Back at the end of October, the boys' school held their annual Kermesse, which means a charity fair. They were raising money to put into a scholarship fund for families who experience unexpected changes in circumstance and need assistance with tuition. The fair was a ton of fun. It had alot of the same games as the Fonda we went to for Fiestas de Patrias, except it was much cheaper. Each game was like $0.50, compared to $2/game at the Fonda. The boys had a blast. Drew's Dad was also visiting during this, so he got to experience the fun too. Brian came down for two weeks to work with Drew on Don Diego and Poquito Tito. He and Karen will be back in a month, and then we're off on our big adventure!
Some of the games were quite hard, like throwing the dart to pop a balloon, but you had to get two out of three! Not a high probability of winning, but the boys loved it anyways.
Knocking over the duckies with a water gun, in contrast, was absurdly easy. Prizes for everyone!
They also had jumpy houses, and this inflated ring with a rotating high and low bar that the kids had to clear. They loved it, despite getting thumped a few times.
Local vendors were selling food as well, so we had to partake in a mote con huesillo, which is a stewed peach with husked wheat at the bottom. It's better than it sounds. But a bit awkward to eat/drink. A drinkable edible. An edible drink.
The following week was Halloween, so we got to see how they celebrate down in Chile. The honest truth is Halloween is a US tradition that is only just starting to take off here, probably due to larger grocery stores like Lider (Walmart) marketing to it. We did find pumpkins, although we were the only people I know who carved them. Our neighborhood had a block party on that Wednesday, which was fun, and mostly involved treats and costumes. The boys actually had the Halloween Friday off from school because it's technically All Saints Day, and is a Holiday in Chile. The boy's school did not celebrate Halloween whatsoever. No class party, no costumes to school, nada.
We did go trick-or-treating with some of Emerson's classmates, or as they say here "Dulce o Truco!" Avery was a police officer, and Emerson was a ninja. The most popular Halloween costume by far was some character from K-Pop Demon Hunters. If you haven't heard the songs or watched the movie, just wait; the catchy tunes will find you. Damn you, addictive K-Pop.
My favorite costume of the night was the inflatable Capybara!
Trick-or-treating is strange here for a couple reasons. 1. Most home have fences. And not like dainty picket fences, but industrial fences you can't see through. So it's hard to know who is participating. Some people hung Halloween decor on their fence, which was immensely helpful. If you're trying to trick-or-treat in an apartment building, you're going up and down stairs all night??
2. It's springtime time here. Flowers are in bloom, butterflies are flying, and sunset is at 8:30pm. So we're trick-or-treating in the daylight (which I don't mind, but definitely doesn't have the same vibes), with beautiful things all around us. No death and darkness here. Drew and I dressed up like stereotypical gringo explorers, which is not at all far from the truth.
Before and after trick-or-treating, we had an asado (BBQ) at the house of one of Emerson's classmates. This dad has a proper Quincho (grill setup) in his backyard, making it a fun time. This is what every asado looks like. The guys stand around the parilla (grill), and grill meat, and shoot the shit. The women sit somewhere else, in this case on some outdoor patio furniture, and drink wine, and gossip, and eat cheese and crackers. A handful of times they mix up, but not a lot. When the meat is pulled off the grill, it's sliced into thin, bite-sized strips on a cutting board, and one man passes it around like a cater waiter, with everyone grabbing one little bite at a time. There is no giant steak for each person. There is no sitting down at a formal table. There are no plates! "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! Talk a lot, pick a little more....."
I'd give Halloween here a C+. Until next year, little skeleton puppy and black cat.
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