Goat cheese

Life is full of unexpected surprises. For example, going out for drinks and ending up at a goat farm in the country. Hmmm. Last night, I went to Barrio Bellavista to meet up with two girl friends and a Chilean teacher. The latter made me promise that I would show up and then he didn't. Clearly from another planet, he doesn't have a cell phone. We stood on the corner for another 30 minutes after the 30 that I'd waited for the girls. It was occupied by a very drunk homeless person who, when I first arrived, called me a Mexican and told me to get off his corner. I ignored him, judging that he was too drunk to get up and do anything about me invading his territory.

After an hour, we gave up and headed off in search of happy hour. We didn't find anything that appealed to us, so one of the girls called her co-worker who was having a house party that night at her boyfriend's place because his parents were away. The two came to pick us up and then we realized that the house was in the country (about 30 minutes outside of Santiago proper). When we got there, it was dark but definitely smelled like farm. Turns out that the boyfriend's family has a goat cheese operation and the requisite goats. The surprises didn't stop there. The only other people at the "party" were the boyfriend's brother (and fellow goat farmer) and and a friend of the family. Woo hoo -- party of 7! It was COLD and I was bored. The group wasn't very dynamic or energetic, so there were a lot of pauses in the conversation. Plus, did I mention, I was cold! I went to bed after 2, but way before everyone else. Fortunately, I'd had the sense to ask for an extra blanket AND invite one of my friends to share the bed. After she finally climbed in, I was so warm that I slept like a baby despite the goats bleeting outside.

The problem with being without a car is that it's easy to get trapped somewhere. It's a big loss of independence. Not that interdependence and patience are bad ... but I'm they aren't my strongest suits! I wanted to go home at midnight. I wanted to go home at 2. I wanted to go home at 10. I finally got to go home around noon. My night out turned into a 12 hour stint in the country. But I got a big block of goat cheese to take home, so maybe it was totally worth it!