September is a big month in Chile as it is when they celebrate the start of their independence. You see hundreads of Chilean flags flying, see many people dancing Cueca (sounds like quaker; this is their national dance), eat a ton of food and drink a lot of terremotos; these are a perticular cocktail they drink at this time of year, with some kind of wine, syrup and pineapple sorbet; sounds unappetising but it was delicious. Terremoto means earthquake, they give this name to the drink beacuse when you drink a lot the ‘ground starts moving’.
Me trying a Terremoto
Due to this
celebration the school put on a big show with all the classes performing a
dance for the parents. It was wonderful to watch all the children in their
costumes and see how they celebrate this festival. There was a band playing
afterwards and a lot of food was eaten!
It actually
rained this month…I wouldn’t really call it rain as it was only a few spots but
that is rain for them here in Antofagasta. I took a photo but it is not that
clear that it is raining.
The next
celebration of the month was Sarah’s Birthday, a friend I have made, she
invited Joaquin and I to hers for a BBQ…again a lot of food was eaten!
The 18th of
September came around and this is the day of the main celebration. On this day
you must fly a Chilean flag from your property. It is a national holiday but as
Joaquin works in the hosiptal he has to work his shift but he was home in the
evening and he took me to the ‘Las Ramadas’. This is a big festival where you
find stalls for games, disco tents, food stalls, mini bars and fair rides. We
wondered around so I could get a sense of thier festivities and played some
games, I won a teddy bear! I also watched how they make churros.
The next
day we went back in the day to go and eat lunch, it was a very different
atmosphere to the night before, less people and a lot of eating going on! I
played some games again and won a teddy again!
Then it was
my birthday, celebrating 31 years! I spent the morning having my nails done and
then the afternoon cooking food for the party in the evening. I invited some
friends over for a small party in the garden. I cooked way too much food but
everyone like the dishes, I tried to make it more English and cook things they
wouldn’t normally have here in Chile. I got some wonderful presents, things I
really needed, like my hairbrush.
My birthday cake was awsome which was
chocolate and mint. We talked until mid hours of the morning…how parties are so
different here; too calm for me - I miss having a wild night with my friends. After
the holdiays I also had the kids sing Happy Birthday to me and I wish I had
recorded their rendition of Happy Birthday in English, I loved it!
So by the
end of the month I had eaten so much food it is time for a diet!
