After a long day of
traveling, today was a great day to learn more about Chile! My day started
with a wonderful breakfast with my host family, pancakes! I decided to top mine
with manjar, or dulce de leche, while the children opted for a traditional
topping from the States, maple syrup.
After breakfast, my amazing host family
took me to a small town called Santa Juana to celebrate San Juan or St. John. The
scenery going to Santa Juana from Concepción was gorgeous. For majority of the
trip we drove along the beautiful Bío Bío River and the mountains. When we
arrived to Santa Juana we were greeted by a large welcome sign mad of rocks and
flowers on a hill and large wooden statues of a man, a dog and an ox pulled
wagon. As we drove a little farther we reached the heart of Santa Juana and the
festival. The festival was located next to the town plaza where families and
children were riding bikes, playing on the playground, and running around. As
we entered the festival there were many booths set up with games, and a wide variety
of items for sale, from croqueted clothing, to fruits, vegetables, and
seasonings, to clay pots. As we walked deeper into the festival we entered a
large area that had tons of food venders that circled tables where people
enjoyed lunch. In between some of the tables men were barbecuing longanizas, a
typical Chilean sausage, pork, and chicken, filling the room with smoke and the
aroma of barbecue. As we sat down in the center of the room with a vast amount
of others Chileans enjoying their food, we listened to a well known harpist by
the name of Juan Carrascio, who played many songs, as well as the song,
“Gracias la Vida” written by Violeta Parra, who was a very famous Chilean
musician. While listening to the incredible Chilean music we receive our food,
which was delicious. We ate sopapillas with pebre, empanadas, longanizas, costillar
con papas, or pork ribs and potatoes, and a stew that had a red wine base with
smoked rabbit, chicken, and pork and drank Coca-Cola and mote con huesillo, a dried peach soaked in syrup with husked wheat, which was very sweet! I could not get enough of this delicious food;
all of the meat was so tender and flavorful! After we finished our fantastic
meal we explored the many booths and walked around the town plaza. It was a
real treat to be able to experience a traditional Chilean festival with such a
wonderful family.
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| Bío Bío River |
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| Welcome to Santa Juana! |
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| Santa Juana plaza |
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| Spice vender |
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| Horse accessories |
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| More spices! |
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| Barbecue! |
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| Chicharones, or boiled pig fat |
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| Sodas, desserts, and more |
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| More barbecue, longanizas and pork |
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| Ricardo drinking mote con huesillo |
As the day turned to night, my host mother took me to the
mall so I could buy a much-needed hair straighter and a few other necessities.
The Concepción mall was a complete 180 from the San Juan festival. The mall was
almost the same size as Santa Juana and filled with modern designs and architecture.
I recognized many stores, such as, Gap, Apple, and Guess, and shopped in
equally if not better local boutiques. After a very eventful day the family and
I came together one last time for dinner, one of my favorites, Lasagna. I have
really enjoyed experiencing both the traditional and global aspects of Chilean
culture and food, and I cannot wait to experience many other great aspects of
Chile.
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