Every year on September 18th Chile celebrates their independence from Spain. The actual holiday is only Sept. 18, but don't worry Chileans cancel their lives for an entire week to celebrate. So let me just quickly explain why Chile is the best at celebrating independence ever.
They kept the gringos in school (it was canceled for everyone else) until the 17th so the festivities didn't really get started until the 18th, or "Dieciocho" for us. Unfortunately I spent Dieciocho watching Grey's Anatomy with swollen eyes and a lot of mucus in my bed all day.
BUT FRI-SUN WERE GREAT.
On Friday we went to a family birthday bbq. It was super divertido because my family is related to another family in the program who have my gal pal (her name's Eva) so it was great being with a big group of Chileans but also having another gringa for moral support and someone to stare with. My abuela taught me the traditional cueca dance and it made me love her 10,000 times more than I already do. Also Eva's homestay dad (my abuela's cousin's husband) is the best thing to ever happen to anything. For the entire 7 hours of the party he never sat down and I never saw him eat and drink because he just walked around offering people things and LITERALLY PUTTING FORKFULS OF POTATOES IN PEOPLE'S MOUTHS. I would literally finish my drink, set it down, and within <1 second he would be at my side offering me a re-fill. I said no to the wine he offered and he poured me one anyway. I had to turn down a third meat-kabob on three separate offers before he gave up and started offering me choripan instead. And then he caught on that I thought it was funny that a) he never stopped asking me if I wanted something and b) that he added "ito" to everything i.e. pancito, augita, papita, carnecito, terremocito so then he just did it all even more. Bless that sweet old man and his elbow patch sweater. The whole night was just really special because our families (even our extended families) really do everything they possibly can to make us feel included and I am so so thankful for that. It is so special.
On Saturday some gringos and I went to a fonda right by my apartment. Fondas are just big parties that are kinda like fairs that are set up all over Chile for the weekend. Basically they're all just about traditional Chilean food, traditional Chilean drinks, and traditional Chilean dancing. AND IT'S THE BEST. I waited 90 minutes in line to hurt my body with chorrillana (french fries, satueed onions, sausage, beef, and a fried egg). And then we sat on the grass and accidentally watched a band called Inti-Illimani perform. It was just like 5 old dudes playing CLASSIC Chilean music. They did a lot of harmonizing and the instruments they played made the most pleasing sound in the world. It was like a Latin ukulele. And I wanted to weep. I just find it so special that some humans are naturally inclined to play an instrument and then a few humans that have that inclination can get together and and make music that can then have a deeply powerful effect on other humans. One day I'm gonna have to write a blog post titled "Things I Have a Deep Reverence For" so I can expand on this point.
Then I came home and hung with my mom and her friends/family/Eva and I UNDERSTOOD MOST OF THE CONVERSATION/JOKE CONTENT. Something's happening to my brain. Then at midnight (yes they leave at midnight to go out) we left to go see a 20 person band perform. They're called Banda Conmoción and they changed my life forever. 20 people. In one band. I'm talking tubas, trumpets, trombones, symbols, big drums, maracas, EVERYTHING. Plus a dancing devil man. I will never, ever, ever be able to explain how cool it was. Even watching videos of them don't do them any justice. THEY ALL HAD SO MUCH DAMN CHARISMA AND WERE SO MUCH FUN. And they would come into the crowd and do stuff with us. And spray foam on us from the stage. It was the most uniquely entertaining show I have ever seen. And we were the only gringas there. AND IT WAS SO LATIN AMERICAN. I actually feel like I'm wasting my time trying to explain it because it just cannot be explained. So everyone just needs to come to Chile and see them. Glad that's settled. After Banda Conmoción finished it just turned into a Latin dance party (MY FAVORITE THING). *ATTN: only giving the following detail to brag* Word for word verbatim what two guys said to me: "You are not normal United States girl." "Why?" "Because you dance like Latin girl." I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW THANK YOU EVERYONE GOODBYE. Around 3:30 AM we got a taxi ride home and I got to talk to the taxi driver about Jesus. And for some reason I was able to speak Spanish really well in that moment. Just lol at Jesus and life.
4 hours later I woke up to go to church. Met an Australian woman who just moved to Santiago 2 weeks ago because she feels like God wants her to plant a church here. YOUNG SINGLE GALS MOVING ACROSS CONTINENTS BY THEMSELVES TO PLANT CHURCHES. Female empowerment is alive y'all. And to tie in my point about my deep reverence for people making music together, I have another point I'd like to make. This weekend I saw/felt/learned more about God watching Inti-Illimani and Banda Conmoción than I did at church this morning. AND YES THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A THING. So let's stop confining Jesus to Sunday mornings and Christian events. Because that's just not fair to our big big God. OH MY GOSH MY MOM JUST CAME IN AND HANDED ME A PLATE FULL OF FOOD WHY IS THIS CONSISTENTLY HAPPENING WHILE I WRITE THESE POSTS.
The final leg of the Fiestas Patrias was going to my abuela's house for lunch and having the pug sit on my lap again and then going to a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo" family/friend party which then kinda awkwardly turned into a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo and Also a Welcome United States Girl That We Don't Know" party. I love Chile because it's a thing to go around to everyone at the party and touch cheeks and make a kissy sound (I am in third grade for describing it that way) even if you have no idea who they are. You may not even introduce yourselves or ever speak again but YA GOTTA DO THE KISSY ANYWAYS. Basically the party was a hoot and I just love everything about this culture. They fed me more empanadas and by the end of the party they were screaming "Ayyyyy Yessi" and cheering on my newly found Latin hips via the microphone. I guess it's not everyday a big tall white idiot that loves to dance and pretends to be Latin crashes their parties. They were all v entertained. I was filmed multiple times. And I left feeling like everyone was my new best friend. WHY ARE CHILEANS SO FRIENDLY AND WELCOMING AND FUN.
Thank u Jesus for everything. Salsa dancing for Your glory. amen.
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