I would be very happy to have you all in my place on Saturday 15 for lunch (around 1?) ; I think it is better, because we will have enough time to gossip and gossip and..... you can stay as long as you wish. It would be great for me!!!
I will be there.... by no means :P.
ya, Se armo el get together, I'm in the party too, voy a llevar una salad de papas mayo, is iit ok? and a diet coke.
See you there then at 1 at Ori's
I must admit, other "get togethers" had better email correspondence but nonetheless, the string of emails never fail to make me chuckle...
Anyway, I arrived 2 hours late with diet Coke and Tostidos (good American guest, no?). Everyone else had started eating, and they immediately shuffled a chair over and I squeezed in among the various dishes, bottles of wine and pisco and bags of mayo. The lunch itself was pretty standard, full of conversation and jokes I didn't quite understand. We had dessert and proceeded to break off into smaller groups. One teacher rolled a suitcase full of new clothes into a bedroom and the other ladies followed her eager to buy a pair of pants or wallet. A few minutes later, another teacher told us to go into the kitchen where she had set up a small store of homemade jelly. Peach, cherry, membrillo, guava, strawberry, take your pick.
For a while I was distracted by all of the possible purchases. My distraction was broken when yet another teacher pulled out his guitar and started belting out Guns and Roses, Sting and Beatles tunes. Sure enough, soon I found myself with a maraca in my hand, singing "Let it be" in a circle with my co-workers. The wine kept flowing and after every song they chanted, "que canta otra," (sing another, sing another). The cumbaya circle went on for awhile and many professors left.
With nothing to do at home but hang out in my square I stayed around, expecting another professor to open a bag and pull out random hair products or vitamin supplements to sell. This didn't happen but the guitar-playing prof informed us that no one ate the seafood he brought. (He lives in Tomé, famous for seafood.) Next thing I know, I'm eating crab and mussels and drinking more wine. Delicious! At this point, Fernardo was taking requests and serenaded our mid-afternoon meal. Finally, after many "ok, this is the last one," we stood up from the table and said goodbye with the typical kiss on the cheek and a bit more small talk.
In retrospect, the lunch "get together" wasn't all that different from what I expected. Except the random items for sale. This happens all the time in Chile but it never ceases to surprise me when someone opens a bag and pulls out watches, hand made soaps or "lo que sea" (whatever). I've noticed in Chile that people have lots of little ways to make money. One, two three luca at a time. (Luca is the name of the bill worth about $1.50usd). Not a bad idea...
Today was the monthly fried fish lunch Sunday. When my host dad comes from Puren for the weekend, we always eat fish on Sunday before he travels back. It is extremely delicious but not necessarily nutritious. After we all eat a few pieces of deep fried fish, my host mom puts out a dish of the "mentirosos," the liars, or dough without fish. yum. I love this day.
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