Arepitas de maiz...

Finally....something from home...yet so far away. This post is dedicated to my grandmother, whom I miss with all my heart. She would cook these to accompany fresh picked collards grown in her garden and touched by the first frost. I can see her standing in the kitchen now....ahh...the smell and taste of this arepita so far from home...brings back my childhood.

At home we call this "hot water cornbread" or sometimes cornpone.
I decided to try one of these familiar looking items today when I went to the little cafeteria by the office to have my daily serving of hot soup for lunch. The variety of soup changes daily, but the preparation is the same....a puree of many different things.
Yesterday I had a lovely concoction of butternut squash and today was carne con verduras (beef and vegetables). All of it was pureed....with a sprinkle of cheese and croutons on top. Delicious... Hits the spot when it is cold outside and I am tired...

The Euro-Chilean woman at the counter who is my age has been very friendly. I like her and she is starting to talk to me in the little English she knows. Sometimes when the sun is shining, I will sit in the sun at one of these tables, which are typically everywhere and jammed with people enjoying their almuerzo (lunch)...just to watch the people come out of the subway stop.
I will eat these more often now, as I sit in the sun, and remember....
Thank you Grandmother...you instilled your love of travel in me and I carry it everywhere I go.

Profesor Silvio...Ole'

To all my friends and family, I am pleased to introduce my wonderful Spanish teacher, Profesor Silvio Costa!

He is the best instructor...he patient, firm, funny, and has a unique ability to twist one's brain into thinking Spanish...not just repeating words.
I am a very lucky student....and he was very patient with me today as I took his picture. Yet, I learned to say the ABCDarios o Alphabetos.
Tomorrow I will be tested, I am sure. HOMEWORK tonight!

Scenes from Parque Arauco

Parque Arauco! It is an outdoor and indoor mall....lots of outdoor cafes, gelaterias, coffee shops, entertainment, and indoor upscale department stores similar to Saks, Lord & Taylor, etc...
Across the street is a HomeCenter...just like Home Depot. Only the Chileans call it Homey Center....since every vowel is pronounced!

Each weekend either the organ grinder or the accordian man plays at the outdoor mall. The music is quite entertaining and is part of the culture. Sometimes the parrot sings....Chilean Karaoke!

Here I am overlooking the lower level from an upper outdoor Korean Fusion Cafe. If you look close in this photo, you can see a sphinx in the background. There is a King Tut "mock" exhibit at the mall that replicates the tour exhibit....  I want to go in there just to see what they are displaying.

AND YES!!!

THEY EVEN HAVE "THE JACK"! 

YEAH! 
So now I can have my double meat hamburger, no lettuce,

no onion, extra tomato, extra pickle when I am feeling

homesick. Lots of shopping done that day...but I ended up buying only a couple of things...and nothing for me.

I found I actually needed a few space aliens to keep me company!

Wonder who I could give these to? Hmmmmm.....let me think.....

Overall, a great place to shop....but only if you can afford the prices!



Green Lemon!

This is the best lemon ever...and NO...it is NOT a lime.

Over dinner with the client this past week, he ordered a few cut up lemons to show me what they were like. The taste was beyond believable....so I squeezed some in my soup, on my food, and in my wine. Delicioso fabuloso!
I took this one home in my pocket to save some seeds for planting when I get into my apartment. They will grow here in Santiago, but no further south.
In Peru, this citrus is know as Limon Cevichera...as it is the primary citrus used in their popular ceviche....a seafood dish that is cooked in lemon juice. Excellente!
In Chile, this lemon is known as Limon Pica....and the Chileans use it in their popular drink they stole from Peru known as Pisco Sour. I have had the Pisco Sour...very different. It is made with whipped egg whites, limon cevichera, some kind of Peruvian liquor and a dash of Angosturas on top. Very nice...but it can kick your #@$$!

Come enjoy a Pisco Sour with me!

The Flags

TEXAS...my TEXAS!

How could I not love Chile? It is the part of Texas that I could never have, but now I can!


