The thing about cachai, and other ridiculously easy questions about your Chilean Spanish
Manejas el cachai? Whether you like it or not, your Spanish, as compared to other people’s Spanish, whether or not they are present, is a frequent topic of conversation in Chile. I have a friend that says that when people tell you you speak Spanish well, it means you...
Hiking to El Roble, the recipe for a 10-hour sleep
I took the day off yesterday to hike up to El Roble, not far from Til Til, home to prickly pear cacti and the fruit they bear (which we call tunas), olives, avocados and other things that enjoy the heat and sunshine. Unlike me. But we shall get to that later. First,...
And then she was back, late April Feria Report, more tasty, colorful nibbles from Santiago
So. First of all, before I go to crazy on the colorfulness of mostly vegetables with which I am going to make great deliciousness in the kitchen, let me assure you that someone sucked all the color out of Santiago. I will surely post some beautiful photos of how...
The Train of Other People’s Memories (nostalgio-ferro-tourism?)
Every now and then, EFE (the train authority/company/people in Chile) run these tourist trains along old tracks that used to, but no longer carry passenger trains. EFE drags old cars from somewhere, plump up the seats, put velcro on the curtains (really, my 1920s...
That photo I always take
There is no explanation for this photo. I can tell you where I took it, but I could have taken it anywhere, because I do take it anywhere. And everywhere. There is something about strong shadows of stringy trees on painted walls that I cannot get enough of. I want to...
Walking in the Wind
The wind can push you back, hold you in place, or escort you along. This is a piece I wrote about a windy day in the Falkland Islands that did a little bit of all of those. Bronze place winner in the 8th Annual Solas Awards. Category: Travel Memoir. Something that’s...
Valparaíso Cerro Abajo 2014 Report
Before even leaving for Valparaíso this past Sunday to take pics at this thoroughly, completely insane downhill race, I did a little research. Okay, research might be putting it strongly. I read the press communique. Which in Spanish is called a comunicado de prensa....
Dear those who are traveling, and (perhaps moreso) those that are staying put
I am so happy for you that you are traveling the world and blogging/instagramming/tweeting it. That every day you wake up and see something new, something photogenic. And that you take pictures of it, and describe it with your pretty words, both of which bring one...
Recipe for a Coastal Weekend Relajo, El Quisco Norte
One of the things that I find so hard to capture about what I love about Chile is this. Also, forgive me, but I have been in recipe development land, and old habits die hard. You're lucky I didn't take all the photos with a shallow depth of field, heavy bokeh and...
Excused Absence, where our protagonist comes clean. She fell into a book.
The time has come to come clean. For the last several years, on scraps of paper, and little journals, and USB keys that have traveled hither and yon, where yon is Suriname and Costa Rica (twice), and Nicaragua, Seattle, San Francisco, and Argentina (several times) and...
