Chilean Cooking

Hola.
So to finish up from yesterday....I still have a ton to learn about CHilean history before I can develop my own opinion. I continued to discuss the political situation with my family last night and hope to talk to more people and encounter different opinions.

On Monday after classes, a few of us went to the beach and later walked to an ice cream shop with the LARGEST ice cream dishes i´ve ever seen. It´s a sit down place that serves icecream and real food...it was definalty a good evening hanging out wiht friends . Yesterday after classes we went to a Chilean kitchen to learn about chilean dishes. We even got real chef´s hats! I´ll try to post pictures later. I know rumors have gone around Luther College and else where that i tend to have difficulties while baking and I want you all to know that "I" cooked an emanada and it actually came out decent (This was of cours with the help of two chefs and many class mates :) ). The food here is very bland. The bread isn´t very salty so when you bite into something like an emanada (bread with meat in it...like a calazone) and expect to get a salty and with lots of flavor you will be a bit disappointed. We also tasted something called pastel con cholo. Its basically bread with corn and meat inside. It´s also very bland and somewhat sweet. I have found that one of my favorite foods here is bread with squashed avocados on top. SO GOOD. Also the fruit is AMAZING. Last night I went to a jazz club in Valparaiso . It was free and a lot of fun...and made me think of you Mark :) except the trombone player was bald and large not tall and gangley. Anyways, we stayed there until 1 ish and then tried to find a colectivo to get back to vina. That´s always the tricky part when you want to head home. It took about 30 minutes but eventually we found one that was going our way. It was the same guy that took me home last week so it was fun to talk to him again. Him and his family are moving to spain because i guess there is more oppertunity there. Tongiht I am going to the beach with some friends for an artesian festival. SHould be good...and free :)
Last night my host mom talked to me about what to do if there´s an earth quake. I´ve never had to worry about those before so i guess its a good thing to know.

Today in culture class we talked about the education system in chile as well as the health care systems. I´ve decided that education is my passion...maybe not teaching, but definatly working towards a system that provides equal oppertunities for everyone. In Chile the rich go to private schools and the lower class to public. I think my teacher said that only about 2 % of people from public schools attend the university. The prof i have comes from a poor neighborhood in Valpo. When she was younger she had the oppertunity to study at a private school for free through a program that was trying to integrate the different classes. She was the only person from her neighborhood to go to the university and it was becasue of the oppertunity to study in a better school. She is one of the most interesting and intelligent people i have encountered here. SHe has traveled everywhere teaching in boston, mexico, and now here. It makes me think abou thow many people out there who have potential but aren´t able to use it due to the structure of society.

Oh, and I was going to talk about our trip at the beginning of Feb. We´re flying down to Punta Areans... on of the the most southern areas in Chile and then taking a bus to the town where we will be leaving to back pack in Torres del PAine. We will backpack for 4-5 days and then maybe travel around a bit more in the south. Then we are going to take a bus all the way back up to Valpo, stopping in towns along the way to explore for a day or two. I´m pretty stoked and will keep you updated. Hope everyone is doing well!

Bye for now!