The Party Rolls On

Fiestas Patrias has come and gone, but it had an aftershock too. First off, I went to Pichilemu with my host brothers and some of their friends. We rented a house with 3 bedrooms, and the 9 of us crashed there. It was a weekend full of late night dancing at the Fonda, which is a huge party in a tent that runs every night until the wee hours. We spent the days in the sun on the beach, but it was a cool and windy weekend.

Classes were all back to normal this week, with more robust attendance. On Thursday, there was a big fonda (el 18 chico), the aftershock party to the earthquake that was the 18th. Once again, live music, barbecue, and drinks were being served up. It's weird to party outside of classrooms, especially when on the walk to the bathroom you can see classes in session. Poor buggers. Check out a video of the situation here.

I made it out climbing yesterday (Friday). My buddy Rodrigo invited Lucy, Nigel and me to come climbing with his buddies on a hill on the north side of the city, called Manquehuito. We rode up a windy road to a skinny and slippery path, and made hiked to the rocks from there. The site already had bolts set for sport climbing, and Rodrigo and crew had all the gear we'd ever need. From the top of the routes, the panorama of Santiago was gorgeous (although a bit smoggy). Climbers just kept showing up. Someone brought a grill grate and charcoal, and all of a sudden the meat came out. Chicken, chorizo, and a lump of cow. The spices were typical Chilean: a ziplock full of salt was all we needed. I have never seen such a party while climbing- UW's Mountaineering Club could take a few pointers from these guys. Here's the newest Flickr set, with rock climbing, a fonda shot, and even a puppy (might be a baby polar bear).

A Neighborhood and the Best Week to be in Chile

This post corresponds to some new photos on my flickr.com page.

My neighborhood here is really nice. All the houses have full fences, some with electric wires at the top. There is a special police-like force just for our section of town, Las Condes, and these goofy motorcycle cops drive around all day. The houses are very pretty, sometimes colorful, and everyday when I walk from the bus stop to the house around 5:30pm, there are nanas (maids/nannies) who are watering the grass on the sidewalks. When I go running around a big hill near my house people stare because no one runs on the streets, they go to a park and run the perimeter over and over again. Tons of houses have dogs who bark like crazy as I go past. There are lots of cars, nice cars (Audis, Peugots, Mercedes) around here.

The house itself is very cool. I think this will be fantastic in the summer. The living room and dining room are comfy and bright on sunny days. The backyard has lots of plants, and when it's sunny I sit out there and read.

This week is a big deal in Chile, as it culminates on the 18th with a celebration of Fiestas Patrias (Homeland Parties), the celebration of Chile being Chile. I'm gonna go ahead and say that Chile does it way better than the USA's 4th of July. For several reasons:

1. The whole week is a party, not just the day. There are fondas (big public parties) all over the city with music and drinks and food, all week long. There have been several at La Católica, my university, with lives bands and students cutting loose after class.

2. Chileans have a national dance, la cueca, which is meant to be a dance recreating a rooster chasing a hen. It's really weird, and the costume involves a whole huaso or Chilean cowboy outfit for men, and a pretty country dress for the ladies. More on this later.

3. There is a national drink for the celebrations too. Chicha is basically fermented grape juice, but it's not quite wine. It's less strong and much sweeter, and people buy it in mass quantities.

4. Weather. Honestly, the 4th of July can get a bit hot for my liking. But with spring showing its first signs here, the weather is wonderful to hang out in the sun. The nights are crisp but not cold.

To expand on the whole cueca thing, I got the chance to learn the cueca and perform it. I volunteer at a Catholic high school that is half subsidized by the government and half tuition. Anyway, for the last two weeks, the teacher I'm supposed to be helping in English class sent me to her friend, the gym teacher, who taught me and the other gringa (Noelle from Notre Dame) how to dance. I showed up Tuesday and saw each grade school class present a different folk dance, and on Wednesday had the terrifying pleasure of breaking it down in front of the packed gymnasium after the high school girls danced. They presented dances from each region, north to south, and the music and costumes varied as well. It was really cool.

Then Noelle and I got in the middle, dressed like Chileans, and received a wonderful introduction. You just have to watch the video, that's all there is to it. We went to the staff party after and ate grilled food and danced a bunch more to the live band. I felt welcomed and slightly more Chilean. Today I leave for the surfing town of Pichilemu to spend the weekend with my host brothers and their pals, renting a house and maybe surfing. Oh, Chile.

Valparaíso!

Holy buckets, I went somewhere else! I spent Saturday night and some hours on either end in Valparaíso (too short). I caught a ride there with the rest of the UW group and we had a great walk around, including a trip up one of the ascensores to get up one of the many hills. It was about a hundred years old. We had a massive lunch and the group went home, but Anna, Lucy and I remained.

We watched the Chile-Venezuela futbol game at a bar downtown, where the fans were rowdy and the screen was big. During the match there was a lot of shouting, pounding on tables, swearing, songs, and drink-spilling. It was awesome. The not awesome part was the resulting 2-2 tie.

The next day involved some serious walking. We went up and down a few hills to get to La Sebastiana, my second of three Pablo Neruda dwellings. I really loved this one. It felt more home-like, and less like a museum, with fewer collections and more comfy looking chairs. I wanted so badly to spend a rainy afternoon sitting in his chair, which he named "the cloud," and staring at the city. I might even write poetry if I had to.

It should be noted that Lucy, Nigel, Anna and I made some delicious pies on the Friday before we went to Valpo. I bought some pumpkin and winged a the recipe, neglexting the egg component and adding all the cloves we ground up. It was a spicy pie. The apple pie was a HUGE success, and I say huge partly because of the gigantic pie tin we used to make it. Unfortunately the avocado/sweetened condensed milk pie just didn't work out.

Today is gorgeous, sunny and warm. I went on a jog around the big hill by my house (it has an observatory on the top) and I'm sitting in the backyard soaking up some UV. Check out my most recent photo set here, or use that cool flickr thing on the right side of the blog, to see some pies, some Valpo, and Chile's creepiest advertising campaign.