EARTHQUAKE!!

Friday night I was rudely awaken from my slumbers at 4:30 AM by a strange swaying feeling. I soon realized that the building was shaking. Earthquake!! I immediately started texting my friends to see if anyone else had woken up and felt it. Sure enough, we were all freaking out. It must have lasted at least 30 seconds. I went online in the morning when I got up to find out where and how strong it was. It was just 50 miles north of Santiago and was a 5.3! I am pretty sure it was the strongest earthquake I have ever felt, and I have been in quite a few after living in California for 7 years, until...

...fast forward until 7:30 tonight. I had just gotten out of a movie and was in a store very similar to Ikea with my friend Emma, when all of a sudden, we were looking at some furniture and I looked at her and said, "I think the world is moving." Sure enough, it was! This time it lasted for about 45 seconds and felt much stronger. I wish I had never discovered http://ssn.dgf.uchile.cl/ because I immediately go there anytime I feel the earth move to find out how strong the earthquake was. This one was about 200 miles from Santiago and was a 6.8! That is really big! It's a good thing I looked up what to do in case of an earthquake after what happened on Friday night. It's too bad there were no door frames in the store I was at. People started panicking and running around the store like crazy. There was a manager trying to calm them down unsuccessfully. Now that it has passed, I am mostly just upset that I left my cart in the store and went home. I really could have used that full-length mirror...

Señor Patrick's Day

I've realized this week that despite the large population of Catholics in Santiago, the patron saint of...green beer? does not happen to be one of the saints they tend to celebrate.

Have no fear! The expats are here! And in full force. I'm going to a party tonight properly named "St Paddy's Day Con Gringos." We have all prepared our best green outfits to show the Chileans how to celebrate a day very dear to gringos. I think I may have already spotted a leprechaun or two tiptoeing around the city leading them to a pot of gold.

Último fin de semana en la playa



View from our apartment window

In Chilean fashion, everyone tends to do the same exact thing at the same exact thing. This is not limited to going to the bank at 9 am, shopping on the first weekend of the month, or withdrawing cash on the first day of the month (I went to 4 ATMs this week before finding one that still had money in it!). The trend includes going to the beach during the month of February. Officially, summer is considered over on February 28th (or 29th this year). I guess that means we are bending the rules a little, but it's still hot so the Santiaguinos are still vacating the hustle and bustle of city life and escaping to the beach.

Enjoying breakfast aat Kaffeklatsh, a cute little German restaurant on the water

My friends, Jackie, Jen, Marga, and Perla, and I decided to follow the Chileans to Reñaca this weekend o soak up the sun one more time. We rented an apartment up on a cliff overlooking the ocean in a great building with three pools including one that has a bar in it a la Mexico. To get to the beach from our post above the sea, there is a funicular to carry you down/up. 



Reñaca sunset

This morning, we accidentally got into a broken funicular which could have ended poorly, however a funny little man came to our rescue and we were soon sitting by the water enjoying a pitcher of beer and delicious empanadas. After lunch we headed to the beach for the last sun damage until next summer. Dinner resulted in some bad table wine and pisco sour at a restaurant called Pacifico that I will never return to, but we had a great day aside from a few bones in my congor eel.





Jen and I at dinner

Another birthday disaster

Since I was out of town on the actual date of my birthday, my friend Lester (born on February 19) and I decided to throw a joint party together last weekend. We rented a 20 person bus to pick us up at Lester's at 10 AM and take us to Reñaca for a fun-filled day at the beach, followed by a night out on the town. The day was anything BUT what we had planned.

First of all, when you tell anyone to arrive at a certain time in Chile, you should always lie. "The bus is leaving at 10 AM" somehow gets translated to "Please arrive at noon." By noon, we were finally on the road and excited for our day of fun. Reñaca is approximately an hour and half from Santiago, so we should have been on the beach in no time.

12:45 PM - Flat tire #1
I got off the bus to talk to the driver (since I was the one who arranged for the bus) and see what the situation was. He assured me that it was no problem and that roadside assistance could put on the spare for us in no time. Chile truly does have unusually uncharacteristically quick response time for roadside troubles. They make Triple A look like amateurs! About 45 minutes later, we were back on our way.

Roadside assistance at work!

2:15 PM - Flat tire #2
Seriously? Again? I couldn't believe it. At this point, we had been boozing a bit on the bus and people started to get a bit restless. Roadside assistance came again, but we no longer had a spare. They also didn't have the right tire. A second roadside assistance truck came shortly after to come to our rescue. During all of this, a few people from the bus decided to go exploring (on the highway??). After the tire had been replaced, our missing friends located, and a heated conversation with the owner of the bus company, we were back on our way....or so we thought.

Could this be real??

