by Eileen | Feb 15, 2016 | chile, haha, language
The other day, I was walking down the Alameda, which is the main street in Santiago, such as it goes from Plaza Italia, down to join highway 68, which, if you are lucky, takes you to wineries and the coast. The Alameda (real name: Avenida Libertador Bernardo...
by Eileen | Feb 2, 2015 | chile, feria, food, haha, language, supermarket
How do you call a cat? In the United States, we make kind of a psss psss psss psss sound. I often make a more of a clicking sound, which one time in Cuernavaca, in Mexico, I was told by a groundskeeper, is how you call a rabbit. Which seems odd, because though cats...
by Eileen | Nov 16, 2014 | chile, language, meta, spanish
Do you think in English or Spanish? This is a question I am frequently asked. To be honest, I don’t know how to answer. If I’m having a conversation in Spanish, it stands to reason that I must be thinking in Spanish. If I weren’t, then I would be...
by Eileen | Sep 27, 2014 | chile, food, home, language, santiago, shopping, spanish
As you may know, I grew up in New York. And my parents were adventurous eaters. I have fond memories of walking through neighborhoods far from home where my father would hold up different food items in a store and ask simple questions. “Soak first?” or...
by Eileen | Aug 2, 2014 | chile, haha, language, spanish
As I was wandering through Villarrica in what shall heretofore be known as my “expedition suit,” which is comprised of a goretex jacket that I bought new, and goretex lined ski pants and semi-fashionable waterproof boots, both of which I bought at the...
by Eileen | Jul 22, 2014 | chile, food, language, spanish
Me importa un comino means, literally “it is as important to me as/ I don’t give a cumin seed.” Cumin seeds, as you may well be aware, are quite small. And yes, I really did set up the light box (made out of materials purchased at Sodimac (like Home...
