chile

i would like to thank the american assosciation of dairy farmers for making this "joke" possible.

I always regretted missing out on Chiloe. All that witchcraft and scorcery.

Don't forget to rub Magellan's shiny toe.

not that this will be of interest to many people but fucking Chile just voted the right in for the first time since the the 1960s. Fuck fuck fuck.

and the irony of it is, outgoing prez Michelle Bachelet is hugely popular.

Just ate at a restaurant in l'eixample, Barcelona to celebrate the bicentennial of this fucked /cool country.ceviche, an empanada, sopaipillas, chupe de mariscos, pastel de choclo, a wee pisco sour. Would've preferred to be there, but was a nice way to mark the occasion. Viva chile mierda.

jim, how did you end up spending so long in chile? work? family?

My connection with chile is family : my dad's from there. Not spent as much time there as I'd liked to have, i've visited 4 times, twice for 3 weeks and twice for a month, twice as a child and twice in the last couple of years. Have often pondered going to live there for a while but i'm not nearly bold enough for a cross continent move and use my execrable Spanish, or whatever, as an excuse.

Although I don't know the country all that well it's often in my thoughts, this year especially -the earthquake, the right getting back in, my grandmother passing away, the miners, the football team making the world cup.

Planning a trip for autumn next year. Might take in some of the north of the country, where I've never been.

Has anyone been to Vina del Mar lately? I am taking my niece to go a wedding and I have only ever stayed in Valparaiso, but now most of my family has moved to Vina. I used to go to every winter break to visit my grandmother and that would include a trip to the beach in Vina, but I haven't been since she died probably 10 or 12 years ago.

So, it's all happening in Santiago. Nationwide strike and a charismatic communist student leader. Mash-notey, Green Day-soundtracked YouTube homage to her here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V3p2MPB2UE&feature=player_embedded

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/aug/26/chile-national-strike-violence-santiago?picture=378287810

Good protest gallery over at the Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/aug/26/chile-national-strike-violence-santiago?picture=378287810

Oh hey, I'll be here for 6 weeks. I have enough family there to tell me about basic stuff, so... where the Santiago record stores and Villalobos style parties at?

For records: you need to check out this awesome labyrinth of a flea market on weekends called the Persa Bio Bio, a few blocks east of the Franklin metro station on the yellow line. It's a bit hard to describe so I'll let this link explain it: http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/living/el-persa-bio-bio-flea-market-done-right

Anyhow, ask for "Johnny's Records". Tons of vinyl. Lots of fun. If you have any curiosity or interest, you might want to ask for suggestions regarding Chilean folklore music, possibly of revolutionary inclination. There's some really beautiful, powerful stuff you could probably pick up for a good price.

Other good record shops right near Metro Los Leones, particularly Sonar Tienda and Disqueria Funtracks.

For electronic music, check out Club La Feria up in Bellavista. It's kind of the default. I couldn't tell you about where the underground clubs or parties are (I go back to Chile -where I spent my childhood- every few years, but live in Boston), but if you pm me I can connect you to a friend or cousin who would.

Hope you have a fantastic time!

i go to chile

going in september to ski volcanoes but would also appreciate any other intel on cool things to do

Villaricca is a good volcano, you can't ski it but you do sled down on your arse. It's in the lake district which is gorgeous.

Also hit up Valparaiso if you can, and at the opposite end of the country the Torres Del Paine trek is stunning. Santiago's kind of nothingy.

Anyway, lovely country lovely people. Hope you're not a vegetarian.

dunno if we'll make it all the way down to Torres Del Paine (though I'd like to). valparaiso is definitely on my list, though, seems like a pretty cool town

i go there 2day

Say hello to the Andes for me. And watch out for earthquakes.

have fun! it is an amazing place. eat seafood or peruvian because most of chilean food is garbage

yeah i was googling about chilean food and pretty much everyone says that -- which was sort of a bummer since i love to eat but sticking to a diet of peruvian and seafood sounds AOK to me

it is fwiw baffling to me that a country as bounteous as chile would have mediocre cuisine, esp since they produce good wines

yea it is weird. my very quick speculation based on spending only a few months there about 10 years ago says that:

1) there is a big fast food culture, so places serving shit like hot dogs, sandwiches, fried chicken, and french fries are widespread
2) there is less of an indigenous presence compared with neighbors like peru or bolivia, or other latin american countries like mexico
3) the cultural influences at play in chile (spanish, german, and some indigenous but again considerably less so than other latin american countries) are gastronomically less interesting than other countries, e.g. peru (spanish, indigenous, chinese, japanese, african), argentina (spanish, italian), brazil (portuguese, indigenous, african)

that said it has miles and miles and miles of coastline so yea the seafood will be spectacular. also the areas with stronger indigenous presences (e.g. chiloe) have incredible food

you can get really good seafood all over chile. I particularly enjoy merluza negra aka Patagonian toothfish aka "Chilean seabass", and all sorts of chupes aka stews that are made from different types of seafood. you can get them made out of locos - these things https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concholepas_concholepas - if you like mayonnaise (which is important for enjoying Chilean sandwiches/hot dogs) locos mayo (just locos served with mayonnaise) is pretty delicious.

