Martes, Mayo de 18

In an effort to remain current, you get two posts in one evening.

This is Alexis' House. I am sleeping in the room in the bottom left corner.

This is the view from the front door of Alexis' house. She lives in a nice neighborhood in the mountains that has very narrow streets that people like to park on the street so only one car at time can pass but this doesn't stop people from driving like their cars are on fire.

Today we went back to the grocery store to buy food for lunch and snacks for the rest of the week. At the store I was pointed in the direction of the seafood counter where I was told that I could pick from any of 6 freshly prepared dishes. I chose Piures because they described as "tasting strong of seafood" and that no one had tried them including the man working behind the counter. As a tip to anyone eating anything new: try first, Wikipedia second.

It looks pretty good and it wasn't too bad. It tasted vaguely of the way that a freshly painted room smells. The red parts that look like peppers are actually little filter feeding sea creatures. I didn't know that until I looked it up on teh Internets and I'm pretty sure it was raw too.

We drove across the valley to a newer development where Alexis, her sister and her Mom got donuts at Dunkin' Donuts. I didn't get any donuts but I did go to the bakery around the corner called La Punta and got 4 small empanadas and a Peruvian desert called Suspiro Limeno. It was a like a thick Caramel Pudding with a super thick, sweet meringue on top. It was good but I think I am now a diabetic.

We spent the evening driving around Mid-town Santiago due to a fortuitous exiting error off the freeway.

They are a lot of really nice, modern office buildings in the business district as well as some nice stores and restaurants. I didn't get to take any pictures because it was to dark to do so. I will get to take some tomorrow when I go back downtown and to the central market.

For dinner we went to Tip y Tap, where the specialty of the house is the Churrasco, a sliced beef sandwich similar to a hamburger but not ground. I had the Churrasco Tip y Tap which was again slathered in avocado, cheese, tomato, onion, pickles and lettuce.

I also got my first exposure to Pisco in the form of Pisco sour. It wasn't the worst thing in the world but it wasn't the best either. It came in a champagne flute which made me feel super cool drinking it but don't the glass fool you, it was intense. Don't drink more than one, that thing should come with a warning label.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the the Thiele Family. Alexis, her mom, and sister Tatienne.