Being that Chilean schools seem to look for every possible reason not to have class, this week's celebration has provided the perfect excuse to basically cancel classes for the entire week. Last Friday, the festivities kicked off with a special 'project' that all the students had a hand in. The medio students, high school, were assigned different periods of Chilean history while the basico students, elementary, were tasked with coming up with exhibitions for each of Chile's regions. The medio girls did an excellent job showing the struggles and issues present in each time period. I found the recent history involving ex-Presidents Allende (socialist) and Pinochet (right wing militarist) most interesting. By most accounts, Pinochet's era marked a dark time where political and social oppression were more common place than anyone would like to admit. You can still find his influence today in culture and law. For example, divorce only became legally possible in 2004. As you can imagine, it's still a hot topic that creates lots of gossip around the communities when it happens. Another example would be some Chilean teenagers obsession with 80's rock music. They don't seem to be very interested in much of the rock music from the 90's or even today but bands like Guns n' Roses, Metallica, Megadeth and the Ramones are very popular. I can't tell you how many times I've had to disappoint someone by saying I don't like Guns n' Roses very much. Anyway, it was interesting to hear Chilean's reflect on the tumultuous overthrow of their government (which was in part supported by the US) and the years that followed. In many cases, I found that they feel bad about the way things happened but they aren't sure their country would be in such a prosperous position today without those years of stabilization that allowed them to form a somewhat solid infrastructure.
There were plenty of tables where the cute factor outweighed the heaviness of some of the culture. The very little girls worked on projects about the native populations of Chile so they were all dressed up and playing games the Mapuche would have played. I also got to sample lots of food that were typical of the different regions in Chile. I don't have the heart to call them out on it but it really isn't all that terribly different from north to south.
Today brought a fair type event where each class brought food and had games for other students to play. They charge small amounts in order to raise money for activities and field trips the classes would like to do. It was a madhouse in every way imaginable. Some classes sold little sticks that had fruit or marshmallows covered with chocolate that tasted OK. Unfortunately, these palitos were not child safe as they had sharp points. I can't even begin to explain how nervous it made me to see 6 year olds literally running through the halls and around blind corners with sharp sticks. Equally dangerous was a game that many of you would be familiar with that involves popping a balloon with a dart from some arbitrary distance. The twist here was that there were three girls holding the board that the balloons were tied to. Giving a 7 year old a dart and telling her to throw it at the board you're holding in front of your chest takes more guts than I'll ever have. It's true miracle that no one was maimed in the name of fundraising. There was also karaoke... which is a must at any gathering of more than 6 people here in Chile. My ears are still ringing from the sounds of about a hundred girls screaming the words to every song for the last 30 mins of the event.
All in all, fun was had, money was raised and I was slightly overwhelmed. Still, I'm looking forward to the events that are yet to come. The school is having a special cueca competition tomorrow morning that's certain to entertain. Cueca is the national dance that's inspired by the mating rituals of roosters and hens. It's quite... well, I'm still searching for the words to describe it. With any luck (and some kind of mixture of wine, beer and pisco), I'll be attempting my own interpretation of it by sundown on Friday.
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