Spring Break, again.

I'd been looking forward to last week for a long time. September 18th is Chile's independence day, and this year was their bicentennial. Normally, this holiday is one of the bigger ones of the year, but it's celebrated a lot like we celebrate the 4th in the US--lots of barbecue, flags, fireworks.

This year was different. Chile has had a pretty eventful year: new president (and political party), one of the bigger earthquakes in history, a World Cup, the whole saga of the 33 miners, and a hunger strike by imprisoned indigenous people that's turned into a hugely controversial issue. So this year, I think the country really wanted to blow off some steam. School was cancelled all week, business have been closed from about Thursday until today, and an estimated 600,000 people headed to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. Here's a day-by-day breakdown after the jump:

Wednesday: 

Went to the horse races. This is less sketchy than it sounds--they're actually kind of popular here, and there's a pretty nice racetrack:

Plus, we got to see a two-horse pileup. It alternated between exhilarating, frightening, and hilarious. Also, that's what she said. 

Thursday:

Went back to the same place to see a Ramada. It's basically a gigantic fair for people over 18. There's food and drinks sold from places with names like "I danced the Cueca with your mother" and "the food next door is terrible." There also is a giant dance floor with traditional music groups going on until about 4 am or so. They play "cueca," which is Chile's traditional music and dance. It symbolizes something about the early farmers and settlers and involves a lot of waving bandannas. My attempt consisted of me waving a napkin around over my head, and before you ask, all the video evidence of this has been destroyed. The Ramada also had games, many of which involved shooting guns at things. Personally, I worry about the wisdom in handing guns to twenty-year olds at 3 a.m., but I might be wrong. After all, it's how Washington crossed the Delaware. 

Friday:

Midnight fireworks show over the bay in Valparaíso. The fireworks themselves were pretty cool, but the thing that impressed me the most were the people. For several miles into town, the main highway was at a standstill with people parking their cars on the road and either trying to walk closer or simply sitting on their roofs. We tried to catch a bus to get to a spot with a better view but were unsuccessful. Here's an average picture of the crowd around our area:

This is when I started to realize just how badly my hands shake

It went on like this for probably two miles, not to mention the people watching it from their houses or in streets up the hills. As a fireworks show, it was okay, but as a chance to be a part of people coming together out of shared love for their country, it was incredible.

Saturday/Sunday:

I'm grouping this together as a two day event. Saturday was the actual independence day, but Sunday is just as important. The traditional way to celebrate is by having an Asado, basically a giant cookout where you grill about three courses of meat. First, you start with the hot dogs and the choripan, which is just chorizo cooked inside of a specific kind of bread (chorizo + pan = choripan. Clever, huh?). It is hands-down my favorite food down here, and I'm willing to bet that the man who invented it never bought a drink again in his life. Second is a fish, chicken, or pork course, and third is a steak. You also get to eat potatoes and a salad, and probably dessert. I went to four of these asados in two days, two for Chile's birthday, one for a friend's birthday, and one for my host father's birthday. I may or may not have gained a significant amount of weight. Also, more fireworks, this time a little further down the bay in Viña. 

Apologies in advance if the video doesn't work right on your computer, but it's a clip of the grand finale from the beach by my house. The large, cool-looking building on the left is the Sheraton Hotel. 

Monday:

A little more relaxing. The Chilean navy sponsored an air show and boat procession in the bay. President Piñera and some other foreign dignitaries were in attendance on the vintage ship that stays in the harbor, and a lot of the Chilean Navy's ships were in the procession. There were also a few foreign ones--I spotted flags from Brazil, Canada, the UK, and the good old US and A. The air show was pretty legit, though. I guess one of the advantages of living in a less litigious society is that you can see people do things that wouldn't fly  at home (WORDPLAY!). Their Blue Angels equivalent did some really cool stuff, too. As always, a picture:

And before you get on me for the bad picture, this was taken from my street on pretty short notice. No way I was going to be able to really get everything in focus and looking all pretty-like. 

So that just about sums up my second spring break of 2010. Classes come back and life returns to normal tomorrow. Until Thursday, when I leave to go to San Pedro de Atacama. Google it and be jealous, y'all.