After that... multicultural... event we got on with the true work of the month, growing our beards. After our rustic foray into Chiloe, all of the men on the trip decided that, while being outnumbered almost 4 to 1 by girls can be fun, we needed a little testosterone back into our lives.One interesting event along the way was Caitlin's birthday party. Because we were quickly approaching the beach season and the days were almost all sunny and beautiful Caitlin decided we would celebrate her birthday on the beach, come rain or come shine. Naturally, rain came, and we spent a very cold and cloudy day at the beach in Reñaca. Just when we thought our beach day was a bust, a very nice Chilean directed our attention to the coast, where a pod of at least 50 dolphins were jumping and playing in the surf. Though we couldn't take a picture due to the haze, and no one believed our story because there just aren't dolphins in Chile, that's our story and we're sticking to it.
November was also the month of my host aunt, Carola's, birthday and her son's first communion. We packed up the whole family in the peugeot and headed into Santiago to celebrate. The day started with the first communion, which we missed most of because of problems with shower-time management (Manuel). That was followed up by some awesome sushi made by my host sister, and lounging all day with "family." That night we ventured into Bella Vista, the bohemian neighborhood of Santiago, to party at Carola's "hats and wigs" birthday party. It was a good time partying with the family.
And a good time the next day, lounging off the night before!
November also saw the culmination of our wine section for my senior seminar class. We learned everything from old world vs. new world, wine production, the wine culture in Chile, and even our favorite kinds. We started off with a "cata de vinos" or wine tasting, which took us to the Vinoteca to try some really spectacular wines.
We watched videos, read articles, interviewed Chileans, and finally finished our wine segment with the tour of three vineyards as a group. It was really cool to see three completely different styles of wine making, from the oldest vinyeard in Chile (the family that owned the mine we visited during our Chiloe trip), a totally modernized vineyard (owned by an American), and a vineyard that makes organic wine (used to be a church). It was really interesting to see all three types, and a great way to see one of Chile's largest industries.
Looking for some adventure while in Chile, we headed to the sand dunes to try sand boarding. It was the feast day of some saint, so we had school off, but the man who rented the boards apparently also had the day off, so we just decided to climb the dunes.
As November grew long, so did the beards. Here I'm enjoying some tea at a coffee shop that we all went to to celebrate Abby's cheesecake day.
On my way to the gym afterward, Katelyn and I were stopped by some women in long, flowing dresses, one of them obviously pregnant. She stopped us to ask for the time, and then as a gift for our willingness to help her, she offered to bless us. By now I knew she was a gypsie, but I really wanted to talk with a gypsie while in Chile, so I let her bless my hand with a leaf. She then asked me to open my wallet so that she could bless that... knowing the reputation gypsies have, I repeatedly refused this, and she eventually settled for blessing a luca (1000 pesos, or about $2.00). I let her bless that, and before I knew it, the luca was in her hand. I had expected this, and was planning on giving her the luca, because she was pregnant and working the streets for a living, but then she asked me to open my wallet so she could put the blessed luca back in it. I refused and she asked again, many times. By now, I was a little peaved that she wouldn't just take what I had given her, and began to ask for the luca back. By now, some small Chilean children had come up to me and asked if I was alright a few times, and I was ready to just get on with my day. I asked for the luca back once more, and before I knew it, to prove that she was a mother and wouldn't steal my money, her breast was out of her dress, and the had sprayed me with breast milk! Fearing a gypsie curse, I frantically asked what she had done, apparently it was a fertility blessing. After that Katelyn and I quickly got out of there, ending that encounter.
The end of November brought the end of no shave November. This is a picture of our last day with beards. On a dare, I had shaved the Chester A. Arthur look into my hair.
The last weekend in November we had the Thanksgiving feast which we invited our families and teachers to, to give them a taste of American culture. I cut the turkey, and thus was able to field all of the questions that the confused Chileans asked. Most of them consisted of "what is inside the turkeys?" "stuffing, it's really good, made of bread.'
or "what is this sauce?"
"it's called gravy, it's really good..."
"what's it made of?"
"...um, fat."
followed by a bunch of health conscious Chileans sampling (a small) bit of one of America's most delicious traditions.
With that, November ended and we made our way into December, and the beginning of the end.