Good afternoon everyone! Thank you for taking time out of your busy, monotonous lives to live vicariously through your in-law/fellow American/landscaper who is busy studying the Spanish language in Chile.
The past week was a very important one for the country of Chile. Exactly one-hundred and ninety-nine years ago September 18th, the first independent government of Chile was formed. Every year, to mark the importance of this event, Chile celebrates the Fiestas Patrias. It's mandatory in Chile to partake in the Fiestas Patrias (if you don't everyone will think you're lame), and I discovered eight reasons why they are better than the United States' Independence Day:
2. All the big cities have military parades. Due to some bad judgments I made the night before, I missed Concepción's military parade. However, I did get to see Santiago's parade on TV which had tanks, fighter planes, helicopters and people with guns. It beats a parade with floats full of little kids, classic cars containing waving senior citizens, and people handing out political stickers. Even the pansies who twirl sticks in front of everyone were cool--they carried pistols.
3. Their carnival games have prizes that you actually want to win. If I'm going to throw money away for the 0.1% chance of winning something, I want to win something cool. What would I do with a large, stuffed Winnie the Pooh? Carry it on my back? Look like I'm someone's dad? I'd much rather play a game where you can win something useful, like paper money or a bottle of hard alcohol. Fortunately, at carnivals in Chile you can win both! Sometimes they tape money to the bottle to create a rare double whammy. Unfortunately, when I played these games I didn't win anything, but it's the thought that counts.
4. Many universities have big parties to kick off the Fiestas Patrias. On Wednesday, our campus had a huge (around 5,000 people) party. How does an institute of higher learning celebrate the 18th? At about three o'clock in the afternoon, all the student organizations around campus begin selling drinks, spicy sausages and shish kabobs. Everyone eats and drinks, and later a band plays and everyone dances. It's even better than seeing the Johnny Holm band.
5. Everyone does this. It's called the cueca and it's the national dance of Chile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGURVqOmH0
6. They put U.S. barbecues to shame. I went to a Fiestas Patrias barbecue on Thursday night. Since I was coming from a carnival, I didn't get there until close to midnight--however, it was not a problem. The grill was fired up cooking steak, chicken and sausage; everyone knows meat is better when it's mixed with other meats. We ate it with nothing but our bare hands, just like meat should be eaten. The grill didn't stop until four in the morning, right after we made empanadas--which translates to Hot Pockets in English.
7. Chile has not just one, not two, but three special holiday drinks. They are a) ponche: tastes like sweet white wine, with peaches at the bottom, b) chicha: tastes like red flavored Kool-Aid, and c) terremoto: an exciting mix of wine, ice cream and coconut liqueur. It translates to earthquake, and has similar effects. All of them are really sweet and don't taste good, but they make up for it in other ways.
8. Since nobody has to work, everyone just stays up all night partying. I went to an afterparty at a bar (they call them "after's" here) and didn't leave until nine in the morning. Think of how many fights at 2:00 AM would be prevented if bars didn't close until 9:00 AM. Everyone would be too hungry for breakfast to fight.
The Fiestas Patrias are missing:
- Fireworks
- A movie about them where Will Smith kills aliens
Aside from that, in terms of sheer fun, the Fiestas Patrias are way better than almost every U.S. holiday, even President's Day.
Weekly American Clothing Item: a sweater that said, "No Wag At Iowa." Does anyone know what that means?
Thanks for reading, and as they say in Chile, "Make yourself go good."
That sounds like a totally cool way to celebrate.
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