A Short Segment on Chilean Meals

 Nothing crazy to report from Chilean high school today, so instead I thought we could dive into a few pieces of Chilean culture, starting with "once" (pronounced OON-SAY) 

I'm going to keep using the quotes to help your brain out because if you're like me you keep reading that word as once, and not OON-SAY.

Before we truly begin, something that you should know about Chilean meals in general is that they always include bread. Bread, bread, bread, with everything, all of the time. I definitely ended up in the right country. 

So guess what we have during "once"? You guessed it. Bread. 

Typically this meal starts around 8pm. This timing could be a little bit earlier or later depending on the schedule of the day, but the noteworthy part is that "once" is traditionally much later than the time we Americans eat dinner. 

For this meal it is a little less important that everyone sits down together. Lunch is actually the biggest here and it is much more important that no one misses lunch than "once". 

A little bit of elaboration on that, when I say lunch is big, I mean it's literally huge. I've had a stomach ache after eating it almost every day, simply because my body is not used to consuming that much food at 3pm. Oh yeah, lunch is later here too. 

Anyway, for the most part we all sit down together and eat "once" as well. By we, I am referring to Abuela, Claudia, Gonzalo (my host dad, not my brother), and sometimes if he's not busy, Ignacio. Gonzalo, my host brother, rarely joins us because he works nights as a police officer, and Isaac lives with Sara so obviously they eat on their own. 

Now let me set the scene. On the table, there is always a little plate for everyone and a knife as well. No forks because you don't need them. I bring out the napkins, Abuela's sucrose for her tea, and whatever toppings we are using on that evening. Additionally each person had their own specific mug that I bring out once Claudia fills them. Oh, and how could I forget. The bread. We always heat it up in this abnormally large toaster oven, so it's perfectly warm and tastes fresh. 

Next comes all of the condiments. The Chilean's are big fans of decorating their bread, and I am becoming quite the fan myself. 

There are always a few staple pieces on the table, avocado, butter, ham, and cheese being the regulars. In addition to all of that, sometimes we have this sweet caramelized fruit pulp that is seasoned with cinnamon. The melon type plant grows in the front yard and Abuela blends it all together. It's called alcayota and it's delicious. Don't knock it till you try it. 

To drink we always have tea as well which is brewed from the actual leaves and then strained. I need to start doing that at home because I swear to goodness the tea tastes ten times better. 

Then we sit down and the meal commences. 

The right way to do it is to cut the bread in half, select your condiments and then make a little sandwich. Sometimes though, I like to try a bit of everything so I keep my halves separate. 

We always watch the news, or some type of Chilean television. I don't mind it too much, although I'm not numb to all of the violence that they show because I never watch the news at home. The silver lining is that I get to ask Claudia and Gonzalo about current events in Chile and learn a little bit more about the inner workings of the country. 

When all is said and done, the meal lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. 

And that's it. That's "once" and even a little bit about lunch. There's no point in mentioning breakfast because it basically doesn't exist. I always eat something in the morning though because if not, I get hangry. 

Thanks for checking in on me, that's all for now :)

Love love love,

Anna