Sunday, September 23, 2007

Diezyocho


Diezyocho…the 18th of Sep…Chile’s independence day. It is always a pretty interesting time, the weather is nice, it involves several days off from work, and this year the government even passed an extra day, meaning a five day weekend.

Around the first of September the rawraw starts, one can feel it in the air and see it in the amount of flags that all of a sudden go on display. Fondas, an area with plenty of bbq, some dancing maybe, drinks pop up all over the place.

These are days that one thinks of the country, or campo, even in the city they bring in farm animals to some of the fondas to give you that country feel in the middle of suburbia.

This year I was stuck in Santiago as I had to work two out of the three days that were off. It meant that it lacked some of the excitement that took hold of a lot of the people around me. It was the first year that I stayed in the capital for the holiday, so I went with Caro to her mother’s house, where a whole bunch of her mother’s family showed up to have a little mini fonda…



I wonder how many pounds people put on during the holiday...meat is in no short supply


Caro and her aunt.

Great aunt of Carolina.


Caro's mother.
Bailando cueca.
Homemade empandadas.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Pomaire

Its not very far away from Santiago, just about an hour on a flat nicely paved highway with tolls.

Pomaire it’s called, a place of around 10,000 nestled in low lying hills between the Andes and the coastal region of Chile. Its claim to fame is a style of pottery marked by its dark tones and earthy appearance. While there are some artists who choose to paint their work, most has a very raw feel to it. It is for all practical purposes raw mud.

The town itself has a very held together by spit and sawdust feel to it. There are no posts that are straight in this town, there are no signs that clean, and the houses all look a bit old, with lots of dust surrounding them, giving the place a very simple but intriguing feel to it.

Of course on the long weekend surrounding Chile’s independence day of September 18, everything is a bit different……






Sunday, September 02, 2007

Just a few pictures from the stay in Key Largo....