Welcome back to my chaotic blog. It's been a good week and I can't wait to tell you about it.
For starters, I've been helping out Abuela a decent amount this week with a variety of different things. We've done a few cooking projects that I will share, but I've also been helping her a bit with some exercises.
I've definitely said this before, but Abuela has a lot of trouble moving around because of her knees. Furthermore, she has a heart condition that leaves her out of breath pretty quickly. However, my host brother, Gonzy, has got her doing some exercises and small daily activities to help so her health doesn't deteriorate more. This morning for example, we went on a little walk together and ate some blackberries. It's the simple moments like those that I think I'll miss the most when I come home.
As for the cooking, this week I learned how to cook humitas (a classic Chilean dish), apple cake (an Abuela classic that I somehow managed to mess up), and how to properly dice a tomato.
Humitas (pronounced ooh-mi-tas) is a corn dish. To start off, Abuela and I shucked 8-10 "humero corn" which is a specific kind of corn that is much bigger than traditional sweet corn. I actually just googled it and in English it's more often referred to as Andean corn or Chilean Green corn.
"Unlike common North American sweet corn, choclo humero has very large kernels, a thick husk, creamy texture, and a savory, nutty flavor rather than a sweet one."
Hopefully that helps explain it a little better.
Anyway, Abuela and I shucked a ton of corn. However, while we were doing it she made sure to save 6-8 leaves from each ear and coupled them up in bunches of two for later. This is a very important step so make sure not to throw away your corn husks completely.
After that, we shaved the corn kernels off of the cob and put them into a big bowl, where we then transferred the mixture little by little into a grinder/food processor machine which turned the corn into a creamy texture. We also blended in some basil with this step to add flavor.
Next, we sauteed some onions in a pan with salt and paprika, then poured that into our corn batter. From there, we laid out the corn leaves in pairs of two, scooped a spoonful of humita dough (I don't know what the official term is but batter sounded weird too so just bear with me) into the middle and then folded it together in a neat little pocked, tying it off with some string so it would stay secure when we put it in the pot to boil,
After about half an hour, the humitas were finished and we ate them with tomatoes, salt and/or sugar. You can also add some onion in with the tomato to put on top, but my host family prefers just tomato.
I really enjoyed learning how to make a traditional Chilean dish and am grateful that Abuela took the time to share it with me. Hopefully in the U.S. I will be able to recreate some of the humita magic for all of you to try :)
As for the apple cake that we baked together, I'm sad to say it was a little bit less of a success. Abuela told me all of the ingredients, then watched me mix everything together, so I'm not sure where we went wrong but it didn't rise the way it normally does.
My hypothesis is that we forgot baking powder because we didn't add any in...
I think normally Claudia buys flour that already has baking powder in it, so it is logical that Abuela would make that mistake but I don't think we used that kind this time around and that is where we messed up.
Anyway, everyone still ate it although my host brothers did ask why it was a little more dense than normal and I had to fess up and say it's because I helped out. They were sweet and said not to worry about it which was very kind of them but I still felt bad.
I did write down the recipe, but I think I may have to go back and revise it based on the turn of events.
In an attempt to redeem myself for the cake incident, I tried to help Abuela dice a few tomatoes. Did any of you know that tomatoes have a little hard piece in the center that you're supposed to cut around when dicing them, because I sure didn't. Maybe it's a Chilean variety of tomato or maybe I'm just a big dummy, but for the rest of that evening I resolved to stay out of the kitchen, especially after I accidentally burned the bread in the toaster oven.
Apart from my cooking shenanigans, I have been fortunate enough to get out on the town a little bit with some of my friends.
At the beginning of this week I went with my friend Seba to Viña del Mar with a tentative plan to meet up with our friends Isi and Anto who were there visiting their grandparents. Unfortunately, they were not able to join us, but it actually turned out to be a really awesome day with just Seba and I hanging out.
We went to the mall first because Seba had to return some pants and from there I asked him if he would mind helping me shop for some hiking boots because I'm going to need them for when I go to Patagonia the first week of March. We peaked around a couple different stores until finally settling on a pair that I feel good about from Merrell. They were a little expensive but my justification is that I am going to college in Ithaca when I come home and there are lots of opportunities to go hiking so I will just be incentivized to take advantage of them.
After that, we made an ice cream pit stop and stopped at the pharmacy because I needed some soap and shampoo before heading to the beach.
