December - ¡Feliz Navidad!

I am so far behind in writing my blog that I am having to remember what happened all that way back in December (last year now!) as I have been doing so much this year, 2020. I must catch up!

Well December wasn’t that interesting but it was festive time. Again, I spent December in the summer and the heat but it still doesn’t feel like Christmas to me…I don’t think it ever will, even though I have had 9 years of hot Christmases! The Christmas tree was put up in November so that job was already done but I missed having an advent calendar. They don’t sell them here in Chile so I actually made one for everyone in the house. I put some treats inside, Monty enjoyed the treats too! 

This year I had to write a letter to Santa (in Spanish too) and post it, this was so we could buy each person in the family a gift that they wanted/needed.

Our tent arrived for our camping trip in January…a little bit bigger than we expected but we are excited about the trip. I am doing a lot of planning on the route and menu for the hike!

This month at Scouts we did a Christmas craft and have been getting ready for our Jamboree trip in January, preparing all the girls for activities, checking all the equipment and going on Scout camp.

Scout camp was fun, we had designed a game for the whole camp to enjoy which took longer than expected, some scouts need to get better at working in a team but everyone had a lot of fun. Monty visited the Christmas tree at the site. We passed one of the girls up to the next session and we had another of the girls make their promise. One night we had a campfire but I was so tired I had to go to bed early!

After camp Cheetah had to have a bath, he was so dirty, camp was so dusty and I got covered head to toe in dust that on the way home I think my trousers were a different colour.

It was also time to finish school/work not only for Christmas but for the summer holidays. Here in Chile they start the school year in March and finish in December and usually only have 2 terms with the winter holidays in June or July. My school has 3 terms as we are a privet school and have another break added in September. On our last day of school we only had Christmas breakfast and then it was holiday time. I still had a bit of work to do over the holidays but only a very little.

As it was the month of Christmas, we had a few parties and nights out for drinks. We did secret friend (they call it that here instead of secret Santa). We went over to a friends house before we entered we had to put our secret presents in a black sack, we had some food, played a fun game and then it was time for “Santa” to give out the presents (Joaquin had this job)…I got a bar of Chocolate and a pair of cycling gloves…a perfect gift.

Another night I went to Jaime’s house (works friends) for a small work party. I left the party at 2 am, when we had to leave the BBQ area but some carried the night on up in the flat and I think finished maybe around 5am!

Monty and I making some mince pies…they were a hit with everyone who tried them. 

Mince pies are also something they don’t have here in Chile! I also couldn’t find Christmas pudding…oh how I missed all the yummy treats from England at this time of year!

No advent calendars, no mince pies, no Christmas pudding, Christmas dinner is not the same either. So you are thinking what do they eat at Christmas time??? They do have a lot of different types of Christmas cake here and they are all nice but so different to how I know Christmas cake. 

In Chile they celebrate Christmas Day on Christmas Eve. So usually the whole family sit and have their ‘Christmas lunch’ on Christmas Eve then everyone stays up including the kids. At midnight the kids run outside to see if Santa is flying passed and when they return inside Santa has delivered all the presents. Then they all open them then. What happened to telling al the children he won’t deliver the presents if you are still awake? Christmas Day is then a day to sleep and relax. As Joaquin had to work the night shift on Christmas Eve, we actually had a usual Christmas for me on Christmas Day. Joaquin came home and slept then I made a typical Christmas Dinner for the family, so they could try it for the first time. Then in the afternoon we could open all the presents and have a lazy day.

The dogs also loved their new toys, which were destroyed in a matter of minutes!    

Not much happened between Christmas and News Years for me. I just spent time planning my next few trips away!

New Year Eve!

This year we had a small party at the house with some of Joaquin’s family. We had our last meal together for 2019 and when it came to midnight we got the party poppers and hats out had a dance then it was time for me to hit my pillow before the sun came up!

November - uneventful but very eventful!

This month has been a little boring as I’ve not got much to write about; I’ve been doing a lot of wedding planning and haven’t been out and about. However, this month has been eventful with the protests and riots still going on, I have many things to add to my post about all the protests in Chile...post still under construction. 

I finally managed to get Joaquin’s birthday present as the shop had reduced opening times due to the protests. 

He is very happy with his new bike and we have been on a few cycle rides up and down the city!

I’ve been on another hike to see more flowers in the hills, Sarah and Felipe invited us to join them. It was a very interesting walk where I saw some rare flowers and ones that only grow in the area. The cacti are amazing and huge. I learnt that they only grow a few centimetres a year (or when the rains come) so some of these cacti are hundreds of years old. We also went up a sand dune; I got so much sand in my shoes as I was jumping down it. I emptied my shoes at the bottom and then again about 5 times when I got home, I don't know where the sand kept coming from!

Found a big spider...well not as big as ones in Australia!

This made me laugh...

A parking space only for pregnant woman! What is happening...they don't have a disability! I think they see it as an illness here in Chile.

In scouts the girls have been practicing their camping skills, one of which is putting up a tent! Problem is it took them about 45 minutes to put the tent up. I think they need more practice to get quicker. I also now have my uniform.

