Santiago Part 2

Last weekend, I went to Santiago for a second time. This time, I went with my current family. My host mom and "nephew" and a friend of my mom. My older sister and brother, who live in Santiago, met us there, and my other older sister was there for work. My mom wanted to take me to the soccer game there, Chile vs. Paraguay. We left Wednesday morning. We picked up some friends of my oldest host sister, Alejandra, who live near Ovalle. There were eight of us in the car, which was meant to hold eight, but it was still a tight fit, especially for the almost 6 hour drive through the foothills to Santiago.

We arrived around 5, after having stopped, of course, for a giant lunch around 3. The game started at 10:30, and I assumed, being in Chile, that would mean we would leave at 9 at the earliest, and most likely the game would be late. But, no matter how late Chileans are for everything else, soccer (or should I say, futbol?) is always on time. So, in order to get good seats, we went at 7:30. I was all decked out in my fan wear. A red team Chile jersey, a big red white and blue hat, the flag painted on my cheek and a big Chilean flag. I though we would be bored for three hours, but I wasn´t. We took a bunch of newspaper to rip up to make confetti, and that occupied a lot of time. Also, as the stadium began to fill up, people started little competitions to see which group of fans could cheer the loudest. I thought Edmonton Oilers fans were loud, well they are nothing compared to Chilean soccer fans. At least 3/4 of the people were wearing red and everyone had confetti to throw. Also, someone brought a doll of a Paraguayan player that people started playing "catch" with, and eventually ripped apart. There was a Paraguay fan section, fenced off so that the Chilean fans couldn´t get to them, and surrounded by armed police officers. But armed police officers don´t stop people from yelling insults at the Paraguayans. Let´s just say I learned some very "colorful" language at that soccer game. Especially when the opposition scored. The pre-game started with a marching band performing the national anthem (sung way louder than at any Oiler´s playoff game.) Then, a man came running onto the field with two giant Chilean flags. He went to every corner and led them in a cheer to see who could get the loudest, then danced around the field with the flags. Then the game started. I really liked it, even thought we lost (3-0, the fans were not happy.) It went really fast, and before I knew it, it was over. The 50 or so Paraguay fans had to be kept in the stadium until all the Chilean fans had left, so that they wouldn´t be mobbed. My mom told me this quite calmly, like it was perfectly normal. We went for dinner after, although it was nearly impossible to find an open restaurant. Because Chile had lost, everyone went home early and the restaurants all closed.

The next night, we all went to a restaurant called Lo Buen Muchacho. It was huge, with a live band and a big dance floor. There were also a lot of tourists, with little flags from there countries on the tables. There was a flag from Canada, but they left before I had a chance to go talk to them. All the Chileans danced salsa (I even gave it a shot and was told I was a natural!) and then this guy got on stage and led the "gringos" (Chilean word for anyone non-spanish) in a sort of a salsa line dance type thing. Dinner was three big pots of meat and 6 different types of salads. I tried blood sausage, which has a really weird flavor, but is delicious, and something that looked a lot like intestines, and basically tasted like really salty fatty beef. I didn´t ask what it was, I just prefered to enjoy it without knowing.

On Friday night, I went with my mom, sister, and her friends to a Tango club. I have never seen the Tango live, or that close up. I think it is one of the most beautiful dances I´ve ever seen, but really hard. They had men who would walk around to the tables and ask the women to dance. Then, they had two professional couples come out and dance two different types of Tango, one slow (the more traditional one) and a newer, faster type of tango. They were both amazing, and made me really want to go to Argentina. I think my mom must have read my mind, because she told me the next day she was planning on taking me and my oldest sister to Argentina in March! I really hope we can go, I have always wanted to go to Argentina.

So that was my second experience in Santiago. Very different from the relaxed, meeting the families trip I had the first time. But I had SO much fun. Especially at the soccer game, getting all dressed up and learning the chants. I can´t wait for my next trip.

