New Year's Eve with the family

The year is coming to an end and so the New Year's Eve party is getting closer.

We were very curious about how the Chileans celebrate New Year's Eve.

The first surprise came on New Year's morning when we looked out the window: it was cloudy and raining and it was cold. That wasn't planned! We wanted to send pictures of us celebrating New Year's Eve in t-shirts and shorts. As it turned out, it was warmer in Germany than here.

We had agreed to go to Vales' parents to celebrate at 8 o'clock, because dinner was supposed to be at 9 o'clock. But in the end, we left here at 9:30. Nobody was in a hurry, everyone was relaxed. And no one cared that we arrived so late.

Since we couldn't all fit in one car, we had to order an Uber. After the driver saw where we wanted to go, he asked us if we knew where it was and what the neighborhood was like. After we said that we wanted to visit friends there, he asked us how long we had known the friends. When we told him that we had known each other for several years, he drove us to the address. Apparently, there are also some not-so-nice areas in the neighborhood we wanted to go to. But in the end, we ended up in a nice area.

We arrived, the grill was already hot and well stocked, and the drinks were cold and in our hands in no time. The evening could begin!

As usual, only Christian was asked if he wanted something to drink. Heike was immediately shown the kitchen.

But when Heike, in her inimitable way, insisted that she didn't want to go to the kitchen and instead asked for a beer, all the men were surprised.

Christian talked to the grill master for a long time about the right way to grill and learned all the secrets of Chilean grilling. When dinner was served around 11 o'clock, half of the 30 family members who were sitting with us at a huge table felt obliged to give a little speech.

It was like in a movie: we had just skewered something on our fork and wanted to eat it, when the next person started their speech. So we had to put down the fork, listen attentively, and hold our glass in our hand.

The others must have been used to this procedure, because they just continued eating when the speeches were given. Only we listened attentively. But it was really very moving. We were called part of the family and were promised lifetime right of abode in all the homes of all family members. We were received with such warmth and treated the whole evening as I have never experienced before.

The grilled meat was really delicious! The grill master first came to me, then to the other men, to put meat on our plates. Once again, Heike felt unfairly treated and after she made herself heard, she also received meat. I have to say, the evening was very funny for Christian.

Sitting across from us was one of the many uncles of the family. He liked to talk and talk a lot with us. At first, we could follow him somewhat, even though he spoke faster than a machine gun can shoot. But when he started talking with a full mouth, it actually became more and more difficult, almost impossible. We just smiled and agreed at irregular intervals.

Flora watched us and only remarked smugly: 'they don't understand anything.'

After dinner, the women cleared the table and the men had a little drink outside the door. Guess who enthusiastically joined in: of course Heike. However, the beginning of the revolution against this distribution of labour, which she initiated, was already nipped in the bud by several uncles of the family.

After the women had tidied up and the men had finished their drink, it was time to toast the new year.

The TV was turned on and the last seconds of the year were counted down loudly backwards. Afterwards, people hugged and kissed each other. Just like in Germany.

To celebrate, the music was turned up deafeningly loud. You couldn't hear your own word, which wasn't so bad because the uncle was talking even faster now. We wouldn't have understood him anyway.

But it turned out that this uncle is a passionate rock'n'roll dancer. All the women in the family danced with him one after the other, including Heike. The dancing was really great. We often miss that at parties in Germany. You can already prepare yourselves for the fact that there must be dancing at all parties with us. Because dancing is joy of life!

In addition to rock'n'roll, the women also danced a traditional Chilean dance from time to time. As the machine gun uncle tried to explain to us, when he shouted against the volume of the music, it was a dance that is supposed to represent a rooster and a hen. The rooster tries to drive the hen in a different direction. We're not sure if this explanation is actually correct. What confused us a bit were the handkerchiefs that the dancers were twirling around the whole time. Maybe it was just an invitation to dry the washed dishes. Because when a handkerchief fell down, it was immediately picked up by a man. So the woman could continue her activity.

At some point in the early morning, we went to Pablo's parents' house. They lived less than 10 minutes' walk away. But their house was not comparable to Vale's parents' house. They lived in a very simply furnished house.

What became very clear to us on this New Year's morning was that both Pablo's family and Vale's family are not rich, but still love to share with all their heart. And once again, we realized how good we have it.

We all drove home in one car in the end. We just squeezed ourselves in and were ultimately glad that no one had to throw up.