was a barbed-wire fence. It was here that Mary announced, "Oh yeah, the website did say something about jumping over a fence to get to the trail ..."

Luckily, we found a secret passageway to the trail. And then began the hike. It started out alright, but soon became slippery. No one in our group but Mary had bothered to wear hiking boots. So this is the equation we had to work with:

Little traction from our tennis shoes

+ 

an extremely vertical, all-dirt path

+ 

nothing to grab onto except these cacti

= 

a buncha giggles, scrapes, and embarrassing skids

But, in the end, the twoish-hour ascent was SO worth it. The view from the top was incredible (minus the smoggy city off in the distance). Mary was bummed because our trusty dog Rudy left us about halfway up the mountain to hike with some more experienced and well-prepared climbers. We did inherit a new furry friend, however. And guess what his name was? Jesus!

Next time our more-well-prepared selves go hiking, we're going to go even higher. To the top of the mountain pictured below.

 

In other news, Madeline and I are stealing away with some of our friends from the program in a couple weeks during Fiestas Patrias. Have we told you? Chile is turning 200 this year! And to celebrate, we're going to take a 13-hour bus ride to the Lake District in southern Chile to hike hike hike. We plan to climb a volcano in Pucón, hit the German settlement of Valdivia, hang around Puerto Montt and Lake Llanquihue, and spend the day of Bicentenario on the island of Chiloé, home to penguins and some meat dish cooked underneath the earth. We're pretty pumped.

Adiós amigos! Ooo, and gracias for being so supportive of our blog! 32 readers is INCREÍBLE!

Recipes and Roaming

In my last post, I had the pleasure of presenting to you the alfajor. But all I had to show for this Chilean phenomenon was a wrapper (sporting a brand that wasn't particularly good). Well, as I've mentioned before, my family is all about homegrown treats. Sure, my Chilean mamá likes to cook, and she's good at it ... but more uniquely, my host parents pride themselves on making things that can otherwise be bought in the store (i.e. garlic mayonnaise, blackberry marmalade, fruit juice, etc.). I recently announced to Mamá that I'm in love with alfajores. And what did I find greeting me the next day when I returned from school? I'll let your imaginations guess ... and then I'll show you these pictures!

Practicum número uno: How to make an alfajor

Step #1: Smother shortbread/gingerbread-esque cookies in manjar (caramel sauce).

 

Step #2: Dip two-tiered cookies in melted dark chocolate.

Step #3: Place on aluminum sheet, about one inch apart.

Step #4: Swirl white chocolate on top.

Step #5: Make a crafty design with a long needle-looking thing like this.

Step #6: Voila! Enjoy! 

They may look like Little Debbie cupcakes, but don't you be fooled. The alfajor constitutes its own class of mass-produced deliciousness.

---

As Madeline mentioned, we recently added the cutesy little town of Pomaire to our repertoire of excursions outside Santiago. Since Mads and I are considering converting our Chile Cheese Blog into a food blog anyways (what? Chilean food is just so good!), I thought I'd add more food photos to the stash.

There's Mads, about to scarf our empanada full of meat, onions, eggs, and a surprise olive.

This corn pie (pastel de choclo) is not for the faint-stomached. It contained egg, chicken (off-the-bone! Just swimming around inside!), and of course corn. And maybe potatoes?

Yeah, it looks delicious ... but I wouldn't know. I opted for the alfajor.

Believe it or not, Pomaire had more to offer than just food. Like ostrich-sized Disney theme eggs. And pots. And Peru's national drink.

Speaking of Perú ...

Allison, Madeline, and I recently booked tickets to Perú for early October! We plan to fly into Lima, then fly to Cusco, where we'll spend a day before catching a train at the crack-o-dawn for Machu Picchu (pictured below). That night we'll catch an overnight bus to Arequipa (in Puno, situated on Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia) and wander around the Islas Flotantes (Floating Islands). We'll then fly back to Lima, do some super-efficient sight-seeing, and depart for Santiago.

Ahhhhh glorious!

Yes, a whole civilization sits atop those big, floating grass pads.

To prepare ourselves, Madeline and I are taking a class at la Católica called "La Lengua y Cultura Quechua" ("The Language and Culture of Quechua"). Besides taking the class because of the indigenous music our professor plays in the background during lectures, we just really wanted to be able to hold our own in conversations with the indigenous population in southern Perú (or Ecuador, Colombia, northern Chile, Paraguay, or northern Argentina, for that matter). We have high hopes for that dialogue ... if we were to go right now, this is what we'd be able to say:

Madeline: Ñoqachu Madeline kani. (Translation: Am I Madeline?)

Abby: Arí, qam Madeline kanki. (Translation: Yes, you are Madeline.)

Madeline: Ñoqachu junt'achini. (Translation: Do I write?)

Abby: Arí, qam junt'achinki. (Translation: Yes, you write!)

Madeline: Añaychayki. Tinkuykama. (Translation: Thank you. See you later.)

Impressive, no? We've learned how to help each other through identity crises, and I can affirm Madeline's literacy. I'd say we're golden.

One last thing before I leave ...

If you'd like to see more photos than what's offered on our blog, you can check out my Picasa Web Albums here. Since Madeline and I are together a lot, many of the pictures will pertain to both of our experiences! Woo hoo!

Hasta luego!

Giant empanadas and three-legged pigs...

Hello! 

I'm about to go to class, but I just wanted to drop in with a quick update...

