So the city of Valparaiso has a new website, and its pretty good. Those of you who have mentioned the desire to come visit me should check it out. Its in Spanish and English.
So, I was looking it over when I stumbled upon yet another dictionary of chilenismos. Word on the street is that Spanish in Chile is totally different than any place else, and everyone wants to talk about it, all the time. According to the internet, the Spanish is Valparaiso is even MORE bastardized than in other Chilean cities, so its not surprising that the tourism website would have its own little Spanish to Spanish translation guide. I was reading through it when I stumbled upon this:
Papapleto: sándwich preparado con pan de mesa, palta, tomate y mayonesa que, en lugar de llevar una vienesa -como el completo- se rellena con papas fritas
And here is my rough translation:
Papapleto: a sandwich made with bread, avocado, tomato, mayonnaise, and in place of a hot dog -like in a completo- it is filled with french fries.
I almost spit out my tea when I read that. Like a completo isn't bad enough.... actually, what is worse for you? A mayonnaise smothered hot dog or french fries?
Ewwwwwwww. Ew. Ew. Ew.
Besos,
Allie
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Nuez: Danger!!! (Mom, don't FREAK OUT!)
Most of you know that I'm highly allergic to nuts. In Chile, this, as well as countless other topics, can be linguistically complicated. See the Dictionary.com Spanish word of the day for more information:
Spanish Word of the Day
Right. So, there is no word in Spanish that equates to the English word nut. Strangely, nuez has served me fine in Central America. But here, yeah, it really only means walnut. Chilean host Mom suggested that I use the term frutas secas, or dried fruit, which kind of over encompasses what I want to say, but has worked so far to keep me alive. What also helps is taking out my epipen while I explain how allergic I am. I should really do this when I am in the US too, since most of the reactions I've had were when someone had told me that there weren't nuts in something when there actually were. Pulling out the epipen adds a little element of "I'm going to have to stab myself in the leg... in front of you... if you are wrong about this..."
In general, my tactics here are the same as my tactics in the US. Carry an epipen at all times, don't completely trust anyone, and avoid foods that are likely to contain nuts, especially in establishments which are likely to be creative with ingredient choices or where there is a language barrier.
And look, Mom! I'm still alive!!!
Besos,
Allie
Spanish Word of the Day
Sunday, August 17, 2008
nuez, noun
walnut
English has a general word - nuts - to cover hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, and so forth. There is no such general word in Spanish, and each kind of nut has a specific name, as with las nueces, walnuts. In cookery, the oil from walnuts is sometimes used instead of olive oil.
el aceite de nuez
walnut oil
Another very common ingredient in cooking is la nuez moscada, nutmeg.
Espolvorearlos con un poquito de nuez moscada.
Sprinkle them with a little nutmeg.
La nuez is also used in a surprising way to replace a different fruit in English:
la nuez de Adán
Adam’s apple
Right. So, there is no word in Spanish that equates to the English word nut. Strangely, nuez has served me fine in Central America. But here, yeah, it really only means walnut. Chilean host Mom suggested that I use the term frutas secas, or dried fruit, which kind of over encompasses what I want to say, but has worked so far to keep me alive. What also helps is taking out my epipen while I explain how allergic I am. I should really do this when I am in the US too, since most of the reactions I've had were when someone had told me that there weren't nuts in something when there actually were. Pulling out the epipen adds a little element of "I'm going to have to stab myself in the leg... in front of you... if you are wrong about this..."
In general, my tactics here are the same as my tactics in the US. Carry an epipen at all times, don't completely trust anyone, and avoid foods that are likely to contain nuts, especially in establishments which are likely to be creative with ingredient choices or where there is a language barrier.
And look, Mom! I'm still alive!!!
Besos,
Allie
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Museo de Historia Natural, Valpo style
I can think of no other way to start this post than with the following line:
This museum sucks!
This opinion both saddens and surprises me. I love museums of natural history, even crappy ones, like the one in Vina.... but I found this one just outright traumatizing.
The outside of the building is pretty enough, isn't it? Overly ornate, yet much smaller than the buildings surrounding it, it looks kind of like a miniature version of something that was imagined to be over sized, grand, dreadfully important.
I went Sunday morning, by myself. I walked in. It was free. That was nice.
A room to the left held an exhibit on boats. Boats aren't natural history. Strike one. They could have at least taken the anthropological angle with a study of boats of indigenous people throughout time and region... but no, it was just the same crappy modern history of boats that you find in every museum in this country. Strike one.
