Video of Globo Aquatico

Here is the video of the boys playing in the water globes.  If you are receiving this by email, go to jillhaviland.blogspot.com to view it.

Feria at Cuatro Esquinas

Summer has come to a close here in Chile.  We wanted to go to the feria at cuatro esquinas one more time before it closed down and went away.  BJ and Evan bought lollipops for a treat.  Boy, were they messy!

BJ really wanted to go on one of the rides .  He picked this one where you get inside a big bubble and play in the water for 5 minutes.

Evan got to go first.

I would have been so claustrophobic, but not Evan.  He had a fabulous time.

His globo filled up with condensation and we couldn't see him really well.  He was quite a pro.  He was able to stand and run and do summersaults inside his globo.

Next, BJ had his turn.  BJ's favorite thing was rolling and summersaults.  Each kid had five minutes to play.  The rest of us had a great time cheering them on.

Time to get out!  What a fun game.

Video now available

I made a mistake when posting the video yesterday.  It should work now if you are interested.

Farewell to the Bradfords

On Thursday evening, we had a special youth activity to say farewell to a couple of families that would be moving out of the area.  As part of the celebration, we cooked fried empanadas and scones. 

We also had one of Chile's famous deserts called Mote con Huesillo.  From Wikipedia again, Mote con huesillo is a traditional Chilean summer-time drink, known as the “refreshing national drink.” It is a non-alcoholic beverage consisting of a sweet clear nectar like liquid made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar,water and cinnamon, and then once cooled mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat (mote).^[1] The sweet clear nectar is usually made with sugar, but can also be supplemented or replaced with honey.

During the activity the girls performed a Pascuan dance from the Rapa Nui people who live on Easter Island.  As you can see from the outfits, it is very similiar to a Hawaiin hula dance.

The Hybiscas flowers in their hair are real.  They were picked that night from tree growing nearby the church. 

The girls also performed a Cueca dance.  Each dance was prepared and choreographed by one of the young woman as a value project for their Personal Progress Program.

When the dancing was done, we were able to enjoy the mote con huesillo and the empanadas.

This is Karina.  She choreographed the cueca dance.

 

Vangie, Emily and Alejandra

Cueca dresses are so cute.  Most of the ones these girls have are homemade.

 

The Bradfords, a family from Utah who spent a year in Chile, are on their way back home.  This Chiliean flag signed by all their friends was a great parting gift.

Quiero Ser un Misionero Ya

Our stake held a primary activity entitled, Quiero ser un misionero ya which means, I want to be a missionary now.  All the missionaries in our stake attended the activity.  Evan was thrilled to see that one of the elders from another ward was named Elder Evans.  For some reason, the people here add an "S" to the end of Evan's name and call him Evans.  Evan now writes Evans on the papers that he makes at church.

The Elders from our ward did an activity with the kids to show them all the good things that they can learn and do to prepare themselves to be missionaries someday.



Emily and her friend Javiera helped out with some of the little kids at the activity.



BJ's group got to do similiar activities.  The groups rotated from room to room learning as they went.

In the cultural hall, returned missionaries had tables set up to show their photos and memorabilia from their missions.

The older boys were able to go out with the missionaries and have the experience of sharing a message with a family in the area.

Dave drove this group while BJ and Andrew went to other houses with different sets of missionaries.

At the end of the activity, Andrew was able to go up and share some of his experiences and his testimony.  He did a great job!  Many people came up to him afterwards to congratulate him on his excellent Spanish.  His dad was very proud of him.

Trip to Pisco Elqui....part 4

We made our way back towards La Serena with a couple of more stops along the way.  This is a tiny little pueblo that is called Montegrande.  I thought that this red brick church was very picturesque.

At the plaza with the red brick church the sellers were particularly "organic".  A lot of people are drawn to this area because of its wholistic and healing qualities that are thought to be found here.  We had to get a picture of this guy with his big dred locks making jewelery to sell in the plaza.

There was quite a varied collection of things for sale.  This particular vendor was selling dried gourds.

At our next stop, we came to a big artisanal feria in the town of Paihuano.

As part of the festivities, this man was offering horse rides to people for a small price.

In the main square, they were selling food and crafts.  This woman is grilling goat cheese.  The cheese is hard and dense enough that it doesn't melt too much and can be grilled like this.

We had tried goat cheese before here in Chile and didn't care for it too much.  We thought it would be worth another shot.  The first taste was alright, but then I remembered why I didn't like it.  The aftertaste reminds me of stinky, old goat...not that I have ever tasted a stinky, old goat.  You know what I mean.

There also was a Queca dance contest up on the stage.

The kids could also play carnival games.  These games were great.  Tins cans painted in various colors were stacked and you could knock them down to win a prize.

Here is the band that was playing music for the Queca dancers.

One vendor was selling all you would need to dress as a Chilean cowboy.  His items were awesome.  We figured that if we were to buy a full outfit, it would run us about $500.  These spurs were particularly cool.  They were hand made.  One of the larger ones sold for over $100.

A Chilean cowboy is called a Huaso.

According to Wikipedia:

Huasos (plural) are generally found in Chile's central valley. They ride horses and typically wear a straw hat called a chupalla. They also wear a poncho—called a manta or a chamanto (although this was originally reserved to land owners, as it is much more expensive)—over a short Andalusian waist jacket, as well as tooled leather legging over booties with raw hide leather spur holders that sustain a long-shanked spur with 4-inch rowels, and many other typical garments.

Huasos are an important part of Chilean folkloric culture and are a vital part of parades, fiestas, and holidays. The dancing of the cueca in which the coy china is courted by the persistent huaso, both traditionally attired, is de rigueur on such occasions.

It is nice to see the Chilenos proud of their heritage.  We have seen people dressed in this tradition style on many occcations.

Trip to Pisco Elqui....part 3

We finally made it to Pisco Elqui.  We parked our car and went to the main square in the center of town.  Every town in Chile has a main plaza with a church next to it.  Here in Pisco Elqui, we found the Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario), built between 1910 and 1922. It was last restored in the year 2000. It has a floor with a cross design and a high tower visible from far away.

I liked the patterns carved into the stone steps.

The stained glass windows were very striking.

At the back of the church was a little museum which displayed the priestly robes.

This church was very different from the ones my parents and I had seen while visiting Austria.

It was such a beautiful day in this Chilean plaza.

We had a late lunch while in Pisco Elqui of empanadas and pastel de choclo which is a custard like corn cake.

After lunch we had some icecream.  BJ ordered for us speaking in Spanish.