Chilean cuisine stems mainly from the combination of Spanish cuisine with traditional indigenous ingredients, with later influences from other European cuisines, particularly from
Throughout
An elemental characteristic of Chilean cuisine is the variety and quality of fish and seafood, due to the geographic location and extensive coastline. The Humboldt current causes a supply of seafood that gathers along the Pacific coast perpendicular to Chilean waters. These include squid, soleidae (sole), albacore, codfish, hake, corvina (salmon), batoidea and tuna. Seafood such as abalone, prawns, clams, crabs, shrimp, oysters, lobsters, percebes, picorocos, and eels are also fished in large amounts. Congridae or in
The plane ride to Calama is a boys' club; the flight attendants strolling up and down the aisles are the only women you'll see. Calama's a mining town and, therefore, if you've got business there, chances are you're a man. It's the base-camp for the world's largest open-pit copper mine, a massive terraced crater called Chuquicamata, first worked under the Guggenheim brothers' Anaconda Copper Co.
The bus from there to San Pedro was a different deal entirely. The company running shuttles to San Pedro, 120 km east of the airport, didn't have enough passengers to make a trip economically feasible. This was lucky for me, because I took a taxi into town, ate lunch and bought a bus ticket for less money than the shuttle would have cost. No skill, pure dumb luck-especially since the cabbie gouged me out of $2 bucks. The bus, though, took two hours, just like the flight, even though it never stopped.
Now, not to dwell on my health, because I've done that recently in these entries, I went to San Pedro to get healthy, to get pure, clean, dry air. And on the bus, the window wide open and my right arm pinning back the whipping sun curtain, I breathed in that air, looking out on the white rock of the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. At least initially, I felt better, or at least that there was hope for my sinuses.
The Atacama Desert is just like what you've seen of it in movies, like, say The Motorcycle Diaries, where the young Che walks across a dry, bright desert, flat and extensive with the sun blaring down so hard you squint through sunglasses. It's unforgiving land in the broadest sense of the term.
My bus got in shortly after 2 p.m, and it was the same one I took out 6 days later-on the surface, a newer model, but with the back bumper missing and the fan belt spinning wildly and totally exposed. My plane had left at 7 a.m., forcing me to leave for the airport at 5 (I woke up 5 minutes before the Supper Shuttle came, luckily, because the alarm didn't go off). If I felt healthier, the tradeoff was how tired I was.
Read full story at TravelPod
1. World Travel Becomes Affordable. Would you like to live in a Hansel and Gretel fairy tale hamlet in southern Germany or spend a month in a Welsh coastal village in the shadow of a 16th century castle? Perhaps your family would prefer a home on Lake Lucerne near the towering peaks of the Swiss Alps. If wanderlust is calling but you fear the costs and hassles of a family vacation in Europe, home exchanging is simple. It eliminates hotel and rental car bills and minimizes restaurant expenses.
2. Exchanging is a Cultural Adventure. Aside from the obvious budgetary advantages, home exchanging offers a chance to temporarily be a part of a community. Living in a home abroad immerses us in the country’s style of living, forcing us to question some common U.S. lifestyle choices—such as two cars, several televisions, and double ovens. Meeting and interacting with the neighbors is a valuable part of the experience of living abroad, turning vacations into cultural adventures.
When we exchanged with a family near Munich, Germany, we attended the neighborhood’s annual block party. For this weekend the neighbors park their cars on the streets and turn their garages into areas for barbecues, picnics, dancing, and games.
3. Homes Offer Spacious Comforts. Touring can be exhausting when you have to deal with cranky kids and a time crunch. It is relaxing to come home at the end of a busy day, make your own meal the way you like it, and climb into the same bed each night. Traveling with children is not a chore when you have enough room to spread out and get comfortable.
We found ample room near Lyon, France, where we exchanged with a family who had restored an 18th century farm house. After a day of touring and togetherness, our family dispersed as quickly as marbles on a hardwood floor. The younger children splashed in the pool or collected apples in the orchard. Our teenager blared music on her headset in her room while writing letters to her boyfriend. My husband and I relaxed with a glass of local Chardonnay and a country brie in the garden, and planned the next day’s excursion.
4. Choose Your Location. Choosing a central town with good highway access for day trips is helpful. Picturesque locations that are not easily accessible may initially sound enticing but discourage spontaneous side trips.
Locating ourselves south of Munich, off the autobahn, offered us access to a variety of excursions around the compass.
Keep reading the reasons at Transitions Abroad.
For tourists, it is very important to have the information on how to move from one place to another in an unfamiliar city. In this article there is general information of the transport system of
From the main airport of the city there are several companies that offer shuttle bus, minibus or taxi, more info here: http://www.aeropuertosantiago.cl here you will find prices and the different options for how to go to the city.
Taxis: All taxis have meters and charge from a base rate, that increases as the number of meters traveled. They run 24 hrs.
Metro de Santiago: The city of
Urban Buses: There is a large interconnected network of public transport and with these you can access all sections of the city of
Normal Hours: 5:30 to 1:00 pm., Monday through Sunday.
Evening Services: 1:00 pm. until 5:30 pm. (At this time are kept in operation night services only).
More info on public transportation, visit Total Chile.
The pollster noted that no Chilean president has ever obtained such a high approval rating and that only a year ago, just 42% approved of Bachelet.
"That 76% of the population says it approves of her presidential performance is something never before seen in
Her disapproval rating, meanwhile, fell to 16% from 19% the previous month.
Adimark attributed Bachelet's record approval rating to the perception of how she and her cabinet have handled the economic crisis and also to her "warm and spontaneous personality."
Of all the members of Bachelet's cabinet, Finance Minister Andres Velasco has the highest approval rating, at 67%. In last month's poll, Velasco obtained a 64% approval rating.