I walked into the main portion of the museum, hoping for something better. I turned to my right and noticed... wait for it.... a dead human infant in a glass case! Not only that, but the corpse had two heads and was kind of propped up, legs spread wide open no less, next to jars of deformed domesticated animal species and stuffed monkeys. The "exhibit" was on deformities, but it was just some dead stuff poorly preserved and displayed in a way that was actually nauseating. A small plaque identified the specimens. The only information about the kid was that she was born in 1915 in a Valparaiso hospital. From the looks of her, she was too big to be a new born. I would probably guess that the kid (kids?) lived to be at least 2 or 3 months, either that or the preservation technique was so bad that she swelled considerably with whatever liquid she was sitting in. The preservation technique was certainly bad. That is for sure. Uck. I can't talk about it anymore.
I was going to take a picture but at the last moment I pulled my camera away. I generally have no problem with death on display. Things die, human and otherwise. Its natural. We study them, thats how we know shit. It happens. But for some reason, something deep within me felt that this had crossed a line.
Here is the picture I took when I pulled the camera away. There was a puppy with 8 legs, saimese twin goats, a pig without a face, and... something else.... without a face.
Well, this all got me thinking about natural history museums and how they are really just death museums. Its so interesting that people don't really admit that. I love them and visit them as often as I can and I had not fully realized it until that moment. It kind of tainted the rest of my experience. It didn't help that the museum is completely random. Dead something next to dead something else. All pretty poorly preserved... death museum. It wouldn't be so bad if they were able to make it pretty. As I said, death is natural, but decay is just unpleasant. Part of science, part of history, but still... unpleasant.
There were some other exhibits on oceans and stuff, but they were pretty uninteresting. Nothing more than oodles of information uninterestingly posted on the walls. Nothing interactive besides an exhibit on algae where you got to press buttons that light up light bulbs next to said algae industrial uses. I made better science projects in middle school. Like that 8th grade electricity project where Mmmbop would play when you gave correct answers for pointless trivia questions about Hanson. As embarrassed as I am for creating that, trust me, in wins compared to Valparaiso's Museum of Natural History.
Sighh....
Besos,
Allie
This museum sucks!
This opinion both saddens and surprises me. I love museums of natural history, even crappy ones, like the one in Vina.... but I found this one just outright traumatizing.
The outside of the building is pretty enough, isn't it? Overly ornate, yet much smaller than the buildings surrounding it, it looks kind of like a miniature version of something that was imagined to be over sized, grand, dreadfully important.
I went Sunday morning, by myself. I walked in. It was free. That was nice.
A room to the left held an exhibit on boats. Boats aren't natural history. Strike one. They could have at least taken the anthropological angle with a study of boats of indigenous people throughout time and region... but no, it was just the same crappy modern history of boats that you find in every museum in this country. Strike one.
I walked into the main portion of the museum, hoping for something better. I turned to my right and noticed... wait for it.... a dead human infant in a glass case! Not only that, but the corpse had two heads and was kind of propped up, legs spread wide open no less, next to jars of deformed domesticated animal species and stuffed monkeys. The "exhibit" was on deformities, but it was just some dead stuff poorly preserved and displayed in a way that was actually nauseating. A small plaque identified the specimens. The only information about the kid was that she was born in 1915 in a Valparaiso hospital. From the looks of her, she was too big to be a new born. I would probably guess that the kid (kids?) lived to be at least 2 or 3 months, either that or the preservation technique was so bad that she swelled considerably with whatever liquid she was sitting in. The preservation technique was certainly bad. That is for sure. Uck. I can't talk about it anymore.
I was going to take a picture but at the last moment I pulled my camera away. I generally have no problem with death on display. Things die, human and otherwise. Its natural. We study them, thats how we know shit. It happens. But for some reason, something deep within me felt that this had crossed a line.
Here is the picture I took when I pulled the camera away. There was a puppy with 8 legs, saimese twin goats, a pig without a face, and... something else.... without a face.
Well, this all got me thinking about natural history museums and how they are really just death museums. Its so interesting that people don't really admit that. I love them and visit them as often as I can and I had not fully realized it until that moment. It kind of tainted the rest of my experience. It didn't help that the museum is completely random. Dead something next to dead something else. All pretty poorly preserved... death museum. It wouldn't be so bad if they were able to make it pretty. As I said, death is natural, but decay is just unpleasant. Part of science, part of history, but still... unpleasant.
There were some other exhibits on oceans and stuff, but they were pretty uninteresting. Nothing more than oodles of information uninterestingly posted on the walls. Nothing interactive besides an exhibit on algae where you got to press buttons that light up light bulbs next to said algae industrial uses. I made better science projects in middle school. Like that 8th grade electricity project where Mmmbop would play when you gave correct answers for pointless trivia questions about Hanson. As embarrassed as I am for creating that, trust me, in wins compared to Valparaiso's Museum of Natural History.
