My Chilean Easter was actually very similar to how I would have spent it in the US, besides the fact that I am now living in a Catholic country where Jesus and the Pope are everywhere, all the time. My host parents woke me up at 7:30 to take part in the chocolate egg hunt they had prepared for my host sisters in our apartment. It was fun to do that again... my family hasn't hid easter eggs for years.
Later that morning, I went to church with my host mom and older sister. The church was right across the street from our apartment complex, and my host parents were married there and my host sisters were baptized there. The only Catholic service I've ever attended was at Memorial Church, so I was expecting something long, formal and difficult to follow. This service was nothing like that and even though everything was in Spanish, I followed along easily. We even sang some of the same songs I learned as a kid, with Spanish words. The church was more simple than ornate and filled with modern stained-glass scenes of Jesus. Everyone was dressed very casually, and there were lots of families with kids who took part in the "children's message." I really enjoyed the service and it definitely reminded me of home.
After church we headed to Maipu to visit the grandparents again. We had a huge lunch: first, empanadas as a snack, then, several different types of fish and meat cooked on the grill (asado), with salad and vegetables, and finally some coffee ice cream cake for dessert. Both of my dad's parents, his sister and his nephew Francisco ("Pancho") ate with us. We ate and talked for several hours, while in the background the TV played investigations into Jesus' life and a news story about "The Burning of Judas" that I found particularly interesting. Apparently there is a small Chilean village that makes and publicly burns a giant paper-mache statue of Judas every year. I understand the significance, but the Judas statue looked kind of goofy, and it struck me as a strange form of symbolic revenge.
This week has been good so far. I still haven't made my final decision about which classes to take but gettting into a regular schedule has been great. Right now I'm taking Spanish Composition and Writing Workshop, Topics in Chilean History, Africans and Afro-Latinos in the Southern Andes, and Politics and Culture of Chile. Hopefully I'll drop one of these so my schedule doesn't become absolutely insane around midterms and finals. For now, I'm enjoying all of them and the workload isn't too intense. Yesterday I had two particularly Chilean experiences: eating a hot dog loaded with guacamole, mayonnaise and tomatoes and going to Jumbo, one of Chile's super-store chains. Jumbo was insane, and even bigger than a Super Wal-Mart or Target. The one near my house is also attached to a mall with even more giant stores. There are cashiers as far as the eye can see, and the ceiling is higher and the aisles are wider. I only spent a half hour there picking up notebooks and shampoo, but it was quite a sight.
Today I'm going to an art museum if I can finish my homework in time, and tomorrow we have a special Cole Porter concert for all the students.
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