Hello all,
Well, today was a pretty good day! I've been putting off writing this playing Snood and Enigma because I am the biggest dork ever, but I beat the puzzle game on Snood (so WHAT if I used the save game feature?) so that should help somewhat. Also Lee was sick last week and then I was sick this weekend and I didn't want to update when all I would do is complain, so I will say instead that when I got out of the metro on my way home from school and looked southeast I was thrilled to see the Andes clearly, the white snow on top sharp against the clear blue sky, no smog, no clouds. That's how I knew it would be a good day. The other exciting thing actually happened this morning.
I'm seeing Ani Difranco in concert this September! I was thinking about not getting tickets because she's playing in the same theater I saw her in 1st year, which is the Auditorium Theater which is gigantic and is more appropriate for an opera with its gold-covered ceilings and fancy everything and 50ft high stage opening, but whatever. The point is that it holds like 4000 people and when I saw her I was in the second balcony and I couldn't see her in good focus and I was just sitting in a chair and I said I'd never see her in a huge venue like th
at again. However, I'm on the mailing list for her label (email) and so knew about the presale which began today and the password to get presale tickets and all that, so during the break at shool, which was right after 11 (when the tickets went onsale), I went online to get them and I scored AMAZING seats for lee and I. Which is why it's worth it even in this ridiculous venue because we are in the FOURTH row, center section, 5 and 6 seats from the aisle (see right). CRAZY.
The other day Elliot, another guy on the program, saw a street named 10 de julio and so decided to have a dinner party tonight in order to avoid any possible insult to Chile for forgetting an important holiday. People asked around all day about what the holiday was for (I didn't think to ask my Spanish professor.) to no avail. Finally, one of my two Chilean roommates told me that he thought it had to do with a battle in Concepción, which is a port city several hours south of Santiago (it is, I believe, Chile's third largest city). With some help from Google it appears that the 10th was the second and final day of an important battle in the War of the Pacific between Chilean and Peruvian/indigenous troops. 77 Chileans prevailed against an enemy force of around 2000. By the way, the Battle of the Pacific was initiated by the Chileans against Bolivia and Peru in order to take control of the area now known as Regions I and II. My Spanish professor compared it to the War in Iraq, saying that the rationale for war differed greatly from its more directly economic true but unspoken motives. I thought that was interesting. :)
Maritza and I made empanadas verdes tonight! Empanadas are like miniature simple calzones, stuffed with cheese, mushrooms or meat and they are very popular all over South and Central America. Maritza saw lots of them last fall in Panamá, and I saw lots in while I was in Ecuador. You can buy them on the street and in cafés all over here in Chile. They differ in the way they're made but the overall effect is similar. In Chile they are made of flour, but in Ecuador the shell is made from mashed green (not ripe) plaintains, hence the name "verde." So what we made isn't actually a Chilean dish at all but we thought it would be fun, and it was! They were also very yummy! Maritza made the dough in the afternoon while I was still at work. She boiled the plantain briefly then mashed it together with an egg and some butter. It then sat for a while to cool off and I came over to help her. She rolled out the dough and cut nice little circles out of it as in the picture on the right. Then I put little pre-cut slices of gauda ch
eese (not gouda), which is a mild cheese used a lot in Chile. Most empanadas de queso around here seem to be stuffed with it. We also added peas because Maritza had some, and we didn't feel like cutting onions (which is what the recipe called for). 
So then I folded it over like a taco and squished the edges together using a fork (see photo to left). All ready to be fried! Hooray! Deep-frying the empanadas stiffens the dough and melts the cheese. Mmmm. All ready to eat, warm and all melty!
