I totally swiped this from Shannon :)

Hey guys,
I'm just killin' time here. I found a wordle on Shannon's page who found one, in turn, on Jenna's page. Awesome.

Just one question: Why is the word bread SO big? hahahaha

Planning this Vacation is going to Kill Me

Okay, it¡s been about two weeks since I last posted. I've been so busy trying to tie up loose ends and trying to plan my upcoming vacations. Vacations, FINALLY!!!! I haven't had any vacations in 12 years. I'm not kidding. When I was a kid, my parents, sister and me would go to Alberquerque, NM every summer. But when I came to Chile, the fun stopped along with the vacations. My one and only vacations were in 1995 o 1996 with a friend and her family. Let me just tell you by experience that no vacations is NOT the way to go.

Anyways, I'm stoked and at the same time stressed out!!!!! My parents always did the planning, and I just went along for the ride. Now I realize all that vacationing entails: reservations, checking schedules, itineraries, money and millions of other details. I still have to buy a memory card for my camera and shampoo! Should I take warmer clothes or just a heavy jacket? We're traveling by train and bus, so picking the right things to not have to carry too much weight is essential. It all so daunting.

On the upside, our vacation spots are most definitely some of the most beautiful places in Chile. We have a road trip planned, kinda sorta backpacking but with swankier lodging. :) We're planning on hitting Concepción, Valdivia, Puerto Varas, Frutillar and then onto Chiloe.

Chiloe is an island and as such has a particular cultural. The churches that were built all over the island are all wooden. No nails if I remember correctly. And they were declared world heritage a few years ago.

We leave Sunday to Santiago where we'll take the train to our first destination spot, Concepción. We get back Nov 2 or 3. When I get back, I'll be posting about the trip, hopefully city by city. Until then. Bye! :)

How to Make Chilean French Toast

Okay, I'm back. Sorry about the disappearing act, but I'm trying to get a lot of work done before I go on vacay (yea!!!!!!!!). But, more about that later.

During my absence from blogging, I got a craving for one of my favorite foods in the world: French toast (thank you Denny's for making me an addict;)). Let me just tell you that there is NO French toast in Chile :(...at least not around Valpo. So several years ago I "created" Chilean French Toast.

Since this is a fusion dish, I couldn't just use the same old bread that comes pre-sliced (yes, that I can find in the grocery store) or the typical syrup (also in the grocery store, although it's a little pricey for plain, old maple syrup). So, I tried using bread from the local bakery.

In Chile, there is a bakery or small store selling fresh bread on every other block, even Santiago. Therefore, you are never far away from fresh, crispy bread. You will find several types of bread at any one of these stores, but the most popular types are hallulla (ah-yu-ya) and batido (literally whipped, but I'd go with kneaded. it's also called marraqueta in some places). In the first type, the dough is rolled out to 1/4" thickness and cut with round cookie cutter-like things. In the second, the dough rolled into the shape you see below.

So, here goes the recipe:
Have the whisked eggs ready with a little bit of milk in them. Take your day-old batido and slice it to about a 1/4". The bread can't be too fresh cuz it will turn into a glob of mush. I suggest discarding the slices from the top and bottom crusts.

Dip the slices into the egg and milk mixture and let them get soaked through. The milk will help soften up the bread, which can get a bit dry and hard. Then, throw the soaked slices onto a hot, greased griddle or non stick pan. Once they are golden brown, serve them warm with coconut palm syrup or your favorite jam. And that's it. Simple, fast and tasty, my favorite type of food.

I tried to get a picture of the finished product, but the vultures beat me to it! They were gone in 5 minutes. :D

What's the Difference between Chileans and Americans?

I get asked this question a lot. I hate it. It's right up there with "Can you translate this song for me?" After a few months of living here, I came up with the following answer:

If I decided tomorrow that I wanted to climb Mt. Everest, an American friend would say, "Awesome! Go for it! Keep me posted!" A Chilean friend, on the other hand, would say, "Why in the world would you want to do that?! You better be careful, you might get hurt. Are you sure they'll even let you into the country?"

