Thursday, October 4, 2007

Surreal Chili in Chile

Maybe it was the wine, but last night’s dinner was surreal. We were invited by a Chilean family, but I was greeted when I entered with a real, authentic, “Howdy partner!” It was a friend of theirs, an American born in Houston, who has lived in Latin America for more than a decade and is an expert in bird sounds. He can identify a thousand bird calls and has recorded more. He contributes to the top bird call website in the world

Then, the host, asks me if I know Keith Green, the Christian musician. I say that I’ve heard of him, so the host starts to crank up loud worship music on the stereo, in English.

And the American guy had cooked chili—real life, real good chili (which no one in Chile has ever heard of) I felt totally at home and also a million miles from anywhere. And, like good Chileans, they were filling and filling my wine glass, and….