[ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

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Characters: OPEN to all!
Location: The city of Valparaíso, Chile.
Date/Time: The first weekend of March (1st & 2nd).
Summary: The first group of Cadets are finally released on the city of Valparaíso. With a curious city wanting to meet them, both Cadets and Staff of the Shatterdome itself will find plenty of people willing and curious to hear what it is they're up to - not to mention complain about the unapologetic ugliness of the Shatterdome.
Additional Notes: Cadets are expected to be in uniform and represent the PPDC at it's best. For more information and any questions, please refer to this post in the OOC community.

Valparaíso is a city with an old reputation, struck hard by the Panama Canal back at its completion, and struggling and rising to a place of cultural prominence since. Nowadays it remains an important sea port along the Chilean coast, though not as busy as San Antonio, and has helped foster artistic communities and a wealth of Chilean culture well worth recognition and appreciation on its own.

For such a beautiful city, the Shatterdome is both an honor and an eyesore. The Cadets from the new program are a subject of gossip and fascination, novelty selling them in the short term in ways that weren't sustainable over time.

For those who hadn't been able to spend time outside looking over the city, Valparaíso provided all kinds of sights and hidden gems, from murals on stairs to a hundred plus year old tram that runs the hillsides, museums paying homage to the 16th Century roots of the city, to statues and architectural structures and beaches galore. Free from the industrial efficiency of the Shatterdome for a short time, where will the Cadets and Staff find themselves today? The possibilities might not be endless in actuality, but they were a far cry more varied than the last two weeks had been!

Comments

[idealord]

The other cadet watches the demonstration, and even if that's how they have to eat it it doesn't make this any more appetizing. But even if it's just a little bit, it'll be a help... That's the mantra Hilbert thinks about as he gets himself a utensil to use.

"Alright. Well! Let's do our best, right? Maybe we can give whatever's left to some kids or something like that," he muses as he pretty much portions out a part for himself. Better to set a goal and then to add onto it. "Sorry if I don't help much in the end."

[bushidork]

"Don't worry. It's okay." He has a feeling it's going to take the help of more than one person, anyway. Especially if Hilbert doesn't eat very much and judging from the look on his face, that's probably going to be the case. He's not sure what the problem is, exactly, but it would be rude to ask, considering he's being kind enough to help out.

"It's better than cafeteria food."

[idealord]

"I'll say. This beats anything they could serve us back home too!" He laughs, eyeing the portion he'd set as his goal and deciding that inaction would only make this worse. He'll get busy eating. But not stuffing his face. Because that'd be rude and sickening to his stomach.

And conversation over dinner would probably make this more bearable, so-- "You're from like, Asia right? What's the food like there? All sushi and noodles?"

Very American, huh.

[bushidork]

Sugane frowns. Hilbert can lower it down to Asia, but he can pretty easily lower it down to America. It's especially irritating for him because he cooked a lot of his own meals back home because his aunt and uncle were so often busy with work. Still, he guesses he shouldn't really be surprised.

"I'm from Japan. We have many different foods."

[idealord]

Not realizing something might've been offense is an American specialty, so the frown doesn't really register. Hilbert just feels as a hunch that something's wrong. Oh well. Japan was a cool place! They had nice monster movies!

"Like what?" Talking about food over food. Always goes well.

[bushidork]

"Ah, um..." Is he expected to list them? It's not like it's a short list, nor is he some sort of guidebook to Japanese cuisine. He wants to be friendly and create good relationships with his fellow cadets, but he's really not certain what he should do in a situation like this.

"Do you really want to know all of them?"

[idealord]

All of them? Oh man, that'd probably be a list. Hilbert shakes his head, regretting it only slightly, and gives the other a friendly grin.

"Oh no, no, um... Your favorites! Tell me your favorites."

[bushidork]

"My favorites?" After being offended, it's a little embarrassing to have a list that's as stereotypical as his is. "Kitsune udon, tempura udon, kiritanpo-nabe...curry. There are many."

He's kind of outgrown the age where he'd eat everything, but he's never really been a picky eater. He's not big on sweets, but anything else is fair game, the current monstrosity on his plate included. He moves around a few fries to try to better skewer them on his fork before returning to the conversation.

"Are there any you like?"

Sorry for the lateness!

[idealord]

It sounds pretty...

Delicious! All kinds of things Hilbert'd love to try! He grins sheepishly, playing with his food instead of eating it as he replies. "Uh, well, I'm not much better... I've only really had sushi from your culture, but my favorites are things like cheeseburgers and smoothies. My mom makes a mean cheese soup too."

[bushidork]

"Cheese soup?" He may have a huge plate of assorted food items in front of him that he's slowly plowing through, but for some reason that's the thing that strikes Sugane as odd. He's not even sure how cheese soup would even work. Strange American food...