La Tirana Chica

When we went to the desert last weekend to camp, we missed out on the dances that go on for La Tirana and I was pretty bummed. But lo and behold, they do a mini-Tirana celebration in Iquique the weekend afterwards! So I got to see some of the really awesome and crazy dances and costumes that encompass La Tirana.

 This celebration in Iquique is way smaller than the one in the actual town, but it still took over at least 6 blocks of the city. On every street surrounding a plaza there was a different dance with their own music. It usually consisted of a large group of dancers in similar costumes - and of all ages - and one or a couple dancers in a different costume. From what I understand, the person in the different costume is supposed to represent the devil distracting the other dancers. At the end of every street are two statues or alters of the Virgin and Jesus with flowers and candles all around. There are drummers and sometimes horn players that provide the music. Each different group has their own theme of costumes, rhythm, and dance. It was very cool and I'm glad I got to see it!

Los indios:

Los gitanos

Peruvian Fiestas Patrias

While out on the town we realized that July 28th is the day of the Peruvian Fiestas Patrias, and since there are many Peruvians in Iquique, there was a big celebration in town. We stopped by to have a look and found some awesome artisans selling their Peruvian stuff and some delicious food.

Wig party!

What do Chileans do to celebrate? Party with wigs! Random, yes. But hilarious? Absolutely!

Eagle's College

Well, I started school! And thank goodness because I was starting to feel out of place...but when I'm at school I know it's exactly where I'm supposed to be! Eagle's College has some of the most darling and sweet children. They are very respectful, call me Miss Kelly, and are so excited that someone from the United States(!) is at their school! I think I'm going to like it here...

La Atacama

We went camping in the Atacama desert which is right on the other side of the mountain from Iquique, in between the coast and the Andes mountains. It is the driest desert in the world and the temperature change is one day is super radical - from about 40 degrees to 90. It was just rolling hills of sand, dryness and blue skies.

You can faintly see the Andes mountains below the clouds in the background. One day I'll get there!

This is a ghost town along the way to La Tirana called Humberstone. It was a mining town that was deserted for some reason and apparently it's really scary at night...I'd rather check it out in the daytime.

Every so often on the road there would be a little house with a cross and maybe some flags and lots of candles and flowers. They are basically shrines for different saints scattered along the highway.

On the way back down the hill into Iquique you can see the whole town and the shoreline and it's just beautiful. It gets really cloudy in Iquique in the winter though, so it's hard to get a good view and picture. I'll have to come back on a better day.