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.