so yeah, the sandwiches. I love Chilean sandwiches. well i loved, I am a vegan now, which will make my next visit to chile somewhat more difficult. homemade bread, some sort of meat, and tomatoes, chili, mayonnaise, avocado etc. steak with green beans is a chacarero. a completo is a hot dog with the works, where the meat is more like the condiment than vice versa.

ceviche is good, peruvian ceviche probably better but luckily there are plenty of peruvian restaurants.

average chilean meal at home is like a piece of meat, some potatoes and some vegetables. luckily the vegetables are very good! it's spring so artichokes will be in season i think.

the fruit cherimoya is pretty great, don't think it'll be in season, and also they cultivate them in California so you've quite probably had one before (although i never see them here in Vancouver bc despite the preponderance of Californian fruit, not even at stupid wholefoods).

empanadas are also good. September is "el mes de la patria", independence day on the 18th and the anniversary of the coup on the 11th. traditional empanada around this time is empanada de pino that contains minced beef, boiled egg, raisins, etc. might sound bad but is really tasty. you can also get fried empanadas with cheese which are dece. also drink some chicha (maize booze) out of a horn thing if the chance arises.

I really enjoy Chilean bread. pan amasado, pan hallula. nice sort of scone-like little round breads that are tasty with some butter and cheese.

little fried pastries called sopaipillas that can be savoury or sweet are tasty.

typically Chilean creole "drink" called mote con huesillo (boiled wheat husks, in a syrupy liquid with a re-hydrated dried peach) is worth trying for sure.

oh yeah and pisco sour is so obvious but in the north of chile they grow these limes calles limones de pica that are kind of like key limes and are basically essential to a proper pisco sour.

called not calles

mmm cherimoya

chileans love them some beef too. most meals I had there involved beef and potatoes.. not awesome but not heinous

choripan = bbq'd chorizo on a bun.

quite like chilean empanadas actually. the ones i've had didn't have raisins in them, though

i've had other latin american countries' empanadas, and i think my favourites are the ones from chile and argentina (their salteñas)

not a fan of the icing sugar on the peruvian ones

never been to chile but I gotta post when someone actually mentions salteñas bc they're the best, paceños forever

I love going to South America just for the fruit tbh

oh man, yeah.

pacae, lucuma (-flavoured ice cream), platano de la isla/manzano, maracuya, guanabana, granadilla, cherimoya

thanks guys! I am so hungry now

yeah in La Paz there's this bougie resto Dumbo on the Prado that makes amazing fruit drinks, w or w/o milk. I love their tumbo drink, tastes like all the best fruits all mixed together, like a liquid fruit cocktail as you get in cans in the USA

jugo de maracuya is the best, lucuma also delicious

I had a pastel de choclo which was topped with caramelised sugar, like a creme brûlée. That was a really weird experience.

i don't think it's the same thing but i had sweet humita in peru, which was really, really good

sweet humitas are really good

In Santiago we ate out at this place and my friend ordered pastel de choclo and it tasted like cigarette ash :(

I think the thing in chile is that everything is really oversweetened (to the point of being like, a public concern) and yeah, fast food culture. My favourite thing was humitas with diced tomatos and avocado with some olive oil mixed in. And marraquettas, which I think are supposed to be the de facto national bread, are great. Empanadas are delicious. Chilean sandwiches are weird. Aside from seafood all the best restaurants I ate at were Peruvian, because omg authentic peruvian food.

yesterday we skied a Cerro and then went to a rodeo

life is good

enjoy it, gbx!

hoping to make it out to patagonia once in this life. antarctica would be a dream come true

well that was fun

ski mountaineering is fun

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11225320_10100571418140266_8222542089262893288_n.jpg?oh=c217d75deb3871bd9899013e4073b66f&oe=5666AA73

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/12004690_10100574997242716_2009773118661914150_n.jpg?oh=f4dc193e10db7ee5b137d085b903e8ed&oe=569AB696

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12002247_10100575088010816_6881214488047904144_n.jpg?oh=fb3081191459d6e745180b9e1c39f23c&oe=566E9DA5

jealous!

what peak is that?

How high did you climb?

Yeah, attempts to nationalize the mining sector in Chile have not historically gone without complications...

But there are 499 articles in the draft, and even if the entire document is rejected (as looks likely) in the September plebiscite, we don't know to what extent its tenets (such as recognition of greater autonomy of indigenous nations) will be implemented via other means.