CHILE....my CHILE



Welcome to Lima, Peru!

Hola! Mi llamo Ferdinando... 

Allow me to introduce my Incan taxi driver that took me to many sites in Lima after work one day. He is a "horn" player...and can play many contatas on the taxi horn as he squeezes us into places that I couldn't believe we could fit.
Between all the horns, the police traffic whistles (no traffic lights), and the "calming music" on the taxi radio...it was a feast of images and sounds! Can't wait to go back....

Please see the pics of the taxi tour below. Lima never sees the sun. It is always in a coastal cloud and the relative temperature remains approximately 60-75 degrees. There are miliary everywhere....all watching patiently. I was asked to NOT to take pictures of a very nice view of the mountains. HUH? Nothing out there but a lot of dirt...but one must comply if you are in another's country. So...I made pics from the taxi!  And sometimes, I jumped out and ran to the corner when we were at a stop light.
NEXT TIME....I take a bike... We passed by many archeaological museums, art museums, incan shops, etc...  I HAVE TO SEE THEM ALL! 
I will be going to Lima every 18 days. Lots of opportunity!

Here is a pic of the Andes from Lima...the camera will not "see through" the clouds...  I will be going to the mine site into these clouds up to 4700 Meters...and will have to sleep with oxygen in the nose, because without it, the human body body struggles to breathe. Heck...you struggle to breathe in Lima because they have no emission controls on any vehicle. The CO2 level is so high that you wonder if your fingernails will turn blue before the end of the day....

Notice the bus at the front of the traffic light. There are THOUSANDS of dilapadated buses in many shapes and sizes on all the streets. They are jammed with people carrying all kinds of stuff...I even saw children sitting on top of their parents shoulders who were seated. The buses are owned by the government....and sometimes carry garbage as well. There are also buses that have destinations painted on the sides...which are the long distance ones that move people from state to state.

McDonalds at the Round About...

 This is a picture of a flowered "round about" where the traffic swirls around a central round median and then spills into many streets as you go round. They have lots of them here in Lima...

Would you care to have pappas fritas con eso?

This is the Palacio de Governmente....

Scene from the coffee shop on the plaza...another military hero.  You will notice...NO SUN.

My boss and I stopped to have coffee in a little shop on this beautiful plaza so that I could plug in my camera battery. The coffee was so thick it seemed like I was drinking grounds...and there is NO MILK to cut it with. They use a product called Parmalat....a "boxed" milk that requires no refrigeration.

Horses are used a lot in Lima. You will see military on 17 hand thoroughbreds....all walking the streets. These are military polo players...

This is the Blue Cathedral of the Nuns...a jump and run shot as the sun set in downtown Lima....

This the big Cathedral on the Plaza of the Government. It is said that the bones of Pissaro are buried in the catacombes below. They call them "Cata-cumbes."

As you can see below, the architecture of old Lima is beautiful...but most of Lima is VERY POOR....very much like Nuevo Laredo, Mexico...

More to come....as I make my way through Peru!

Which to drive?

I went yesterday to find a car...something to drive while in Santiago...and to take to the mountains skiing in winter. I went to a monstrous metroplex and found a couple of vehicles that might do! Parking in Santiago is terrible. The spaces are sized for Euro cars such as the Citroen and Peugot. They have Chinese cars here as well, but who would want to be in an accident in one of those! NOT ME!  The negotiations begin Monday...and the company will buy this for me. If I want the run about, I will have to buy....this would be so much fun!
Something interesting to note...very few drivers in Chile ever use the horn. It is considered impolite. Yet, to be first, the Chilean driver will run over you if you step out when the cross walk light is green and the driver is trying to make the light. I learned this morning to "WAIT" ten seconds and look before launching!

This is big enough to haul ALL your luggage! COME ON DOWN!

Jeep Grand Cherokee, 70th Anniversary Edition, with ALL the bells and whistles

I would love to have one of these little Peruvian run abouts! So easy to park... They call them tuk tuks in India...