Now that September has come and gone (and my midterms are separated a little bit better), I figure that maybe I should explain the importance of September in Chilean culture.
While September is not actually referred to as “National Independence Month,” it might as well be after seeing how much preparation goes into the national celebrations in the middle of the month. Beginning on the first of the month, Viña undergoes a change. On August 31st, Chile is Chile, nothing crazy (relatively speaking, of course) but when one wakes up on the 1st, Chile = Patriotism to the extreme. Families hang their Chilean flags from their porches, shopkeepers have red, white, and blue streamers adorning their locale, the municipality flies the regional and national flags along all of the city streets, and the street vendors stop selling their typical replacement windshield wipers and socks and start hawking mini-flags that the excessively patriotic Chilean can stick on the dashboard. In addition to the physical adornments, the music in the metro switches from the awesomely terrible muzak versions of 80’s music to more traditional cueca and folklore selections (which leads to the horribly bored metro attendant to dance the cueca all by his lonesome when he thinks no one is looking…), and the fiestas patrias become the main topic of conversation. There’s anticipation in the air, and its very hard not to get excited.
The fiestas patrias are celebrated on the 18th and 19th of September; the 18th commemorates the first government meeting that began the process of Chilean independence, while the 19th is known as the “Día de las Glorias del Ejército” or the “Day of the Army’s Glory.” While these two days are the only days where the Chileans actually have something to commemorate, true to Chilean form, classes get canceled and the celebrations start as soon as people think they can get away with it (the 18th was a Friday; people were celebrating starting on Tuesday).
Like any holiday, las fiestas patrias are celebrated by excess. An excess of typical Chilean food, typical Chilean drinks, and typical Chilean dance are the focus of any celebration. During the weekend I tried empanadas de pino (meat turnovers), anticucho (kebabs), choripan y pebre (a sausage sandwich with spicy sauce), completos (hotdogs with tomato, avocado, and an excessive amount of mayo), churros, mote con huesillo (dried apricots and barley), and chicha (fermented grapes that haven’t quite reached the stage of being wine yet) and was taught how to dance the cueca. It was exhausting, but what’s an exchange student to do but soak up every bit of culture that she can?
For those few weeks in September the Chileans take pride in the huaso (cowboy) culture. Most schools will put on a presentation for the community, and the city gets rather strange because parents are walking around yelling at their little huaso/huasa to not get their costume dirty. After the school presentations, the real celebrations start, and the asados (barbecues) begin. Think of your 4th of July barbecue, minus the hamburgers, but adding about 5 times more food. After the asados with family and friends are done, most people end up at the ramada. Taken from the word for branches (because the huasos used to make the stands out of palm branches), the ramadas are community fairs where you can eat and drink even more, buy artisan cheeses (a block of cheese as big as a pillow, anyone?), sweets, and handicrafts, and ride some rather precarious looking carnival rides. While the ramadas were chaotic (too many people with access to too much chicha), it was definitely a nice way to celebrate: among the masses and able to do some quality people watching.
Now, September has come and gone, the flags are all taken down (something having to do with a weird law that prohibits flying the Chilean flag outside of the month of September?), the soundtrack in the metro was “Tainted Love” (elevator-style, of course), and the chicha is put away until next year. Chile has returned to normality, and I’m somewhat relieved… I only have two months left here and I have a lot left to learn!
