A tense week

Last week was an interesting and varied week. We had almost a complete week of classes but you could tell that everyone, students and teacher alike, was gearing up for the 'fiestas patrias'. It was a really exciting week for me because I wasn't really sure what to expect, but everyone told me I was going to have a great time. I've decided to write about this week in two posts, this one will be about everything I did during the week in Conce, and the second will be about my weekend in Pucón.

'Cueca' competition at the ramadas in INACAP

Leaving the festive theme for a short while, on Tuesday I went to my first ever judo class. I was invited by one of my housemates. After a half hour warm up we started practising various holds and throws which all had complicated Japanese names, of course pronounced in a thick Chilean accent. Sadly not too long into contact practice I managed to injure my housemate after throwing him and him falling awkwardly, turns out I'm not that bad at judo. And somehow it felt very familiar, then it came to me... I actually already had years of training under my belt, judo is exactly how twins fight with one another just with more rules! The next day everything ached, mainly due to being thrown around so much. I thought they'd go easy on me, being the regional champion, a member of the regional team and two other experienced fighters. Nope! Before I even knew we'd started I had been slammed to the floor, which sadly was a recurring theme. I did however managed to get two decent throws of my opponents and took them to the floor. Overall a great experience, though the mixture of Japanese and Chilean Spanish was disorientating at times, as was being swung around and flipped countless times!

The door to a whole world of pain...

Empanadas and terremotos, how very Chilean.

Wednesday was an exciting day for the students since they had their 'ramadas' which was a collection of stalls selling traditional food, game, dance competitions and drinks (think university style summer fair). I had a go at playing two traditional Chilean games. One was called 'emboque', it consists of a wooden bell shaped thing with a hole in it, attached with some string to a wooden stick, the aim to to fling the bell up in the air and catch it with the stick. It is extremely difficult, or at least I thought so! The other was called 'rayuela', in which you fling a small metal disc at a distance into a box of mud. Yes, it is as simple as that. And incredibly straightforward but addictive game! This was also my first exposure to the national dance of Chile, the 'cueca', looks deceiving simple but I'm sure it's devilishly difficult to actually do.

'Emboque', simple in its concept, but impossible in reality

Thursday I went out with one of the teachers after work and was introduced to some new Chilean food and drinks which was nice. And Friday was the day of the teacher's lunch at INACAP, this was the day that all the teachers had been waiting for. It was a kind of half-hearted morning of work because nobody could focus on their classes thinking about all the food they were about to eat. At the lunch I was exposed to lots more chilean food: more empanadas (think cornish pasty with better pastry and spicier filling), choripanes (bbq'd sausages in a roll), sopaipillas (fried bread-like fough made with a kind of squash) and of course the asado (the Chilean word for BBQ). Drinks were also flowing, as was the music. There was a cueca competition, the national dance, and a competition of who had written the best 'palla', a Chilean rhyming poem not dissimilar to a limerick. To those of you that know me well, you'll know I'm not one for dancing, mainly for lack of talent and keenness... But Friday I was convinced to make an exception and got up to dance a 'Guaracha' with one of the teachers, I say dance but it'd probably be better described as an awkward stumble through the steps until I was finally embarrassed enough to sit back down again. But hey, it's all in the spirit of the festivities, so who cares!

Asados (BBQs) are an essential part of any Chilean gathering!

Some musicians providing entertainment at the teacher's lunch

After the lunch I had to dash home and pack my things to prepare myself to catch a couple of coaches down South to the city of Pucón, where I would spend the weekend with one of my housemate's family to pass the 'fiestas patrias'.