Muesos y Parques

Last weekend we visited the Museo de La Memoria y los Derechos Humanos with a Start-Up Chile friend and her sister.  The museum is dedicated to the victims of human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile.  It was filled with videos, news clippings, and publications during the dictatorship and was a sobering experience.  We both recently read "A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet" by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela, which helped give us more cultural context for the museum exhibits. Matt and I both appreciated going with our Chilean friends, so they could weigh in with their perspective.

  

Next, we walked through the nearby neighborhood of Barrio Brasil- the whimsical structures were an appreciated break from the sadness of the museum.  Our Chilean friends went to school near here and used to play on these structures as kids!  We got lunch around the corner at a typical Chilean joint- it consisted of a family-style plate of Chorrillana (french fries with mushrooms, onions, and meat) and Completo sandwiches (meat, tomato, avocado, and mayo).

Parque Quinta Normal:

Yesterday, we spent a low-key afternoon hanging out at Parque Quinta Normal.  The park was bustling with families and very festive.  Although we were mostly just expecting to read in the sun, there were a number of fun surprises.  The walkways are lined wit food and toy vendors and there is a free Natural History Museum.  In addition, it seems that there is no end to the number of novelties available for rent: paddle boats, go-karts, surreys, inflatable human-sized hamster balls, children's train rides, and even toddler-sized art easel stands.

Matt in his natural habitat.

Paddle Boats and Birds

Low-Rise Bike Rentals 

We think these inflatable balls are meant for a version of soccer, but most kids were just trying to do somersaults in them.

Little Artists Hard at Work
- each easel comes with a paint set and a coloring book page.

Karen's feet

Zoologico

There is a zoo at the base of Cerro San Cristobal near our apartment.  The exhibits follow a meandering collection of trails along the hillside, which makes for a nice view of the city.

Frutter and Choriza

A bag of prototype Frutter

An unexpectedly fun perk of the Start-Up Chile program is getting to test out other team's prototype food products!  So far both products we've tried are vegan, so it's looking like Chile's vegan marketplace is about to take off.

Pictured above is "Frutter" (pronounced "fruit-er" with the Spanish accent) a fruit-based vegan butter.  On a tangent about accents: my Start-Up Chile project is called "Co-op Connect," which sounds great in English.  Unfortunately, I'm quickly catching on that in Spanish it's quite difficult to pronounce "co-op", and most Chileans think it sounds like "cop"... so they're first instinct is that I'm creating a platform to help connect police!

Anyway, Frutter, is water-based so it can't be used for pan-frying but it is good candidate for baking.  To help the Frutter founders validate their product, Matt whipped up a batch of cookies and brownies.  Both had a very distinct flavor, which I liked but still prefer real better.  The one obvious pro was that the baked goods with Frutter had a very soft texture that reminded me of Madeline cookies.  We shared the cookies and brownies liberally all week and strengthened some local friendships in the process!!!

Next up is "Choriza", a vegan chorizo substitute.  While the packaging and appearance were very enticing, the flavor leaves much to be desired... overall they had a dry and baking-soda-ish flavor.  Kind of like bread?  But I'm hopeful for improvement... the two women founding "Choriza" are in my Start-Up Chile cohort and are working diligently to improve the formula!  Most teams in my cohort are working on digital solutions, so it's interesting to talk with the Choriza team- some extra challenges they face are importing vegan protein (with a 45-day lead time and steep taxes), health and sanitation certifications, and zoning laws regarding their incorporation.  

Two Choriza Sausages for a Test Lunch

Although the following are not Start-Up Chile prototypes, they are exotic vegan snacks we've been enjoying locally.

Cochayuyo - seaweed!  Chileans traditionally buy chochayuyo in large bundles at the market place to make into soup (see below).  However, one enterprising company has begun to sell it packaged as a dehydrated, crunchy snack.  While Karen enjoys it, Matt does NOT.

Cochayuyo in a Marketplace: Photo from Google Images

Cochayuyo- the Bite-Sized Snack

Café de Trigo - a toasted wheat caffeine-free beverage.  Brewed like normal coffee and similar in taste!

 

La Vendimia

 La Fiesta de la Vendimia is a harvest festival that celebrates a very important Chilean crop- wine grapes! All summer vendimias are held all over Chile. Thanks to advice from Karen's former Spanish teacher, we managed to catch the very last one of the season, held in world famous Isla de Maipo!

Isla de Maipo is not an isla- just one part of its mysterious charm

 Of course we also owe thanks to Karen's friend Braian, who went with us; and we all owe thanks to HIS friend Mauricio, who drove us there. The vendimia has a lot more than just wine- the food was incredible. In addition to every type of pastry, there were also strawberries on a stick, cheese on a stick, and at least a dozen different types of meat on a stick.

Meats on Sticks

The man overseeing this whole apparatus insisted that Karen come closer to get a good shot. He was very proud.

This post would be incomplete without Chile's largest empanada.

 Of course this was all just a pleasant surprise. The feature that got us out of bed and into a car that morning was the wine tasting. For between $10 and $15 you could get 6 tastings and a souvenir wine glass. Which doesn't seem like much, but we soon learned that the tastings are very generous pours. All of the wine stands were clustered in two rows together under a tent, and about half the population of Chile was apparently trying to squeeze into the corridor between them.

