Amigos and Asados

     Tonight, Jess and I went to an asado at our new friend Sandra's house. We met her on our tour bus in the Torres del Paine National Park, and she took our cell numbers to invite us over when we were all back in Santiago. She called us last Thursday to ask us to come to an asado, which is kind of like a barbecue, kind of like a nice dinner where roasted meat is the centerpiece. They are EXTREMELY popular here in Chile, especially on Saturday evenings, and especially during Lent, because you can't eat meat on Fridays, so instead you chow down on Saturday. Anyway, she came to pick us up at the hostel in her car, which was really nice of her, and we drove back to her beautiful house in the gated community of Huechuraba around 730pm. At first we were a tiny bit nervous and awkward, but her family was so nice and so welcoming, we soon felt at ease.
     We met her daughter Lia first; she is only in high school, but already studied for 6 months in Nueva Zelanda (New Zealand)!! She speaks English very well, and she's so pretty. Valeria is their youngest daughter at 10 years old, and she is a firecracker for sure. She loves to sing and act and is infatuated with Justin Bieber. In fact, her English goes so far as to include the word Belieber haha! Belén is their oldest daughter, 23, with a degree in odontología; she's a dentist. Of course, she can understand a little English too. Sandra is so lucky to have such wonderful daughters! Her husband, Juan Eduardo, loves to speak English, but he says he learned it all from listening to American music (which I don't doubt). His favorite phrase is I understand you perfectly, and his favorite thing to do is ask us if we know what song is playing and who sings it (we hardly ever do). His English is much better than if he just listened to music. He's practically fluent! Also, he takes salsa dancing classes during the week haha, how cute! Their dog's name is Kuky (yes, it's English but it's spelled differently than Cookie haha).
     For dinner, we started with a "salad" that Sandra told us was a typical Chilean Salad, slices of tomatoes and slivers of white onions with a dash of olive oil. There was also pebre, kind of like pico de gallo in America, and another regular lettuce salad with mushrooms and nuts. Sandra served us delicious rice and Juan Eduardo brought in a huge platter of roasted meat. It was all SOOOO delicioso. I loved the juicy sausages, called __________, and the slabs of beef were so tender and even more flavorful than the sausage! Everything was amazing; Jess and I ate so much haha. We ended up with some very full stomachs. We spent a few more hours sitting and talking while we all tried to fit some postre (dessert) in. First we had mote con huesillos, which is another famous Chilean dish; it's a plastic cup filled with a super-sweet liquid kind of like a syrup. At the bottom are oats of some sort (the huesillos, the little bones) and on top of them floats a super squishy durazno, or melocotón, or peach. I wasn't a huge fan but it was nice to have something so cold and refreshing after the heavy meal we had just had. Next came a bowl of dulce de leche ice cream with cracker-wafers stuck in the sides. It was really good; almost a little salty, not just a sweet caramel flavor.
     Lastly, we listened to some music together before Juan Eduardo drove us back to the hostel. What a lovely break from all our apathetic house searching. We really needed to relax, and having such a kind family fuss over us while we ate the best meal we've had here in Chile was a perfect way to do so. Right before we left, Sandra asked us if we had plans for the following weekend (Easter weekend). We had originally thought about going to Easter Island, but it was so expensive it was kind of just a pipe dream. We said nope! And they invited us to their apartment in Valparaíso so we could visit the picturesque city and maybe hop over to Viña del Mar too! We are so excited to go with them and so grateful that these wonderful people like us and want us to go on vacation with them!!!