18th de Septiembre part 2

This is a game that the kids were playing at the fiesta to celebrate Chile's independence.  They call the game with tops TROMPO. 

From what I could obsverve, first all the players wind up thier spinners and then release them into the circle.  There is definitely techinique involved here.  These boys could get thier tops spinning for the longest time.

Once everyone's spinners are launched, players try to knock other players out of the circle.  Sometimes, they use thier string to move thier top to bump someone else.

Other times they are able to pick up thier tops and drop them on another player and knock them out of the game.  It was really fun to watch.

Our new friends Victor and Sebastian love our boys.  They are not shy when it comes to giving hugs.

Another favorite passtime is the game UNO.  And why not...

Emily with her friends Edwardo, Sofia and Karina.

18th de Septiembre

September 18th in Chile is what the 4th of July is for Americans.  It signifies the beginning of independence for Chile.  According to Wikipedia...Within Chile the Fiestas Patrias are often referred to as the Dieciocho, or "18th" because the celebration occurs on September 18. Unofficially, the celebration can last for around a week, depending on when it falls (for example, if the 18th is a Wednesday, celebrations extend from Saturday the 14th, through Sunday the 22nd). Interestingly, in La Serena the 18th September is often celebrated on the 20th of September because it took two days for news of Chile's independence to reach this far north.  Most schools and jobs declare a week-long vacation for the holiday. Together with Christmas, the fiesta is the most important time of the year for most Chileans. 

We celebrated Chile's indepence day at church on the 17th with an all day party.  It began at 11:00 am and went until 9:00 pm.  This is our chapel in La Serena.  Most of the day was spent in the parking lot having barbeque, playing games, dancing and enjoying one another's company.

The youth here have been so kind to our family.  Here is one of Emily's friends Edwardo.  The young people here all take English classes at school and have enjoyed having a little bit more English practice outside of the classroom.  Edwardo and Emily exchange words in thier respective languages and see if they can stump eachother.  We are also happy to find that there are BYU fans all the way down here in Chile.

I couldn't reisist getting a picture of this cute little Chilean cowboy.  Many of the members dressed up in traditional costumes for the dance performances later in the evening.

BJ was happy when some of the kids brought bikes to the activity and shared them with the other children. 

This toy that Andrew is playing with is called an "emboque".   Andrew had it mastered after just a few tries.

Here is Evan giving it a try.  It is much more difficult that it may look.

Much more to come on our independence day festivities.

(Side note...David spent a few days in Argentina for work during this week, so he wasn't able to attend the celebration with us.)

Spring is Coming!

It has been an interesting experience living in the southern hemispere.  When we left our home in Bakersfield it was summer and the weather was in the high 90s.  When we arrived in Chile it was in the 40's and 50's.  There are signs that spring is just around the corner.  We have been seeing blossoms appearing on the trees.

This past weekend we drove to a nearby town called Vicuna.  I want to type a tilde over that "n" in Vicuna, but not sure how to do it. 

On our way to Vicuna we saw this cute town called Marquesa up on the hill and stopped by to enjoy some of their blossoms.

Puclaro Reservoir

Another stop on our way to Vicuna was to the Puclaro Reservoir.  There were artisan shops at the entrance selling souvenieres like quartz jewelery and little leather coin purses.

We walked across the top of the dam and enjoyed the breeze and the warm air that we found away from the coast.

BJ and Andrew thought that the way the wind blew into their shirts made them look like muscle-men.

It has been so nice of Dave to find things for us to do on the weekends.  We are having a fun time exploring the beautiful area around La Serena.

Museo Entomologico

We were pleasantly surprised to find this fun bug museum in Vicuna. 

 Most of these insects were from South American countries.  They were really amazing.  This tarantula seemed bigger than BJ's head.

We thought that our cousins in Nevada and Arizona would get a kick out of this scorpion. 

Emily (our family's self-proclaimed Harry Potter expert) pointed out that this one looked like the bug in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Mad-Eye Moody teaches the cruciatus curse.    

