Not just curtains (leaving centro/social upheaval and more)
Curtains! Not a scintillating topic. Except why do I need curtains? And why have I spent fifteen minutes out of the last several days trying to get them back from the place I left them, and why do I leave empty handed, the smell of burnt coffee in my nostrils, as I...
read moreDon’t forget to turn your cats off, a linguistic lesson from Chile
I thought I knew about cats. Yes, cats. After 15 years in Chile, surely I know enough not to look for their fifth foot, from the expression "no buscarle la quinta pata al gato," which means to keep on looking for an explanation for something when there is none. I also...
read more8M, the International Womens’ Day March in Santiago, Chile (a commemoration, not a celebration)
"Casi me emociono" said a woman standing next to me as I used the back of my hands to dry my own eyes. She "almost" got emotional. It was her way of saying it brought tears to her eyes, as it had mine. I was tempted to tell her "Y no soy ni chilena" (I'm not even...
read moreIn Which a Near-Dooring Leads to Tone Policing (tales of cycling and slang in Chile)
Yesterday, as I periodically do, when nearly killed by a flung-open taxi door a solid meter from the sidewalk, I stopped to look the perpetrator in the eye. I developed this policy a long time ago, of wanting to personalize the cyclist, give the door-flinger a little...
read moreDecember Newly-Returned-to-Santiago Feria Kvell/Report
There is this piece of Smith family lore, by which I usually mean to introduce something false, which I will later disprove or reframe, except in this case it's true. It tells of a time when I, fresh from a brutally cold winter in Santiago, landed in my mother's...
read moreI might officially be Chilean
Something really big has happened. After fourteen years in Chile, something enormous has taken place. I have not purchased a home, gotten married, had or adopted children. I have not applied for my Chilean passport, adopted (or had) a cat, nor have I decided to leave,...
read moreEmpanada hands and sausage fingers, language and food (para variar)
"My feet look like meat-filled pastries," said C, as she looked up at her legs, which were up on the wall as she laid on the bed, an L-shape familiar to many cyclists and athletes in general, especially those who are prone to swelling or build up of lactic acid. C is...
read moreWhen a rat is not a rat, or more linguistic misadventures in Chile
First of all, in the photo there is not a rat Or if there is it is small and hidden in the grass. What you see is a kind-of relative of a bunny you might say. Except that for reasons that I do not understand, this bunny is not a rabbit, but a hare. Sure I can look up...
read moreLate March Feria Haul, so much green!
I've had a weird couple of weeks, way more out than in, in the sense of being out of Santiago. First I cycled around Lago Llanquihue, which was spectacular in every way, except for the part where I took a spill that bruised a bone which left me very limpy, but still...
read moreStomach snafu vs. peppers. Anyone want to place a bet?
Food is our great connector. No matter where you go, you can start a conversation about food and nearly everyone will have something to say about it. I think it's a fair assumption, judging by Facebook and Instagram (should I be following you? please leave me your...
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