Independence Day in Chile

September 18th is Independence Day in Chile and these people love to celebrate. I will show two types of their celebrations, but you will just have to imagine the decorated cars and buses and flags everywhere. We were invited to a family BBQ and it was a real treat. Many people, much food and many family games made for a great uplifting day.

The adult and guest table

Married children and a few little ones

Young adults and younger

The food was amazing and very plentiful. Some were a little different, but we tried each dish. These people love their sweets and carbs. The BBQ pit brought to mind a commandment about "Thou shalt not covet!"

Notice the crank to raise or lower  the grill.

They probably had 12 chickens on the grill being slow roasted. As the meat starts to brown they cut lemons in half and squeeze the juice on the meat. That is the only seasoning I saw. It was wonderful.

A fire is kept going in the box on the right side.
As coals are generated they are shoveled to the
cook area. The slow roasting and frequent turning
made for great deliciousness.

The next day my huaso friend invited us to a Chilean rodeo. I had been looking forward to seeing one, but was a bit disappointed. 

A few huasos chatting before the action

There is no bronc riding, calf roping, barrel racing, (in fact I don't think women are allowed in the rodeo competition) or bull riding. There is one event, chasing calves and trapping them against the rail with your horse.

The arena is a full circle with a smaller football shaped pen on one side. In the foreground is the smaller pen.

A calf is forced into the small pen and the chase is on.

Points are scored by successfully chasing the calf around the football shaped pen two times in a clockwise direction. 

This is the completion of the second lap around the small pen.
The gate on the other end is opened and the chase is taken to  the
large area of the arena.

The huasos must stay in close pursuit to control the calf. Once the perimeter of the large arena is traveled, the calf is trapped against a padded side rail and turned around to go the other direction.

This is the trapping and turning. Notice the padded rail.

The chase continues to the other side of the large arena with another trapping and a turning. By now most of the calves were so winded from running at top speed many of them laid down panting for breath. I know the feeling of trying to run when not in shape. My buddy said it was not a good rodeo because most of the calves were too small and weak. But if the second trapping is successful the calf is chased back to the original trapping location (pictured) for the third and last trapping. The event is finished. It is all timed and scored for style and control of the calf.

I've always been a rodeo guy, but this didn't appeal for some reason. I don't think I have become an animal activist or anything, but the treatment of the calves seemed a bit rough. Enough rodeo. 

I'm sure you are waiting for the next installment of tree planting, so since you have been good, here you go. A few pics and a couple videos.

The planting crew as we approach

This next phase is the placing the tree on the bamboo poles that we showed in our last post. You can see bamboo poles in the distance in this picture as well as in the videos. The cardboard sleeve protects the young tree for a year or so as herbicides are applied and other ground work is completed.

Did you hear Hermana Hill speak a little Spanish greeting?

The climax, planting, will have to wait for next time.

Our neighbor has an interesting yard. We went over looking for a lemon tree, but only found some unripe oranges. There were a few other things that caught our attention.

Our granddaughter Kindle has been diligently keeping watch on our yard for little prickly pear cactus plants that grow in our gravel area. The seeds must blow over from the neighbor's yard. We want to encourage her to keep up the good work because prickly pear cactus can evidently get out of control.

That was not the only out of control thing we found. This one might have some good effects if you need some natural type sweeteners, alot of it.

It is just a real big, lush yard with a variety of plants and a great place for a picnic.

Chao! (Goodbye in Chile, pronounced chow) And I spent a few days memorizing Adios:(

Tres Cosas

The three things I will share are a little Chilean culture and a bit more of our olive mill operation. We teach a family close to the farm in a little town called Loica. Town might give you the wrong impression. What is smaller than a village? But, what it doesn't have in size it more than makes up for in beauty and peacefulness. Today we got to see the main cash venture that keeps the family afloat. They raise and market fruitillas, as the Chileans call them. You will recognize them as strawberries, and they are amazing.

Beneath that beautiful berry I want you to notice all my calluses, results of hard physical labor. Well the hard work comes from Hada and her little family. The strawberry work lasts most of the year with pickings starting in late September and going into May. Hada told me at the peak of production they will pick up to 200 cases in a day. That is hard in itself, but then add this difficulty factor.

The plastic tunnels give a greenhouse effect so not all the strawberries ripen at the same time.

Bring the empty crates up the hill and carry the full ones back down; everyday for 8 months. They told us that on the side hill it is ¨mas calor¨ in the summer sun from November to March. Up until last year Grandpa and Grandma were involved, but this year it is just young Hada, her husband and teenage son. Hada´s brother Williams can help after work. He is the main guard at our olive farm´s gate.

This is young Hada, the strawberry picker, her little girl Sarita, Hermana Hill and Grandma Hada. Grandma has climbed these hills for many, many years doing strawberry work. She deserves a rest.

In years past, the bright green fields in the distance were full of Grandma´s strawberries. As I have said in previous posts, these are hard working, humble people. They will share everything they have. Here is dessert for Sunday dinner tomorrow.

We were a few days early for peak ripeness, but they insisted we take some home. 

Mi segunda cosa.

Hada´s niece is a little girl named Mary. We found out in one of our lessons about hobbies that Mary likes to dance. They told us of a dance competition, so we went to see her perform. All her family works in the fields and could not go watch. She seemed happy to have us there. Mary is in the middle.

The little guy on the right is her partner. Notice the traditional flat brimmed hat on the chair.

The Chileans love this dance. We watched dancing for probably a full hour and every dance is identical. The music will change, I think, but it is the same dance performed by every couple. The crowd claps and cheers every time like it was the first time. I am not sure what the judges were watching for, but they picked winners in each age group. 

I am going to try to enter part of a video of some older kids. I hope you can watch it. We have been told the dance represents a Rooster wooing a Hen. That is all we know, but it is very, very popular.

Numero tres

Just a couple of shots of the olive mill. The mill operated this year for the first time. The harvest and processing of the oil was a success. Many lessons were learned, but it was successful. That means we have high quality extra virgin olive oil in some of our tanks. Our manager has been marketing that oil and a local producer purchased several thousand liters. In fact I believe he took about 180,000 liters to his plant and bottled our oil under his label. Just a few pics.

Through the pump and liter counter.

To the tanker.

Three compartments to fill.

That much will cover a lot of salads, or dip a lot of bread. 

One of these tankers carries about 30,000 liters. This one customer took 6 tankers full.

And that is mis tres cosas. Hasta luego.