September, Part 1

Alcachofa!

 The majority of this month was spent in celebration.  September 18th is the Chilean Independence Day, meaning, this month included a vacation week, lots of fiestas, delicious food, and family!
In the first week, I got to celebrate my Grandma's birthday and talk with my father's side of the family more!

Grandma's Birthday!

As I mentioned that September was a month of fiestas, I should also mention that it is a month of fiesta preparations before all else! Not a single day passed in school where an effort was not being made in order to prepare for the school's celebration of the national Independence Day!

Me learning the Base Guitar to play in the Fiesta Huasa 

 The initial preparations included endless music classes repeating the same song, over, and over, and over, and over again...

Moment to explain...

I just typed a gosh darn essay explaining specific things for every single one of these pictures, and I went to post it only to find that it all had erased itself.

As I am lacking motivation to write another 6 pages... here is what happened in a nutshell!

We practiced my grades dance every day in school, and I was selected as one of the students to dance it in the Fiesta Huesa.  Thus I had to buy a Cueca dress! I went shopping with my grandma and sister and bought a beautiful dress, black with red flowers (a typical design for the dress is a floral pattern). 

On the day of the fiesta at the school, I walked to the school bright and early and dropped off my giant hoop skirt and shoes, then I headed out with some friends to go to a fair at the "estadio español" a little country club sort of place.

There was dancing and food and sweets and everything you could imagine! 

I ended up helping out at a meat stand selling sausages and steak to the public... by far the best sausages I have ever had.

When it was close to time to dance, I went back to the school and put my dress on, then helped out by braiding literally 20 people's hair.

Let me tell you... it was HOT.  A tent had been set up in the courtyard, and the moment that you set foot in there, the steam from 2 billion delicious Chilean delicacies being cooked burned your face off.  And don't even get me started on the smell... YUMMM

All of the food that was served was native to chile, and delicious I might add.

When it was finally time to dance, my group was lead into the gym and did our thing I front of what I swear whas the whole gosh darn city.  It was very fun :)

Me and my friends all hung out afterwards for quite some time, and it was a really awesome moment for me.

One thing that was really special that happened to me was within the tent.  There was music played in there, meaning that the straw floor was open for dancing.  I was jamming out with my friends to some Spanish classics, when I saw my host dad and sister dancing in one of the corners on the tent.

One of my favorite childhood memories was something called a daddy daughter dance.  It was a little dance that my town would annually host when fathers and daughters would go to this barn in the center of our town and enjoy their own little formal evening dancing and eating ice cream.  My daddy always made a big deal about asking me and my sisters each year with a cute little proposal- 

The year that I remember most was the first year that my sisters were too old to go, so I had my daddio all to myself.  It was a really special night for me! 

Dancing with my sisters and him in public events became a normal daddy/daughter thing for us! 

So when my host dad saw me smiling and watching, then invited me to join, it was a really really happy moment for me.  Sort of like an official "you're in" sort of passage.

My bestie Vale took a video :)

^^first visit to my nanny's church!! Absolutely an awesome awesome place :)