Rants and Raves

Pictures: Improptu dance and photo session in Valp0. (upper) Justin (lower) Matt

I have been in Chile for 10 days now and have a few things I would like to get off my chest. It has been warm during the day but the nights cold. I am talking 28-34 degrees Fahrenheit at night. So, who cares right? There is no heat in the hostels, none! 2 layers of blankets and usually a propane heater that has no canister. Try getting out of bed when the ambient air temperature is 32 degrees, not an easy thing to do. It sucks and there is no wonder why Justin and I have failed to get our day started before 10am yet. As we move south and into the mountains I am expecting for heat to be common.

The Chilean economy is doing just fine right now. Chile is the first South American country to earn 1st world status (January 2010) and their economy is running on fish and copper exports amoung others. In Santiago and Concepcion (a Concepcion post is coming) we patronized local malls and they were all packed with happy teens and families spending their money on a surprising amount of American brands. The malls are stocked with American stores like: Hush Puppies, Levis, The North Face, Columbia, and more. They love American mass culture and clothing, I see people wearing Burton, Billabong, and Mossimo (remember Mossimo from the mid 90's, I had one of their shirts, don't judge), the music in the local bars and pubs is all American, lot's of classic rock and 90's rock. The first night in Santiago we heard a 10 song set that was Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, R.H. Chili Peppers, and Alice in Chains it felt like home.

Food.....sorry Chile but your food is lacking! I have nicknamed Chile "bland-land" in tribute to their genuine fear of spices or anything that resembles a flavor enhancement. And if they do find the salt I am convinced that someone in this country is unscrewing the lids off the shakers in every restaurant. Ewww baby, let's talk about breakfast, Nescafe is the national plague of Chile and I find myself, as any true Seattlelite would diving into any Starbucks I see for a decent cup of coffee. Nope not done quite yet, there is still the matter of the Completos (Kum-plate-os), who doesn't want a half cooked hot dog on an oversized bun smothered in diced tomatoes, 5 ounces of quacamole, and mayonaise on the very top. They are everywhere and it is borderline appalling. There is one bright spot, let's make it two, the Empanadas are delicious. Take some meat, carmalized onion, olive, spices (they do exist here), and quarter of a hard boiled egg in the center and wrap that in dough and you have a delicious Empanada. The second is not food but the national drink of Chile the Pisco Sour. Sweet, strong and refreshing I can drink them all night if I only want to be out until 10pm.

Rants and raves for now I have some incredible pictures of buildings in Concepcion to share. They will be up soon. Skiing is only days away I finally found snow!!!

<><>LTD

Matt/Todd