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.