We camped out in a nice spot, chilling on our blankets and playing twenty questions, people watching, and just chatting for about an hour. We got to watch the sun go down on the beach which is always a beautiful sight to see. I genuinely love hanging out with Seba because he has such a great sense of humor, is always very patient with my Spanish, and is just overall easy to be around. Regularly counting my blessings that I am lucky enough to have found such a kind and welcoming friend group here in Chile.
Once we wrapped up our beach time, we headed back to the car with intentions of going out to eat some seafood before heading back home. Poor Seba got catcalled by an old lady on the walk back, so we hustled a little more than normal, although if I'm being honest I think I could have scared her off so he was safe the whole time.
We ended up going to this restaurant that Seba's family likes which was a little more expensive but we shared a delicious bowl of ceviche and then some "machas a la parmesana" which are a specific smaller species of clam (I believe in English we call them razor clams), tossed in a special buttery sauce, and then topped with melted parmesan. I never considered myself much of a seafood lover before my exchange year, but I am learning that is simply because we just don't have the best seafood in New York because in Chile I am definitely a seafood fanatic.
Once we wrapped up our meal, we hopped back in the car and started the 45 minute drive back home. I've always been a girl who's loved a good car ride and even though I'm in a different country, that hasn't changed.
We cruised down Chilean highways and back roads, blasting all kinds of music, including Christmas music which just made my heart so happy.
I think it may be one of my Chilean core memories now because Seba knew the Christmas songs well enough to sing them along with me in English and we were playing off of each other, belting out the music out of tune to the point that it made my stomach hurt because I was laughing so hard at our ridiculousness.
Definitely a new core memory.
Somewhere in the middle of this week, we had a fun little get together at my friend Isi and Anto's house (their sisters, so that is why I always lump them together). I rode out with Seba, as per usual, (In case you missed it, Seba lives about 10 minutes away from my Chilean house so it is really easy for me to just meet up with him and go places) and we made a pit stop for snacks at the Chilean version of Dollar General.
Isi and Anto live on the other side of Quillota, so after a 15 minute drive we arrived and sat down to chat for a bit, play cards, and snack on junk food.
We play this game called "Trio" a lot and I have yet to win a single time but it's still fun. Basically there is a specific number of cards and the goal of the game is to get three sets of three of the same card. The catch is that in order to acquire three of the same card, you have to ask other players, but are only allowed to ask about their highest and lowest card.
I pinky promise it makes sense. If I find it in the U.S. I'll make sure to give you guys a lesson.
Anyways, it was really fun. We talked about the Grammy's that just happened, which was kind of humorous for me because I don't think I've ever talked about the Grammy's with anyone when I was in the U.S., even though the event is based in our country.
Furthermore, I showed off some of my Footloose dance moves which got everyone hollering. It brings me joy to share those country bumpkin parts of myself with my Chilean friends.
To wrap up this first week of February in Chile, I went out with Isaac's girlfriend, Sara, to eat some sushi the other day as well.
She is alone in their apartment every other week while Isaac goes to work in Los Andes as a miner ( a very common and well paying profession in Chile). I offered a while back to hang out with her if she ever got lonely and I'm very grateful she decided to take me up on that offer.
The sushi was delicious and afterwards we did a little bit of shopping because I wanted to buy some embroidery floss to make a friendship bracelet for Ornella because her birthday is coming up on Tuesday. I also bought myself a new journal because I'm down to the last few pages of my other one.
We made a pit stop to buy some boba for Sara and a pineapple juice for me, then at the hairdresser because Sara wanted to chop some of her hair off. That decision may have been a bit impulsive, but in her defense it was hot as heck yesterday so I can't blame her.
Once we wrapped up her haircut, we headed for the plaza in Quillota and watched a show of traditional Chilean dances like the cueca (pronounced coo-a-ka) and chatted about all kinds of things until Gonzy was free to come and pick us up.
That night, my host parents actually took a mini vacation to destress which meant I was home alone with Gonzy, Nacho, and Abuela. We ate sushi for dinner too, which I didn't mind one bit because I'm always down to eat sushi and then yapped for a while before heading off to sleep.
I feel like I've finally found a rhythm in my Chilean summer and it feels really nice, but of course now we are already staring down February. Before I know it, I'll be 19 and starting Chilean school again. It's crazy how time flies.
As always, I miss you all like crazy and think of you more than you can imagine. Please take care and I will see you soon :)
Much love always,
Anna
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