Beginning of Fiestas Patrias

So this week was the beginning of the celebration of Fiestas Patrias (technically September 18th). Fiestas Patrias is like 4th of July for chileans but SO much more important and festive. my class has been decorating the room for weeks and yesterday we spent the whole day dancing Cueca and eating empanadas.

It really is amazing to see how much more patriotic people here are. I´m personally not very patriotic at all about the U.S. and with current events I´m many times embarrassed to admit where i´m from. Here, the rooms are all decorated with signs saying "¡Viva Chile Mierda!" and everyone is so proud to dance the national dance. I wish my computer didnt take so long to load so I could show you all my pictures. My classmates worked so hard at every step of getting ready, staying after school and making all these spin wheel things (in the picture below on the wall) from posterboard.

It all started on Wednesday. My class performed a choreographed dance piece of all the Chilean dances. I had to wear a vestido de guasa for the Cueca. It went alright and it was fun to see everyone all dressed up. On the left is a picture of me and some of my classmates in traditional outfits for the Cueca. Everyone was so surprised that I had figured out how to do it being non-chilena and all.

As I was saying, yesterday we had a school festival. In the morning we just kinda sat around eating empanadas and talking while we listened to Chilean music. Then in the afternoon there were animals which had been brought for the festival. In one game, everyone sits in a circle and in the middle are about 4 kids who try to catch a rabbit running around. As you probably guessed I thought it was very sad. Right when I thought we were going to leave I was asked by one of my classmates if I wanted to dance the Cueca. I said sure but that I wasnt all that good yet. He said it really didnt matter. So, we went into the gymnasio and there were hundreds of people waiting. I asked why and my classmate said that only 4 people from each grade get to dance. I was so confused as to why I was dancing. After a few dances the principal said "now we are going to eliminate two pairs". It was then that I learned that I had been entered into a Cueca competition!!!!!!!!! Me! the gringa! I messed up so much! But, i luckily wasn´t eliminated in the first round, I was eliminated in the round before they gave away medals. The picture on the left is a side on the bleechers and this is about a third of the people who were watching me. You can see how an exchanger would stand out here in Chile. Anyways, I still was very proud of myself for doing the competition, even though I didnt intend to, and I felt incredibly watched. The rest of the dancers had Cueca outfits on and so I was even more happy that I was eliminated right away in my school uniform.

We got to go home at one and then later in the night I went out to the centro with my friend Karina. We went shopping and ate ice cream, it was quite fun. Tonight i´m going to my first Chilean fiesta! yay! and i dont have school until thursdays because of Fiestas Patrias!

Feliz Cumpleaños Chile!