4:00 PM - Flat tires #3 & #4
Double blow out! You have got to be kidding me! I was getting a bit furious at this point. One flat, I can understand. Two, sounds like bad luck. Four? That's just unreal! We had it at this point. I called the bus company, demanded that they send a new bus to take us home at the end of the day, and made an executive decision that we were not getting back on this Scooby-doo mobile. Four taxis passed by luckily for our group to hop in and head to the beach. At this point, we were only about 15 minutes from our destination (approximately 4 1/2 hours after leaving Santiago). So much for a short bus ride!

Finally having fun at Sunset Club

The rest of the day went without problems, unless you can count the birthday boy falling asleep in the bar as a problem. We unfortunately never made it to the beach, but spent the afternoon and evening at Sunset Club, a really fun club on the beach. The owner listened to my request and sent a new bus to take us home around 11:30 PM. This bus actually had tires that could stay inflated for more than 20 minutes, and we made it back to Santiago safely by 1 AM.

Oscar, the owner of the bus company, called me first thing on Monday morning to "lavar su cara" (literally wash his face) for everything that had happened. I explained to him that I would not be making the remaining deposit of USD $200 that I still owed him for the bus, which he understood. He offered me a good discount and a 2012 bus for the next time I want to rent a party bus to go somewhere...ya. We´ll see about that.

Birthday in Buenos Aires

When thinking of how I wanted to celebrate the beginning of my late 20s (better known as my 26th birthday), I thought back to my 2012 Bucket List and decided that there would be no better way to do so than dancing tango in Buenos Aires (see my post from January 10 - item #7). I found round-trip flights from Santiago to Buenos Aires for the low price of $250, booked a room at the Meliá on my American Express points (earned from business trips - thanks Deloitte!) and started to play "travel agent."

Recoleta cemetary

 My efforts searching for the most fun and interesting activities all last week were worth it. In just 3 days time, Eric and I had an extensive tour of "the Paris of South America." With all of the gelato and Italian food, I found the city to share more in common with Florence, but the fashionistas of the world have named it the former, so I must concede. We started our trip with a visit to the Recoleta Cemetary. It sounds strange to tour a cemetary, but after going there, I understand why it is on every list of things to do in Buenos Aires. After paying homage to the grave of Eva Perón, we were off to the Museo de Bellas Artes where we got to see some paintings by the likes of Renoir, Degás, Cézanne, Goya, Monet and Manet. We then strolled through the lovely parks in Recoleta over to the giant steel flower clock nearby for an afternoon nap. The flower is a "clock" in that it opens during the day and closes at night and emanates a red glow.

Steel flower

After resting in the park, we were off to Palermo Soho for an Argentine wine tasting. On the tasting menu were the following:

Hom 2009 - Sparkling wine (70% Chardonney, 30% Chenin Blanc) from Mendoza
paired with a pear, walnut & roquefort crostini

Carinae 2011 - Torrontés from Salta
paired with peach and strawberry sorbets

Mairena 2010 - Bonarda from Luján de Cuyo
paired with brie and longaniza (Argentine salami)

San Gimignano 2010 - Malbec from Maipu
paired with a steak empanada spiced with cumin and onions

Caluna 2009 - Blend (48% Malbec, 42% Cabernet Savignon, 10% Merlot) from Argelo
paired with chocolate from the Ivory Coast and Ecuador

Ready to wine taste!

If you haven't ever heard of Torrontés or Bonarda, you and I have that in common. I wasn't aware of how little knowledge I had of Argentinian wine! There is a good reason for that, however - only 20% of the production of Argentinian wine is exported outside the country. So, if you are looking for good, hard to find Argentinian wines, you might have to go to Argentina to get lucky!

Eric´s Bife de Chorizo

We retired to our hotel for a nice massage before dinner after the wine tasting. After our massages, we enjoyed dinner at Las Lilas in Puerto Madero. The food was fanstastic and the service presidential. They ended our meal with complementary grappa and lemoncello (another example of why I feel like the city is more Italian than French).

In front of Casa Rosada in Plaza de Mayo

Day 2 entailed a trip to Plaza de Mayo where we visited la Casa Rosada, Argentina's presidential palace. We moved on to La Boca to see what the city's original port was like. The buildings in La Boca are all painted different colors because the original inhabitants would request incoming ships for spare cans of paint, resulting in buildings in a rainbow of colors throughout the barrio. After parousing the touristy stands and watching the street performers, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.

Calle Caminito en La Boca

The Complejo Tango bus picked us up at 7 o´clock to take us to our tango lesson followed by an evening of Argentinian food and a fabulous tango show. The class was a lot of fun. I even think Eric enjoyed it! After the class, we were seated for the show. A little bird shared with our waiter that it was my birthday, which led to one of the handsome Argentinian dancers asking me to dance aside our table. When you dance with a guy who can really lead, it almost makes you feel like you know how to tango! We ventured to one of Buenos Aires' "secret bars" after the show with our new Canadian friends, Kate and Kristen, who we met in the class to enjoy a birthday night-cap before heading home.

We passed the tango class!