Sighh....
Besos,
Allie
Friday, August 8, 2008
Brownies
For some reason, my neighborhood often smells like brownies, which makes me want to bake them all the time. Unfortunately, I have not yet found the awe inspiring jaw dropping recipe I've been looking for.
Does anyone out there in internet land have a great brownie recipe?!?!
Gracias,
Allie
Does anyone out there in internet land have a great brownie recipe?!?!
Gracias,
Allie
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Que bella mi ciudad...
Nothing too interesting to say.... just some pictures of my pretty city....
Cars Valpo style.... alright they don't all look like this, but the ones that do seem to match the graffiti covered cement walls and effortlessly compliment the juxtaposition of beautiful yet dilapidated houses against the clean crisp ocean.
Como eras una nina... (imagine the tilda like in the picture) it basically means you are like a child. I've heard this multiple times since I've moved to Chile. At first, I took offense to it, but now I'm starting to reconcile with my childlike qualities and just be como una nina. (tilda!)
And what photo collection of Valpo would be complete without a picture of a cat in an earthquake damaged cemetery? None.
We are not only these bodies.... this was taken right outside of a cemetery. How optimistic... love it.
If you add chopped cabbage and grated beets to mashed potatoes, you get purple and pink mashed potatoes. I feel like I should be dressed like a princess while eating these.... quizas soy como una nina...
Besos,
Allie
Cars Valpo style.... alright they don't all look like this, but the ones that do seem to match the graffiti covered cement walls and effortlessly compliment the juxtaposition of beautiful yet dilapidated houses against the clean crisp ocean.
Como eras una nina... (imagine the tilda like in the picture) it basically means you are like a child. I've heard this multiple times since I've moved to Chile. At first, I took offense to it, but now I'm starting to reconcile with my childlike qualities and just be como una nina. (tilda!)
And what photo collection of Valpo would be complete without a picture of a cat in an earthquake damaged cemetery? None.
We are not only these bodies.... this was taken right outside of a cemetery. How optimistic... love it.
If you add chopped cabbage and grated beets to mashed potatoes, you get purple and pink mashed potatoes. I feel like I should be dressed like a princess while eating these.... quizas soy como una nina...
Besos,
Allie
Monday, August 4, 2008
Ode to Ms. Meredith
So, I have this friend here, and her name is Meredith. In the past few weeks it seems that she has been by my side through a multitude of debacles in which I had thought that either deportation or death were possible. She's also been there to hear me rant and ramble about any number of different topics, as I have a habit of doing. She's smart, funny, and super motivated to make this world a better place. Also, I have high hopes that her motivation and similar difficulties in learning Spanish is going to be a great influence on my semi-deserted quest.
How did I meet her you might ask? Silly question. Her blog.
Today is also her birthday. So, happy birthday, Meredith!!
Okay, well the real point of this post is that Meredith has a great and highly ambitious project in the works, and I want to get the word out and rally troops in its support. In short, there are a lot of great events going on in Valparaiso and no one knows about them. Most tourists pass through the city unaware of all the great stuff that they could be doing. In a city with major economic problems and tourism infrastructure, this shouldn't be happening. This place is great and people from all over the world should be dumping their money here. Meredith wants to start a non profit online (and someday print) bilingual events listing. Que bueno! She's already done a great job in recruiting volunteers, but she needs some more in the areas of web design and English to Spanish translation.... probably other areas as well. Many of the available volunteer positions can be done from anywhere in the world over the internet. So, if this poor description interests you at all, check this out for more info.
Besos,
Allie
How did I meet her you might ask? Silly question. Her blog.
Today is also her birthday. So, happy birthday, Meredith!!
Okay, well the real point of this post is that Meredith has a great and highly ambitious project in the works, and I want to get the word out and rally troops in its support. In short, there are a lot of great events going on in Valparaiso and no one knows about them. Most tourists pass through the city unaware of all the great stuff that they could be doing. In a city with major economic problems and tourism infrastructure, this shouldn't be happening. This place is great and people from all over the world should be dumping their money here. Meredith wants to start a non profit online (and someday print) bilingual events listing. Que bueno! She's already done a great job in recruiting volunteers, but she needs some more in the areas of web design and English to Spanish translation.... probably other areas as well. Many of the available volunteer positions can be done from anywhere in the world over the internet. So, if this poor description interests you at all, check this out for more info.
Besos,
Allie
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