Late 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...
Stomach 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...
If you give a girl a strep throat, AKA clinic report, Queens, NY edition
I should have known as I was lying on the floor because it was where I dropped when I decided I couldn't move any farther, that something was wrong. I thought maybe I had a cold, despite the fact that I had no cold symptoms. No runny nose, no watery eyes, no cough, no...
The woman who saved my artichoke
A different kind of feria report. As some of you may know, as I've mentioned it here, and in real life, I'm dealing with what I have referred to as a "stomach snafu." It seems to be histamine intolerance and I won't bore you with the details, but a lot of my formerly...
Santiago Carnaval Report. Dancers and Cuchiflies and Chaya, oh my!
At any event in Chile, you are sure to find people selling something. Some of these people live mainly outside of the formal economy, selling different things at events and wherever crowds are likely to gather. Others are supplementing what they make at their regular...
New-to-me Santiago Feria Report
Oh, the feria. If there's a constant in my life, and you are also in my life, you know I live by the feria. Cheaper fruit and veg, no long lines, and truthfully, it's just one of the joys for me of living in Chile. I am still mid-snafu re: stomach, so most of what...
In Which Our Protagonist Makes the Most Out of Coconut
What's in a coconut? Several things conspired to make this event happen. First, a friend recently was complaining that you can't get fresh coconut in Santiago. Not true, I cried! And then set out to find them, and find them I did, in the Vega, in my case, in the...
Street Spellcheck. What the Fock?
When I was living in DC, I worked at a publishing company, writing business-to-business compliance manuals and newsy bits about environmental law. It was a pretty big office, maybe 60-80 people, and there was a core group of folks that I would make coffee-machine...
How to learn to love a new flavor, experiences with boldo tea
Before living in Latin America, I could probably count the number of times I'd drunk tea on purpose on my two hands. Sure, there were the back-from-India chai preparations in the 80s and 90s, but the way we made it, it was practically hot chocolate, creamy and frothy....
I’ve got a purseful of ginger and cilantro, an embarrassment of riches/feria haul
After a truly mind-bending trip to Aysén, the far, lost south of Chile (yes, again, yes, I am that lucky), on the Carretera Austral, way down to Chile Chico, where burgeoning fruit trees literally line the streets, but vegetables are harder to come by for...
