Christine's first Fiesta Patrias

September brings spring to Chile, and with it the days of celebration of Chile's independence from Spain.

For days before and after September 18, the Dieciocho or Fiesta Patrias, the country celebrates with parades, festivities, food, music and beverages.

Thursday a small group of us went to Abasto and Candela to go salsa dancing. At Candela, they had some traditional Cueca music and dance for about an hour.




Then a friend of mine attempted to teach me Cueca. She dances the Cueca beautifully and as my expression should convey, I wasn't really getting it but at least I was trying! A few people sitting next to us i guess felt sorry for me so they came over to "help" me but i didn't really improve.




For the actual day of September 18th, my host family threw an ASADO. We had chicken, pork, salads, bread, and mote con huesillo for dessert.



And everyone around the lunch table......

For this holiday, much of the drinking, music and dancing occurs in the ramadas, open air "buildings" with a dance floor under a thatched roof, or one made traditionally with branches, as in traditional shelters. They are kind of like fairs except on a smaller scale. Refreshment stands, fondas, offer a variety of national food favorites and wine and chicha are the popular beverages.

I went to my first Chilean ramada behind the local casino and we went two days in a row. I had my first antichucho which is like a shishkabob (sp?) with pieces of beef, sausage, hot dog pieces, and onions. We played rifle games and ball tossing games, enjoyed the company of friends, and danced to some popular reggaton music. Here is the group I was with infront of the rifle games.

Cheers to September 18th in Chile and an awesome time!

cw

Christine and Tereza's Trip to La Serena

La Serena is a cozy city, population 170,000 people, 12 hours by bus south of Antofagasta. It's located right on the ocean and sits right next to the city of Coquimbo. Tereza, another volunteer from the Czech Republic, and I decided to make a weekend trip to the lustrious city! Here's the trail of our trip.

We landed in La Serena Friday morning after taking an overnight bus. We visited the Japonese Gardens which offered a peaceful, serene atmosphere. We walked around, looked at the massive goldfish, swimming swans, waterfall, and half way climbed trees.

Then we strolled the streets around downtown. We found a Juvenile Orchestra playing in the main plaza and then happened onto some artesian vendors. We stopped at this gentlemans booth with some interesting work. We ended up giving him some big sales. He threw in a pair of free earrings for me. He let us come behind his work table to see how he makes his art. Very neat!Then we headed back to the hostel to check-in. Afterwards we rented bikes and bicycled to Coquimbo and back. It took a few hours and the bike trail was right along the ocean. It was beautiful, green, and gorgeous apartment buildings along the coast. We were told by a local that an apartment along the coast rents for about $300/month. Not bad huh! Only problem is thats from March-Dec. Jan and February it jumps up to about $300/DAY! Yikes!

Above we made it to Coquimbo. In the background there is a nice little cafe. We enjoyed a cool drink and fruit salad before heading back.

That night we stumbled upon a salsa "class." We stayed for a short while before heading back to get some rest for the night. I loved our hostel room. We had hot showers and a TV. I don't watch TV much at all (twice in 5 months i think) so TV is a luxury for me!

The next day we had breakfast at the hostel before hittin the road for our day tour to the Valle de Elqui. We saw papaya trees, mandarin orange orchards, and lots of vineyards with table grapes and pisco grapes! We stopped at a pisco processing plant where we had the opportunity to try pisco in its infancy as well as a 3 year old pisco. What a difference. Wasn't to crazy about both but it was neat to see the plant. I think my face explains it all.

We visited cute cities like Vicuña. We saw where the famous Gabriel Mistral lived for the first 9 years of her life. She was the first Chilean to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was also very active in womens rights. She died in New York City in her 70s.

I could post many more pictures but I won't. We had a really nice time and it is an absolutely charming city and very different from Antofagasta.

Chao!

CW

Christine's Sandboarding Experience

I recently took an afternoon adventure trip to go sandboarding in the South of Antofagasta. I went with some new Chilean friends and it was a first for a few of us. I've been snowboarding once and it wasn't the greatest experience, so I was slightly timid with the idea of sandboarding. It turned out to be a blast! This was my sandboarding story.......

The sandboard.....handmade

One board for 5 people and that wasn't to much because "sandlifts" don't exist so whatever you board down, you have to walk up and you need breaks in between! This was most of our gang, except of course for the talented photographer.

Now it's my turn and I'm getting into position! Great view of the ocean and the desert mountain. What a contrast between the two.

This took some leg muscles and balancing!!

It was a great day for sandboarding and I didn't have any major crash and burns!! A few people did though and we all had some good laughs.

Carolina y yo walking down to our destination spot.

Overall, what a thrilling experience and beautiful time we had!

Until next time,

Chao!