I figure it might be time to share some cultural observations. For this entry, I’ll focus on eating habits, since those have proven one of the hardest things for me to adjust to any new culture, both back in Pisa and now here in Illapel. Though my size may not be indicative of it, I really am a pig, so it’s quite tough to figure out a new schedule of eating and it leaves me hungry quite often. Here in Chile, or at least Illapel, the biggest meal of the day is lunch. People eat a light breakfast, stuff themselves completely full over lunch time during which all the stores remain closed for a few hours and students, from what I gather, may actually go home. (In fact, one of the teachers with whom I was working one day invited me back for lunch afterward, which she eats at a friend’s mother’s house since, of course, everyone needs to go to a home for lunch and hers was just too far away.) Finally, dinner is quite light and, at least at my home, happens very late.
As breakfasts are on our own in my host family, I prepare myself my standard yogurt with cereal, fruit juice, and a hot beverage. It’s pretty American, excepting that the beverage is the toasted grain drink I got hooked on while in Italy. Actually, Quaker is the cheapest brand of (non-sugar coated) cereal down here, so it’s a very American breakfast, but that’s okay because I love my Quadritos (Quaker Toasted Oatmeal Squares). I've also been excited to try all the different fruit juice and yogurt flavors here. Yogurts with various nuts ("frutos secos") in them are readily available and quite tasty.
Note: It is mildly offensive to refer to yourself as American down here since all South Americans consider themselves to be "American." To them, America means any place in the Americas, North or South, and for someone from the US to refer to him- or herself as American is indicative of, in their opinion, an attitude in the United States that we are the only country that counts in the Western Hemisphere. I tried explaining to the guy who told me this that, regardless of a nation-centric (there’s got to be a better word for this) attitude that may or may not exist in the US (okay, yes, it does exist), linguistically speaking, American simply has a different sense in English, at least in the US. To us, America is the name of our country and, as such, American naturally follows as the adjective to describe our nationality. PS: dictionary.com Definition #1 for American: of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen. Definition #2, might I add: of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents. Regardless, I’m now trying to be more sensitive and avoid the word "americana" just to play it safe. Still, "estadounidense" is way more of a mouthful, leaving me a bit bitter about this whole issue. So, back to happier topic, food!
Lunch consists of some sort of carbohydrate product, either rice or pasta, with some meat, be it ground beef in some sauce mixed with the starchy product or a full piece of meat on the side of the plate. Generally some sort of roll will accompany the food. Sometimes a salad or vegetable quiche is also provided, which makes me very happy. Oh, a fun note!: Whenever they serve rice, they love to scoop it from the pot into a small bowl or tea cup, sometimes line the top of the cup with the meat and sauce, then flip the whole product upside-down onto your plate so your rice is in this nice little demi-sphere formation. It always make me feel a bit guilty digging into the pretty little masterpieces, though not guilty enough to slow me much given I’ve generally by this point been working up quite the appetite over the past twenty-four hours.
Dinner, which is called "tomar once" or "taking eleven," literally translated (which is not a universal Spanish expression for dinner, from what I gather), consists of a few rolls with either jelly (Paulina made this incredibly interesting homemade stuff from goodness-knows-what-kind of yellow-ish, stringy fruit mixed with walnuts), salted avocado slices, margarine, or manjar (dulce de leche), something that is quickly growing on me. We will also drink tea with our dinner, or "eleven," which is served at my home at nearly 11pm. During the earlier part of the evening, I tend to snack on yogurt, hot oatmeal, and dried figs, the latter being a random treat I found myself at the supermarket. Waiting for this dinner is the only thing that keeps me going at night as the very chilly temperatures have been leading me to sleep unusual amounts here. I’d generally say I get 7-8 hours a night and then a few hours' nap some time in the afternoon or early evening. As I said before, it’s quite uncharacteristic of me. Fingers crossed Paulina will come home soon because I'm quite ready for my "eleven" at the moment.
As breakfasts are on our own in my host family, I prepare myself my standard yogurt with cereal, fruit juice, and a hot beverage. It’s pretty American, excepting that the beverage is the toasted grain drink I got hooked on while in Italy. Actually, Quaker is the cheapest brand of (non-sugar coated) cereal down here, so it’s a very American breakfast, but that’s okay because I love my Quadritos (Quaker Toasted Oatmeal Squares). I've also been excited to try all the different fruit juice and yogurt flavors here. Yogurts with various nuts ("frutos secos") in them are readily available and quite tasty.
Note: It is mildly offensive to refer to yourself as American down here since all South Americans consider themselves to be "American." To them, America means any place in the Americas, North or South, and for someone from the US to refer to him- or herself as American is indicative of, in their opinion, an attitude in the United States that we are the only country that counts in the Western Hemisphere. I tried explaining to the guy who told me this that, regardless of a nation-centric (there’s got to be a better word for this) attitude that may or may not exist in the US (okay, yes, it does exist), linguistically speaking, American simply has a different sense in English, at least in the US. To us, America is the name of our country and, as such, American naturally follows as the adjective to describe our nationality. PS: dictionary.com Definition #1 for American: of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen. Definition #2, might I add: of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents. Regardless, I’m now trying to be more sensitive and avoid the word "americana" just to play it safe. Still, "estadounidense" is way more of a mouthful, leaving me a bit bitter about this whole issue. So, back to happier topic, food!Lunch consists of some sort of carbohydrate product, either rice or pasta, with some meat, be it ground beef in some sauce mixed with the starchy product or a full piece of meat on the side of the plate. Generally some sort of roll will accompany the food. Sometimes a salad or vegetable quiche is also provided, which makes me very happy. Oh, a fun note!: Whenever they serve rice, they love to scoop it from the pot into a small bowl or tea cup, sometimes line the top of the cup with the meat and sauce, then flip the whole product upside-down onto your plate so your rice is in this nice little demi-sphere formation. It always make me feel a bit guilty digging into the pretty little masterpieces, though not guilty enough to slow me much given I’ve generally by this point been working up quite the appetite over the past twenty-four hours.
Dinner, which is called "tomar once" or "taking eleven," literally translated (which is not a universal Spanish expression for dinner, from what I gather), consists of a few rolls with either jelly (Paulina made this incredibly interesting homemade stuff from goodness-knows-what-kind of yellow-ish, stringy fruit mixed with walnuts), salted avocado slices, margarine, or manjar (dulce de leche), something that is quickly growing on me. We will also drink tea with our dinner, or "eleven," which is served at my home at nearly 11pm. During the earlier part of the evening, I tend to snack on yogurt, hot oatmeal, and dried figs, the latter being a random treat I found myself at the supermarket. Waiting for this dinner is the only thing that keeps me going at night as the very chilly temperatures have been leading me to sleep unusual amounts here. I’d generally say I get 7-8 hours a night and then a few hours' nap some time in the afternoon or early evening. As I said before, it’s quite uncharacteristic of me. Fingers crossed Paulina will come home soon because I'm quite ready for my "eleven" at the moment.
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