More bicentenario photos!

¡Bicentenario Feliz!

The Chilean bicentennial was exactly what my family and friends had promised: 5 days of non-stop partying. Chileans party like there is no tomorrow....there will be days when I am up early (not many) and I see groups of people beer cans in hand walking around town. If José asks me what time I got home after a night of partying and I say 3:00-4:00am, he'll say '¡Temprano!'/ Early!. In order to celebrate the bicentennial to the fullest all schools and most companies/businesses were closed Friday-Monday. Going into the bicentennial everyone informed me that I would gain 3-4 kilos (7-8 pounds) from drinking and eating.....this proved to be painfully true....and very delicious......

I was lucky to be able to celebrate the bicentennial weekend with both my Chilean family and members of my bad-ass girl posse (called TEAM MAGALLANES). We started the weekend early by taking a ferry across the Straight of Magellan to the town of Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego island and partying there for a couple of days. Chileans celebrate their independence day by going to venues called 'fondas,' where they eat, drink, and dance for hours on end. There were fondas all throughout town classified by profession, neighborhood, socioeconomic standing, etc. On the actual bicentennial I went to an Army fonda that was decorated 'camo' style in addition to pine branches and colors of the Chilean flag (red, white, and blue). Two of my friends here are dating men in the Army, so we were able to tag along and check it out. I proceeded to drink and dive into the local gastronomy after making a fool of myself dancing. The traditional dance of Chile is the 'Cueca,' and is supposedly based on the courting rituals of a rooster and a hen. I really like the fact that people from all walks of life here participate in this dance-skaters, goths, flaites (wannabe rappers), etc. When danced well, the cueca is beautiful. Ladies, I have a new appreciation for male dancers........

The day after the bicentennial there was a huge parade honoring the various branches of military in Punta Arenas. Parades in Chile are more serious and usually consist of groups of soldiers marching. There were so many people lining the streets that my friend Carly climbed a pretty tall/sketchy fence to see. I wasn't as brave and hoisted myself up high enough to see the action. Afterward, José drove me and Carly out to his family's house in the countryside right outside of Punta Arenas. My favorite part about Chile hands down has to be my family, they're amazing people. There house is right by the water and is the perfect getaway.......and perfect party house! As soon as we arrived we were offered food and drink and got to watch my aunt María Ercillia make her delicious empanadas. Carly and I ate such a big lunch that we took a nap and had my sister Natalia read us fairytales in Spanish. After the nap we ate and drank again, repeating this cycle until José drove us back to Punta Arenas around 9:30-10:00. Not wanting to waste a second of the bicentennial weekend, José immediately drove us to a fonda called 'Gatitos del Sur'/'Kitties of the south' (I love this name!!!!) so that we could see a fonda hosted by the 'real' people of Punta Arenas. I taught José the expressions 'white collar,' and 'blue collar,' so he was excited to say that we were going to a 'blue collar' fonda. He had to enter the fonda before his two gringa companions could enter to make sure it was safe for us to go in....José was worried that there would be too many drunk cowboys that would get rowdy and touchy-feely. After giving us the green light we went in. Inside there was the most adorable boy band dancing and singing traditional Chilean music while wearing matching white suits, they were precious! A couple of rowdy guys did ask us to dance, but after a couple of rounds with them we pretended to be tired in order to avoid them. We both danced with José as well, who informed us that we were bad dancers and weren't dancing with our hearts. I don't know where José gets his material, but he seriously needs to have his own TV show or at least a made-for-TV movie. After this, we continued on to José's favorite bar, Celebrity to hear more live music and continue dancing (badly).

The last day of the bicentennial break was spent recovering and walking around the elaborately decorated cemetery...

Here are some of the foods I ate/drank in mass quantities:
anticuchos-a nice greasy shish-kabob containing a variety of meat (usually chorizo and hot dogs), onions, and peppers
empanadas-A hispanic take on the calzone. Empanadas come in a variety of flavors and sizes. The most common are queso (cheese) and pino (meat, a hard boiled egg, an olive, and a raisin).
choripanes-Chorizo sausage cooked into a link of greasy-goodness then slapped on piece of either toasted or fluffy bread. 'Pan' is Spanish for 'bread,' 'chorizo,' is spanish for 'ball of heaven'.......just joking. 'Chorizo' is Spanish for 'chorizo.'
chicha-Usually made from grapes or apples, chica has a slightly milky appearance, and a slightly sour aftertaste, reminiscent of hard apple cider. It is drunk either young and sweet or mature and strong. It contains a slight amount of alcohol, 1-3% (The word itself refers to any kind of fermented beverage)
pisco-A liquor distilled from grapes that can range anywhere from 60 -86+proof. Weaker piscos tend to taste more like watered rum where aged pisco tastes more like bourbon.

Question: What would be the traditional dance of the USA be? The traditional foods? The traditional drinks??

I'm curious to hear what my fellow Americans (Estadounidenses) think about this....


¡Besos y abrazos!

Keeley

Pictures in this blog:
1. Some of the fabulous members of Team Magallanes
2. Cazuela-A Chilean take on chicken soup and quite possibly my favorite Chilean dish under 3,000 calories
3. Aunt María Ercillia making empanadas del horno
4. A Chilean parade...the kid in the cherry picker is one of my students!
5. A student at my school in her Cueca dress