Me lo pasé chancho!

I know that many of you have played ultimate frisbee, but the question is, how many of you have played it with a pig on the field?? That is what I did yesterday, as you can see in the photo. Before you think that this experience tells anything about Chilean culture, I should tell you that this was not typical, for 2 reasons: first, because frisbee is very gringo (remember, gringo = American/foreigner) and this is possibly the only frisbee playing group in all of Viña/Valpo, and second, becuase the Chileans in the group were just as surprised to see the pig as the gringos were. There may be dogs everywhere, but you don't generally find pigs wandering around.

I think the promised subject of this post was "my favorite things", so, cuing the Sound of Music, and in no particular order, here we go:

1. "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens"... or not. Although I do like kittens, I am not Maria/Julie Andrews.

2. Manjar- a.k.a. Dulce de Leche, as it's called in Argentina. This is absolutely amazing. It's sort of like caramel, but better. Here it is on a cracker (because that's one of the common ways of eating it and, more importantly, because once the manjar is on the cracker, someone needs to eat it...)

3. The sun. It's sunny almost all the time here, and since it's winter and somewhat cold (meaning in the 50s Fahreinheit), sun is amazing. I love sitting outside in the park, or in the courtyard of the university, or really anywhere else, and on nice days that's where I do my homework. And something else that's amazing when combined with sun is...

4. My bed. Part of the reason it made the favorite list is because the sun shines on it all afternoon, making it the perfect place for a warm nap. Also, it has a down comforter, which makes cold nights in an unheated house feel cozy and warm.

5. Micro 612 and 607. These two buses are my favorites because they faithfully carry me to and from my internship 3 times a week. 607 is my favorite most of the time because it was the first micro I ever figured out how to use, and because it's the fastest way there. Micro 612, however, is more interesting, because it runs all through the cerros (hills) of Valparaíso, through windy roads with beautiful ocean views. It is not, however, a fun micro when there are no seats left, because it's hard to stay standing on hairpin turns at the bottom of steep hills when all you have to hold on to is the seat next to you or a bar above your head.

6. Pan (bread). Most Chilean families buy bread every day, so it's always fresh, and there are bakeries everywhere. We eat it with butter, with palta (avocado), with pate, with manjar, with meat and cheese, and I eat it with peanutbutter, which is something I didn't realize was especially American but which is not common here. My host mom told me that our family actually does not eat very much bread compared to the average Chilean, which surprised me because we eat bread for at least 1-2 meals every day, but she said that her brothers usually eat a piece for breakfast, 1-2 for lunch, and at least 2 for dinner.

7. Quinta Vergara. This is a park just down the street from my apartment, and it's my favorite place in Viña so far. In the 1800s it belonged to the wealthiest man in Viña, who build a mansion and planted beautiful gardens. His only daughter and grandson both died young, leaving him without heirs, so when he died, he left everything to the city, which developed the land into this park. My host mom's last name is Vergara also, though not related, and she told me that when the kids were younger she would always tell them that the park, and the tons of other things in the city named after this Mr. Vergara, were named for her family, and they believed her. I like it because it's beautiful, because it has a ton of paths going up into the cerro that are fun to explore, because it has poems carved into stones lining some of the paths, and because it has shrubbery in the shape of dinosaurs.


I'm sure I have more favorite things I've forgotten, and this is a pretty strange list, but I think it's enough for now. I'll add to it later when I've discovered more amazing things about living here. Chau chau!

P.S. The title of this post is a pun that I'm sure none of you got. The phrase is a chilenism that basically means "I had a good time" but chancho literally means pig. Hilarious, I know. It would be funnier if you knew Chilean spanish, I promise.