Evan "Vanna White" shows us the shiny butterflies.

After we left the museum we bought some ham, cheese and baguettes and had a picnic in the park.  It wasn't long before we were discovered. 

As soon as we brought out our ham, the stray dogs became very interested in us.  It actually wasn't too bothersome until we saw all of the ticks on them. 

I threw away some fat from my meat and this little guy went dumpster diving for it. Aside from the dogs, it was really nice to spend an afternoon together. 

The Desert

On Friday Dave took the day off and we decided to go for a drive up the Valley.  In Chile the entire country has both coastline and the very tall Andes mountains very close to each other.  In the morning we left our coastal home (coastal climate) and drove up the Valley (hot dry climate).  Within about 15 minutes we found ourselves in the desert.  When we came to a city called Vicuna.  BJ wanted to get out and check out the cacti.

This is the Haviland Family posing with the Cactus Family.  We would like to introduce Grandma and Grandpa Cactus with their 5 children, their spouses and their 7 grandchildren.

We found this really cool cactus.  Locals here call it "Silla de Suegra" which literally means "Chair for my Mother-in-law."  In most countries "Silla de Suegra" refers to a type of barrel cactus with lots of spines that looks like a footstool, but I am sure this one would work also.  BJ decided to try out that seat, but then thought better of it.

We also saw these cute little cacti that just grew into these cute prickly clusters.  But, beware, those cute little prickly clusters can be dangerous.  Evan found this out when, according to him, he was just minding his own business when the cactus attacked him.

At first he was just scared to see so many prickly cacti stuck to his pants, then one poked him and he really got upset.  The barbs were very well made and each little cactus part was so delicate that barely touching the cactis caused it to bust into pieces and hang on for dear life.  Evan obviously wasn't too happy being a dispersal mechanism for new little cacti plants.

Poor Evan!

Daddy to the rescue!

Despite the attack on Evan we still had pity on the poor little cactus parts.  They would have had no chance for survival in the wild if we just left them there detached during the summer.  We decided to bring them home as mascotas (pets) and planted them in a planter box in our yard.

Evan Spinning Pesos

I posted a while back about Evan entertaining himself by spinning pesos.  I finally was able to get the video uploaded.  He is pretty good if I do say so myself.

This is one of his practice rounds.

Making Empanadas

Last week Sister Armijo came to our house with her family for family home evening to show me how to make empanadas de pino.  They are one of Dave's favorites.

She, of course, does not use a recipe.  All good cooks just have a sense about what is good.  But, as we made the dough, we took note to see about how much flour, butter and milk we were using.  Emily helped us roll out the dough as well.  It had to be rolled very thin.

 

They turned out very delicious.  The main ingredient is ground beef that has been seasoned with salt, cumin, and onion.  Added to this were hard boiled egg, olives and raisins. Yum. 

While we cooked in the kitchen, Brother Armijo entertained the boys with round after round of Uno.  It is not neccessary to speak the same language to enjoy a rousing game of Uno.  The Armijos also brought a delicious jello dessert with condensed milk that their older daughter Paula made for us.

The Kia

We have been renting a car since we arrived in Chile.  It has been a small car that really didn't accomodate a family of six.  Evan hasn't been too happy always sitting on laps.  Luckily we were able to work something out that fits us much better.  Someone from work purchased this KIA for us.  We will rent it from her for a significant discount from what we were paying to the car rental company.  Now we are much more comfortable.  It has a stick transmission, as do most of the cars here.  So, I will be letting Dave continue to do the driving around town. 

Here we are taking the maiden voyage in our new Kia.

Evan's Lost Tooth

It finally came out.  It seems like this tooth has been loose for a year.  Dave helped Evan to pop it out last night.  It was ready.  The new tooth is already poking down.  And wouldn't you know it...the tooth fairy comes to Chile too.  Evan found a 500 pesos coin under his pillow in the morning.


I forgot to add that in Chile the tooth fairy is not a fairy at all but a rat!