Hola,

I have had a pretty good week and an exciting weekend. My week consisted of teaching (of course) and avoiding protests and football fans. Thursday I decided that I needed to get the stamps for my visa, so I went into town where the official buildings are, near the government buildings La Moneda. As I came out of the metro I was very confused by the sheer number of people around, and the music. I thought I had walked right into some form of party at 11 in the morning! Until I saw the hoards of police and realised that I was in the middle of what was about to become a very serious protest.... After establishing that the office I needed had locked the doors because of the protest, I decided that perhaps it wasn't the best place for me and hot footed it off to the office. Turns out that there were 4 protests on and that half the city was shut down. When I left the office around 12 it was eerily quiet and the people that were around were scattering fast. There was no trafiic on Alameda which is usually four lanes deep either way and a constant traffic jam, no buses, and no people. Was really bizarre, but I decided that it wasn't a good thing and headed home for safety. One day I might get brave and go and check out the water canons and tear gas up close, but really one trip to the hospital a week is plenty.

On Friday I left Santiago with Shawn, one of the other teachers, bound for a farm outside Cauquenes in the south (4.5 hrs from Santiago) for a weekend of grape picking. After getting off the bus in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night we were taken to a paddock where we put up our tents along with 10 other Chileans. There was a party going on and we were immediately made to feel welcome with a glass or two of Chicha (like cider but made from grapes) and homemade red wine. There were a couple of guitars and a box they were using as a drum, and everyone was singing. It was awesome.

It was a fairly late night, and we were up early in the morning to pick grapes. The vina was quite old, and not of trained grapes like I am used to seeing, but small untrained vines. They don't really take much care, just prune and pick whatever they can get to sell in bulk to other wineries. Basically we would fill a basket which would be transferred to a sack which was transferred to the back of the truck to be sold. Was tons of fun with plenty of jokes and banter in the field, and a lovely sunny day. Lunch was eaten at an enormous table at the house, and consisted of traditional soup with chunks of meat, potatoes and veges in it. It was cooked in a traditional cooking room, with a large fire in the middle and spaces under the eaves for the smoke to escape. No electricty of gas here! There was plenty of it as they seemed determined to stuff as much into us as they could. Shwan and I were of course something of a novelty, and because they had never met me (and I have blonde hair, blue eyes and smile a lot) I was the source of constant amusement. The father who spoke no English was fascinated with me, and there were many good humoured jokes at my expense. When it came to him trying to pair me off with his toothless old friend I had to feign that I had no idea what he was on about while he hammed it up to his own (and everyone else's) delight. It was a lot of fun though, and really I was just so greatful that these people would take us into their family home and treat us like family even when I could hardly speak with them.

After a short rest we worked another 3hrs in the vina before tea. Then the party really began, out by the fire. Both the guitars and the drum were going and everyone was singing. They danced the Queca, a dance with hankerchiefs where the man pursues the woman and she fends him off until eventually they are united at the end. The old guy who was singing for it was actually making the words up freestyle as he went along, and he made one about me. I don't really know what exactly he was saying, but there was definitely mention of my blonde hair like the clouds, and blue eyes like the sea.... They gentle natured pick-up lines continued most of the night and I am fairly sure that although I understood more than they know, I still didn't understand everything!

To begin with no one spoke any English, but as people warmed up I discovered at least three of the guys spoke quite well, and they each came and had conversations with me, keen to practise what they knew. And the more of the home-made wine I drank from the petrol container (I kid you not - one of those big red ones), the more I would try in Spanish. Everyone was very friendly and there was lots of singing and dancing, and general hilarity. I was getting free Spanish lessons from all over, most of which I forgot, but I had the best time. Again, we went to bed late, and then were up early in the morning picking grapes. And Sunday was hot!! Luckily there wasn't so much to do, and we started later. Lunch was again amazing, and after fiddling around for a few hours (Chilean time is similar to Island time), we said our farewells to our new friends, caught a ride to Cauquenes and got the bus back to Santiago.

It really was a priviledge to be so warmly accepted into a close family and friends type gathering with such warmth. There were about 30 people there, and all of them made me feel welcome, even when the language was a real problem. I have never been so much the centre of attention, I am afraid it doesn't matter what I do I am always going to be different and I don't know I will ever get used to it. I think that the fact I dealt with all the teasing by just going along with it helped though, even though it was tiring and at times embarrassing. Thanks goodness for the laid back kiwi in me! Many of the people there live in Santiago, so hopefully I will see some of them again.

I did learn some useful things though.
1) Buses will stop anywhere. There is no public transport for the countryside, but still many people do not have cars. They just flag down any old bus that is passing (tourist, long haul or otherwise) and pay a dollar to stand in the isle until they get to where they need to be. Also, these enormous coaches will drop you off wherever you want, not just at the designated stops. It is quite different to the regimented western system!
2) Chilean women are suspicious of foreign women. It took quite while for most of the Chilean women to warm up to me. Apparently they are a little jealous and not so trusting at times, and believe that foreigners might steal their husbands. It pays not to talk to anyone's boyfriend for too long! While this did not become a problem for me, I could see that there was that potential.
3) Kids are universally curious and don't mind if you can't conjugate your verbs properly. was woken up on the first morning by two girls, age 6, at the door of my tent. I am not the best in the morning, especially after a large party, but they had a lot to tell me that I did not understand. All I could manage was hi, how are you, whats your name, and something about breakfast. Apparently whatever I said was very funny, and enough to let them know that they were indeed smarter than me and therefore I was part of their group, not an adult, and was also fair game to be bossed around because I was clearly stupid becaue I couldn't speak much. So I spent quite a bit of time doing what I was told, and learning things form Fernanda and Antonia because I became their pet project.
4) If you have blonde hair and blue eyes you are going to be flattered about being beautiful until it is painfully embarrassing. This was definitely the case with the father there who managed to evolve flattery into some kind of sport. And come on - I had been working in the vina all day and hadn't showered and was a mess!! It was probably good that I didn't understand everything.
5) Alcohol improves your fluency in another language (or at least you don't notice how much of the conversation you are missing). I was having great conversations with people in my broken Spanish English mix. I have no idea if we were talking about the same things, but it was lots of fun.
6) If you go with every opportunity presented to you, and are polite, laid back and smile a lot, many lovely experiences can come to you.

I was totally exhausted when I got home, and getting up for class today was such a struggle! I had to hve a wee nap on my bed this afternoon... I am feeling much better now, and wondering where the next trip might be! Unfortunately it is getting much colder at nights (still 25 - 30 during the day), so this might be the end of camping for this season. I was talking about going skiing with some people though when it is cold enough which would be pretty awesome....

Anyway, until next time, stay cool!
KiwiKaz.