Sunday, September 1

Today we woke up late after staying up so late the night before. We ate breakfast and talked for a while, and then Eric, Nancy, Tia Marite (In Chile you call all of the adults that you’re like close with tio and tia even if they aren’t related to you. It’s like a term of affection.), Carolina, and I walked to the farmers’ market. There is a farmers’ market in a different part of each city in Chile (or at least Rancagua and Santiago) that everyone goes to buy fresh fruit and veggies.

I learned a lot of new food related vocabulary, and I saw a bunch of foods that I’ve never seen before. Then, as we were walking back, we saw a crowd of people. There were TV cameras and some people dancing Cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) in the center. We went over to check it out, and we found out it was a rally for Camilla Vallegos, who is an influential politician in Chile who is now running for congress. The TV cameras zoomed in on me, so I waved and cheered. Then, after she gave a speech, I took a picture with Camilla.

 After we left, my mom laughed and told me that she was actually a very radical communist. So I guess the whole world will think I’m a communist now… J After we got back to the house, Nancy and Tia Marite went to cook lunch. I was incredibly shocked when Nancy asked me if I would go to the store and buy her some wine. I guess I looked pretty confused because then she said “Oh you look old enough. Just go in alone and ask for white wine and they won’t question it because you’re not from here.” So, we kids walked over to the local liquor store to buy wine. It was closed, so I didn’t get to try my luck in getting away with something illegal. When we got back, Cristobal called me over Skype, and I went outside to a little playground to talk to him. It was really nice to hear what he’s been up to and to talk to him about my friends here. He’s like the only person I can actually talk to about the people here because he’s the only one who knows them. Then, I had to go inside to eat lunch. After lunch, we played cards for a while, and then Nancy, Tia Marite, Carolina, and I worked on these little gift things that they are making for a vow renewal ceremony (the couple has been married 50 years) that we are all going to in October.

 We stayed there making the gifts until like 7, then we ate a quick dinner, packed up, said goodbye, and drove home. One the way home we watched a movie in the car. When we got home it was like 10. We discovered that we were locked out of the front door, so Eric had to go around the side door and set off the house alarm just to get in. By the time we unloaded all our bags and purchases from Pomaire I was exhausted, so I took a shower and went to sleep.