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Welcome class! Yesterday we learned that she-donkey milk is still sold in Santiago, that it’s high in good lipids, that Cleopatra bathed in it and that Emily could use your get well soon vibes after a very unfortunate incident which she summed up on twitter as “I braked with my face.” I think she’ll be okay though. Perhaps we should go find a she-donkey’s milk?

Today is about bad photo juju (I raise my hand as a sufferer this weekend, everything was bleck), and about taking a day trip out of the city just because you can. I corralled one entire friend (tried to get a few more, but they slipped away) into going to Pomaire, the land of greda, or terra cotta figurines, tiny three-legged pigs, bowls, plates, fuentes (like a casserole dish) and pocillos (little bowls). I didn’t take pictures of any of these items on purpose, preferring (as has recently been the case) to catch people unawares and doing what they were doing. Taking pictures of bowls n things is (I’m sure) an art, but since this is my fourth trip to Pomaire (though the first time taking the bus, the others were, in this order, bike, car, bike), I was more interested in the artichoke empanada and taking pictures of the people.

So I present to you: People working while I’m on my day off. Isn’t that sweet?

housekeeping
This gent is dusting the items for sale. The town is pretty dusty, what with being mostly unpaved, and people like to buy clean items. Plus it makes them look like they haven’t been sitting there as long.

the mythical empanada
This empanada (hot meat pastry) is kind of a joke. In Pomaire you are alleged to be able to get this great, giant empanada that weighs half a kilo (1.1) pounds, and that’s filling and delicious and costs very little. The truth is, all the (traditional) empanadas are onion and meat, in proportions depending on the prices of the aforementioned items. This gag empanada is for purely photographic purposes, I believe.

verduritas
when you can’t go to the feria (fresh market), it will come to you. I like to make up a story about grandpa (selling), and his grandson sitting in the front seat playing with the radio. Also, those beets? Gorgeous!

a la venta
This woman’s not a part of the official sales of Pomaire. She’s an independent businesswoman set up on the side of the road selling figurines. What a job location. And it only gets colder from here on out.

punching the clock
I’m happy for this woman that she has a job, but equally happy that I don’t have to do it. She sits in the bus shelter and grabs the time cards from the drivers as they drive by, running across the road to punch the clock for them and then delivering the card back to the driver.

señora, su snack y su perro
When I was taking this picture, I zoomed in a little, and a little kid behind me said, “es como un telescopio?!” (It’s like a telescope!), and I told him “Es que estoy muy floja, no me gusta acercarme. Asi que me quedo acá y la cámera se acerca” (I’m just really lazy, I don’t like to get close. So I stay here and the camera gets close). Mostly he was just surprised that I had heard him, and responded. Love the dog.

DSC_0222.JPG
Here’s where we ate, my secret Pomaire picada with vegetarian empanadas in the traditional dough, cooked in the oven. Made to order. We got artichoke, and didn’t even have to raise our hands our shout out the window. My bench had some kind of animal pelt on it. Comfy and warm, but at the same time kinda creepy. I might be convinced to divulge the location of the secret picada, but only if you don’t mind a bunch of flies around your food and tablecloths covering plywood tables that get shaken out between customers, and possibly between days as well. Sit near the oven, toasty.

Deets: From Terminal San Borja (metro Estacion Central), 1350 CLP, buses (intercomunales) throughout the day, or if not go to Melipilla (more busses, but you kind of overshoot and backtrack) for 1400, and then a local bus for 300 back to Pomaire. Budget 45 min to an hour to get there.