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre los chilenos y los gringos? Ni se imaginan cuantas veces he oído esta pregunta. Al principio no supe que contestar. Pero al cabo de un par de meses en Chile, surgió la siguiente repuesta. A mi juicio, ilustra a cabalidad la diferencia.

Si mañana se me ocurriera escalar el Everest, un gringo me diría "-Bacan, te deseo lo mejor! Cuando regreses, me tienes que contar todo!" Un chileno, en cambio, me diría "-Para que queri hacer algo así? Teni que tener cuidado, te podi lastimar. Estai segura que es algo que quieres hacer?"

(fyi, the italicized words are Chilean slang. You probably won't find them in a translation dictionary.)

Photos Pending

Here are the pictures I promised.
The yarn...so shiny, sooo perty (45% acrylic, 55% nylon)

This is my progress so far. Check out my new fangled stitch markers (lol)

Close up

(So NOT) Mindless Knitting

Okay, so I'm almost done with the hot pink cardigan. Yippeeeee! Soooo, I decided to get started with another project. Knitting lulls are death for any knitter.

Here's the new project. Last week I saw the perfect yarn. It's kinda shimmery and light-weight. Yesterday I bought it in a pearly- blue tone (photo pending). I was so psyched!

Alright, this was my logic. Since the hot pink cardigan has a lacy pattern, I thought I'd try a more challenging pattern. After all, I've risen to the occassion so no biggy, right? WRONG! Huge biggy.

I've started with the lacy part and have already had to rip back three times!! It's really slow cuz you can't make the slightest mistake. You can see by the photo that there are four different patterns in each row. To top things off, my gorgeous yarn is really slippery, so it doesn't hold the stitch for long when I have to rip back. x(

Right now I'm working 4 rows at a time and everyone is forbidden from talking to me while I knit. hahaha

All I can think of is that I must be insane. I'll keep you posted on my progress :)

HIguerillas

Well, its been a really long time since I've had the occasion to visit the coast which is funny because I live 4 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. But you know what it's like: we always take for granted the things we have right at hand. Fortunately, I had a chance to go to Higuerillas yesterday to drop off some magazines at a restaurant and decided to snap some pictures for you guys.

Let me bring you up to speed about Concón (pronounced more like cone-cone'). This city was founded as a tourist spot for plantation/ranchers that lived in the Aconcagua Valley (i.e. surrounding the Aconcagua River that flows from the Andes Mountains). It was traditionally a place for wealthy Chileans to take vacations (still is), so the cliffs that look upon the Ocean were settled first. One of these areas (maybe you can say that it's a barrio) is Higuerillas (fig orchard, literally). Presently, Higuerillas is a place where you can find fisherman and restaurants specializing in seafood (duh, right? lol)

In the first picture you can see a sea gull (noisy bastards) and a pelican. That was sheer luck. I was waiting for a bus, and I just starting snapping all I could before it passed me by.

A view towards the East. Higuerillas, along the coastline, is only about as long as a football field. Maybe a little longer.

Towards the West. This square was made a few years ago. Before that there was only a side walk wide enough for one person to walk on. The big stones are there to create an artificial harbor for the fisherman. Behind the red building you would find Concón's Yacht Club. These are the restaurants at the foothills. If you were facing the ocean, these would be at your back.

And there you have it. Your first look at Higuerillas.

Mopin' Around

Yep, last week was a b****h. This week hasn't been much better. I found out just how much scum roams the Earth. It's amazing how hard work and dedication are always met with laziness and incompetence; how kindness and concern are met with disregard and aloofness; and how responsibility is met with blaming others for your lack of it.

Oh well, but that's something that will be dealt with in due time.

Last week, I had to measure (survey, whatever you call it) a warehouse. The owner needed blueprints for Health Services. That day it was freeeeezing in Valparaiso. It's almost Spring here and Spring means the beginning of the windy season. Sometimes we get cool soft, breezes. But when the winds blow as early as August, we get cold gales.

To escape some of the cold we decided to chase the sunlight. Not too much luck because the sun was setting. But we did stumble across a couple of benches that had been covered in mosaic tiles. We stayed a sec, just enough to snap these two pictures, and then we were on own way to a warmer place. :)

Meet and Greet (en Español, tambien)

Okay, so I couldn't come up with a clever name, sue me. :P...

