I'm baking a cake - but I don't know how

random Valpo picture thrown in

Christmas: David Byrne, Raw Fish and broken Sunglasses

Christmas here is numbingly boring.
a family gathering with lots of food, plus presents and santa claus for the kids. And church, if you like.
No singing, apart from the worst christmas carols which are played in the big shopping houses. only the sins of the states are exported.
oh and there was a fería with the worst worst worst plastic crap I've ever seen - just real rubbish, plastic, ribbons and papers and just worse-than-kitsch, and I do like kitsch, sometimes.
On the other hand, the presence of this market probably proves that some people do have a tree (we don't), decorations and stuff. there is one Santa Claus up on the Avenida Alemana, swinging from a private balcony (yes, swinging. he sits in a swing.) Another Santa Claus - my first here - was in front of one of the shopping malls. When I excitedly pointed him out to R, he commented that the Santas always wear the same boots as Pinochet's henchmen. hum.

Christmas christmas christmas. What was your Christmas like? Is it just an annoying routine, an act, a performance that you must do socially? Is it an opportunity to delve into ritual and to give each other presents? Is it sad? Fun? Depends whether kids are present? Do you dress up for it?

This was my Christmas:

I went to the beach, which was nice. No clouds, damn hot, even though we only went at four. it's officially on the internet 20 degrees celsius (it feels much much warmer). There was hardly anybody there - great plus. Greatest feat of the day (since I did not get to cut the bird in pieces, that is on the list for the next holiday) : I went into the water - in whole!
The pacific is FRIGGIN cold, and although I'm made of steel, if you have to do it SLOW your feet are freezing - and that truly hurts at one point - while the navel is not even wet yet.
Is the pacific always so cold? Here it is cold. And I have been known to swim in some freezing waters. I tried to go into the water before, but really, my feet started to hurt as hell from the water before my navel was even wet.

here is proof (and I know, it looks like an UFO sighting)

So yesterday we went to another beach - one of my resolutions for next year: go to the beach more often! - and there it was easier to delve in, the water even seemed warmer. I was all excited and broke my sunglasses. R made pictures of me (he forgot his trunk) and was all happy, and I was too, until I saw the pictures and thought okay so I look like a mother of four. that happens, right... so much for all the "you don't look like thirty" compliments, probably everyone was talking about my clothes.

My song for the day was "Miss America" by David Byrne. perfect.

then off home and R began cooking whilst I chatted with my family - I had been baking cookies on the 23rd and 24th, to general success. Once you get used to not having a scale, or all the right ingredients, you acquire a more relaxed attitude and possibly better eyesight (does that look like 180 grams?). and you always have an excuse if things go wrong.

We ate - accopanied by delicious wine, and I'm starting to take notes now -

ceviche, made by Rose - that's raw fish "cooked" in lemon. It's friggin delicious. like sushi, only healthier ;) unfortunately they were not quite all done. apparently, peruvian cuisine is a big hit in the States - it isn't in Germany or England, is it? Did I miss something?
a whole chicken filled with vegetables, cooked in wine which gave a really really delicious sauce
the delicious wine sauce
potatoe puree (my first)
oven-baked zuccini

R attacking the bird

me pouring the drinks

and then we had an improvised cheese cake from rose and cookies, and some cigarettes and wine. Splendid.

Vote

There is nothing new in my own blog, because I was busy writing about Chilean elections here.
Voting laws here are a strange thing (one I did not manage to get into the article):
- You have to register to vote, which is voluntary, but once you are registered, you must vote, and if not, you are being fined. If you can show that you live or work more than 300 km away from your supposed polling place, you might be able to avoid the fine (if your paco is buena onda). A lot of people don't register.
- There is the ley seca, the “dry law” which prohibits drinking or buying drinks as well as “reunions” the day before and on voting day. Which makes you think: Were they so drunk (considering the options offered) that this law was needed?
- You cannot vote if you live abroad and if you were abroad before, you have to have lived in Chile for something like three years again before you are cleared to vote! Guess who and when this law was invented? Correct! Sort of like NATO: keep the Communists out… These and worse strange laws were created under the Pinochet dictatorship.

As to the results – right-wing candidate Sebastian Piñera (Opus Dei, need I say more?) predictably won the first round, but a run-off election is needed and the results are open, as the split vote on the left could come together to avoid Piñera.

beach girl

These are actually "dated" but it had been a really nice day on Viña's beach "Reñaca." It is a bit like the Chilean version of the are sort of the Côte d'Azur. People there looking good looking out for other good-looking ones. Currently there are only few tourists, so you can block them out and feel like you are alone on a gorgeous beach with a great view.

Only you can't swim, because the water is freezing! I carried a proud sunburn at the end of the day; it was so windy, you did not notice the heat so much...

man brings flower

Kitsch:

I was so happy to pick the pretty ones (yes I'm vain! When you're over thirty you can admit it and play to sympathy right?)

Imaginary Pets

Dear canine lovers and friends and distant observers,

Chile has a funny thing with its dogs. There are too many of them here. Definitely. But sterilization is apparently not an option. Why? I have no idea. The machismo? Some Catholic misunderstanding - all the tiny murderings if there is no insemination…?

Now they have a Dog Picture Contest. I wanted to participate (the deadline was today), but looking at the pictures I got I thought, it’s not really worth the money for the stamp … BUT! Now you can enjoy those dog pictures… and I have a story to go along with them, too.

So this morning I was joined on my “run” (=trott) by a not-unpretty yellowish dog … It was really kind of cute, the dog would run on a litte, stop and turn and wait for me, then keep at my side till it got bored and sped on, only to turn and wait for me again. (btw, not too great for my self-esteem, being patronized like this by a dog.)

I was beginning to worry, to be honest. I am really no fan of dogs – they don’t clean themselves like cats, the whole public anal business is nothing for me, nor the saliva-involving emotional expressions. But this dog was kind of cute. And it waited for me. It was searching my eyes… (ooh)… so I imagined immediately, what will happen after the run, how can I send it away? Do I have no heart? Should I feed it and send it away? Would it be good for a freedom-loving dog to be corrupted in that way? How can I take it in, what will R and R say, and the duckling (which I don’t have yet and which technically would never say anything)? Does this mean I can never have a duckling?

I think it was at that point that the dog got bored with me and my slow trot and remained at a central plaza, to join the other dogs.

sniff.

more pictures!

First things first: Is our toilet paper Racist?

mosaic art

the view from Avenida Alemana

The "secret" view from the back of Pablo Neruda's house, where there is Theatre

Chilean school class posing for a picture

please amire the great color composition:

Yours Truly

home pictures

at home: here is being cooked for me, with drama and song (the food: scrambled eggs, if I remember correctly...)

this is A Room of My Own

our lovely, perfect living room table

me with The Clinic and diverse other stuff

picture time!

some late afternoon pictures of "my" Cerro Alegre, looking out at the harbor

jajaja... like they say here (somebody told me it's the German influence but I would have to verify that)... this is campaign posters plastering everything.... you can't blame the guys who chop up the faces...

that was Valpo during the garbage collector's strike