The cultural carnivals in Valpo happen every summer, and Valpo usually invites other countries to come and "present" parts of their culture through dance, music, and a "pasacalles"- basically a parade with floats. When I went two years ago, they invited Uruguay. This year they invited Chile, in honor of the bicentennial, but Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina all had representations. Carnavales mean that the plano section of Valpo FILLS with people at night and during the day, and it's a cool opportunity to listen to popular bands, both foreign and local, to see dance productions, buy artensania, and revel in some of the best people watching of the year. After despedida #1 (tacos, delish) on Friday, we headed into Valpo to hear the concert and dance. Saturday was despedida #2 at the toma, where I enjoyed delicious grilled zucchini (I know, right?! I ate zucchini and it was rico!) as well as pascualina (like a spinach pot pie), potato salad, bread, watermelon, and various drinks including a lucuma pisco sour like option. The toma is pretty ridiculously high in the hills in Valpo, so we didn't go down for the Carnavales, but I came back to Valpo on Sunday for the pasacalles- the parade. There were lots of people, but more than people there were lots of PAPER CIRCLES. You know how when you three-hole punch a document and then you have those little paper circles left? People sell bagfulls for 100 pesos (~20 cents) and then children and adults throw it like confetti to celebrate. Poor street cleaners, and poor children that get paper in their eyes- I saw at least two!
So you can see what else I've been up to, here are some more pictures. Since it's pretty much impossible for me not to talk about food, here's a picture of the feria, one of my vegetarian BBQ, and one of my humtias. Finally, a picture of where I live- see the big arched church? I live straight up a hill, behind it. Keep in mind that the church is already up a long hill.
love love to all. what are people up to???
2 comments:
sweet pics.
I made this yummy whole wheat couscous, veggie, feta, and bean salad the other day. It was delish, you would have liked it. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary going on--applying for jobs in SF, bemoaning the state of American politics, babysitting a lot, and impatiently waiting for my profs to give me feedback on my thesis. The usual.
Sounds like Rachel needs a weekend break in GG.
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