The family unfortunately had problems with the gear-box of their car and got caught up in Ovalle, five hours to the north of Valpo and didn’t get into to the city until about 11p.m. We had a giant meal cooked up for them: roast beef, salad, potatoes, avocados with tuna and mimosas with strawberries. The meat was cooked to perfection, but was ready around 9:30, but by the time they got there it was very dry, disappointing, but still good.
The fireworks show was truly amazing; I’ve never seen anything like it. It started at midnight, we watched it from the balcony of their apartment. Valparaiso is a port city and it is one of four cities on a giant bay. They launched fireworks from eight points along the bay, from Playa Ancha, the southern point of Valparaiso, up to Concón, it was really something to see. We could see all eight points from the balcony and the show lasted for 25 minutes. We finished up dinner after the show and then went out for the night, all of us except sr. and sra. Arce and Claudio's sister Dayane who is battling a case of depression after her boyfriend left her.
I tried calling a few friends and my family on my cell, but all the lines were jammed up. I had plans to meet up with my friend Tracy for the night who I was hoping to see, but I couldn’t connect with her until 6 a.m. The phone lines basically shut down for about 6 hours on New Years Eve from the heavy call volume. Normally there are 300,000 people in Valparaiso, but on New Years Eve there were about 1.3 million people in the city and the roads as well as the phone lines “se collapsaron”; they ceased to function. I’ve never seen a city so congested in my life, it was truly madness, there were just hoards and hoards of people all over the place, on the sidewalks, in the alleys, in the streets, everywhere, with broken bottles smashed all over the streets and against buildings, people, men and women, taking leaks in the street, people shooting off gunpowder-propelled streamers and everyone was dancing. It was impossible to get into any clubs and you had to pay out the nose. We passed through a jumping multitude and this group got particularly excited aboutme being a Gringo, so I started jumping and dancing with them and then I felt someone grab me by the hips, assuming it was a girl, hopefully pretty, I turned around to see some male, bearded, thirty something latched onto my backside. I told him “eso no se hace”, that people just don’t do that and he was laughing, all in fun.
Around 3 we went to a remote bar and by chance there was space at a table, it was relaxed, they played mostly Chilean folk music. I was tired, it was hot and the air was thick with smoke. I fell asleep a few times in my chair, obviously excited by the event. We left at six, I was ready to be out at 3:45, but they were all enjoying themselves with the music so I got up and walked around outside a few times to keep from sleeping.
We all slept until about 1:00 the next day, I left to meet up with my friend at 3 and called home, finally, while I was waiting. I talked to my mom, she told me about my dad and Artie “the one man party” Taylor, the consummate ballers, making their own IPA in Artie’s garage. We walked all over the city and hung out on La Piedra Feliz, The Happy Rock, ironically named because it’s the hot place for young people to kill themselves. We really weren’t in the dying mood that day, so we decided just to sit on the rock and enjoy the beautiful view rather than throw ourselves off of it. I got home around 9:30, we drank matte which is like tea with more caffeine and you have to drink it with the herbs loose in the cup with a special straw. Even highly caffeinated we all went to bed around 1:00 without problems. The next day was spent at the beach with about 45 million other people in Viña del Mar and went out to El Proa in the night.
A night or a moment comes along once every 2 months or so when I think “yeah I’m in Chile, and it’s awesome”, and one such moment hit me in at the Proa. We (Claudio, his girlfriend Paz, his brother Juan Pablo and his sister Lorna) met up with Tracy and her friend. People really didn’t start showing up until about 1:15 so we had a big beer while we were waiting. It was hot summer night, the air was profuse and sultry and everyone arrived in good spirits. The beer was crisp and cold and really hit the spot. El Proa looks like the inside of an old ship with lots of old flags and life saving rings hanging from the walls. There were flags from all over Latin America, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, but not one from the United States, which I took mild offense to. The music was excellent, something completely Latin. They played a rotating mix of Salsa, Meringue, Bossa Nova, Argentine Ska, Spanish hip-hop and Chilean acoustic rock. I can dance hip-hop fine, just moving to the rhythm, but when there are particular steps I’m lost. I’ve been trying to teach Tracy some English and in exchange she’s helping me out with my dancing. I’ve achieved some basic steps of Salsa and Meringue, which I’m happy about. I realized that the way we dance in the US, is just so crass in comparison to the South Americans. They bump and grind or “perrear” to the hip hop and reggaeton as well but usually this music comes around once in awhile in a mix. The majority of the dancing involves real dancing where people are feeling the music in addition to doing certain movements, so much more elaborate, intricate and entertaining than anything we do in the clubs in the US. At one point I had to take a break and sat down at a table by the window. The place is right on the bay and the window was facing the ocean. There was a refreshing ocean breeze in my face and I looked up and there were seagulls flying near by. At that moment I thought, “I’m thrilled to be here in Chile right now”. It was a mix of the place, the music, and the company that night which I really enjoyed. I left around 3:00 p.m. for Santiago the next day, easily one of my favorite weeks I’ve had here.
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