A weekend in Valparaíso

And now I am two weeks behind.... oh it is difficult to keep up with my life. Sometimes I really do have trouble...

I went to Valparaíso two weeks ago, as I mentioned in my last post. It was so much fun! There were four of us who sent over on the bus on Friday night. We went straight to Claudio's apartment, a small studio apartment in a very nice part of town, on the hill in the very historic sector. The building he lives in is an old restored place that is gorgeous inside and out. It isn't very big though... Met up with a couple of other friends, had some bevvies, and headed out. Went to a pub called "La Playa", which is one of the oldest establishments in Valparaíso. It reminded me of the Somerset in Ashvegas, a little dodgy with a questionable choice of music. We had lots of fun though, dancing all night to rock, salsa, cumbia, hip hop and everything else. It was one of the first times that I have really felt that I was pleased to have a number of male friends around me though as I was attracting attention with my blonde hair. Luckily my friends are excellent and I always feel completely safe when they are around. They look after me. We had a bit of a tour of some of the sites in the dark and headed home to bed around 7am. Sleeping was a bit of an issue because there really wasn't enough floor space for all of us... Me and one of the other girls scored the bed, which was wonderful until one of the guys crashed in and proceeded to snore between us.... Chile. They sleep anywhere, at anytime, and they sleep hard. I don't think I will ever get used to it!!

Saturday was beautiful. I decided to stay in Valparaíso (I was supposed to go back to Santiago). We walked around some of the city, had some lunch and walked a bit more. It really is an amazing place. It is a city of contrasts - the centre is quite dirty, not safe at night, and really nothing to write home about. The hills are absolutely amazing, packed with brightly coloured houses in impossibly narrow (and steep) streets, art, mosaic, graffiti art and stunning views popping up from nowhere. There seems to be someone with a guitar or a sketch pad around every corner. It isn't hard to see why it is world heritage listed!

For dinner we went to a clandestine restaurant, that only had one dish - some combination of fries, egg, onions and cheese all fried up and topped with meat. Only comes in one size too - enough to feed four. After this very worthy feed we headed off for a night of Cueca. The place where it was held was not a proper bar, rather more like a very small rugby clubrooms, that was packed with families, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. Luckily I actually did know quite a few people there (well maybe 10!). Was fair to say that I was the only gringa around, and I actually felt quite priviledged to be there at all. Was a night for "homenaje el rey del pandero", or a tribute to the king of the chilean tambourine. The chilean tambourine (pandero) is essential to the cueca, and I find it an amazing instrument. It is impossible to describe exactly how it is played, but it is very unique (and quite difficult). I have ben practising, but as I don't have my own pandero, it is a bit difficult. Anyway, there were 3 cueca bands, a couple of very good documentaries, some theatre and comedy, a cumbia band, and then a lot of impromptu cueca until the small hours of the morning. Was an amazing amount of fun, with plenty of dancing, and lots of panderos. The boys were all over in Viña that night, so there was plenty of room for sleeping at Claudio's house which I really appreciated.

On Sunday Naty and I got some breakfast and caught a colectivo to the beach. We had a lovely afternoon reading the paper and generally soaking up the sunshine. We had a big feed of paila marina (hot soup full of shell fish and fish, fresh and delicious) from the market and a walk around the outdoor market that was happening. I bought some earrings and an ocarina, a small andean wind instrument that I am driving my housemate crazy with as I learn a few songs on it. We got back to the apartment around 6 to find the boys looking a lot the worse for wear, and headed back to Santiago on the bus shortly after. Was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to go back to Valparaíso and explore a whole lot more! The photos are on facebook, but I will put a sample up here too. The photos from top to bottom are: Valparaíso by night, a typical street, Ceci and I in Plaza Sotomayor, Mauro and Karen playing Cueca (she is playing the pandero), and some cueca dancing following the theatre skit. Note the use of the hankies....

OK, thats all for now,
KiwiKaz.