This week we have been celebrating the random 182nd year anniversary of our town with the lively Ovallinos living here. I thought something was up when my classes were cancelled to make way for 1.5 hours of marching practice....the kids are now able to put one foot in front of the other in time to music, but asking "how old are you?" still remains an issue.
The celebrations began with a regional Cueca dancing competition in the foreground of a live Chileno band. This is the national dance of Chile, and unlike Morris Dancing, it is very popular with people up and down the country, with every region having its own style and children taking it up from schoolage. It begins with a bit of flirting, the man showing off his new hat and spurs, the lady acting all coy, and finishes up with a lot of hanky waving, prancing about, and downing wine from horns. Needless to say (in the words of Jonny´s kids) "I bloody loved it"! If you´d like to get a glimpse of the winning couple, you can take a look here:
The week was rounded off by parades, a circus in the Plaza, and of course, the staple of every Chilean home, an Asado (BBQ) with enough meat to feed a large army of rancheros. An exciting week for Ovalle....it has a lot to live up to from here on out!
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