Gluten-free Chile?

Orientation is over! Today we all moved out of the hostel and into our respective permanent housing. Though I’m looking forward to not living out of a suitcase anymore, I feel a little sad to not have the other members of my class with me. We’ve been together constantly for the past eight days, so we all (or maybe just me) have a little separation anxiety.

I’m excited, though, about my new casa! I’m living in an apartment in a fairly hip residential area of Santiago called Ñuñoa. I’ll be living with a couple—Ana from Argentina and Carlos from Cuba—and, for the first month and a half, another VE volunteer. Carlos and Ana are actually on vacation in Buenos Aires for December and most of January so I’m living in their room until they return and the other volunteer heads back to the States. A Chilean woman named Daniela is also staying in the apartment while Ana and Carlos are gone and, considering that she made fresh strawberry juice for us within an hour of my arrival at the house, I think we’ll get along just fine. The apartment is a quick walk to two different Metro stops and a 25 or 30-minute walk to the VE office. I think, also, it should be a fairly easy commute to Entre Todas, my institution, but this I’ll find out on Tuesday!

Now that I’m settling into my apartment, I can take control over my ever-so-complicated food situation. Vegetarianism is baffling enough to Chileans, but Celiac is virtually unknown. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week, it’s that Chileans love their meat. It’s everywhere, in everything, and usually accompanied by gluten. My first trip to a small grocery store near the hostel warranted a small panic attack, as my options seemed to be nuts, potato chips, wilted iceberg lettuce and mysterious sliced cheese. Thankfully, that turned out to be a horrendous grocery store. I’ve since discovered the beauty of La Vega, an enormous produce/meat market that rivals the Central Market in Florence, as well as Lider, a huge chain of supermarkets that carries most of the items I’d ever need (with the exception, of course, of actual gluten-free products I would normally buy at Whole Foods). Additionally, and miraculously, two of the veteran volunteers took me to an amazing organic food store in one of the super-affluent neighborhoods that has gluten-free pasta, real goat cheese, and tofu! It’s crazy-looking tofu but it’s tofu nonetheless. I’ll see how it is tonight. Going out to eat, eating at other people’s houses, and eating at Entre Todas are going to be huge challenges, but right now I have a cupboard full of food I can eat, so my spirits are high. I also have to mention how great the veteran volunteers have been in accommodating my food issues over the course of the week. Of the nine new volunteers, three of us are vegetarians, I’m gluten-free, and one has major food allergies including nuts, soy, and peas. It’s become a running joke that none of us can eat anything, a joke which made a significant appearance in our class’s skit at Café, a VE dinner with performances of skits and songs held on Friday night.

As fun as this past week has been, I'm looking forward to settling into a routine and diving into my work with the girls at Entre Todas. And for right now, my half-unpacked suitcase awaits! Buenas noches.