18: Go Chile

So, the 18th has come and gone. The 18th is really not just the 18th, it is as many days as possible surrounding the 18th, the 19th, and anything in between that and the weekend. It commemorates various aspects of Chile's independence and general identity. We got relatively gipped this year as the 18th fell on a Thursday, so the party didn't start until Wednesday at noon. This may be a blessing in disguise, however, because if Fiestas Patrias had lasted any longer it may very well have killed me.

In some respects, I had a failed visitor's Fiestas Patrias: I didn't hang out with anyone's grandparents. I didn't see the rodeos in Olmue (despite best laid plans). I didn't even go to the ramadas, aka fondas, aka fairs that are the traditional celebration spot.

On the other hand, I had a pretty Chilean-style Fiestas Patrias: I hung around with people I liked, and I ate and drank a lot, and there were often Chilean flags around, and good times were had by all. All in all, rather satisfying. Along with camping (see below), I also participated in and watched some cueca dancing:





The cueca is Chile's national dance and it is meant to represent the courting dance between a hen and a rooster. It kind of intimidates me, as such. I'm not a great hen. The rooster is meant to stare you down, waving his scarf (or plastic bag, as the case may be), while you hide behind your scarf-or-bag and dance coyly back and forth. Truth be told, I don't like being stared down, so instead of doing flirtacious half-circles I pretty much just duck back and forth to get out of the line of fire. Anyway I did give it a shot several times, but the photo evidence lies in the cameras of others.

I attended multiple asados, where many people were shocked and astonished that I am not eating meat. At one point someone said that they had thought that I would at least have a chorripan (sausage in bread), as it's really not large at all. The lovely Kacy and Yasha provided me with fish at their asado, but otherwise I was just careful to eat before or after.

In general, I had a nice weekend, with a lot of relaxing mixed in with a lot of dissipation, plus a bit of wilderness wandering, and tried my best to represent (as did everyone else). Go Chile.