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0 Written by Guadalupe Vial Ulloa
Celebrating Chilean Spring
September in Chile is one of the year’s most expected and exciting months. It is not only the start of spring and end of winter, but also the “18th,” also known as “dieciocho” or “fiestas patrias,” is the celebration of the first government junta, kind of like Canada Day. Only we make it so much bigger. Growing up, September meant the start of warmer weather, beach days and hikes, and a whole week off school, with massive dancing, eating, playing, and drinking parties every day and tons of strangers sleeping in my house that I didn’t know where they came from. So this year, I want to share the holiday spirit and the excitement and joy of the southern spring, which seems so remote, with the Canadian fall inching closer, which I believe we all can benefit from.
Music
Music is vital to how you celebrate and enjoy September, and there are some great artists I would love to recommend, depending on your preferred musical genre. If you are into hip-hop, I would recommend “Portavoz,” he is an incredibly talented rapper and has some very potent lyrics that make his music all that much better. If you are into pop or R&B, a great artist who jumps between both genres and even touches on hip-hop at times is Chilean-American singer “Paloma Mami.” If you are into rock, the iconic 80’s/90’s band “Los Prisioneros” is great and a staple of Chilean music. And finally, if you are into folkloric and cultural music, I will always recommend researching and listening to Chilean cueca, a genre and dance style. If I had to choose one artist representing the Chilean cueca, I would listen to “Los Hermanos Campo.” Still, there are so many other great artists I did not mention here, who I will encourage you to find out all about.
Games
There are a fair number of games you would traditionally play at a party like the 18th; one game both children and adults enjoy is called “la gallinita ciega” which literally translates to “little blind hen.” This game is known by other names in Latin America and is believed to originate in France, yet it is the only one I could find that didn’t require complicated things to do or get, like putting a long greased pole in your house to try and climb it. “La gallinita ciega” consists of a group of several (min 4) people, where one is chosen as the gallinita and blindfolded and, after doing three circles over themselves, goes on to find out the others. The gallinita then has to find and touch one of the runners and then correctly guess their name to give that person the role of the gallinita. The game has no set end, and you can play until you get bored or out of breath- whatever comes first.
Food
Finally, one of the things I miss the most during this time of year is Chilean food. So, I will give you one of my favourite recipes for relatively easy, accessible, and incredibly tasty sopaipillas.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pumpkin pure
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 3 tbsp butter or lard, melted
Instructions:
- Mix all ingredients and knead until they are all well incorporated together.
- Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough onto an even and flat sheet, neither too thin nor too thick, and then cut it into flat circles. Use a fork to make holes in each circle.
- Fill a pot with oil and let it heat up for frying to ideally 350ºF
- Fry for 1 – 2 minutes or until golden brown. Take out and put over a paper towel to absorb the oil. Eat warm and enjoy!
Now you know how to party, play, and eat as we do down south, so I invite you to try out and celebrate this new semester, or just for fun, the Chilean way.
Works Cited
Chilean Food and Garden. (n.d.). Chilean sopaipillas. Chilean Food and Garden. https://www.chileanfoodandgarden.com/chilean-sopaipillas/
Universidad Central de Chile. (n.d.). Juegos tradicionales chilenos. Universidad Central de Chile. https://portal.ucm.cl/noticias/opinion-juegos-tradicionales-chilenos#:~:text=La%20gallina%20ciega%3A%20Consiste%20en,en%20busca%20de%20sus%20amigas.
