¡Felices Fiestas Patrias!

Today is Chilean Independence Day… Felices Fiestas Patrias!!

On September 18, 1810, the Chileans declared independence from Spain. It took a few years after that before they actually gained independence.

Some people take the whole week off, some just two days (the 18th and 19th). Because the 19th is a Thursday this year (2013) , many people are taking Friday off as well and having a long weekend.

Tim and I went to El Parque Ecuador to eat, drink, listen to live music, and watch people dance the cueca. They wave handkerchiefs over their head while they dance. We ate an anticucho, which is like a shish kebab (skewer) with beef and sausage (chorizo). They love their grilled meats here (asado). We drank chicha (much different from what we had in Perú, which was corn based, not grape based as it is here in Chile). We also drank a Terremoto which I gather means “earthquake,” although sísmico is the better (?) term for earthquake? My Spanish ain’t so good…..

I have decided blogging is not for me. Here is a much, much better blog about being a gringa in Chile: http://thornyrose-gardenspot.blogspot.com/2012/09/felices-fiestas-patrias.html .