So here's the deal. The other day I ran into my sister and one of her (ESL) students. Her student was a little shy about speaking English with me, so my sister and I thought it would be a good idea to get her in a social setting with other Anglophones. That way she would be forced to speak English (insert wicked laugh).

Well that idea took off, and now we're planning a get together for Friday evening. All English speakers are invited as well as those who want to spend the afternoon brushing up on their conversational English. The only rule is NO Spanish (insert another wicked laugh)

We're going to meet up at Margaritai (across the street from Anayak in Viña) at 7:00 (19 hrs) on Friday (22). So, you are all welcome to join us.

SPANISH:
Sucede lo siguiente. El otro día me encontré en la calle con mi hermana y una de sus alumnas. A su alumna le dio un poco de cosa hablar en inglés conmigo. Tener vergüenza al hablar un idioma que uno no domina es absolutamente normal. Nisiquiera yo me atrevo hablar otro idioma ¡que plancha!

En fin, una idea surgió de juntar anglo parlantes con Chilenos que están aprendiendo el idioma. Al parecer, mi hermana conoce a un montón de ambos. Por esto, fijamos una reunión para el viernes 22 en Margaritai (al frente de Anayak en Viña) a las 19 hrs. El horario es para acomodar a los mas viejitos y los que viven mas lejos...y, porque no, aquellos que tienen carrete más tarde.

La única regla es que SOLAMENTE SE HABLA INGLES. (jejejeje). Están invitados todas aquellas personas que hablan ingles o que quieren practicarlo por un rato en grata compañía. Nos vemos.

The New Project Part 3 (and extras)

Here are some more pictures of the hot pink sweater.

This is the back piece (almost finished :)) and the front right piece. See the orange needles...I absolutely HATE them. But, they were the only ones I had that were the right size. :P

Here's a close-up of the front piece (and the horrible knitting needles). Once I finish the back piece, I'll switch over to the other one.

Now for the extra stuff. I finally finished my granny square throw. It's one giant granny square (44x44 inches). I got the idea from another knitting blog. Once I find it again, I'll be sure to post her url.

Can't seem to get a picture of the whole thing, sorry.

Oh, and I decided that I'm going to make a second throw and add it to this one to make a blanket...check out the sketches:

And this is my mom's new project. This is what I call the "epic project": projects that last a long time, that sit there for weeks and that you can pick up in between shorter projects. Shawls, throws and blankets fall into this category. She's just buying small skeins of yarn when she runs out...the color scheme is arbitrary, depending on the colors they have at the store.

The New Project Part 2

Sorry about the delay on updating. I had planned to post these new pictures of the pink sweater yesterday, but it had been raining cats and dogs (all day) and I as I sat down to type, the power went out. The power was restored 12 hours later (yep, I know!)

Any who, here are the pictures I promised a few days ago.

Here's as far as I had gotten with the lacy part before I realized that I had gone too far. I had to rip back (aka frog) about 4 inches (10 cm)! That sucked, but I'm not going to be short on yarn like I thought I was.

Here's a close up of the back piece.

The yarn is bulkier than the one in the original pattern. That's why the holes in the lace aren't as noticeable. But I don't mind. I actually like how it's turning out.

I'll post s'more pictures of my progress soon. I'm almost done with the back piece and am half way done with the right front piece. Wow, I'm so excited to see it come together.

"Por eso Chile no Surge"

¿Cuantas veces he oído esta frase desde que llegué a Chile? Por lo menos día por medio. Lastima que lo escucho solamente de los Chilenos.

Hace un par de días me tocó pagar los derechos de una casa. Después de esperar varios minutos, me dieron el "papelito" que necesitaba para pagar en caja. Fui, confiada que iba a salir en otros cuantos minutos. Resulta que llego a la caja y me dicen que no tienen impresora. NO TIENEN IMPRESORA!

Como es que me pueden emitir un papelito para pagar si la caja (que está a 4 cuadras) no está funcionando? Acaso el personaje en la caja no es capaz de avisar que la caja no está funcionando (por teléfono, no estoy pidiendo que se sobre exalte el señor corriendo de depto en depto)? Es mucho pedir un poco de competencia? Aparentemente, sí.

