Chilean National Holiday!

So in America, we have one day off for the 4th of July.  It is a great afternoon of wearing red, white and blue...eating hamburgers and hot dogs and watching fireworks.  Could you imagine doing this...everyday...for an entire week straight?

Well here in Chile, the national holiday has been extending it's days of celebration each year.  I am not sure of the exact dates of "holiday" but all I know is that I celebrated for an entire week straight!  My school even has off of school for a week!  I can't complain.  First, the weekend started with going to what we call here a "ramada" or a "fonda" at Santo Tomás a University here in Iquique.  My friend Cat and I went and met up with our Chilean friends that attend the school.  Basically, a ramada is a huge fundraiser for schools and they sell different traditional foods and drinks.  For the university, we stayed there all night long and it even turned into a discoteque later in the night!!!  It was just a bunch of college aged students dancing and singing to traditional Chilean music.  I was even interviewed that night and I had explain (in Spanish) why I was here and all about my experiences in Chile.  It went really well and I am excited to see the footage!

I visited three different ramadas during the week.  One which was  at my colegio where I was able to see my students participate in traditional dances!  Some of my boys were half naked in little clothes...it was hysterical!  I ate a TON of Churipan (Chorizo wrapped in warm, toasted bread with mayo on top) probably one of my favorite snacks here in Chile (also one of the most fattening-great)  I also ate a lot of empanadas...some filled with seafood, others with cheese or meat.  YUM YUM YUM...but for the first time in my life I can say that: I would like a break from meat.  After eating non-stop meat for an entire week, I would love a few days of vegetables and chicken ha-ha.

I also spent a lot of time with my Chilean family over the past few days.  One night I celebrated the birthday of one of my host mom's friends in the house.  It was a girls night with all of her co-workers from the bakery. We had excellent food, great conversations, and danced all night long!  My brothers also had a little "fiesta" one night...I had already been sleeping because I was exhausted from the night before...and I woke up to people outside of my window at around 2AM.  I went downstairs and WALAH! About 20 of our friends were all sitting around in the living room.    Somehow it ended up where both of my brothers went to bed and I was left being in charge of the house...this is starting to become the norm.  The boys invite their friends over...and eventually want to go to bed and leave me to entertain the rest of the night...it's a darn good thing I am social and like their friends!

Other than that...vacations have been very relaxing.  I am finally catching up on my sleep.  Yesterday, my friend Cat came over and we had a cocktail watching the sun go down from my balcony.  (My balcony overlooks the entire city and ocean...it is PERFECT).  Later, some of our friends came over to join us...Flaco (Diego) and Cristhián (my neighbor).  We all hung out for awhile and then decided we all needed a good nights rest.  I ended up playing soccer with Cristhián for another hour and drinking tea afterwards...but overall it was a relaxing-early evening.

Anyway, back to some of the Chilean traditions.  Here is a video of the "Cueca" the Chilean national dance.  Tiki-Tiki-Ti!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h6ubQz9ATk

Also, Cumbia music is very popular here in Chile as well...one of the more popular artists is "Chico Truijllo." A link to one of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0zMiRftVY4

Another example of Cumbia music (I really like this song)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrkxJL1AQcU


I think this week of celebrating a different culture made me realize...in the United States...we do not have culture.  We are truly a melting pot of many different cultures.  We could never do "ramadas" in our schools because one religion would be upset with another religion.  Or one nationality would feel that they aren't getting enough attention as the other.  It was so fun to be part of a community and an entire country listening to their "traditional" music, eating their "traditional" food, and dancing their "traditional" dance.  In America, I have traditions with my family and I love every moment of celebration with them.  But as a country, we do not have strong cultural ties as the people of Chile and other countries do.  I love the culture here and I love the traditions.  It was a blast and I can't wait for next September the 18th!