You may be asking yourself why might a bobbin and a party be connected? Let me tell you. A carrete is a party that is like a bobbin. You pull the thread, pull the thread, but the thread just keeps unwinding and it seems like forever before you reach the end. That pretty much explains the Chilean take on parties: they never end.
Fiestas Patrias: Chilean 4th of July.
No, its not actually like 4th of July. Theres BBQs and fireworks but its so much more than that. No only do Chileans take pride in their independence, but their ability to throw a good party. Most people in the country are off for the ENTIRE week, and my friend Lucas was even given a "bonus" of about the equivalent of $150 USD so he could "celebrate the holiday right" (his boss' words, not mine). What in the world would someone need to spend $150 on you might be asking yourself. Let me show you.
A Ramada (where a ton of Chileans go to party) is like a state fair (minus the pigs and beauty queens) Theres a ton of food, alcohol, games, rides, and merriment.
Anticucho: huge meat kabobs. These things rocked my world.
Games that no one wins. Ever.
Churros: Chilean funnel cake sticks. It was heaven
Candied apples that my mama has an obsession with. At all times she could be found with the remnants of candy coating around her mouth.
Terremoto: sweet wine, fermenta (who even knows what this stuff is??), and pineapple ice cream. oooooooh baby!
More asado, because I just couldn't get enough
Chicha: the grape version of spiked apple cider. And yes, that whole barrel is full of it.
Me and mama with some chicha
And thats not even all. There were tons of stalls with clothes, jewelry, and trinkets for sale, carnival rides, cotton candy, a ton of beer, mote con huesillos (a cup of who knows what with a dried apricot and little pieces of something or another at the bottom), empanadas, choripan (choriso on a bun), completos (huge hot dogs with avocado, mayo, mustard, ketchup, tomatoes, and everything else you could possibly think of- nasty).
These ramadas are all over Chile for 4 days, open at around 10am and don't close until around 3am. So like I said: carrete.
But lets discuss my adventures at the Ramadas....
My first ramada was put on by my mom's school (shes a teacher). So I thought it was going to be super lame- like one of those fun days from elementary school thats in the gym where you play games and the coolest prize you can win is a hand full of Dum Dums. Wrong. So wrong. We walked in and it is a covered patio with tables all set up around a dance floor. In front of the dance floor is a stage where 3 different local traditional Chilean bands took turns playing all night. Later in the night I found out that the MC was a local radio reporter that was a big deal. The mayor also came by to shake hands with people and hand out prizes (a toaster and bed spread were among them- WHAT?!) So needless to say this place was kind of important.
But as I expected, I was the ONLY blond, the ONLY gringa, and the ONLY person there my age that wasn't there with a boyfriend/girlfriend. But after a glass of chicha I decided to let loose with my dancing despite the fact that everyone was looking at me. We literally danced from 9pm until 3 am with breaks only to eat and drink. It was a blast and I finally felt like I was in South America because I got to dance like a latina. It was all hips and booty shakin' so I was in my element! I also danced the Cueca (the national dance of Chile) at least 15 different times at the insistence of my Chilean brother. The first few times were an absolute disaster but by the end of the night I had it down. By the end of the night all of the prices of drinks drop so that they can get rid of everything. So with 15 minutes left of the night my mama buys a bottle of cola de mono (kind of like baileys). So I'm thinking "ok cool, she wants me to try this stuff out so we will each have a glass and take the rest home". Wrong again Kait. Within 15 minutes in between songs my mama and I finished the entire bottle. So lets just say that by that point me and mama were dancing together like girlfriends, spinning each other and laughing our butts off. It was a perfect night.
The next day was a family day. My aunt, cousin, and grandpa al came over for lunch and afterwards we went out to the ramada in Vina. This one was more like the ramada that I was first describing: a huge outdoor party with games and food everywhere. My mom took me around and showed me EVERYTHING. I have never heard a person talk so much in my life. But at one of the stalls she points to a little wooden indian statue and asks if I know what it is. I said yeah, its an indian (i was thinking, ok mom, I might not speak great spanish but I'm not so dumb that I don't know what an indian figurine is). She just shook her head and asked me again if I knew what it was. I just looked at her like "Seriously woman??" and so she lifts up the indian and a little wooden penis pops out! I was so surprised that i just looked at her in shock. I had not been expecting my little Christina mama to show me something like that so I was completely surprised. When she saw my face she absolutely lost it. So then there we were, an old Chilean woman with her little gringa, laughing at a wooden penis like 2 twelve year old girls while my brother just looked at us and shook his head. Easily the funniest thing that has happened to me since I've been here.
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