For the seafood lover in you

Just when you all thought we had done everything there was to do here (and, by the way, there is still SO much more to do), we ventured to the Mercado Central Fishmarket. There were literally thousands of people there, and I don't know how many fish. One would have assumed that the smell would be a problem in this mostly open air market, but the fish odor was minimal. I have never seen so many species of fish, and so many special things we in the US would consider harder to get. Strange crabs (so COLORFUL!) and urchins. There were barnacles that were alive with something that had pinchers, and urchins broken open to expose fleshy orange insides and octopus and eels. Some, well, I guess really ALL of the fish, were names we hadn't heard of, but these are pacific fish, so they might be called something else in the Atlantic. The tuna here, as well as salmon, has a different taste, as they say the pacific tuna is very strong in flavor. In the middle of the market area are a bunch of seafood restaurants. You tell them what you want, and they cook it fresh. From soups ("Don't ask what is in it- just eat it" was the suggestion from our friends about the fish soup) to baked or poached seafood of any kind. No fried fish. Period. There were men in front of each restaurant promoting theirs as "The Best". They would assure us that if we didn't like whet we ate, they would pay the bill themselves.

There is also a group of resident cats that clean up any raw bits left when the fishmonger hacks your choice to pieces. Not a bad deal. The cats looked happy.

I have included as many pictures as I can. The open air building was fascinating, and the young employees were all eager to pose for the blonde lady from Texas.

Snow, or what I did on my summer vacation

It is just cold here now, and the mountains are more snow-covered than they were just a week ago. Now, I know all of you in the northern hemisphere are WHINING about the heat, so just make a reservation to come down here for a while to forget your heat woes. And, the scenery is very pretty. Just look past all of the wires and signs and a bicycle rider, who waved to me right after I snapped this because he thought the gringette was taking his picture.

PIG OUT!!!

These terra cotta pigs are made in Pomaire, a little town not far from here. This place is known all over the world for their terra cotta cookware, but they also make pigs and other decorative things. The International Association that I belong to sells these pigs, then asks people to fill them up with change. When full, pigs are given back and the money collected supports the various charities the organization has chosen. The women have "pig breaking parties", cracking open the pigs and then counting all of the coins. This is financially quite successful for them.

I have decided to bring back pigs when we come back (it will be YEARS, people, so you have PLENTY of time to save!) to support my favorite charity, the Galveston Island Humane Society. When we do get back- everyone- pull our your wallets and Purchase a Porker!

They will all have names and some sort of Chilean clothing, so no two will be alike. Start saving your coins now. And I don't mean pennies!!!

Here is a link to the City of Pomaire

www.southamerica.cl/Chile/Pomaire.htm

Merken

Because we haven't done anything exciting recently to report, I am sending a recipe that is so dang good it will knock your socks off. Problem is, that last ingredient is a shake of a spice combination that I don't think you guys can find in the good ole USA. It's merken. This is a combination of spicy spices that Chileans seem to put or sprinkle on everything. The also mix it with a tiny bit of olive oil and make a thick spread too. Not to be outdone, I too am giving many of my foods a dose of this spice. I made some egg salad the other day that I thought deserved a little zip- merken to the rescue. It comes in this ever so cute shaker bottle, and is well worth the 1200 peses we spent for it. If you can find it, try this recipe. It's sort of a South American bruchetta- that's the only way I can describe it. They put this mixture on bread, sandwiches, salads, meats- anything! And it is EVER so yummy! It is called Pebre.

Pebre

finely chopped tomato

finely chopped fresh cilantro

sliced onion soaked in salt water for 1 hr., then diced small

1garlic head, diced small

salt

olive oil

white vinegar

shake on merken to taste---es todo!"

Anyone that want some of this- let us know. We'll bring some back- whenever we get back. Maybe you all can look for it at Fiesta. It's worth it.

Hairy legs, shopping and Richard, not necessarily in that order

I am posting a picture of one of the hundreds of areas one can shop. This is in the Providencia area, but shops are tucked into every area of this place. Small shops of every kind can be found, but my favorites are the hair salons and the nail salons. There were THREE of each in the photo I am posting. Gives you options. Not only do they want to cut and style your hair, they want to take it off. Depilatory is very popular here, and I applaude the women that really don't mind the hair RIPPED from their bodies. Some of the salons just put the used wax back into the warmer, saying that the boiling of the wax melts and destroys any germs. YUCK! Anyway, not for me. I'll stick with razor burn, thank you very much.

As for Richard's picture- it is 30 degrees here this morning, and I thought everyone would love to see his new coat. Poor Richie has to walk 30 minutes in the cold to work. He's bundled up, though.

Try this website...

because I am a terrible photographer.


http://travel.yahoo/com/p-travelguide-191502068-santiago_vacations-i

Santiago people love their plants

Most all of the high rise buildings have plants on the porch, or planters built in to the porch area. The plants they have grow very large. This gives some of the buildings a hairy look. A very nice green hairy look, however. There are several buildings that have orange or pomegranate trees growing on porches of the buildings. Strong porches.

