The 18th of September is Chile's independence celebration, and I am lucky enough to be here for the 200th anniversary. The Bicentenario demands a 4 day weekend, with Friday and Monday off, lots of food, friends, family, cueca, and vino! The Chileans are super patriotic and wear their traditional clothes to dance the cueca all day long. It is a highly choreographed dance of flirtation, but you still see college students dancing with their grandmothers and parents and children cueca-ing all over. In the center of town, at Plaza Colon and nearby, there have been concerts, dances, games, street entertainers, and a market all weekend long. My participation in Bicentenario events involved seeing my host sister, Javiera, and her entire colegio perform traditional Chilean dances on Wednesday. On Thursday I learned the cueca in my Spanish
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