Santiago and La Serena

Even though I am now living with another family, I have still kept in touch with my old family. When I left them, they told me they wanted to take me to Santiago to visit their family. I assumed it would be sometime in the summer, but two weeks ago, while I was visiting their house for lunch, they invited me to go with them. I was excited, not only to go to a big city for the first time in three months, but to see my older sister, Xime, who I had not seen in a month. I left school early on Friday, at 1:00. My former host dad took me to my house so I could pack and eat lunch, and around 4 we were off. It was a long drive, about 6.5 hours. And if you think driving through BC mountain roads is bad, try driving through Chilean mountains for 6 hours in a very small car. Not only are the road twisty, but they´re high up, and the cliffs are literally a few feet to the side of the car. And people like to take the hairpin turns on these roads at 70 km/h. It took a while for me to get used to that, but after a few drives to La Serena and back, it has become normal to me. The drive was still long, with one stop for drinks and an empanada (shrimp and cheese, delicious.)

When we arrived in Santiago, it was almost 11. Despite not having done anything for almost 7 hours, I was exhausted. But it was still exciting to finally be in Santiago. It was like being back in Downtown Edmonton, with the high buildings and freeways. The apartment, where my older host brother and sister are living while they go to university in Santiago was nice. It was strange though, because after being in such a small city for three months, I found that the noise in Santiago made it hard for me to sleep at night.

On Saturday morning, we went to my host mom´s sister´s house. Her sister and mom have the same birthday, so the whole family was there to celebrate. She has 3 brothers and a sister, so it was a big family. My host dad´s family, who we visted on Sunday, was much smaller, because he only had 1 brother and 1 sister. It is weird how similar that is to my real families in Canada. Anyway, we had lunch around 2 (late lunch, too, is becoming normal, too) We also had a BBQ around 9 for dinner, and the most delicious cake I have ever tasted. It was this pastry with chocolate and manjar between the layers. We left around 11, and Xime was planning on taking me to see a disco in Santiago, but we were so exhausted when we got back that we just slept.

Sunday, as I said, we went to my host dad´s parent´s house. It was nice, with a gorgeous garden that my mom would have loved. His mom also loved cats, and Xime told me she has 8. We had a BBQ there as well, and left around 2 for Ovalle.

The next weekend, my current family told me we were going to La Serena. They own an apartment there, and two in La Serena, one for the family and one for my brother, Pedro, who is going to University in Santiago (same year as my other host brother, Luis.) This drive was more reasonable, only 45 mintues. This is the fourth time I´ve been to La Serena since I got here. I like it, because it has a mall, but is not as big and loud as Santiago. The apartment was really nice, bigger than I expected, and with an amazing view. The Pacific Ocean, and the sunset.

Saturday morning, we woke up late and ate breakfast. Then, we went to Coquimbo. Coquimbo is a smaller city to the south of La Serena, but they have grown into one big city. In Coquimbo, there is a giant cross called the Cruz del Tercer Milenio, or Cross of the Third Milenium. It is 90 meters high, and you can go up by elevator 73 meters to the arms of the cross. From there, you get a complete 360º view of Coquimbo and La Serena, and the Ocean. It was amazing. After the cross, we went to a seafood restaurant for lunch. Before we went there, though, my family took me to a Chilean fish market. It was insane. I´m not the kind of person who is usually bothered by fish smell, but the smell there made me feel sick, it was so strong. Ther were people who would literally come up to us as yell in out faces to buy there fish. We just walked through it, and after, my family couldn´t stop laughing at the look on my face. After the fish market, we went for lunch. I found it odd that we were in a city beside the Ocean, but all the salmon that they serve at all the restaurants is from the river. It was still good though.

Sunday, we woke up late as well. I went for a bike ride with my host sister and we ate lunch. Around 5 we left for Ovalle. It was a fun weekend, and I am looking forward to more trips with both my families. The next one is a trip with my current family to Santiago to watch Chile play Argentina or Brasil to go to the World Cup for soccer in 2010 (I think.) I´m really excited, because I´ve never seen a real prefesional soccer game live, soccer is such a big part of South American culture. Keep checking the blog for that story!