Today marks the beginning of our third week of classes, and we're officially PAST the one month mark! Crazy that our time here is over 1/5 of the way done. That makes it feel so short. Ab and I have finalized our schedules, and we're taking 3 out of our 4 classes together, and we have the same schedule! It worked out so well! Class is still pretty fun, but we're starting to realize that we actually do have to do the work. Bummer.

Our new goal is to make more Chilean friends. We love hanging out with everyone from our program, but Chileans are just so cool! So we're working on that. It's hard to make friends on campus because we tend to stick together in a pack of gringos, but we have two new places where I think we're going to make some great new amigos: 

1. We've been going for the past 3 weeks to a little PCA church really near my house, called Cristo Rey. It's so sweet to go there and feel like part of that community a little bit. Also, I've realized that I love hearing scripture and singing worship songs in Spanish, because it makes all the words and their meanings sound totally new. Cool. Sometimes when we're singing a song, Ab and I look at each other and say "what does this meeeean?", but that only happens sometimes, and that's what dictionaries are for, right? So yesterday at church, we met some awesome Chileans, and talked to them for a while, and I think we just might be best friends sometime soon.

Our church... I borrowed this picture from their website...

 2. The American girl who stayed with Abby's host family last semester told her about a college ministry in Santiago called el Oasis. So we went to that last Thursday night, and they fed us dinner, and then it was basically a lot like Young Life club...silly skits, singing, and a talk. I'm excited to go back and get to know some of the people there!

This past Saturday, we went with about 8 girls from our program to visit a little town called Pomaire, about an hour away by bus. Pomaire is known for the impressive amount of ceramics produced there, and it's also known as the home of the world's biggest emanada. So we had to go check it out! We never actually found the giant empanada, but we ate some great normal-sized empanadas for lunch, along with more juice and pastel de choclo, which is a weird but wonderful combination of corn and meat and vegetables...And we definitely saw some ceramics:

  

Here's cute Allison with one of the famous Pomaire ceramic three-legged pigs. If you give one to someone, it's supposed to be lucky:

As you can maybe see from the pictures (ok maybe not), it's been getting warmer! Springtime is just around the corner. And belieeeve me, we'll be ready. It's going to change so much about our daily lives here once it warms up-- no more estufas, no more sleeping in 12.5 layers, no more consuming tea all the time just to be warm. And plus, the smog will probably clear out a good amount when the cold goes away!

Random thought: I've been trying to think of a productive way to spend the two-ish hours every day on the metro/ bus. I thought maybe I could write in my journal? Wrong. If you try to journal on the metro, 1) you will not be able to read a word of it, and 2) you will get lots of strange looks as you pull out your floral journal from your backpack. Especially if you happen to be wearing a floral blouse. So much for blending in... Any thoughts on metro activities would be much appreciated.

Wow this was a long one. Lo siento. Have the best day!

If you're looking for information about our lives, this post isn't for you...

So, all day today I kept thinking of things I wanted to blog about, but now that I'm blogging, I can't remember! For now I'll just give you some more pictures from the weekend, and maybe it will all come back to me later...

First, here's us at the winery on Friday. I realized that we barely have any pictures of the two of us on here...

This is a sign we saw in Isla Negra. We have no clue what it means, except maybe: "Woman in a large skirt, playing the guitar." Or "Man on a pumpkin, playing the guitar."

What? Do we look like tourists or something?

We loooove juice! My Chilean family makes this stuff for me all the time-- so great!

 Another picture of the beautiful Isla Negra! We're so excited to go back to the beach when it's actually warm... it's less than two hours and only about 7 dollars each way.

Ok that's all for now. I'll come back when I have more legit things to say... Love to North America from South America!

Time for some introductions

Alright, United States. It's time for some introductions. There are some things about Chile everyone must know.

Introduction número uno: MARISCOS (seafood)

Seafood is eaten quite a bit around here (or at least in my family). Madeline has left my house on one or two occasions with a stomach full of fried fish or some questionable sea creature that is "slurped," not eaten.

Introduction número one-and-a-half: Chile uses military time, as displayed on my mom's watch.

Introduction número dos: Chileans like wine. So much so that they make a lot of it.

Madeline and I decided we'd make a journey with the (still) delightful Brazilians to a winery, or bodega, called Concha y Toro about an hour outside the city this past Friday (yeahhh we don't have class Friday!). The vineyard was an oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.

El Casillero del Diablo was a rather frightening wine-cellar-pseudo-catacomb...

Introduction número tres: United States, meet the alfajor.

Aflajors (pronounced alpha-whore) are delicious desserts made of layers of manjar (dulce de leche, or carmel) and shortbread-esque cookies. They're available covered in chocolate, or sometimes sprinkled with coconut shreds or powdered sugar.

Introduction número cuatro: One can travel from Santiago (which sits on the eastern-most edge of the country) to the coast (the western-most edge of the country ... duh) in LESS THAN AN HOUR-AND-A-HALF.

To test out this truth, Madeline, Allison + two others (named Mary and Erica) boarded a bus Saturday morning to head to Isla Negra, where is situated yet another one of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's houses. 
 

Yep, there's Pablo. Just watchin' the Pacific Ocean.

Introdution número cinco: Juice here is just about as natural as it gets. 

Recipe for the delicious kiwi juice below: kiwis + water + blender. Presto.

I

Introduction número seis: Allison Buterbaugh, fellow Vandy girl, is quite charming. 

You should get to know her.

 

Introduction número siete: Stray dogs are a problem in Chile. Especially when you're trying to eat empanadas in peace.

Madeline obviously thinks dogs are pretty funny.

 

More to come on beginning-of-the-school-year fun! Adiós!