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.