Last September—and coincidentally, on Chile’s Independence Day, September 18 (1810)—we were honored to be able to show part of our culture and traditions to the amazing community that meets at the Cosmo every Thursday. Our celebration, which began the weekend before with a gorgeous barbeque, couldn’t end in a better way. Our Coffee Hour was an attempt to show the particularities of our country, and—why not?—to get together our smaller Chilean community here at CU.
One famous Chilean poet refers to Chile as “our long and narrow earth strip.” Surrounded by the Andes mountain chain and the Pacific Ocean, and running from the world’s driest desert in the north to the Antarctic in the south, Chile has also been known as a land of contrast. Displaying beautiful wild forests, eternal ice-camps, majestic high plateaus, several volcanoes and an endless list of other geographic marvels, our country is still a quiet and mostly unknown place in the world.
Internationally known by its wine, salmon and other sea products, copper, and some world-known poets and athletes, the Chilean culture rests mainly on the encounter of two different cultures: the Spanish colony and the indigenous populations that used to live freely in what nowadays is Chile.
In our Coffee Hour we tried to present to all attendants what does typical Chilean food taste like (not spicy as people might think), serving some “empanadas,” “anticuchos,” “humitas,” “alfajores,” and “sopa de pantrucas.” We also showed part of our traditional holidays, our folk music, and particularly our national dance, “Cueca.” Moreover, we tried to show people what gives Chile a particular identity. It was challenging to put all together with a small—but willing—group of people, especially since our Chilean community was just founded last year.
But we are proud of what came out, and we hope that people who joined us got an idea of what our country and our people are like. As the lyrics of a traditional Chilean song go: “And you’ll see how people in Chile love a foreigner friend.” So, you are all more than welcome, come and experience it by yourselves.
Viva Chile!
Christian Berger is treasurer of the Chilean Association in Urbana-Champaign (ChUCha), and graduate student in Educational Psychology at UIUC. For more info, visit:
Good-looking Chileans at the Coffee Hour