The Miner Leagues

Grilling out for Casey's Birthday!
Baby Miner
Los Mineros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Out of place
Sad attempt at a crowd. It got bigger but not until 11:00. Too little too late Chile.

Let’s be honest. The miners’ 15 minutes are up. Fro and I went to La Moneda (Chile’s equivalent of the White House) to welcome the miners to Santiago this morning. Los 33, the president, and the capsule used to rescue the miners were all in the exact same place. By North American standards…this should be a pretty big deal. I don’t think that the Chileans could have possibly cared any less. The miners were rumored to show up at 10 am. Years of Buffet tailgates and riding roller coasters at Great America have taught me that anything worth waiting for usually involves a huge line. That, on top of the fact that Chileans love lines (there is a 2 line minimum to buy a beer in this country), led me to believe we would be in for a doozy. Fro and I arrived to La Moneda at 8:30 am, fearing that an hour and a half early wouldn't be enough. Imagine our surprise when we arrived to a completely empty field. I am pretty sure more people attended my high school's debate team championship. By the time the miners arrived the crowd had grown to roughly 200 people and had the enthusiasm of a bunch of people who just found out that their pets had to be put to sleep. It was largely comprised of pharmacy protesters (which, by the way, is completely unrelated to the miners and just a strange coincidence that they chose to be at La Moneda the same day), several Asian tourists, and Chileans who hadn’t gotten the memo that the miners were sooo last week. Even so, Fro and I were as excited as ever. We arrived in our work clothes and left decked out in patriotic paper visors, mini flags, and a poster, making us prime models for the press. We were photographed by almost everyone at the event who had a camera. The camera loves us. And we love attention. I didn’t even know how much l loved attention until people started taking so many pictures of us. It was like some sort of terrible reflex. We'd see a camera in the distance and immediately start some sort of awkward chant. Worked like a charm. The crowd shaped up for when the miners left La Moneda (although I think they just wanted to get on TV.) We were even able to take some pictures that make it appear as though there were tons of people there. I’m sure the press did the same. All things considered, it was definitely the best worst pep rally I have ever been to. I'm a sucker for a good patriotic paper visor.

Oops She Did It Again

At Santiago's Cemetery
Celebrating the miners!!!
Check out how artistic I am
Me and my conversation buddy, Nico
Fro "not singing" karaoke

One of the things I love about my friends here is their shared ability to say one thing and mean the complete opposite. Take for example when I call one of them to see what the plans for the night are. When I hear, “I’m really tired, I think I’m just going to take it easy tonight”, I immediately know to get a nap in because it’s going to be a long night. Or for example, when Carly says that she is a non-smoking vegetarian…. with a huge chunk of steak in one hand and a cigarette in the other. However, I think the best example of people saying one thing and meaning the complete opposite is Fro when it comes to karaoke. If there is one thing that you should know about Fro it is that she loves singing karaoke. Can’t get enough of it. Yet every time the idea of karaokeing gets brought up (99% of the time she’s the one bringing it up) she has the exact same response: “I love watching but I don’t ever sing.” This weekend was no exception. Saturday night my friends from work threw an unofficial BridgeLinguitec Mexican themed party. One thing led to another, and Fro rallied the troops to go to the gay biker karaoke bar down the street. I was not surprised when I overheard her telling everyone that she definitely won’t sing, but just wants to watch everyone else. I do have to hand it to her though. Fro kept up this charade for quite a while. I almost believed that she might not dominate the karaoke stage like only Fro knows how. Oh contraire. Not even two notes into our group attempt at singing “Don’t Stop Believin’” who came rushing to center stage, microphone in hand belting out the lyrics with the expertise of someone who has practiced endless hours in the mirror? Fro did. I left the bar at around 4:30, while Fro was still there anxiously waiting to sing her third karaoke song of the night. When I confronted Fro about her “lying about karaoke” habit, she responded that she only sings karaoke in groups when she has been drinking. Basically the only two requirements for going to a karaoke bar in the first place.

Speaking of “Don’t Stop Believin’”…how ‘bout those miners?! (see how I tied everything together…pretty impressive right?) It was amazing being in Chile for the feel good story of the century. I was however, a little surprised by the mixed reactions here. There is no question that everyone was thrilled. The amount of patriotism and national pride was inspirational: flags everywhere and cars honking their horns for hours on end. Even so, a surprising amount of Chileans felt that this story got too much press and that the president used it as a way to launch his approval ratings. Too much press?! 33 people were trapped underground for 68 days and lived to tell the tale!!! If that doesn’t deserve press time…I don’t know what does. And I thought using newsworthy events to increase popularity was part of the job description for being president. All I know is that I know absolutely nothing about Chilean politics. But am 100% fine with any event in which I can yell “Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le” 33 times in a row while wearing red, white, and blue face paint.

Thursday Night Fever

Pig head
Caitlin and I having soup, bread, pebre, and a delicious meal for under 2 luca. Only at La Vega.

Best produce in the world

Reading in the park
Typical night out

Well its official. My life here is a joke. My work-week is only 13 hours and somehow I mustered up the nerve to call in sick for my Friday morning class. Turns out I had a fever and the only cure was more dancing. My boss seemed less than pleased...so I made sure to take an extra shot or 4 to make sure I was super hungover and sounded sick just incase he called me the next day. Between the allergies and the hangover, I really sold it. Thursday night Jackie, Carly, Fro and I went out with some of our friends from Bicentenario weekend. It was the perfect way to kick off the long weekend (as luck would have it, Chris Columbus discovered South America too…who knew?!) In true Bicentenario form, I drank too much, ate too much, and fended off insults for a good portion of the night. You’ll be happy to hear that instead of calling me Steph Nash, I was just referred to as ‘Amish’ the entire night. As in: “Hey Amish, sorry I said you were boring and had a big ass. I take back the boring part.” Thanks. I think? One of the best things about this country is that it has got hangovers down. First of all, Santiago sleeps in until about 1 pm on weekends. So I hear…I’ve never been out of bed before 1 to actually confirm this. Second, there are empanadas on almost every corner. Empanadas are the best thing to happen to the hangover since the Big Mac with supersized fries. They are a vegetarians dream. Fried dough stuffed with cheese? Yes please. What’s that? They only cost a dollar? I’ll take 5. I don’t think its any surprise that I spent my Friday morning sleeping in, being too hungover to go to my hair appointment, and eating empanadas instead of going to work.

In other news, it’s finally spring in Santiago and the weather couldn’t be more perfect. And the best part? For the next 4 months it will just keep getting warmer. Just like in Chicago (oh wait…) My Spanish continues to steadily improve thanks to my three conversation buddies. I meet once a week with Vairon (from Hondoras), Maria (from Columbia) and Nico (from Chile), who are all working on improving their English. We spend an hour speaking in English and an hour in Spanish, usually over beers, food, or while walking through one of Santiago’s many gorgeous parks. Pretty sweet gig. The rest of my time is spent hanging out with friends, dancing, eating or some combination of the three. No complaints.