As mentioned in the previous post, this past 'weekend' (which lasted 6 days) was a time of celebration throughout Chile to mark their 200th anniversary. I wasn't totally sure what to expect but I knew a few important things: my girlfriend was coming to town, there would be lots of bbq-ed meat, there would be various kermesses and fondas to keep everyone busy. With that in mind, it was almost impossible not to have a good time.
The various presentations and contests at school that kicked off the celebrations were truly impressive and I genuinely enjoyed learning about Chile and also seeing some of it's culture first hand. While I've heard some people comment that Chile doesn't have a tremendously rich culture, I have to disagree. While many South American countries can be compared and one can see more than a few similarities, I'm still envious of their traditional feelings and identities that are much more specific than anything we have in the US. Granted, the US doesn't have these specific ideas and traditions because we are a diverse people. I think many would agree that this diversity is the most celebrated part of our culture. While that's a great thing to have, it doesn't give us this specific sense of identity that I feel many of the people of Chile have. It's very cool to see so many people bound over coming from the same places and sharing the same ancestors. The grass is always greener, I suppose.
As I guessed, I danced cueca. Let me rephrase that, I tried to dance cueca. My school had a cueca contest on our last day of school before the break where girls of all ages, and males partners from neighboring schools, showed their skills in front of the whole school. There were three categories broken up by age and I have to say that some of the younger kids were nearly as good as some of the older ones. It's incredible that they've been able to learn so much so quickly... but again, when this dance is so closely related to their national identity, it's kind of a priority. I can't remember how many times I was asked if there was some kind of dance in the US that fills a similar role. For the life of me, I can't think of any one dance that Americans across the country know and identify as being a part of American history.
The fondas and kermesses were also a really interesting part of the celebrations. Kermesses, basically small scale fairs, had been set up all across town as a way to raise funds for the students of the school. Much like the one at my school, there was lots of cake, candy and empanadas being hocked by children of all ages. There were also some of the most ridiculous games I've ever seen. One included trying to extinguish the flame on a candle being held in the mouth of a boy standing 6-7 feet away with a water gun... all for the bargain price of about 15-20 cents. The fondas were fun but not quite what I expected. Roughly translated, fondas are supposed to be cheap, temporary restaurants set up to allow people to eat, drink and be merry. I say roughly translated because they weren't cheap and the food didn't reach any kind of restaurant quality that I've experienced. At any rate, there was lots of drinking and dancing so it was fun. I'd hoped to find something a bit more traditional but ultimately found them to be a way for different organizations in the city to throw parties, make money and give the people of the community a place to get together and dance to the historic, timeless beats of reggaeton and 80's pop music.
I do feel that we get a bit of the raw end of the deal down here in the extreme south when it comes to experiencing the Fiestas Patrias in it's truest sense. While the weather is getting slightly better, there was still no way that any of these events could be held outside. When I watched the news during the weekend, it showed all sorts of clips of people in other parts of the country enjoying sunny outdoor festivals. Don't get me wrong, I still had lots of fun indoors but who doesn't love drinking and eating while the sun does it's best to give you cancer? It's just another slight drawback of living so far from center but there's plenty of other things to be thankful for instead. For example, in just a couple short weeks tens of thousands of penguins will start arriving in the area to begin their mating season. Who needs 85 degree weather when you can cuddle a king penguin?
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