Surprise!

Got back this morning from an awesome trip down south with the family. We left on the night bus on Thursday evening. Thankfully Pedro and Sammi slept most of the way down - the same can't be said for the rest of us. I think I got about 2 hours sleep! We arrived in the tiny village of Lican Ray at 9am in the pouring rain and were met by some of Emy's cousins. Breakfast at their place while we waited for updates from the rest of the family. You see, it was Emy's grandmother's 80th birthday and the whole family were turning up to celebrate - but she had no idea. So another cousin was luring her out of the house for a couple of days while everyone arrived. When we got the call to say the coast was clear we packed ourselves into cars and drove up to their farm. Sadly, there weren't enough seats so Felipe and I ended up on the back of a truck which was fun but very wet!

Meat for the weekend

Emy putting up balloons

The farm was a wonderful place to visit. Emy's family have owned the hill for many generations now and they have superb views of the lake and volcanoes. Although we only saw some of it because the weather was average most of the weekend! When we arrived Felipe suggested we go and check out how the meat was coming along which I naively agreed to. Coming into a barn and being confronted with a partly butchered cow was a bit of a shock! Thankfully the meat is a strictly boy place and I didn't see it again until it was cooked. On Saturday morning we were busy with balloons and streamers and cooking while the boys were bbqing and doing jobs around the farm. More and more family turned up until there was about 50 people I think. At 1pm we got the call to say Grandma was coming back and we all hid so when she came we all jumped out saying "surprise!" She cried. (in a good way!) And then we ate. I don't think I've eaten quite so much meat in one sitting as I did this weekend. We had meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days. Emy is threatening to have only lettuce for the rest of the week!

In the evening they began to dance lots of traditional Chilean dances which was really cool until a slightly drunk uncle decided that the gringa needed to join in rather than just watch. So I was pulled protesting vehemently into a Chilean walz much to the hilarity of everyone else. Fun but I was thankfully rescued by Emy before he could make me dance another one! On Sunday morning the weather had cleared up a lot and so we went for a big walk which was fantastic for me. It was nice to be out in the mountains with fresh air and greenery all around. In the afternoon I caught a bus to Temuco to visit Nia before joining the rest of the family on the bus back to Santiago. Again, not much sleep happened but I was able to sleep once we got home. Overall, a wonderful get away for the weekend and a really awesome celebration to be part of.

Pedro chasing the sheep

Felipe and Pedro out for a walk

From the top of the property

Exploring the river