Por eso Chile no surge.

El mismo día tomé una micro porque tenía una reunión en Viña. En promedio, me demoro 40 minutos en llegar a mi destino, por lo tanto me doy una hora. Total, he vivido acá por 15 años así que sé que las micros (los choferes, mejor dicho) se pueden demorar. Y llego 10 minutos atrasada porque el caballero decide darse su tiempo. Es media hora de mi tiempo que no podré recuperar jamas.

El sistema de transporte es un chiste. No puede ser que uno tenga que perder mitad de su día para llegar a la hora acordada. Y, obviamente, me abstengo en esta oportunidad de comentar sobre la tardanza generalizada en el país.

Por eso Chile no surge.

No señores, no es por eso que Chile no surge. Chile no surge porque todos están muy contentos con vivir su vida como está. A nadie le importa implementar un cambio porque da mucha "lata".

Aunque no esté de acuerdo, lo entiendo. Es muy simple la lógica: Es mas fácil vivir una vida donde todo funciona a medias que sacrificarse un poco para luego tener una vida mucho mejor. Pero, les digo que es una gran equivocación y por eso Chile no surge.

The New Project

I finally got new batteries for my camera! So, here's what I promised: the new knitting project.

As some of you may know, I absolutely love knitty. It's got some great patterns, helpful articles and it's just plain fun. However, I've always been a little intimidated by the awesome guys and gals who post their designs.

Now, I decided to throw caution to the wind and begin with this "piquant" design. Checkout the pattern here. I've never been too keen on doing lace-y patterns because they require a lot of concentration (and when I'm commuting, holding on to the bars on the bus is what commands my full attention). But this pattern is simple and attractive, so I'm giving it a go.

This is the yarn I chose. I fell in love with it. It's a cotton blend and fairly chunky. At the same time it isn't too heavy.

The color is similar to my favorite cardigan. I wear the darn thing everywhere and at all times...it's getting kinda embarrassing so my intention is to retire my poor, worn out cardigan for this new fangled garment

This is how far I got on the first day. Not bad, right?

Well you can't see too much of the sweater yet, but it's coming along rather nicely. I've even decided to do a second one in a ecru colored yarn that I've had for almost a year.

Well, I'll be posting more of my progress tomorrow. I've already started on the lace-y part...I've also already started on the front left (just cuz I got bored with the lace. Ha!)

Lull...

Sorry I haven't updated recently. It's just that I've been preoccupied with a pressing matter. It's a touchy subject, but I promise I will give you all of the dirty details once I get it resolved.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I've taken on yet another knitting project. Yes, I'm crazy. But I look at it this way. So many people have told me that they've been knitting/crocheting one garment or accessory for ages. Most of them have it stashed away and after a while they just shrug it off with a sense of having failed in the attempt. My advice to them is: "You've got to get more projects goin'". That way you can move from one project to the other when you're bored. Besides, the more you have, the more likely you are to finish at least one (especially easy stuff). Then you can look at the finished piece as a success and the others as challenges waiting to be conquered. How corny! Well, at least that's how it's worked for me. ;)

If you want to see my new challenge, the pattern can be found here: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTheyteach.html). I bought a gorgeous, almost hot pink cotton yarn to make it.

I will definitely be taking pictures of my progress.

Randy Pausch is gone :(

A couple of months ago a Facebook buddy posted a video on my Superwall. I never really look at those things, but I got curious. The video was an excerpt from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture Series. Wow! I was floored.

I'm not going to try to explain what he said or how inspirational his words were. That would be useless. But, if you have not had the opportunity to see Randy Pausch, just type his name in any search engine and you'll get a bunch of links. Right now, however, it might be a difficult task to connect to any one of them. You see, he passed away this morning. He knew he was dying. Well, all of us are, but he had a specific expiration date, so to speak. He was dying of pancreatic cancer.

Ever since I saw the video all I could do was hope for a miracle...hope that he would be the one to beat the odds. A man like that should be able to live for ever. But then it hit me: sometimes loss and sacrifice is exactly what we need to realize how important some thing or some one is.

