Spa Day

May 15, 2013

Today we relaxed at a spa for most of the day, and then retired to a professor’s house for a barbeque.  The spa was more of a country club, with tennis courts and pools, but there was no equipment for rent.  I considered swimming, but it was too cold for that to be comfortable.  I ended up getting a much-needed nap in the sun, as well as a lunch much better than the free lunches prior. 

The barbeque was a lot of fun and the food was spectacular.  I’ve noticed that here, in Chile, eating pork is a lot more common than in the US.  In fact, pork is more common than beef in a lot of circumstances.  The dinner tonight, for example, consisted of spiced sausages and kabob skewers.  The sausages, of course, were pork, and even though I usually don’t like pork very much, I have found a new love for a spiced sausage with Pico de Gallo on it.  The skewers had several meats, including fish, chicken, beef, and lamb.  I suppose I am just used to seeing beef everywhere as an alternative to pork, but that may just be personal experience.  I am Jewish, and, even though my family does not keep kosher, we don’t usually eat much in the way of pork.  I only noticed this week, because Alex keeps kosher and has been running into this problem occasionally. 

The grill over which the meat was cooking soon had another purpose as the sun went down and the temperature rapidly dropped.  I am surprised at this every evening.  Home in Reston, the temperature stays pretty steady when the sun goes down because the humidity holds the heat in the air.  Here, however, it is dry and all of the heat is from being in the sunlight.  This means that every night the temperature drops considerably.  I still haven’t gotten used to this, and, as we leave in 2 days, I suppose I’m not likely to.