Week Two Mashup

A few more details from this past week.

Monday:  Bear's rental cello was finally ready so we went to pick it up.

The girls are sitting in one of the trees in Parque Forestal--they call them the "fairy tale trees."  Parque Forestal is a long narrow park between two thoroughfares that run near our house.  We can walk in the park at least 3 miles in either direction, maybe more.

Tuesday:  We had a visit from J's aunt Jeanne, who is a flight attendant.  She was working the Miami-Santiago flight so she had about 10 hrs here during the turnaround.  She sacrificed some of her precious sleeping hours to come and visit us, and we had a fantastic time with her.

Wednesday:  Becca and her daughter, and her mom who was visiting from Boston, came over for lunch and for a swim.  

Thursday:  The girls went with Antonia to a farm up in the foothills of the mountains, Mahuida, in La Reina district.  They got to feed various animals, and even had the opportunity to milk a cow!  Sadly they forgot their cameras that day, so weren't able to share any pictures of their adventure.   Here they are setting out from the apartment.

In the evening we went out for dinner with Eric and Carolina at a local vegetarian restaurant.  They had vegetarian versions of some of the most common local cuisine.  It was a special treat, as those dishes are usually pretty meat-intensive.  I'm going to try to start making some of those things and if any of them turn out, I'll share pictures/recipes.   The one I'm going to try first is Pastel de Choclo.  Nope, it's not "chocolate pastry" like it sounds.  :-)  Choclo means "corn" and Pastel de Choclo is similar to a pot pie, but with a cornbread-type top, rather than a biscuit top.  The main ingredient in the typical Pastel de Choclo is ground beef.  I've found some pretty decent soy meat here that will work well in the dish.  Pastel de Choclo is often made in individual-sized earthenware dishes, so I'm going to get a set of those to bring home as my Chilean souvenir.  In addition, we have no baking dishes in the apartment, so once I buy them I can use them for a bunch of other things while we are here.  

Saturday:  J spent the morning introducing the girls to coding (part of our homeschool program). Then we finished off the week with a visit to Pablo Neruda's house right here in Bellavista, around the corner from where we live.  Pablo Neruda is the mostly widely celebrated Chilean poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.  

In the gardens of La Chascona