If there is one thing Chileans do right, it’s celebrating their history. Fiestas Patrias, known as Dieciocho because it’s celebrated on Sept. 18, is everything that’s good about Chile.

The country lacks culture and has a rather homogenous population much different than the U.S.’s melting pot. The cuisine is often bland, void of spices other than salt. The national drink is pisco, too harsh to drink without masking its flavor. And while everyone can move their hips to a Latin beat, there’s not a main dance like you’d see in the clubs of other South American countries. But apparently that’s all just a ruse. Come Dieciocho season and Chile is the most cultural place around — serving the best treats before dancing a national number all night long.

For weeks, anticipation for the festivities mounted as flags adorned every street, car antenna, apartment window and store front. It’s a leftover law from the dictatorship era to display a flag for the holiday, and although it’s not really enforced anymore, everyone proudly does it anyway. It was a great feeling to see all the patriotism — giant flags, mini flags and kite flags — all waving in the newly-spring air.

This year’s Sept. 18 fell on a Tuesday, so everyone had the Monday and Wednesday off work, making it a five-day holiday. Basically everyone also took off the Thursday and Friday, making it a nine-day celebration of Independence Day. Nine days! With so many festivities ongoing throughout Santiago and the rest of the country, I was thrilled to have so many days to party hop! After about Day 4, relaxation was in order though, and I spent the other five days as far as possible from any celebrations: on the couch watching movies, at the beach in the sun and in the mountains hiking.

Nora and I. It just wouldn’t be a Chilean party without my first and best friend in this country!

I started the weekend off with my favorite group of expats, the Hash House Harriers. After a nice walk or run through the beautiful uptown neighborhood, Las Condes, we circled up for me to receive my very own Hash name. Every hasher gets a name, suggested by the group and ordained by the Religious Adviser, on his or her fifth hash. In an effort to some day have a career, we’ll leave the rest of the details and photos out for this one.

Anxious to start the celebrations off right, the boyfriend and I hosted “A Very Gringo Dieciocho” barbecue at his apartment the following night, the 16th. Many of our ex-pat friends joined us in honor of the country we now call our second home. We roasted choripan (delicious mini-chorizo sausages on rolls) with pevre (chunky tomato salsa-ish sauce), gulped terremotos (“earthquake” cocktail concoctions) and transformed the living room into a stage for cueca lessons and performances (the Chilean national dance). Being the crazy gringos that we are, we added in some of our own party traditions (flip cup!) for a little twist on our Chilean friends’ customs.

Nora and I.

Friends.

A few of the girls: Me, Nora, Marianne and Natalia.

Cueca showdown in the living room. Props to Katy for her fabulous performance. She may be a gringa, but she’s a cueca natural.

In true Chilean spirit, the celebration continued the following night at the Chico Trujillo concert. The band, which originated as a punk/ska group, is a popular funky mix of Latin American cumbia, reggae and jazz influences with a full percussion and horn section. It’s hip, packed with culture and wildly fun to dance to. It’s an awesome band that I’ve come to love in Chile, so I was even able to (try to) sing along. A group of six of our friends went together and ended the night in max excitement mode of jumping and dancing in front of the stage, just as time at all concerts should be spent.

Mark, me, Ray and Katy under the neon concert lights.

Dancin’ the night of way in front of the stage.

On the actual “Dieciocho” (the 18th of September), another big group of my international friends organized for all of us to meet at Santiago’s “best” fonda (outdoor festival of food, drinks, games, rides, music and dancing goodness). There are fondas all over the country, including a few dozen in Santiago alone. Each has their own theme — vegetarian, “Jane Fonda,” rodeo, etc. — but all are everything that is Chilean.

I guess we stuck out a bit as foreigners wandering around a Chilean paradise in the suburb La Reina, and a local TV channel aired a little clip on us. Some of my friends even gave interviews (in Spanish … go them!)

I’ve been to my share of fairs, but this one has got even the US Midwest beat. The rodeo included half-naked men dancing in a program that displayed the progression of Chilean history, and the games awarded bottles of liquor as prizes … need I say more? I literally saw a six year old handing over a bottle of booze to his parents after winning a practically impossible game … what?! Haha. The food — all Chilean traditional favorites of giant choripan, empanadas and greasy french fries from hand-cut potatoes — was the best I’ve had in my nine months here. The terremotos (earthquakes), replicas (aftershocks) and cataclysmos (cataclysms) — drinks that didn’t get their names without reason — were being poured all day long. Of course, the night … or early morning … ended in an hours-long cueca dance party for all ages.

Our group of international friends.

Fair rides.

The rodeo.

My awesome girlfriends: Marianne, Nora and Katy.

Mark and I.

Cute couple dancing the cueca. Photo by Katy Nardozzi

Cueca madness. Photo by Katy Nardozzi

It was incredible to see so much culture and tradition as Chileans united for a week-long celebration of their heritage. The smell of freshly butchered meat sizzling on barbecues. Sipping strong drinks near the loud live band. Families. Traditions. History. Couples who have been married for half a century, school children with young crushes, grandparents with their grandchildren dancing and dancing and dancing a little number their entire country knows the steps to. That’s Dieciocho. That’s Chile.

—JDF