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.