North Towards Home

12 days 'til the US. I should probably mention that I'm still in Chile, because if you are one of the six or seven people who looks at my blog, I'm sure you thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth. Here's a bullet point recap of my last two weeks:

• Finished classes. It appears that I passed them all, some with more breathing room than others. 
• Because of this, I've spent all week at the beach. I look like Neapolitan ice cream--different shades of pink, brown, and white. 
• I went to Santiago for the first time. Chileans refer to it as Santiasco--which is basically the exact same joke as Americans calling Philadelphia Filthydelphia. It's not that bad, though, just a little big and noisy for my taste. 
• Going to Patagonia on Tuesday. As usual, not a lot of advance planning has taken place. More on that later, I imagine. I do know that I'm going here, to Puerto Varas:

There is also an island full of penguins nearby. I'm already looking for loopholes in the "no pets" clause in my apartment lease. If Mr. Popper's Penguins taught me anything, it's that it can be done. 

As always, thanks for indulging me. 

Chileans, on Mississippi

I'm not from a very populated state. Chileans love the United States, generally, but their geography is limited to New York, California, and Florida. Between Chileans, people from other countries, and usually other Americans, I've decided that the world knowledge of Mississippi is broken down as follows:

Close to the Gulf of Mexico--95%
Mississippi River--50%
Hurricane Katrina--35%
Huck Finn--25%
The Blind Side--20%
Mississippi Burning--10%
Faulkner--5%
Grisham--3%
Prom Night in Mississippi--1%

The last one is the most frustrating. Way to go, Charleston High. But seriously, way to go Morgan Freeman.

Of course, Americans' knowledge of Chile isn't much better:

Frustrating things: my own fault edition

Here's an example: learning that one of your favorite bands (on tour outside of Scotland for the first time in four years) is in Santiago. Tonight. And you can't make it because you found out too late.

from the Washington Post

Belle & Sebastian, we hardly knew ye. This is what I'm missing.

America, from abroad.

One of the biggest advantages of living in another country is the perspective you get on home. People ask me a lot if I miss the US, and I do. I miss my family, friends, some foods and drinks, and some traditions. There are a lot of things that I don't miss, too. Any place has its good, and any place has its bad, I imagine. There are good people and there are bad people and there are interesting people and boring people and smart people and dumb people everywhere in the world. And in general, all anyone wants is to be able to have a relatively happy and comfortable life without anyone else bothering them too much.

As Americans, we bother people. It's what we do. Tony Blair called us a "big friendly dog in a crowded room. Any time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair." Our policies--for better or for worse--affect almost everyone in the world, and what they don't reach our media and pop culture does. I bought an orange juice on a flight between Montevideo and Santiago and got my change back in US dollars. Some of my Chilean friends favorite TV show is Seinfeld. I'd be lying if I told you if I knew if this is good or bad, or if it's even possible to be only one or the other. I love globalization. I love that I can drive to a Mexican restaurant in my Japanese car listening to British music. Hell, I'm studying ways that it affects the economy as a major. Trust me, if I'm banking my financial future on one concept, I hope that it stays around.

I'm also pretty lucky in that the Chilean people that I've met tend to have a favorable view of the US. It does help--all politics aside--that Obama is president. He's definitely more popular than Bush in just about every country in the world. It also leads to some humorous interactions. Let me set the scene:

Sunday Funday

The Chilean mine rescue capsule has been making its rounds from the north of the country to the south for a few weeks now, and this week it is in Plaza Sotomayor in downtown Valparaíso. Of course I went to go check it out:

In reality, the mine rescue deserves an actual post from me, with things like memories and perspective. But I'm a day late and a dollar short, and still kind of upset that the Chilean police wouldn't let me crawl inside and  stage a photo where I'm getting rescued. 

Also went to explore a new-to-me neighborhood in town. Found a cool restaurant with this view:

As always, the pictures don't do it justice. I live in a really cool place. 

Last thing--read this Thomas Friedman column from Saturday. I like his stuff, generally, but this one is spot on. One thing I've really enjoyed down here is looking at the US from an outside perspective, and this kind of touches on that. It's Morning in India--Thomas Friedman

Buenos Aires, part 3: The best meals I ever had

Liz: All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich. 
Jack: What a surprise, your worldview is food-based. 

- 30 Rock


Buenos Aires is really only a cool city if you like food, art, sports, history, architecture, nightlife, or culture. I'm going to focus for a second on the first of those things:

Buenos Aires, part 2: I'll sleep when I'm dead

They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, which may or may not be true. If that's the case though, Buenos Aires is the city that never blinks. While Montevideo was fun, and a lot faster pace than Chile, Buenos Aires blew it out of the water. Friday night we stopped into a sandwich place for a quick dinner at 9, and had to wait an hour for them to open. Saturday, we ate at a nice steakhouse at 10:45, finished dinner at 12:30, and had to kill an hour and a half before we went out. You also stay out 'til about 6 or so--not just college aged guys either; I saw some men and women in their sixties walking out of a tango club at 6:15 a.m. 

We were really lucky in finding a hostel so easily--we got into a cab by the ferry terminal and asked him to take us to a place in the Palermo SoHo neighborhood. Pretty easy, but our market research might have been lacking. In just two full days and nights we somehow managed to hit all of the highlights: