My Chilean Christmas

Yannik and I spent the night on the bus from Temuco to Santiago. Why are we going to the capital now?! While hiking in Torres del Paine, I met a family who invited me to stay with them during the trip. When I cautiously asked if we could spend a typical Chilean Christmas together, the response was "Of course, just tell us what you want to eat." So off to Santiago.

When we arrived at 8 a.m., we went to my host mom's brand new café. She had fulfilled her dream and opened the shop 2 days ago. She served us delicious vegan chocolate cake for breakfast and welcomed us warmly. I got into a conversation with her barista, who knows a lot about coffee. After she shared her knowledge with me for an hour, I was able to show her my Vietnamese "coffee machine".

Nonetheless, she was busy throughout the day and we felt like the third wheel. It's strange that on the 24th, people still work "normally" all day and only celebrate Christmas in the evening.

In the afternoon, they took us to the mall. Chileans start buying Christmas presents on Christmas Eve because, well, planning is not their strong suit. We were both exhausted but still needed things to prepare dessert for dinner.

In the evening, the whole family gathers to prepare the meal. It's important to note that the "Cena" (dinner) is usually a warm meal and eaten very late. Here, we usually eat around 10 p.m. (And of course, there is always meat because it's not a meal without meat) I wished for "Sopaipillas" with "Pepbre" as an appetizer. This typical fried bread is traditionally made with pumpkin in the dough in the north.

For the main course, the traditional dish is turkey, like in the USA. However, my family bought turkey ham, so we had oven-baked roast beef with risotto. The son of the family, Filipe, is a really good cook, and I had the best risotto of my life (with shrimp and mushrooms)! The father made "Magarita Sour" as an aperitif (just replace Pisco with Tequila).

After dinner, it was around midnight. Traditionally, gifts are distributed here after midnight. Before that, all the little children are driven up and down the street by their parents in a pickup truck so that "Santa Claus" can deliver the gifts. So we all went out onto the street to watch the spectacle. Along with the heat of 35 degrees and the fact that we live a bit outside of Santiago and can watch small fireworks in the city, Yannik and I felt more like it was New Year's Eve. After the long journey, we were very tired and just waited for midnight so we could go to bed (like little children on New Year's Eve).

We gave my Chilean family a small wooden moose from Norway and a cheese grater (which caused general amusement). I received a Pisco Sour apron (with the recipe), caramel candies, and from Yannik, a new stuffed duck (because I unfortunately lost mine on the trip). Yannik received a typical tourist Hawaiian shirt (yes, my Chileans have a sense of humor).

My gift to him was a paragliding flight over Santiago, which we organized for the next day.

One more thing I wanted to say: This family provides us with a bed, accommodation, and food during our time here. They organize sightseeing for us, take us wherever we want to go when we ask, and are always available. (Sometimes even too much, to the point where you actually wish for a moment of peace, but Latinos have a different way of doing things.) But honestly, how many of you would do all of this for "complete strangers" from another country?

I am endlessly grateful to them and hope to be able to tell you more about the following days soon. But so much is happening and when you're constantly on the go and being taken care of, it's hard to find time to write. (It's currently midnight, and I'm sitting at the laptop after a 15km sightseeing day)

And one more recommendation, if you ever visit Santiago, be sure to visit my Chilean host mom Berny's "Café Diagonal".

Frieda (30.12)