August- Week 1- Chile, Day 3 & 4 (Futbol and Church/Pomaire)

Saturday, we all slept in a little again (so great not having kids to wake you up when you're exhausted from all these busy days!), ate, showered, and then my mom took us on a little walking tour of her garden/yard.  These cactus plants were so cool!

She knows so much about what each plant is and how to prune it.  

Then, we drove to pick up another one of my Dad's co-workers, Fransisco, to be our guide at a FUTBOL game!  They played at the National Stadium, pictured behind Dan.  The security to get into the stadium was pretty tight.  They had males give pat-downs to the guys, and females give pat-downs to the girls.  I had some hand sanitizer in my pocket that they made me throw away.  Too much of a risk of me throwing it at the refs if I were to get angry at them. ;)  My sister Emily, had a whole back pack full of everyone's "stuff" which also included many other small items they weren't going to allow in.  Thankfully, our guide basically told them, "They're Americans.  What are they really going to do?"  

One of these things (people) is not like the other... ;) 

Dan flashing the "U."  The home team was University of Chile and they use almost the exact same red U as the University of Utah. 

This futbol game was the best cultural experience of the trip!  South Americans watching soccer is unlike any sporting event I've seen in the USA.  These fans are so intently watching the game and making loud noise and cheering SO much!  No one moves during half time!  

There isn't any advertising up on the big screen either.  Just the score.  

We asked Fransisco to teach us some of the cheers, but he said every single one had bad words in them.  These Chileans are serious!  At a particularly intense part of the game, we looked over at the really rowdy section of the stadium and someone had lit off a flare!  Remember I had to throw away hand sanitizer, but someone brought in a flare!?!?  The home team won the game which I guess I'm thankful for.  

After the game we saw police in their riot gear and maybe things would have been a little more crazy had they lost.  Fransisco had indicated that it was common, even as recently as a few years ago, to see riots erupt after the game...including people being shot! In fact, as we walked to our cars we could hear gunfire in the distance...pretty crazy!

After the game, we went to a mall and got dinner at a food court.  Dan and I ordered Empanadas again.  Then we watched Guardians of the Galaxy in English with Spanish subtitles.; such a funny movie.  We got some treats afterwards still at the mall food court, then headed home for sleep after another FUN day!  

Another cute screen shot while FaceTiming with the kids.  Not sure what day this was. :) 

Sunday, we miraculously made it out of the house on time for church!  My mom played the piano and it was fun to be able to sing the hymns because we could at least READ Spanish.  Other than that, we didn't understand a whole lot of anything else.  Dan tried to connect to the wi-fi and when he was successful declared, "The Church IS true in Chile!"

After some pictures, we changed clothes and headed to a restaurant called Parrilladas Argentina.  Outside there was a freaky Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Pooh Bear ready to pose for pictures for tips.

They gave us an American waiter from NY who was very nice.  We ordered two delicious and huge meat and potato platters.  Dan was pretty excited.   

Then we drove to a little town called Pomaire.  It has a long street/flea market lined with shops.  They do their best business on Saturday and Sundays.  

This little church was at the top of the street.  

We bought some "treasure" boxes for McKenna, a wooden bendable snake for Ben, a little rattle for Anna, magnets for M and B,  a nativity for us, as well as a large (barely fit in our suitcase) decorative vase.  

When we got home that night we made a HUGE batch of fancy guacamole and ate that for "dinner" since our lunch was so filling.  We discussed further plans for the trip and called it a night.