Furthermore, what made you move to Chile, and what’s keeping you in Chile?
I will withhold my reply for after the results of the election…
Not much.
The grand question remains: What happened to the “mañana” from yesterday, for today?
Hearing a crow with no mouth
Cry in the deep
Darkness of the night,
-Ikkyū
I love that (in most of rural Chile, not sure of the metropolitan areas) family is still more important than money. In North America, Europe, the “developed” countries, money is more important than family. Children are warehoused into childcare settings as infants and the elderly are warehoused into senior homes. Just so both members of the couple can work and accumulate more items… the second car, the huge TV, the second home. This “broken” family results in higher crime, higher drug use. It is at the root of uncontrollable cultural anger that is evident in “developed” countries in acts of road rage, random acts of violence, mass shooting events, and even children shooting children in schools. In Chile, and in much of Latin America, one member of the couple stays home with the children/elderly parents and the other goes to work. They have less material possession but the family is intact, not broken like most modern families. and there is no uncontrollable cultural anger directed at each other.
So, in answer to your question, the kindness of Chilean people and the sanity of their culture.
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Werd up hlf!
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Compared to some other countries such as the UK or US, you are a lot less likely to be threatened or insulted, and there are less nasty characters about. When I visited the UK or US, I often saw something on the first day that I don´t see after years living in Chile.
I moved to Chile because my wife wanted to…
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This, plus the incredible ability to quickly cooperate and organize mutual aid networks like it happened yet again during the transportation issue on the election day.
The Chilean society may feel disorganized at times, until it suddenly don’t and everyone works together.
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Avocados…recently avocados have become a major staple and wow they sure are available. Even the local equivalent of a 711…has guaranteed good avocados at the front by the register.
If you want to knock your socks off…procure a good avocado. Cut in half remove seed. Slice 1mm thin slices length ways. Splay it flat.
Salt and pepper and curry powder sprinkled on top. Drizzle with just a suggestion of evoo. Amazing!
I was under the impression that the opposite was true, and that avocados were scarcely available and expensive. At least from what santiaguinos say.
They need to be local, picked while ripe and not green or hard to get to the big box supermarkets.
But I recently found out they are one reason for the water crisis in the south 5th Region consuming tons of it from the Rio Maipo and Rapel by growers primarily located along the Ruta de la Fruta (Route 66 Llolleo south through Santo Domingo and into the 6th Region).
Petorca, a couple of hours north of both Valpo and Santiago, is also suffering water shortages which are at least in part due to avocado plantations. It seems that avocados require more water per calorie than other plant foods. Avocados are freely available in the central region of Chile, an absolutely staple food found in most supermarkets, and also sold in the street, but got quite a bit more expensive at some point a year or two ago.
Also exported to foreign countries like the UK I believe.
I love deserts, and in the remote past very much liked walking along dry river beds (wadi in Arabic) in the Middle East. And so, as I was based in the Elqui Valley back in 2008 for several months, I was feeling at home there.
And I was reporting on the old allchile board regarding their (avocado growers) water policies in the region, and what they were doing to the underground water levels, gradually drilling deeper and deeper and deeper…
A dry riverbed near avocado farms (Vicuña), this picture was taken in Oct 2008 from a nearby hill.
Lets not forget that Avocados are super elite plant outliers. It is one of the only fruit/veg that have a majority of fat content. You cant get that from any other fruit/veg. You could try an olive/coconut but ALOT would have to be pressed and the oil collected. A ton of work. Avocados are just ready to roll. What an amazing plant gift that outclasses all others in human fuel density
The ONLY one. I can forgive it for needing more water. It is probably precisely because it has such a rare and precious fat content.
Dont want to mess with olives/coconuts Cant abide an avocado? Then ya gotta go animal to get dense lipid based fuel.
Coconuts and nuts as well for fat sources.
Nuts are inflammatory because they are so high in omega 6 and hardly any omega 3. Good in very small snack size quanities sometimes, but not a threat to avocado primacy🥑
Walnuts have a fair amount of Omega 3, although they are not the most tastiest thing out there, so don’t worry, I am not trying to challenge the 
primacy!
“It is estimated that about 528 gallons of water are required per kilogram of avocados.”
Did a search online for footprints of different types of foods and most results seem to point back to this study below Page 29, Table 6.
Meat and dairy are the worst offenders for water consumption…
The avocado numbers are less in agreement, some sources have them as bad as meat and some estimates have them much lower.
But if if 20% of your calories are meat and dairy you could cut it to 10% and have a significant reduction in terms for water consumption. The reduction in carbon footprint by eating less meat and dairy might also contribute to less water shortages due to drought.
Whereas for most people avocados are probably only 1% or 3% of your calories, so there is less gain to be had by reducing them.
I eat less avocados now I found out about this water issue a few years ago, but I still eat some.
We don’t live in Chile. We bought ocean bluff property on Chiloe and only plan to spend January-March there when we retire. What we like about Chile is similar to hlf2888, the way of life of the people living there. An extended multi generational family lives all around our property. They live in the moment and are not so uptight like a good percentage of people here in the US. It could just be that our place is in a rural setting and people are uptight in the cities- they did after all over throw the government over an increase in bus fares- I’d say that’s wound pretty tight.
What we love about Chile is it is nothing like the US so when we come down it feels like somewhere else instead of some tourist trap or a continuation of the US. We also loved that property was relatively affordable, we could never afford the same type of property we bought on Chiloe in the US- think Big Sur. We are very happy about Chile being in the southern hemisphere so when the sun sets in Idaho at 5:00PM we can get on a plane and have the sun set at 9:30.
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