La Tirana

Despite its religious importance, there is little life in this desert town for most of the year. It lies 72 km southeast of Iquique, 20 km from Pozo Almonte and 1,773 km north of Santiago, at an altitude of 995 meters above sea level. With its population of something over 560 inhabitants, it has been declared a Typical zone, and it enjoys a privileged climate with sunshine throughout the year.

It springs to life each year between July 12th and 18th, when thousands of visitors arrive to witness the fiesta in veneration of the Virgin del Carmen. The spectacle reaches its highest pitch on July 16th.

The village, of great cultural importance, is distinguished for its church, which stands on the Plaza de Armas. On one side is the Museum of the Virgin of La Tirana, in which are kept the offerings made to the virgin and other articles used in the fiestas held in her honor.

The most striking thing about the people are the dances performed on feast days, with groups coming for the most part from Arica, Iquique, Tocopilla and Chuquicamata. The dancing is accompanied by varied instruments such as trumpets and whistles, and the dancers dress in brightly colored costumes. According to researchers, these dances are said to come from the ancestral rhythms of Inca ceremonies, with traces from other Andean cultures.

The church of La Tirana was built at the beginning of the 20th century, after the previous building had been destroyed by two earthquakes, which occurred in 1868 and 1877. The parish priest Friedrich was responsible for the construction. The old church has been reconstructed and today is used as an alternative on feast days.

To reach this picturesque village from Santiago, Iquique or Arica, travel to Pozo Almonte on Ruta 5, either by public transport or in a private vehicle. From Pozo Almonte, go south on the same highway, then at km 9 take the turning to Pica and go 11 km to La Tirana. There is good, regular public transport from Pozo Almonte to La Tirana during the fiesta.

**I didn't write this, just so you know. But I thought that this was a better explination than I could ever write. I got it from this website http://www.turismochile.com/guide/la_tirana/

PICTURES

Good morning everyone. I am way to impacient to try to upload all my pictures to this site because you have to do it one by one. Yeah, not fun. So, what I did was created a webshots account that is very very easy to use. So, I will add my pictures there and whenever I do I will put link to the website on my blog post for the day. Well, Connie has been watching my post my pictures all morning and we are dying to go to the beach. So here is the link. Enjoy the pictures and I will write the stories of my adventures later.

http://community.webshots.com/user/stacimelissa

Two days ago, Connie (on the left in the pink shirt) and I went to a club called Coyote with one of the girls we are living with. In the picture with me and two other girls, the one of the left is "Fifa" and I don't remember the other girls name. It was so loud that I could hardly hear anything, which made it really difficult to speak Spanish. The girls (for the most part) were really nice and a few knew English. But I don't know which was harder, trying to speak Spanish or trying in interpret their broken English. I tried the Chilean drink of choice "Pisco" and I'm not a huge fan. It tastes a lot like Whiskey and I'm not so fond of Whiskey. It's a little sweeter and I think has a higher alcohol content, but I'd rather drink vodka. The music and the atmosphere of the club is very similar to those in Morgantown with the exception of Salsa. But something that I thought was really unique, was that Sophie (who is only 16) was allowed to go to this party (her friend's dad owns the club) leaving at 11 and had permission to stay out until 5 a.m.

This part of Latin culture I could get used to :)

~Surf~

There are two beaches in Iquique, and currently I don't know the name of either of them. Yesterday, Connie and I were walking on the beach (which is directly in front of our house) & we walked all the way to the second beach. Not too far of a walk, but enough of a walk that we took a taxi back to the house. During this walk we decided that we wanted to learn how to surf. So, when we arrived to the second beach (which is more popular than the first) we found a surf school and signed up for a lesson later in the afternoon.

If you thought learning how to surf was hard, try to learn how to surf in Spanish. Thank God for Connie otherwise I would have been lost. And f.y.i. the water here is FREEZING. I mean it is their winter so what should I expect right? It's like the temperature of the water in Ocean City, MD. Surfing is a lot of fun & I am so proud of myself because by the end of the lesson I was able to stand up on the board and ride in a wave. A very small, very very small wave, but I am still proud of myself for being able to do it.

Just picture this scene. Staci KLUTZ of the world who has no balance on the ground in tennis shoes learning how to surf. Staci who speaks broken Spanish & only understands when people speak slowly and use proper Spanish learning how to surf from a guy who speed talks & uses words that I never in my life heard before..... Needless to say I had a good time

Just so everyone isn't confused....

Originally I came here to stay with Jose Fuente and his family. He has a wife, an 8 year old son Nicolas, and a 16 day old baby girl Maria. But he lives in an apartment & his mother-in-law is in town to help Lorrania with the new baby. Also, Jose has two children from a previous marriage Jose & Connie. Jose and Connie live in the US with their mom. Connie is 15 and is here for the month visiting as well. So, Connie and I are staying down the street with a friend of Jose. Carlos is a doctor and his wife's name is Alejandra. They have three girls Sophie (16), Gabbie (13), and Maria (4) & a nanny from Ecuador. Connie is a big help for me because when I can't think of the word or phrase or I don't understand something she helps me.

Got it?

The Do's and Don'ts of Traveling

Don't:

*Wear a Victoria Secret bra with underwire because it will set off the metal dector in every airport everytime you change plans
*Leave your laptop on the table when you are getting searched because some stupid lady will knock it off the counter
*Pack your gum in the only bag you checked because taking off and landing in an airplane sucks when you can't chew gum to keep your ears from popping
*Take any bill larger than a $20 when traveling to Chile because you will not be able to change your money in the airport
*Panic in the Santiago airport just because you can't change your money, need to pick up and then recheck your luggage in an airport that you have no idea where to go, and because your flight was delayed so much that you'll probably miss your flight. Panicing only makes you forget how to speak Spanish which is not good when noone around you speaks English.
*Panic when your cell phone doesn't work and you don't know how to use the pay phone because even if you could use the pay phone you wouldn't have any money to use it with.

DO:

*Fly first class or business class because coach seats on the flight from Washington D.C. are not very comfortable. It is very hard to sleep when you have no room what so ever.
*Eat the pasta for dinner on the plane because the meat just looks weird
*Remember that LAN Chile planes are more comfortable and the food is better than UNITED planes
*Ask the nearest nice lady to help you when you are on the verge of tears
*Hope that this woman is pacient with you
*Repeatedly call the family that is supposed to pick you up at the airport
*RELAX
*Breathe a sigh of relief when all of your luggage and the family that is supposed to pick you up is at the airport
*Drink a lot of pisco when you finally have the opportunity

Estoy en Chile

For all of you who were worried about lil o'le me flying to Chile, I am alive and well. The weather is good, so good in fact that Connie and I are going to learn how to surf. Connie is my 15 year old translator, she goes to Brooke and is also visting her father for a few weeks. So we are chillin' out together for a lil while. I am lazy right now and do not feel like writing all about my flight here soooo i'll do that later because it is an interesting story and my state of mind would currently not do the story any justice what so ever.

But, off we go to change our money & learn how to surf....