This photo may be blurry but it is actually a pretty accurate representation of how the tent appeared after a few wine tastings.

I'm surprised at how short this post is considering how fun the vendimia was... But there's not much more to say!

Cheers!

And a bonus video:

ÑAM

Welcome to YUM- I mean, Ñam!

 Ñam - a large food-oriented festival - is apparently a big deal. So it's strange that we had no idea it was happening just a few blocks from Karens co-work. Luckily, as we were leaving the co-work, another SUP participant suggested we check it out. The event was happening on Cerro Santa Lucia, which loyal readers will recognize as the hill we explored via walking tour during our first week here. It was surreal and strangely fun to see the same locations transformed into a bustling party. What we had previously experienced as a hot, empty plaza showcasing some politically-charged Mapuche statues now looked like this:

 When we first entered the festival, there was a section showcasing the cuisine of each of Chile's 16 regions. The region that will be at the center of the July solar eclipse had really gone all in on eclipse decorations. Since we are planning to travel to see the eclipse, we approached and asked for information about it, but despite their apparent investment in convincing people to go to their region for the eclipse, they seemed utterly unprepared for two people who already fully intended to go.
Where should we stay?
-In la Serena.
We already have a place in La Serena. Is that a good place to watch from?
-You should go farther inland.
Why, is the weather better there?
-We don't know what the weather will be. We hope it's good!
Can you recommend a way to get inland?
-Take a bus.
Will the buses be crowded?
-Oh definitely, they'll be way too crowded to use.

 This same part of the festival also had a lot of free food samples from the stalls representing the regions, but a single announcer was interviewing/presenting the regions one at a time. And these interviews were LONG, like full presentations about how to prepare a particular traditional food, and what its cultural significance is. So hundreds of little cups, samples of ceviche, and tiny empanadas sat in plain sight, inches away from the hungry crowd, yet unavailable.

This photo does little to capture the sense of yearning emanating from the crowd.

 Farther into the festival (we gave up on the free samples after 15 minutes) the access road had been taken over by an endless procession of stalls selling artisanal soaps, jams, jellies, olives, oils, cheeses, sauerkraut, honeys, and piscos, all freely giving out samples. Nearly at the top of the hill, a pavilion had more meal-like fare for sale, and we refueled from the "climb" with sausage sandwiches. And just a little farther up, at the very top, was the real prize- the parillada (platter of grilled meat) section.

The arduous hike

This is where our walking tour ended. It was much more lively during Ñam.

The top of the hill!

An otherwise unremarkable area from our walking tour was being used to film some kind of cooking show.

 We bought some parillada meats, looked around, and then retraced our steps back down the hill, stopping to buy some wheat-based coffee substitutes as a present for Karen's friend who had invited us to her birthday party the next night. Tired and very full, we walked home.
 

Sculpture Parks

Let's follow Matt on a walk through the sculpture gardens of Santiago!

There's a 4+ mile-long corridor of green parks that pass by our apartment.  The parks are bordered by the bustling downtown of Santiago on one side and the Rio Mapocho on the other.  The river itself is a little underwhelming- mostly a trickle of muddy water over a concrete bed.  The parks however, do not disappoint!  We're impressed by how well-utilized the parks are by locals, most of whom seem happy to just sit on the grass and hangout.  

In this blog post, we'll talk you through two sculpture gardens that are integrated with the parks.  Hopefully our analysis won't make our former art professors cringe.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Last weekend, we made it to the Parque Bicentinario in a neighborhood called Vitacura, about 3 miles from our apartment.

First up- a lovely phoenix sculpture.  Matt and I liked how the metallic base is made from 4 repeating components.  Although the shape is relatively abstract and heavy, together the 4 pieces evoke the imagery of fire!

Not too sure what to say about this one... there's some play with smooth versus rough textures and cylinders versus squares.  From a afar, the sculptures look like religious crosses.

Next up, we visited the 'Parque de las Esculturas" in the Providenica neighborhood.  On this outing, we rented bikes to explore the park.  Unfortunately, the bikes were only 1-speed, and although the region is mostly flat, we'll definitely be searching for an upgrade for our next bike ride.

This concrete sculpture rests parallel to the Rio Mapocho and reminded me of a waterfall.  It's also pretty much the same color as the Rio Mapocho...

A 3-D maze!  Matt had to take of his backpack to slide through.  

The little girl in this photo (squint a bit) had no trouble navigating!

Funky textures!  Each pilar was named after a different concept or element, such as "love" and "earth".

This sculpture reminded us of a tree trunk.  The gaps between the slats become increasingly larger as they radiate out from the center, kind of like rings in a tree trunk.  Matt also pointed out that the golden disc in the middle highlights how a large tree can grow from one single seed.

Karen especially liked this sculpture.  The organic driftwood slats are meticulously held together by vertical wooden "stitches".  The interior of the shape is hollow and the overall form is reminiscent of a teardrop, making the entire shape seem surprisingly light and  fluid.

  

A boat on rocky seas?  Acrobats?  An ironing board?

Signing off for now! Karen