FIESTAS PATRIAS

Hola, hola, hola todo!  (Clearly the Spanish is really coming along).  Anywho, this week was Independence Week here in Chile.  The actual day is September 18th, but these Chileans know how to party, so the fiesta is basically all week.  The bad thing is, because of this fiesta business going on, we couldn´t leave the house for three days during the week unless we had fixed appointments (Apparently there is quite a lot of drinking that goes on these days).  Although I´m sure everyone wants to have appointments with the lovely missionaries during their fiesta week, we had essentially none (shocking, I know.)  HOWEVER, we did some partying of our own this week and all I can say is, these Chileans also know how to eat.  En serio.  

Last P-day, our zone got together with the senior missionaries in our zone and had a lovely little fiesta for the 18th.  It was very Chilean.  The senior missionaries (who are from Santiago) bought a cow (to eat, not living), but apparently they sell whole cows that you can buy, roast and eat.  So we roasted a cow at the church and had a serious fiesta with rice, Chile bread, potatoes, torta... the works.  The Elders were in seventh heaven with all the steak they could eat and kept saying that this was the best day of their entire mission.  Elders.  Anywho, it was lovely.  And I ate quite a bit.

THEN a couple days later was the 18th.  My companion and I were coming back from a district meeting and el papito (the father of the family that we live with - also the president of the branch) was carrying a huge leg of some animal in a bucket that he was going to roast.  It was too big to be the leg of a pig and too small to be the leg of a cow, so I asked him what it was.  He told me, but it was NOT a word that I knew, so then he was trying to explain it and finally he said, ´como Pumba!´ Ahhhhh.  Warthog.  So later that day I ate roasted Pumba, humming Hakuna Matata to myself as I did so.  Que triste.  Anywho, I also ate quite a few Chilean empanadas and this cookie like thing called alfajores con chancaca.  Quite delicious.  

THEN the next day was the ward activity which was from 10 in the morning until 12 at night (we left at about 9pm), but they had (of course) quite a bit of food and lots of traditional Chilean games.  One traditional game is an obstacle course in which you have to first blow up a balloon and pop it by sitting on it, eat an alfajora, pick up a coin with your mouth that is in a plate of water, find a candy in a pile of flour with your mouth, and then answer a question about Chile.  Nobody wanted to do this, so my companion and I volunteered, and we went to it with gusto.  What I didn´t realize is that they have the water and flour in that order so that the flour sticks to your face.  Lovely.  Also apparently I went to it with so much gusto that I got a bloody nose, so I arrived at the finish line covered in flour and blood.  But victorious people.  Also I learned that having a bloody nose is not common among latinos, that you only have a bloody nose if you have a serious illness, and no one would believe me when I said it was perfectly normal.  Anywho, clearly I am cutting a reputation around here.  I´ll try and send a picture for your enjoyment because one of the elders took it upon himself to take pictures of this event for me.  So kind.  

Anywho people, the gospel is true, I know that life isn´t worth living if you´re not serving someone else.  the woman that had the incredible experience with us that I talked about last time has stayed this entire time just so we can teach her more!!! and she finally finally finally came to church!!! i promise i´m doing missionary work! i love you all!