I had to visit the British Embassy in Santiago to sort out some paperwork to be able to get married so spent a few days there. We visited the centre and saw the impact the protests have had there and been researching on what we should to when my family come to visit in February. 

So here in Chile they have refillable bottles for fizzy drinks. First you buy a bottle and your drink, then when you have finished you go back with the empty bottle, pick a new one and return your old one.

The Christmas tree has already been put up...it’s only November! The kids have been singing Christmas songs I banned them till December then they can sing to their hearts content.

Lots of events happened in October

This has been a big month with many things happening in Chile.

Firstly the weather is getting warmer, I can tell summer is on its way.

At the beggining of the month it was Coty’s birthday. We celebrated with cake, of course! The circus was also in town so for something else to do we all went to see the show. Well, I started off impressed with the trapeze guys and the jugglers then it just started to go down hill. The clowns were not funny for me but Coty was having a laugh at them. I thought that because I have seen many circus shows I wouldn’t see anything new but oh how I was wrong…the strangest thing I have seen in a circus was preformed. The performers started doing scenes from Beauty and The Beast, it would have been ok if they were actually singing or even acting but they were lip syncing to the songs and the acting was shockingly bad. Second half started with the Globe of Death and then back to the awful reenacting of scenes! Well at least it was something different and I saw something in a circus I thought I would never see!

Also at the beggining of the month there was a Tango Festival. I went with Sarah to see a show at the theater, the show started off slow but finally we got to see the professional dancers. They were amazing to watch and their costumes were stunning. We had a great show with the dancers, singers and musicians all putting on different acts.

 

The next day Joaquin and I went to a Tango workshop, this was held by one of the professional couples from the show. We got the best dancers teaching us some moves. I also think Joaquin and I were the youngest people there too! At the end of the session the dancers told us to start going to classes, we impressed them!

In scouts we have been doing some more fundraising for Jamboree. This time I helped make roscas (these are a bit like doughnuts but made with a different dough) to sell. It was a hot day and we had to cook outside right next to flames with hot fat to fry. My main job was to put the dough into the oil to cook and then we had some people draining them out and then coating them in sugar. I don't think it is the healthiest snack!

I went on another hike this month. It started off easy but didn’t end like that! On the hike there were lots of different flowers; we went to a place where it doesn’t rain but the tops of the hills are covered in clouds often so the ground and plants get water. We followed the path to the top and had a rest before making our way down a different way. The problem was there was not really a way down the path than we had choosen to take. The hills were way too steep. The only way down was on our bottoms. It wasn’t only steep the rocks were loose too, we had to be so careful as we were going down in a line. I was at the back of the line, I think I had the hardest job as the people before me had disturbed the rocks so they were looser for me. Then I had to be careful that I didn’t send rocks flying down infront of me otherwise some people may have been injured! As we were making our way down practically sliding on our bums some hikers came around the corner down below us, only looking up when Joaquin sent a rock flying down to their path, they started taking our photos, I am sure it was a funny sight. We all made it down to path below and feeling very tired made our way back to the car. It was time to go home for a much needed afternoon nap.

In Chile they have a day to celebrate everything and this month was student day and teachers day. On student day the kids at school had a preformace made by the teachers, I put on a preformace with antoher teacher with hula hoops, we also had knife throwers, the worlds strongest man, magicans and clowns only to name a few. Then children enjoyed play time and a party in the classroom with cake and treats. 

The next day was the teachers day, we had gifts given to us from the children and also a party in the classroom again with cake and treats. In the afternoon there was no school and the teachers went out for lunch.

Here are my presents I recieved and I got a lot of chocolate (something the kids know I love), look how some spelt my name! Cathering, how Cute!

In th middle of the month Joaquin and I went with Vania and Richard to the Paranal Observatory. Chile has some of the best clear skies in the world to be able to see into space; not much light pollution either. I was really interested in learning more about what they do at the Observatory, this was a 2 hour tour, which Monty and Cheetah came on too. It was so windy at the top that Monty nearly got blown away, Cheetah had to keep a tight hold of him! We got a tour of the telescope, the control room and got to see the hotel where the scientists stay while they are working there. It was interesting to learn about how things work there but our guide could have been a bit more fun and enthusiastic.

The day we went to the observatory we lernt about the protests that had started in Santiago (the captial) and then they started here in Antofagasta. This is still going on now. I will put up a seprate post all about why they are happening, how they started and really what has been happening as I know the news coverage has not been entiarly truthful or wide spread.

Lots of people had birthdays this month one was my friend Jaime’s and the other was Joaquin’s. For Jaime’s birthday we managed to go out for a drink with him and Alejandro to celebrate. Next it was Joaquin’s 30th birthday but the problem was the protests were still happening so things were not normal, we couldn’t really go out to celebrate so we had friends over for drink and a game of Monopoly Deal instead. I also am glad I brought a few presents in advance as shops were not open. I have to wait till I can give him his main present when they re-open. He enjoyed his day though.