I'm standing on a hillside holding exactly 12 grapes. The last bits of meat from the asado (barbecue) are being passed around on a cutting board. A random firecracker goes off, blasting red light upon the crowds of people shouting "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le!Le!Le! VIVA CHILE!" These are the random moments I remember in the seconds remaining of 2012. Let me step back to the moments leading up to the best New Years I've ever had, spent in Valparaiso...
As soon as I knew my sister was going to be in Chile for New Years as well, I decided it must be spent epically. And what better way to spend it than in Valparaiso, the site of the biggest fireworks show in Latin America and second biggest in the world? Getting there was an interesting experience. We overestimated our ability to go out the night before and be able to catch a 10:00 a.m. bus the next day. Part of it was also showing up to the wrong bus terminal, since it wasn't listed on our ticket. So after missing the bus, we bought another ticket for what I thought was 11:30 p.m. that night. My ear for Spanish must have been cheating me that day, because I could have sworn he said "por la noche." So I basically had a heart attack when we returned home and noticed the tickets said 11:30 a.m. that day! Another bus missed. So we returned to the bus terminal and thank goodness the kind ticket man got us on another bus at 9:30 p.m., free of any extra charge! We really lucked out...
We got in by 11 and went right to the couchsurfers house, where my friend Andrea from my program was staying too. Our host introduced us to the other couchsurfers, from all different parts (Germany, Brazil, France...). I knew right away it was going to be a great time, albeit crowded. Valparaiso is a population of roughly 260,000 people, but for New Years there are over 2 million! We crashed by around 2, my sister and I sharing a twin mattress. We couldn't both lay on our backs the whole time. But that's what you gotta do when you can't pay for a $50 a night hostel (they jacked up prices for New Years).
We woke up at around 10:30 am on New Years, and after waiting for the bathroom a while (10+ couchsurfers, one bathroom...) Andrea, Claire, and I headed out to explore the city. I had been there once before, but it was nice to explore freely without a formal tour. The street vendors were selling fireworks, noisemakers, champagne, and yellow underwear (supposed to wear for good luck apparently) on every corner.
We got home later in the afternoon to get ready for the night. After, we met up with the other couchsurfers for a barbecue outside the house. And the suspension rose. 4...3...2...1 hour to midnight. The streets got fuller and fuller, as people waited for the fireworks. Finally one minute to midnight...but the funny thing is we didn't have a countdown. No big ball to watch on t.v. So we all looked at our phones and were asking "Is it midnight? Yeah! I think so!...Wait my watch still says 11:59..oh wait never mind! It's midnight!" I bit into my first grape hesitantly(another tradition), then BOOM!, the first firework went off to officially ring in the New Year. After that I shoveled down all 12 grapes and joined in with the cries of "Feliz Año Nuevo!" It was quite a frenzy, wishing happy New Year to everyone around me while trying to admire the amazing fireworks spectacle , with fireworks being lit off of 8 boats or so across the harbor. The show went on for what felt like forever, although it was probably 15 minutes. Soon afterwards we headed down to the main plaza, which was mania. A DJ blasted music from the stage while everyone danced in the streets, street vendors sold choripan (sausage on bread) to partygoers, and noisemakers went off in all directions. Our couchsurfing group, plus our host as the leader, stayed together dancing for a while. Eventually we wandered back up to the house, shouting "Feliz Año Nuevo!" to every group we passed that responded with equal enthusiasm. The fact that everyone partied in the streets created this great sense of energy, like all 2 million people were truly celebrating together.
We crashed close to sunrise, got a hefty two hours of sleep, and woke up to make it to the bus terminal. We couldn't miss this bus...my sister had a flight that evening to catch! Now, if it's possible for a whole city to be exhausted and hungover, Valparaiso would be it. Piles of trash and broken bottles littered the street. The last of the party goers drifted back to their houses like zombies (although there were a few locos who appeared to be still going strong). Even the stray dogs looked wiped out, snoozing in the park and under street benches.
We made it to our bus in plenty of time and were knocked out all the way to Santiago. So that's New Years in Valpo for you. I felt like this blog post was rushed, but really it's because everything went by so fast! I have to say the best thing about this trip was deciding to couchsurf. It was my first experience, so of course I was nervous. But, if you pick a good host that makes all the difference. We definitely did! He not only welcomed a large number of people from all over the globe in his home, but also kept most of the whole group together through the celebrations. The crowded living quarters weren't even as awkward as I thought they would be. Everyone was just so happy to come to experience New Years here, that they were able to abandon the need for complete comfort. Plus, sticking with a local during it all was actually the fun and safest option, much better than a few gringas trying to manage alone. He knew the best bus routes and made sure we got home safely. Seriously, if we were walking in the street he would stop and look back to make sure no one got left behind in the crowds.
My sister left yesterday night, which made me really sad of course. But I'm trying to keep myself busy overcome it. I've been packing up, getting ready to leave tomorrow for an eleven day volunteer project in Quilico, a small town in a sector called Hualañé. I'm getting pretty excited about it! Chao for now!
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