This story ain't over.

Yeah, things are built stone by stone. A lot of anarchists ofc are writing it off (see also Peru) because voting, but my distanced sense is that these things won't go away.

Few things messier in the world than trying to finalize a constitution (hell, it's a nightmare just trying to agree on a non-profit's Mission Statement).

It's definitely not as fun as crowding into the Plaza de Italia and singing your lungs out.

Ugh. ^ I’d like to take that last sentence back. Comes off totally disrespectful.

Cry more bitch!

It is a woke and fiscally irresponsible mess https://t.co/TlzZriYrqs

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 6, 2022

they really need to stop calling things woke

Does the Economist do this a lot? It's a bit of a surprise..

Is that a joke

Instructive to compare this to their enthusiastic support of the Pinochet coup.

https://www.economist.com/news/2008/07/03/the-end-of-allende

the editorial does not in fact deploy the word "woke" in the headline or in the text

I didn't want to register (Esp after that picture of a bog roll).

It's not only a much better constitution than the precedent one (imo), but would look to be pretty dope on its own regards (imo again).

I assume you were joking xyzzzz__ but I guess if anyone didn’t know

At various points in its storied history, @TheEconomist opposed famine relief to Ireland, expressed sympathy for the Confederate States of America, was lukewarm about universal suffrage, opposed Britain's entry into World War I, and cheered the coup against Allende in Chile.

— Dhruva Jaishankar (@d_jaishankar) April 1, 2020

Xpost

Wokeness is a clear subtext in the piece ("lol, talking about gender, being nice to animals and the right to housing??"). I guess it's the mullet approach to editorial: business at the front in print, party at the back on social media.

Or just saying the quiet bit out loud for the clicks.

Beautiful.

I don't know guys, I think the new Chilean constitution actually sounds pretty good! https://t.co/Wp8QMKTDpt pic.twitter.com/gofKzsCWGC

— Gary McQuiggin (@ggaaarrryyyy) July 7, 2022

Thinking it's too good to get passed.

I'm sure The Economist patted Sri Lanka on the back.

sri lanka has been under 16 IMF programs and none have worked

— jude 🌍 (@whoajude) July 7, 2022

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FXG6xgKVsAEKLKL?format=jpg&name=medium

sick burn

I guess it's the mullet approach to editorial: business at the front in print, party at the back on social media.

Finally done decent reporting on the constitution.

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/chile-constitution/

*some

🚨🇨🇱 Scores of UChicago professors and alumni have written to President @gabrielboric to slam the "shameful legacy" of the Chicago Boys that collaborated with Dictator Pinochet to write the 1980 constitution that has strangled Chile https://t.co/BaywoAfgEq

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) September 2, 2022

Don't forget: 80% of Chileans voted to bury Pinochet's constitution back in October 2020. The plebiscite today will come down to the wire, no doubt. But regardless of the outcome, there is no going back. Only steps forward on the path to a new Chilean republic.

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) September 4, 2022

not quite down to the wire

Yup, Adler is in "fight continues" mode. And the only reason we've had this vote is because of street protests.

The proposed new Chilean constitution began the year with majority support, which then crumbled as the disinformation specialists got to work and rumors spread that it would legalize abortion up to the moment of birth, allow people's homes to be confiscated, etc. pic.twitter.com/4eDDIHqUVg

— 🦀 Jon 🦀 Schwarz 🦀 (@schwarz) September 5, 2022

The Mapuches were colonized in the Occupation of the Araucanía (1883) and the Quechuas and Aymaras in the War of the Pacific (1884). Pinochet passed terror laws to steal Mapuche lands in the 1980s. The plurinational constitution would've returned Native self-determination. 2/

— New Amauta (@AmautaNew) September 5, 2022

Like so many Chileans, I'm painfully disappointed that the majority could reject principles of equality and respect outlined in #NuevaConstitucion - principles that came out of a direct cry from the estallido https://t.co/WDjz470DdW

— Naomi Larsson Piñeda (@naomilars) September 6, 2022

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Constitutional-Council-in-Chile-Remains-in-the-Center-Right-20230508-0001.html

🇨🇱 Chile Presidential Elections: Jeannette Jara of the Communist Party has come in 1st place. 2nd place is Jose Kast, the far-right pro-US candidate (and son of a German Nazi Party member).

They will now face each other in a second round of voting. pic.twitter.com/8pmu5ns3rt

— Ollie Vargas (@OllieVargas79) November 16, 2025

Boric is one more for the 'leftist disappointment' pile or what have you.

After being one of the most conservative South American countries in the late 20th, Chile has of late been one of the most liberal, and in particular host to a fantastic LGBT electro-pop scene, so this is a really shit development.

Not great!