Last weekend, Jeff, Ruby and I made a 50 mile trip inland, by taxi, to the small village of La Tirana. I've heard a variety of estimates regarding the day-to-day population of La Tirana, ranging from...well...zero...to about 800 but, during Fiesta de La Tirana, the town reaches full capacity at around two-hundred to two-hundred and fifty THOUSAND. Each year in mid-July, the masses gather to ask for blessings from the Virgin of Mt. Carmel, dance and demonstrate their devotion or just to observe the remarkable spectacle that has become Chile's most celebrated festival.
People come to La Tirana from all over Chile, as well as Peru and Bolivia. There are innumerable dancing groups that dance and sleep in shifts so that the celebration of the virgin can continue all day and all night for an entire week. A co-worker of my good friend, Kenita, has a house near the plaza so we were able to use that as a main hub for the weekend. Because La Tirana is essentially a ghost town for the vast majority of the year, the houses are very crudely assembled. Many of them (including the one we stayed at) have dirt floors and cardboard-lined walls.
The house itself was packed since all the whole family had gathered there for the festivities so we slept (very uncomfortably) in their truck for the night. Since La Tirana is in the middle of the desert, it is very hot during the day and very cold at night. It was the first time I've been able/needed to wear my winter clothes (gloves, hat, wool socks etc) in Chile.
The next day, we did some more exploring of the town, watched more groups of dancers and bought some souvenirs. We also tried some of La
Tirana's delicious street food including churros filled with manjar,
sliced up pineapples filled with icecream and sopapillas the size of
dinner plates. We even made it on the Iquique News. First they interviewed me and then they asked me to have Jeff say something about the festival and translate it into Spanish. It was pretty cool, but also kind of embarrassing (hope I didn't make TOO many mistakes).
Jeff and Ruby headed home with some other friends around 9:30 on Sunday night but Kenita and I wanted to wait until the main celebration which happens at midnight and includes a huge show and fireworks display. The plaza was so packed we could hardly move but the body heat was much appreciated in the cold night. Around two AM on Monday morning, we packed up and headed home by bus which arrived in Iquique at about four.
It was such a cool event and I'm really thankful that I had a chance to witness it. Jeff was bummed that he didn't get to try the traditional llamo (llama meat) but hey, there's always next year.
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