I apologize for the long absence in writing. I can’t really say I’ve been busy, not in the traditional sense of the word at least. I’ve been wrapping up my sabbatical here in Chile and am ready to undertake a new chapter in my life.
I just got back from a great trip to Pichilemu, a quiet beach town about 3 1/2 hours south of Santiago. We went for the weekend of September 18th, from Friday to Monday. For those of you that don’t know, the 18th is Chile’s independence day. Chileans like to celebrate by going to fondas, which resemble a huge tent-covered area with a dirt floor, basically a huge dancefloor with sometimes tables to sit at in part of it, and always a bar taking up the whole wall of one side of the fonda.
It was a lot of fun. I can’t say I’m a big fan of ‘chicha’, a traditional wine that Chileans drink during the celebration. It tasted ok to me, but packs a hell of a punch in the drunkenness factor. After a single glass, I felt like my brain had shrunken by at least a centimeter on all sides.
Luckily that effect wore off when I woke up and I had a good time drinking a moderate amount of beer the rest of the weekend. It was still a bit cold down there in Pichilemu, but nothing a nice sweater couldn’t handle.
I did attempt to dance the ‘cueca’, the traditional Chilean dance that I’m told has its roots in an imitation of chickens doing some sort of mating dance. I thought it resembled people looking as if they were dancing on a bed of hot coals, but I’ll let you decide on that one.
I took a bunch of pictures, and promise to put them up soon, as well as pictures from my Asia trip that I’ve forgotten to post. Stay tuned, I’ll write another blurb once they’re up.