On Sunday morning we awoke to a phone call informing us that our tour of the Tigre River had been cancelled due to rain. We gladly took the opportunity to sleep in after two busy days. We then strolled down to Puerto Madero and had a fabulous pasta lunch before heading to the airport to return to Buenos Aires. I can't wait to cross more things off that Bucket List if they are all going to turn out this great!

Puente de la Mujer in Puerto Madero

Día de Enamorados

Now that is what I call a box of chocolates!

Who says you can't find romance at the ends of the earth? I certainly did! Last night was the Valentine's date any girl would dream of. My pololo (the Chilean word for boyfriend) picked me up with the world's largest box of chocolates from various countries on the globe. The inside of the box had a map describing where each chocolate is from: Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Colombia...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

After sharing some champagne and a few chocolates, we headed out to hit the town. Our first stop was the W Hotel for rooftop drinks. I enjoyed a fabulous Peartini while Eric sipped on yet another unsatisfying Bloody Mary. They really cannot figure out a good Bloody Mary in Chile, even at the finest establishments! If someone went into the tomato-juice export business, they would make a killing!

Peartini at the W

From the W, we hopped in a cab to Providencia to dine at Astrid & Gastón, a restaurant that I have been dying to go to since I got to Chile. It definitely lived up to the reputation. Of course, in line with my love for Peruvian food, it is Peruvian. I was curious about the story of the restaurant so I looked up the history online. I took the liberty of translating it to share the romantic story in the spirit of Valentine's Day.

Eric and I at the W Hotel

Astrid y Gastón are a married couple of chefs with a common history. He had left law and she medicine when they met after following their passion for the kitchen and destiny brought them together in Paris where they both began their lives as chefs. The Peruvian (Gastón) eventually convinced the blonde German to go back with him to Peru to build a restaurant, a family, a life and a love story.

Crispy coconut shrimp in sweet potato puree

Crispy piglet with a causa and Peruvian egg roll

They have locations now in Lima (the original), Santiago, Buenos Aires, Quito, Bogotá, Madrid, and Caracas. I want to go to all of them! We started the meal with Camarones Crocantes and fabulous wine. The best thing about the wine in Chile (aside from how amazing it tastes) is the price. Eric let me order the most expensive bottle on the menu which was only approximately $40 US.

Pesto congro eel atop a bed of bucattini pasta

The mains were even better than our starter. I had congor eel swimming in sauce that could have been made in heaven. My handsome date dined on piglet (don't tell Eyore). We moved out to the upstairs patio to finish our wine and a fabulous night at the end of the meal. The evening turned out to be a date that will be very hard to replicate!

His and her's wine

Customs

4:00 PM
Every once in a while, when you live in a foreign country, something happens that reminds you how far away from home you are. For example, my little flu fiasco two weeks ago. Today, FedEx of Santiago reminded me yet again that Dorothy is not in Kansas anymore.

I should start at the beginning of the story and mention that my hatred (yes, I said hatred) for FedEx or Customs (I guess I should figure out who I hate first before hating them) all began about a month ago. After having my iPhone stolen in December, and buying one on Craig's list while I was home over Christmas, I was disappointed to discover upon my return to Chile that I could not unlock it to be used in Chile. My obsession with being connected to my friends and family via Facebook, Skype, Twitter and Blogger led me back to the Apple website time and time again until I gave in and bought a $650 globally unlocked iPhone and had it sent to my parents. Such phones are not for sale in Chile, or I would have just gotten one here. Much to my dismay, I tracked the package only to find out that customs had detained it and FedEx could not provide me with any further assistance. I curled up my tail after a little crying spell on the phone with my dad (even I get homesick sometimes), waited a few weeks, and crawled into a Movistar store to buy my 3rd iPhone in 6 weeks. That is how bad I wanted that phone! So, you can understand a little better now why I am frustrated with FedEx and/or customs.

Well, I wish that were the end of the story, but it is not. Two days ago I got an email from my dad informing me that my birthday box has been detained. I immediately got on the phone with FedEx, the airport, even the US Embassy - who were all completely useless. My iPhone was one thing, but my birthday presents! Oh no, you do not get between a girl and her birthday!

So, I am sitting on a bus as we speak on my way to the airport to rip off some unfortunate customs agent's head unless he gives me my regaloa. I really hope it works out or this chica is going to be one sour grape.

6:15 PM
Update: I am on the metro on my way back from the airport empty handed. How do drug smugglers do it if I can't even convince someone to give me a box of magazines and DVDs? I now know both packages are still in Santiago in the customs warehouse. Unfortunately, they were not properly marked and I have to pay a fine of 50% of the value of the packages for failure to declare the contents properly. They haven't processed the paperwork on my birthday presents yet, so they wouldn't release the box to me. They are going to put the two shipments together to make it so I only have to pay 50% of the total, because a 2nd offense is a 100% fine. I guess there is always a good side to things. I will be able to get my phone (which I now don't need) and my presents (which I will have to pay for) but it will be cheaper if I pay for them together. Lesson learned: declare everything, don't use FedEx, and if you can, just don't get things shipped to Chile from the US.