As Chile is a generally Catholic country, I was expecting that Easter would be a big deal. And it was in certain areas and families (several small cities in the north, south, and on the coast had giant reenactment parades, and many of my friends' host families had big Easter lunches with all the family). But in my family, Easter was a fairly low-key affair. I had tried to figure out if we had any plans for Easter, but was still quite unsure that we would be doing anything for the holiday. Sunday morning started normally until my host mother informed me that she would be going to Mass later. I wanted to go with her, but didn't know if she would want me to go with her and felt shy about asking her. But eventually, after I asked if Victor and Fransisco (my host brother and nephew) would be going, too (they weren't), she asked if I would like to come along.
The church was much smaller than I imagined it would be. It was called Parroquia ("pastoral church) Santa Cruz (so Santa Cruz Pastoral Church, or something like that). It reminded me more of some of the churches I've been to at home: it was small for a Catholic church - just a mid-sized open room on the corner of a building. The two corner walls were glass window and the choir and musicians sat in the balcony above the entrance. Of course, a big cross with Jesus on it occupied the wall at the head of the church, and small scenes depicting his crucification were spaced along the white walls. People were already sitting in the chairs that filled the room and the patios outside (they had opened the glass doors so that those outside could join in).
The service was quite similar to a Presbyterian service except that there was a "Padre" and his attendant (sorry, I'm really not very familiar with the specifics of Catholicism) in long white robes who sat on the diaz. They biggest surprise was the songs that we sang. The first was to the tune of "Amazing Grace!" It was in Spanish and about Jesus and his love (or something like that, I can't quite remember). A while later we sang a song to the tune of Simon and Garfunkle's "Song of Silence," and then later heard the choir sing one that I'm pretty sure is a Jewish song (I think they may have even sung a line or two in hebrew). It was really funny to recognize these songs and sing them in Spanish!
Anyway, the service was nice and of course there was communion (my host mother didn't take part for some reason) and then we slipped out towards the end when they started giving the children chocolate eggs. We walked the 20 minutes or so home and had lunch (nothing particularly special or different from our normal weekend lunches). The only difference was that Fransisco was quite excited about searching for his Easter eggs and kept asking when he would get to look for them. After tea, was the answer (so around 5/6 pm). Naptime came next, as usual for the weekends, and I did my homework in my room. I usually work in the living room, but I wasn't sure about the extent of this "egg hunt" though and didn't want to get in the way of anything.
After a while, around 6 or so, Silvia called me to come because it was time to look for the eggs. I thought she meant that it was time to watch Fransisco look for them, but then she told me that I was "getting warmer" to finding my basket of eggs, and that Victor was "getting warmer" as well! Fransisco, of course found mine for me (in the closet) before finding his own under his bed. Victor found his hiding on his chair under his desk. We each received a shallow basket with yellow and green paper stuffing filled with little chocolate eggs, candies that LOOKED but did not TASTE like slightly elongated jellybeans (kinda a disappointment), and a little chocolate bunny with a basket on its back. The chocolate bunny tasted WAY better than any chocolate bunny I've had in the US. It wasn't that cheap chocolate stuff that we usually use. Fransisco's basket also had a huge egg wrapped in shiny plastic wrapping that had a toy car that Victor put together for him. For some reason Fransisco decided that he didn't like the taste of his chocolate bunny so he gave it to me! Yay! It's long gone now, but my original bunny is still mostly complete (it's missing its head though).
So anyway, it was a lovely Easter surprise. Nice and relaxing. I did miss the business and fanciness of the annual Easter festivities at home though. And it was hard because I hadn't talked to my parents in a while and really wanted to but couldn't.
Other highlights from last week: Wednesday one of my classes was cancelled (our prof had to travel for his regular job), and so I decided to go finish exploring Cerro Santa Lucia, the crazy palace/park/hill place that is crazy, amazing, beautiful, and slightly dangerous (the stone steps are steep, and super worn, and some of the iron railings are broken).
Thursday I found out that I got into the Washington Semester Program at American University for next semester!!!!! I'm so excited! I will live on Tenley campus (a few blocks from main campus) with the other students in the program from different schools inside and out of the US, and take classes related to Peace and Conflict Resolution. I will also do an internship (I have to start looking), but it doesn't have to relate to the program. Mid-semester we will go on a three-week trip to Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia to learn about Peace and Conflict Resolution in the real world! I am SUPER excited and can hardly wait! The boy in our program here in Chile suggested the Washington Semester program to me (he went to Ecuador and the Galapagos with his Int'l Environment and Development program) and the next day I decided to apply!
Friday we went on a tour of el Palacio de La Moneda, the Chilean equivalent of the White House (except that the President doesn't live there). It was really cool because we got to go into some of the rooms and actually sit in the chairs and such. It was crazy how easy it was to get in though. All we had to do was give them our Chilean ID cards in exchange for a visitor pass. We didn't have to go through security, check our bags or anything! We did have a guide, and one of the spiffy entrance guards who brought up the rear of our tour. He was nice and kindly answered my question when I asked him. I asked him what the price-tag looking like sticker was on the chandelier. It really looked like a price tag and therefore was slightly humorous. Fortunately, he told me that it is an identification number and barcode. Every piece of furniture, etc in La Moneda has one.
Friday night I spent talking and laughing with my host brother and his friends in our living room (didn't get to bed until 5 am - but it was really fun), and Saturday night three of the girls from my program and I went to the Wine Festival. It was really fun, we paid for a wine glass and then got to go around tasting wines from the different booths. They also had an "asado" (BBQ), a booth with churros, hotdogs (we got weird looks when we requested that they not include the mayo and avocado), strawberries covered in chocolate on a stick, and popcorn, a performance stage with live music, an artisan's market, and free donkey rides for the kids. We were quite disappointed that we weren't little enough to get a ride on the donkeys. =P
So like usual, the week flew by and now another week begins. I can't believe I only have two more months to enjoy this wonderful country! Sadness! That also means that I should start working on the papers that I have to write, in Spanish, for all of my classes. Ooo boy. I'll get them done though. Friday I have a Spanish test (that I am not looking forward to), but I have started studying for it and plan to do so every day, so hopefully I'll do well.
Oh, and I'm almost done reading my book in Spanish! I only have about a quarter of the book to go. It's sooooo good! I want to read it now, but... unfortunately, it won't be on the test. =P Oh, and proof that I'm learning Spanish from reading it: I was able to provide the Spanish equivalent for two words in Spanish class last week (fruncir el ceño - to knit one's brows/frown, and one other that I don't recall)! I was so happy!
Okay, so that's all the news. I hope you all have a great week! Wish me luck. Love, Kaia
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| Easter, Cerro Santa Lucia, La Moneda, and the Wine Festival |
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