I'm also showing you how big the rubber tree plants grow. Three stories high! OK, ant, make my day- try to move THAT!

Beauty and the Beast

A gorgeous shot of the mountains, if it has been clearer, marred by grafitti. I suppose there is grafitti everywhere. Oh, well.

Antiques everywhere! And I don't mean ME!

Today we took the Yellow line on the subway to a great antique warehouse. I can only call it a warehouse because there was so much stuff that it was impossible to see it all. We only took a few pictures, but many of the things were just so different. There were huge steel and copper bowls, a bellows that could have fanned the fiery furnace itself, and some wooden refrigerators that were so beautiful. Note the rickshaw looking thing. Don't know what it was, or why they had it, but it was quite an unusual piece. Wonderful old suitcases with such wonderful colors. Outside the building were more pieces being redone. Cats were asleep inside ornate wooden shelves, and dogs roamed beside rows of tables and headboards being stripped for a new finish. Amazing.

Celebrity sighting!

Ha! You thought we saw some famous person, didn't you? We didn't. Read on.

It's a bird. I am ASSUMING that this bird is some sort of Red Carpet paparazzi seeking being because he kept POSING for me. I have no idea what sort of bird he is, and, furthermore, would not have taken his picture had he not been so insistent! The crazy animal kept going in front or beside me and stopping, just long enough to make himself known. He's kind of ugly, but had a great personality! And you know that a great personality makes up for lack of physical beauty.

As before, the first person to identify this bird gets an expense paid vacation to Santiago! JUST KIDDING AGAIN! Aren't I just too funny?!

A beautiful church....and Richard

This Catholic Church was heavily damaged by the earthquake, as it seems all of the old churches were. See the broken windows and heavily damaged mortar. It is beautiful anyway. What a shame that these cannot or are not being repaired. As you can see, Richard and this Saint are tight!

Hair today, Gone in 60 seconds

Since people were starting to call me Raphunzel, I decided it was time to bite the bullet, so to speak, and have my hair done. Finding a person to do hair that also speaks English would be the same odds given in a bike race between me and Lance Armstrong- no odds and no takers on that bet. My new Canadian friend, Anne, and I decided to try it together. Sort of the "misery loves company" idea. We are off to a new area for me, but a place Anne knows, which is an adventure!

We take the collectivo, or shared taxi, to an area called La Dehesa. This is where the rich people live, and it is apparent in the mall we try. It's nice, and could be somewhere in Houston. We're on the lookout for ANYONE with blonde hair, as they will know of someone that can do color. Most (99.9%) of the people here have the wonderful dark hair, but I don't, so I've got to do something about my half and half look Half fake blonde, half dark stuff. Dark stuff has to go. And the longer hair does not behave, so that had to be chopped too. We finally locate a woman with remarkably light hair, and she gives us directions. Long story short- we got our hair done right then, and it came out fine. Anne can speak Spanish pretty well, and I can give fabulous hand signals and flail my arms around, so it was a success. Edward Scissorhands did a great job, and that's is the fastest and most entertaining cut I've ever had. Scissors flashing and hair and hands flying everywhere! Pictures of us in the chair and outside were quick, as the rain was pouring and we had to get back home. PROBLEM- no collectivos (which are 1200 pesos, or about $2.30 American) coming our direction. We ended up taking a taxi for a lot more. Lesson learned- find out about the RETURN trip before you take the GETTING there trip. Heck, I just wanted to get back home, I didn't want to BUY the taxi!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wik/LoBarnechea

And the Rocket's Red Glared all the way to Chile!

Richard and I attended the 4th of July celebration today at the US Embassy, and it was a great party. The security was pretty strict, as I have shown in one picture. This is a picture of something on the wall before you get into the Embassy. If you have a camera, you have to take a picture of this and show the guard the picture so he knows that what you have is actually a working camera. The Chilean Police, or Carabineros, would not let me take a picture of himself or his drug-sniffing dog. Oh, well.

We had soft drinks, pizza, chicken nuggets, coffee, cake, chocolate chip cookies, (pretty amazing, since there are no chocolate chips here) and peanut butter cookies. Very American stuff. The Ambassador spoke, there was a very moving flag-raising by the Marines, and some great speeches. I had a hard time taking pictures because of the large number of people taller than myself! Which, come to think of it, is every US citizen over the age to 12.

It was a very nice day, and one we will remember. I hope all of you, our friends and family, had a great 4th!

Richard's new office

Fluor has now moved to a new building- The Titanium Building. This is the tallest building in Santiago, and Richard's office is on the 29th floor. The elevators of this state of the art facility are computerized, so you enter the floor number on a keypad you wish to visit and the computer tells you which elevator to go to. Amazing! I have taken pictures, but the day was, AGAIN, hazy with our famous pollution. The view was still nice. I will get pictures when the haze is gone- whenever that might be..... The picture with the glare is a picture from the Fluor building window down to the US Embassy Building. BIG BUILDING! Our tax dollars at work.

