National Holiday

I don't normally get involved with the celebrations for Fiestas Patrias or the national holidays. Reason being, I feel nowadays there is little independence to refer to. Moreover, I am not a nationalistic person. I always wonder how the native people in our country feel during these celebrations.  But let’s face it; it is a great opportunity to have a relaxing time. I used to go to barbeques with friends or house parties but I never enjoyed going to fondas in Santiago because I always found them over-crowded and over-priced. In fact the only fonda I ever really enjoyed was 15 or 18 years ago (hahahha) when I went to Algarrobo. I went with my darling husband, a British friend of his, Karen, and a very good Chilean friend of mine, Claudio. Connie, Claudio’s girlfriend at the time, was there too. Claudio's parents have a house in Algarrobo and we went to stay there for a couple of days. It was great being near the beach and getting some fresh sea air. Also, the weather was warm and sunny during the daytime and not too cold in the evenings.

The fonda was on the main road leading into Algarrobo and we went twice on consecutive evenings. There were lots of people but the atmosphere was friendly. We did the typical things like play some games, eat empanadas and drink chicha. There was music and people dancing cueca. Later on we drank piscolas and danced (shuffled about!!) to cumbias.

We all enjoy our national holiday for different reasons, I suppose.

Write about a Fiestas Patrias(National holiday) celebration you remember:

Say:

When it was,

What you did,

Who you were with,

Why you enjoyed it.

or you can approach it from another angle:

What makes Chileans Chilean?
How Chilean are you?
Why do you think all this nationalism  arises?

Write a minimum of 120 words, a comment on my blog and 2 more comments