His words are important to me because they made me reevaluate my career path. I suppose that many people have had the same reaction and that's awesome.

I sympathize with his wife, children and family. I hope that they can find comfort in his words and the time they shared with him. I hope that they know how important it is that a man like Randy Pausch had a chance to live in this world and touch so many lives.

Moving Right Along....

I'm trying to shake off the mala onda (bad mojo) that I manifested yesterday. For that reason, I've decided to upload some pictures of my most recent project. This is for my friends back home. Hope ya'll enjoy them!

This is the view from the balcony. You really can't see it in this picture, but between the light post and the tree you can see the ocean.
Also a view from the balcony. Here you can see the ground floor and part of the parking lot.
Here are the stairs, which I luuuuved. The owners chose Chilean Oregon Pine for the staircase and door jambs. It's slightly more expensive than regular pine, but the color is much richer.




One of the first things that shocked me about Chile was how every house seemed to be caged in. This is a typical protection for a window. It's not like crime is rampant, it's just a cultural habit. In any case, thanks to the white paint and wood trim, the iron on this house gives it a Mediterranean feel.

And here's the finished product. (See what I mean about the caging).

It's a very small house compared to American standards, but it falls into an average sized house in Chile. It's only 60 m2 (±645 sq ft) total! Yep, I had to be really careful with the distribution.

Target Confusion

I have so many things that I want to "get down" on "paper" that I really don't know where to start. It's almost as if I have to catch up on years of correspondence to an old friend.

But as I was thinking about my target confusion today, one topic sticks in my mind: I'm fed up with my job. Don't get me wrong, I love my career (I'm an architect, self employed). However, I cannot express how disappointed and sick I am of all of the people I have to work with on daily basis.

As you might have read in my "about me" section, I'm living in Chile right now. The road has been long, bumpy and often hellish. I don't really get any of the social codes. I don't understand their tardiness or lax attitude about the rules. I mean, the rules are there for a reason, right? Clients treat me like their slave, municipal workers look down on any project that is not over 1000 sq ft, my peers are always gossiping about other colleagues and secretly hoping they will fail. And to top it all off, being self-employed means chasing down clients that don't pay on time or ever in some cases. It's just such a toxic setting that all I want to do is leave them to their misery.

I know, I know, most of you have to deal with this even outside of Chile. Here's the punchline, though. I'm betting that it wouldn't be nearly as bad if I could do it all in English.

Anyways, all of this has lead to one conclusion. I need a break from my job. I say I need a break from architecture, which is equally true. So, I'm now looking for a job. Hopefully it will be something that has to do with English. I just want a nice, simple job where I can get my paycheck at the end of the month (yep month, that's the way we get payed here) and start saving up enough money to high-tail it out of here as soon as possible.

Captain's Log 1.1.1

After many years of trying to convince myself that I'm not the "kind of person" who would have a blog, I've come to the conclusion that I am. Actually, I've come to understand that it really isn't about being or not being the kind of person who would blog. It's about being the kind of person who has something to say and finding the way to say it. Sounds rather obvious, but sometimes obvious is the last thing we think about.

There are a lot of things that I could tell you about myself, but I'll start with the title of my blog. This isn't really a blog about knitting (sorry, guys). But being a fellow knitter myself, I can promise that every once and a while, I'll post some (a whole bunch, in fact) of the projects I'm working on. I have a whole range of WIPs vying for my attention.

I did, however, take the name from a popular saying: "The Black Hole of Knitting". It refers to that stage in the knitting process where you knit and knit and, somehow, you never advance. To put it lightly, the part that sucks. But, since nothing lasts forever, at some point you're out of the black hole and you're crossing the finish line. When I first read about it, I thought that it was a nifty metaphor for life. At least that's how I feel some of the time (or most of the time, depending on what day of the week you find me in).

On that note, I can't promise you that it will all be sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes I'll whine and moan about how unfair life is. Sometimes I'll profess to be the only sane person on the planet. Sometimes I will jump for joy. And other times I'll confess that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

In a nutshell that's what this blog is about. Hope you'll come by and visit.