The government as a whole obtains 64% approval, up sharply from 57% in last month's poll.
In January,
The stimulus package was financed with funds from one of the sovereign wealth funds where the government saved the windfall from high copper prices in recent years.
Read more on Nasqad.com
The embassies and consulates listed below will be able to provide more detailed information:
U.S. Embassy in Chile, www.usembassy.cl
Av. Andrés Bello 2800 - Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Tel: (56-2) 232-2600; Fax: (56-2) 330-3710
British Embassy in
Avda. El Bosque Norte 0125, Las Condes,
Tel: (56-2) 370-4100
Canadian Embassy in Chile, www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/chile
World Trade Centre Building, Nueva Tajamar 481, North Tower, 12th Floor, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Tel: (56-2) 362-9660 ext. 3340 and 3341; Fax: (56-2) 362-9393; stago-cs@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Embassies of Chile in English speaking countries:
Embassy of Chile in the USA, www.chile-usa.org
1732 Mass. Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-1746; embassy@embassyofchile.org
Consular Section: Tel: (202) 530-4106 and 530-4107; Fax: (202) 530-4145; consulado@embassyofchile.org
Embassy of
12
Tel: 44-20 7580 6392; Fax: 44-20 7436 5204
embachile@embachile.co.uk
Embassy of
Tel: (613) 235-4402 ext.117; Fax: (613) 235-1176
Check out more embassies at Transitions Abroad.
I gave a generally positive review of “Bueno Entonces” in Episode 23. I purchased another couple of episodes and my impression still stands: they are surprisingly well-done, professionally polished and entertaining…. the way these little episodes are set up really give you a feel for the way Spanish is structured. Additionally, I have to add that Jimena’s voice acting is superb. Seriously, she plays the “straight-man” role really well. Es decir, el personaje que hace de serio en una pareja de cómicos. I’d definitely recommend that you check these out—and if you’re on your way to Argentina, they are a *must.* It’s one of the very few resources out the that gives you a feel for the way people speak in Buenos Aires.
Fun, dynamic, and effective Spanish lessons
by Smirkypants
More of this review at buenoentonces.com/blog
Created by linguists, teachers and students from a half-dozen countries, General Linguistics developed Bueno, entonces… to incorporate all the best elements of the software and audiobook language learning methods like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone that have been around for decades.
We mixed the comprehensive learning material of the audiobook courses with the addictive, fun and universally beloved format of a television show to create the Bueno, entonces… series. Each of the 30classes is 30-40 minutes long, proven as the perfect length for a language course - long enough to cover vocabulary and grammar topics but short enough to keep you interested the whole time. The challenging fast pace and edgy, entertaining style of Bueno, entonces… will keep you coming back for more.
Learning Spanish doesn’t have to be boring and monotonous. Bueno, entonces… infuses a witty, engaging storyline into the learning process - and by following along you absorb more Spanish, morequickly than you ever thought possible. By the end of the 5-week, 30-class series, you
will be speaking and understanding native conversational Spanish!
Bueno, entonces… incorporates the following 5 principles to make learning Spanish fun, painless and effective:
If you are not engaged, you are not going to learn or remember anything. Learning doesn’t have to be boring — remember your favorite teachers? Well, wait until you meet David & Jimena…
Read more about the Method at buenoentonces.com/blog.
Chile is not cheap by South American standards, but is more economical than Europe or North America. Prices can double during the late-December to mid-March high season, but travel just before or after the official season and you'll most likely score bargain accommodations. Internal flights devour travel funds at any time of the year.
Shoestring travelers should budget around US$25 per day for food and lodging, though with determination - camping or staying in hostels, eating in markets - you could cut that to below US$20. Surprisingly cheap and ridiculously filling set lunch menus are served by most restaurants - even expensive eateries have very affordable lunchtime deals.
From about US$60 per day you can wine and dine well and sleep in cozy accommodations. Families can enjoy excellent deals in fully equipped cabins wherever Chileans like to spend their summers. Spend more than US$100 per day and you can enjoy luxuries that would commonly cost you double that in North America or Europe.
It's customary to cough up an extra 10% of the bill as a tip in restaurants, except in family-run places, which rarely expect a tip. In general, waiters and waitresses are poorly paid, so if you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip, and even a small propina will be appreciated. Taxi drivers do not require tips, although you may round off the fare for convenience.
Read all info at Lonely Planet
It just doesn't cut it to call Chile a land of contrasts - this is a land of extremes. It's a preposterously skinny tendril of a country creeping 4300km around the foot of South America: while Arica basks in tropical heat at its tip, Punta Arenas shivers at its icy tail just short of Antarctica. Nowhere else can you stand in the world's driest desert (near San Pedro de Atacama), gaze at snowcapped peaks then turn your head to see cool Pacific rollers creaming inland. Follow Chile's jagged Andean backbone of towering mountains south and you'll pass through the ancient forests of Parque Nacional Chiloé, the rich vineyards of Talca, past shimmering lakes and immense plains, to stumble upon the exquisite labyrinth of fjords, islands and milky-blue glaciers that make up Southern Patagonia at the end of the Americas.
Opportunities for outdoor fun abound. Fancy climbing an active volcano? There are 50 to choose from. Prefer running white-water rapids or paddling through ice-carved fjords? You'll be spoilt for choice. Come looking for adventure and you could hike, bike, ski, surf, swim, horseback ride and even paraglide your way from desert to ice fields. But you don't need to sweat it to enjoy the best of Chile. You can soak in hot springs until your skin wrinkles, ogle at glaciers crumbling into the sea, stargaze alongside top international observatories, ponder the ancient mysteries of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) or soak up the urban buzz of Santiago or Valparaíso.
Continue reading, at Lonely Planet
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