La Feria en el Día Feriado

So this isn`t going to be a post about any wild and crazy travels. But, if you are in for hearing about how a Chilean family may spend a day off in the middle of the week, read on!...

On Wednesday, randomly in the middle of the week, we had a "día feriado" or a holiday off from school, to commemorate a saint. I was just about to lay back and be a bum that morning when our maid, Paula, knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to come to "la feria" with her, Ignacio(her son), and Isabel(my host mom). "Well ok," I said...so I was dressed and out the door within 10 minutes. By the way, "feria" signifies  a farmers market.But this farmers market was far far far from the one I have experienced in Irvine, with the OC families and UCI students strolling casually, sampling fancy hummus and olive oils, stocking up on organic fruits and veggies. This was insanity. Everything you could imagine was laid out on sheets and tarps. Clothing, shoes,cameras, plumbing parts,bike parts,toys,pots,pans,shampoo,cleaning supplies,toilet paper,costumes,books,parakeets,chickens,hamsters,dried pasta, wallets...the random list goes on. It was like Santiago`s Room of Requirement.For non-Harry Potter fans out there, it`s basically a magic room where everything that went lost in the wizard school ended up in one room..or in this case three blocks of a street in Santiago. And man my host mom knew her way around there.She went from stall to stall quickly scrutinizing items, asking how much they cost, what they cost in the store normally, and so on...it was pretty amazing. They found some table tapestry, a winter jacket(for the equivalent of about 2 bucks!),and a handful of other things in record time. I didn´t get anything,because I was just taking everything in. Now that I know what to expect, I want to come back sometime and see what I can find!  

After the random items section, we made our way into the fruits and veggies section. Another difference from SoCal farmer`s markets is that people don`t get food samples here.They know what they want, grab it, pay and quickly move through the flow of people onto their next target. There isn`t the whole experience of standing there for 5 minutes, savoring 3 different types of apples while the vendor woos you with phrases such as "These are perfectly in season/these come especially from.../can you taste the mix of blah blah" Instead it`s PALTA! PALTA BARATA AQUI! (AVOCADO!!CHEAP AVOCADO HERE!). The closest youll get to a sample is a piece of whatever theyre selling sliced in half and laid on the display.

If you had to ask me what kind of farmer`s market I enjoy more, I may have to pick this one! The atmosphere was definitely more exciting, but I suppose to everyday feria goers it`s normal and perhaps irritating. 

After the farmers market, we went home and I got to help prepare a huge lunch for some friends and family that came over. We had this pasta-esque dish with garbanzo beans, with a sautued chorizo and onion mix laid on top, another pasta dish with grilled veggies, bread(of course), salad, and wine. Oh and to top it off, there were three different types of desserts! The best was this rolled cake, with peanut butter in the middle, drizzled with chocolate and crushed walnuts. Everything tasted amazing and I'm getting hungry just writing this! But I was also full for the rest of the afternoon until late morning the next day! This is not normally how much Chileans eat at lunch by the way. It must have just been special,because we had company and it was a holiday.
So maybe this post seems out of the blue, but to me it seems like a special experience. Just  goes to show I never exactly know what's coming my way when I wake up everyday here!

Chilenismo(because I haven't written one in forever!)-piropos:cat calls.
It seems every Chile blog I've looked at written by women has some input on the "piropos." So I'll add my two cents.Yes men here are more verbal and prone to staring, but it's generally harmless. Most "piropos"are mildly flattering and  are not crude/offensive in nature. But if they're coming from a middle aged/old man...ehhh no thank you. So, I tend to just wear an indifferent expression when I'm riding the bus/metro and walk with purpose, so I don't appear like I'm "pajareando"(wandering aimlessly-another Chilenismo!) It's my indirect way of saying "Don't mess." There was only one occasion where I  was out with friends and had to use my words. I gently told him "Déjanos en paz por favor(Leave us alone please)" and he literally held up the peace sign and walked in the other direction. He wasn't looking to cause trouble, he was just looking for a dramatic reaction. That's all I really wanted to say on that subject because to me "piropos" are just part of the culture and only seem like a big deal if you make them a big deal.