by Eileen | May 22, 2019 | chile, haha, language
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...
by Eileen | May 23, 2018 | chile, food and drink, haha, language, photography, spanish, travel, travel writing
“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...
by Eileen | Apr 1, 2018 | chile, haha, language, spanish, wildlife
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...
by Eileen | Feb 24, 2017 | chile, haha, language, santiago
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...
by Eileen | Oct 15, 2016 | chile, language, spanish
Imagine the scene. 22-year-old Eileen is standing in the San José, Costa Rica airport, minutes from missing her flight. She has actually almost missed a flight before on this trip through Central America, from Guatemala City to Tikal (Flores airport), whereupon she...
by Eileen | Jun 20, 2016 | chile, food, haha, language
Fishing with peas. You wouldn’t think you could. I have never known anyone who has. But for a long time I was convinced I’d met someone who had done just that. Once upon a time, when Eileen was just a fairly beginning Chilean Spanish speaker, she was in a...