Esme y Mia

My two teenaged kittens are now spayed and in our spare bedroom. They are so cute. They are sisters, and they occasionally fight like sisters, but in this photo they quite liked each other.

Afternoon delight

Chileans eat lunch, or almuerzo, at around 1 or 2. They don't eat dinner until about 8 or 9, so in between they have a little 'once' (or tea) or cortado. This is a little milky coffee in a demitasse cup, usually served with two tiny cookies and a small glass of sparkling water. It's a great little drink that also serves as a time for a break, or small time to relax. I have included the website so you can see the definition and try to recreate this yourselves. See how happy Richard looks! He liked his first little Cortado!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortado

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010ygac.php

I felt my first earthquake tonight. It was very strange. Definitely felt it! I was sitting on the couch, and I felt the jiggle. Look at the web site above for information.

The economy and who wants to be a millionaire!

I have been asked about prices and the economy. Santiago, like any other HUGE city, has it's rich, it's poor and it's huddled masses yearning to be free. The rich wear very nice clothes, the women walk in expensive boots on bad pavement (you can always tell the Americans- we wear tennis type shoes and have lighter hair) and they always seem to be in a hurry. They probably live in a very nice area, like Los Condes, where we live, in a high rise. The others live in little houses, some out of tin and cardboard, and survive on not much. Laundry powder, for instance, is about $7.00 American for a little box. The nanas here have been known to STEAL laundry detergent, just because it is so expensive.

Food is about the same, and veggies and fruits are available in stores, at open air markets, and from vendors along the streets. Chile imports very little, so whatever is growing is what the people eat. Since all is grown locally, I wash the fruits and vegetables, no matter where I buy them, in a bleach and water mix. Gasoline is expensive, but we really don't drive much unless we go out of town.

We get a water bill, an electric bill, a gas bill and a hot water bill. I don't know what that hot water thing is, but that's just the way it is. We also have cable, phone and internet, which is just about the same as the US.

The subway is a card which is loaded with whatever amount you want, and the meter clicks off about 450 pesos each time you ride, which is less than a dollar. One could actually ride the subway and connect with other lines to various points of town for relatively little money. Just watch your wallet, purse, or anything else of value when you get out too far into the suburbs. I am showing you more money, as I finally HAVE more money in my wallet. The 500 coin is about a dollar, the 1000 peso bill is two dollars, and the rest, again, you guys are math wizards, and can figure those out. A million pesos? Yeah, I can get that!

If anyone has any questions, please lt me know what you'd like to see or hear next. Things that are mundane to me might be of interest to others.

Picasso is rolling over in his grave about now

I bought an art canvas the other day at an office supply, and I already had acrylic paint, so I thought I would create. Given the time I thought this would take, I hoped to be entertained for a week or so. Not so. Acrylic dries way too fast, and I knocked out my "creation" in a few hours. I named it "Broken Heart". Richard said "Oh, who has a broken heart?", like it was me, or someone I know, or I had really given it some DEEP thought. I said nobody, that the canvas just "spoke" to me. Yeah, right! Picasso I am NOT!!!! Just jam a bunch of stuff on a white surface and lt it dry. BUT- be very serious about your work when you talk about it. Fake everybody out.

Leave the driving to someone else...

Richard sent an email to me today about a strike affecting the public transportation in Santiago. Approximately 600 employees are striking to protest non-payment of wages. This will affect about 150 busses. This action will put a strain on the taxi and subway systems. Also, there may be protests, so we are being told to avoid large groups of people and obvious protest groups. How exciting, as well as slightly inconvenient. I do not take the bus, as it is so difficult to figure out, but I occasionally take a taxi and I love the subway. The red line (our line) doesn't get as crowded as some of the other sub lines, as the workers coming to this affluent area usually ride in "collectivos", or special taxis that pick up riders going to very specific places. It's like if you wanted to go to downtown from the Galleria, you would flag down a collectivo, and jam yourself in with up to 4 other people, and they take you only from point A to point B. The stops are posted on a sign on top of the cab. Can get really cozy. The maids, or nanas, as they are called here, take a collectivo from the poorer parts of town to Los Condes, and then walk to their jobs. It's the only afforable way to commute, as the subway may be inconvenient and the bus too slow. The collectivo is about 1000 pesos, which is $2.00 American.

I am taking a collectivo up to the mountains next week, so I will report on that aventure later.

Up high in the sky

I went with one of my new friends to the clinic for her checkup yesterday, and the view from the 14th floor was just spectacular. The mountains in the background are so beautiful, and the cityscape is really impressive too. Sorry now much has happened that is worth reporting lately, but next week could be better.