el Dieciocho

This past Thursday was September 18th, known here as the Dieciocho (the 18th) - chilean independence day! It is a HUGE holiday here...think like July 4th but for a whole week. They don't have fireworks or symphonies or picnics, but they do have lots barbques (asados) and lots of dancing cueca. Everyone takes to the south or north, to campos (ranches), beaches, friends and families' houses. And everywhere you go, campo, beach, city, there's a fonda nearby. They are alot like our small town festivals...tons of booths, food, games, little roller coasters for kids, prizes, artist's booths...expect that they have like five dance floors and cueca music. Instead of cotton candy and funnel cakes and hotdogs, they have empanadas, antichuchos (shiskabobs) and churros filled with dulce de leche.













My friends and I were invited out to our friend's Carolina's campo for the 18th. After the confusion and slight frustration of figuring out the metrobuses, our friends picked us up (two stops past where we were supposed to get off!) and drove us to her campo. It was gorgeous...everything was so green, no city buildings, smog, or metro trains in site! Her family was really sweet, and all the kids were really friendly. It's kind of funny being a foreigner in situations like these...it makes you an automatic celebrity, and everyone has endless questions. Are there really cowboys there? Did you think Chile was a "third world" country before you came? Do you like Bush? Who are you going to vote for? (of course those weren't just kids asking us!) We ate a huge barbque and played with the kids, and then went next door to play soccer. I didn't play, but Femi and Kristina did...and girls here do NOT play soccer, haha. It was a good game, and a beautiful sunset. That night, after naps and coffee and putting on extra layers, we went with Caro and her friends and family to a fonda (we set out at like 1:30am...!). We didn't stay too long, but it was cool to see what it was like, and we had some yummy churros.







The next day before leaving, Cristian and Caro took us up into the hills near Caro's ranch. It was a beautiful morning! We had such a good time with her family, we wanted to stay longer...I know some of the kids were sad to see us go! So we took our huge suitcase (us three girls shared one) and hopped on the Metrotren back into Santiago, where we met up with our friend Juan Pablo to drive to Viña del Mar.



The drive was about an hour an half, away from the city once again, winding along the bottom of the mountains and out to the coast. We arrived just in time to grab a pizza and sit out on the rocks to watch the sun set over the ocean. The Pacific Ocean!!! I had never seen the Pacific before! The sunset was, of course, gorgeous. We walked around for a bit and ate some icecream, and then met up with our friend Alberto.







We stayed for the weekend at an apartment his uncle owns - it was the most odd, charming little apartment, with tons of funny paintings and old knicknacks everywhere! There weren't any appliances either - stove, fridge, nada - but that was a part of the charm. It was a blast! We went out for nice seafood, went dancing, and spent the whole next day on the beach. It felt sooo nice to be bare foot in the sand, wearing a tank top in the sunshine! It was like I was back in Texas again...except that the water was frreeeezing - definitely not like the Gulf. And the sunset even somehow surpassed the day before.
The next day after mass we explored Valparaiso, the older part of the town which is pretty much connected to Viña. The neatest part of town is up on a hill, full of every color of shanty and shop you can think of. We took a little "ascenor" up to the top - it was super rickety! After lunch at a cute little shop, we walked around the town some more. There were Chilean flags everywhere! The Chilean flag and Texas flag are actually pretty similar. We ended our trip at the shrine in Viña del Mar, called "Agua Santa" (Holy Water). It was a perfect end to the trip. I arrived home so tired! But dived back into school work all the same...just like Spring Break, pretty much everything is due after the holiday. But the weekend of absolute rest and fun with my friends was completely worth it :)

This is a video of us getting away from the city!! This is my absolute favorite part of road trips, driving, driving, driving...going somewhere, just letting the miles roll by, and the sun streaming in.