RE: How I went from being a hardcore meat eater to a passionate vegan
We live in Valdivia which is about 740 km south of Santiago. I just moved here from the US last December and I love it down here! It's very green & lush, and a lot less hectic than Santiago.
That's really cool that your boyfriend lived here for a while! Hahaha, I know! Chileans are nuts about their meat & dairy! It's especially hard to find basic things like bread that don't contain dairy in it (which is really frustrating). We have one little vegan shop in town, though, and plenty of farmer's markets that sell cheap produce so that's a huge benefit.
Most of the restaurants here are notoriously bad in quality and service (and very few have vegan options available) so I tend to cook most of our meals at home. In fact, one of my goals is to open a solar vegan restaurant in the future and I'm currently enrolled in a plant-based cooking course to get certified so I rather enjoy making yummy things with plants! :)
Yeah I heard that the gastronomy level is not too high, but that means there is still place for improvement. Since my boyfriend enjoyed his time in Chile so much we are thinking about moving there once I finished my studies here.
That's exactly how I'm choosing to look at it... as an opportunity for improvement. That's one of my goals.
Wonderful! You're studying Hotel Management and Hospitality, is that right? Feel free to hit me up if you ever decide to visit southern Chile down the road.