Those of you who read the first part of my recap may be wondering how I got the time to travel to Argentina? Chile’s bicentennial of course! Or the bicentenario as they call it here. I had a week off from school to celebrate the historic event plus the following Monday. So I spent the week in Argentina/ a bus and arrived back to Santiago Friday just in time for the start of the real celebrations. There was an asado, Chilean for BBQ, at my house every day for the next four days. For the next week we only had eggs in my house for protein. My host parents explanation “mucho carne.” Chileans eat so much during fiestas patrias (their term for the weekend of patriotic parties) that on average Chileans gain 6lbs and in the aftermath there is a spike in gym memberships like in the States after new year’s.
Needless to say I ate a lot of food. Two traditional Chilean foods that are quite good are chorípan and mote con huesillo. Chorípan is a chorizo, a type of sausage, in a roll, hence chorípan. One can add peppers, ketchup, etc. to chorípan and it is normally accompanied by a beer. I was mocked for drinking water while eating a chorípan one day by my host dad. Mote con huesillo is a tradicional summertime drink in Chile but it is so sugary it is really a dessert. It is made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon, and then once cooled mixed with cooked husked wheat (mote). Normally the peach is left in the glass, which can make finishing the drink difficult because cutting a peach with a spoon is not an easy task. However, for people like my sister Kelly, who enjoys picking at her plate once she is done eating, the peach is probably the best part.
So aside from eating what did I do during fiestas patrias? Well my first night back from Argentina I watched fireworks from my window that were going off in the park to blocks from my house. The fireworks were going off so close to my house that it literally shook and all the car alarms in my neighborhood went off. I also went to a fundo at the park near my house, which is basically a mini state fair. Also enjoyed the military parade, and heard the President give a speech, however, with all the cheering I didn’t understand much, or it might just be my Spanish.
The military parade was going very slowly so my friends and I left to go to the a special Olympic quality light show at the Chilean equivalent of the White House, La Moneda, although the president doesn’t live there. Anyway along the way, on a street that was completely empty, we heard a sonic boom and proceeded to freak out. I covered my ears because I knew what the sound was but for some reason I also crouched down. My reaction freaked out my friend (who shall remain anonymous) who had never heard a sonic boom before and she proceeded to think that the building next to us was falling down. Once we regained our senses we could not stop laughing. Then we saw fighter jets with plumes the colors of the Chilean flag and we made the connection that the sonic boom was part of the military parade.
The light show at La Moneda was fantastic, the palace looked like it was falling at times and then at other points there were objects like the heads from Easter Islands being projected out of the building. Only downside of the show was when a girl next to me threw up. She told her mom she wasn’t feeling well but mom wanted to stick around for the show – she learned her lesson! Never have I see so many people clear out of the way so quickly. The place was packed but in seconds there was a 6ft circle around the girl.
On that note here ends the recapping of my time in Chile! Look out for a post on Atacama by next Wednesday. I have to write a Spanish paper on my time there!
No comments:
Post a Comment