there's more to pigs than the flu

Curanto is a famous traditional dish on the island of Chiloe.  It's either cooked in a big hole in the ground or in a gigantic metal pot, and consists of broth, clams, mussels, chicken, and meat (pork or sausage or whatever else) steamed in leaves.  If it's really special, the dish might include an added delicacy of thick strips of pig skin.

This past Wednesday I had the distinct pleasure of eating curanto.  Although I've eaten it before, I had never seen it with that lovely fat pig flesh....  Being recognized as a semi-vegetarian prevented any of it from landing in my bowl, but of course everything had been steaming together for hours.

My stomach has been in hell ever since.

Being sick in Chile is an interesting experience.  I have literally been surrounded by heated discussions on what herbal tea is best for the digestive tract, only to hear from the northern hemisphere of the world that I shouldn't be drinking herbal teas at all.  Open your mouth to say anything, and you will instantly be shouted down with the inevitable fact that everything you have consumed is further poisoning your system.  Everyone has about 50 strong opinions on the matter... this herb is too warm for the stomach, that one will push everything out of your system, another will stop you up, vinegar will kill any illness, anything you would eat vinegar on will make you bloated and swollen, cold water is the devil, the medicine you're taking is old-fashioned, etc etc etc....  It's enough to make you want to shut up and spend the week on the toilet, if that's what it takes to be left alone.

So far I've escaped the "gripe porcina" (swine flu), but the pigs still got to me.  Concha.

I still really like pigs, though - when they are alive and healthy!

the arrival of fall

As I am writing this, my fingers feel partially frozen from hanging up my clothes to dry outside. I'm hoping the exercise of typing will warm them back up again.  Winter is creeping into the población;  as long as it rains the temperature seems to stay up, but it hasn't rained in a few days now.  

Even so, it really hasn't gone far below the freezing point on most nights.  The hardest part is that it's generally colder inside the Casa Ursulina than out.

Fall is hard to describe.  Often the days start fogged over with the windows covered in frost, but end in stunning sunsets.  Despite the encroaching cold, there continue to be new blooms on the rose bushes and cala lilies are springing up in front of the house.  The first rains of the season left the ground blanketed in a layer of fledgling green grass, and so, except for the falling leaves, it looks more like spring than the beginning of winter.

 For a country that makes the most of any opportunity to have a party, Chile seems to be surprisingly lacking in fall celebrations and festivals.  However, we have been enjoying the changing colors of the leaves and eating boiled chestnuts to mark the season.  Since turkeys are mature at this time of year in Chile, we had a mock Thanksgiving dinner, complete with cranberry sauce from the US and stuffing made with my grandmother's recipe.  

And Carola's family decided to have a "fiesta de zapallo."  We have a gigantic squash vine spreading through our backyard, and it is finally time to start harvesting.  The idea was for everyone to invent something edible from any kind of squash.

In my completely unbiased opinion, I'd have to say that the gringas stole the spotlight with the best creations.  We invented a hot alcoholic pumpkin drink and made a pumpkin roll cake. Both disappeared long before the night was over.  Other highlights of the night were grilled squash with melted cheese and oregano, and pumpkin cooked in melted brown sugar.

we are famous :)

Ruth, one of the nuns who lives at the Casa Ursulina, just wrote a story about me and Andrea.  You can read it here:

http://www.casaursulina.org/volunteers/Volunteers2009.php