Cumpleaños del Ignacio y partido de Baloncesto

On September 12, 2009, it was Ignacio's birthday. We didn't have a big celebration but we did celebrate. He hadn't been feeling very well that week, got some kind of bad stomach bug, so he couldn't really eat too much. Early in the day Marcelo, Erin and I went to the mall and bought a gift for him. We ended up getting him: a zip-up athletic jacket (polerón), nice sweatpants and a t-shirt (polera)... and it was all on sale and cheap! It was a long day at the mall though trying to find everything.

After that we went back to the house and in the evening the grandparents came from Casablanca, Sergio and Constanza came over and we had a little family gathering. It wasn't much because not only could Ignacio not eat that much, but he and Gabriel also had a basketball game in the evening. And the game was the first time that the two would be playing against each other... because I guess the league they play for, they are on two different teams. I can't keep straight all their different teams they play on. So after the little family gathering where gifts were opened, tea/coffee snacks and apple pie were served... we made our way over to the gym to watch the two boys play.

It was a really good game, super close the whole time. Both of the boys, Ignacio and Gabriel are great players... but this was the first time I had seen differences between the two when they play. In the beginning, Gabriel kind of let his nerves get to him. Not sure if the cause was because the family was there to watch or because he was playing against Ignacio, either way it effected his game a bit. But right from the start Ignacio was doing great, scoring points right and left. But as the game progressed Gabriel got better and better and scored all kinds of points, and it was him in the end that scored the majority of the points that made his team with the game. Ignacio was a little bummed at the end, because his coach took him out for some reason, and he thought he should have played and could have helped so his team could have won. It was also interesting because Ignacio plays in a different division that Gabriel since he is younger, so it was kind of a big deal. But in the end it was just great to see them play and watch how they don't let the game interfere with the great relationship they have with each other.

After the game, we all came back and ate pizza for dinner (this was Pili and TuTi's attempt to lighten the mood and fill their kids' stomachs) and mango and pisco sour. We ended up having some great conversation and a blast playing some games. We played one game called (How do you cross the mountain? (¿Cómo cruze la montaña?))... I didn't get it for the longest time, not until Marcelo told me. I am always so clueless with games. And then Erin delighted the family with a drinking game called "F**k me up." Its a game with a little saying and each person has a number.. it was very simple but could get a little confusing with all the adults a wee bit tipsy. Pili had the hardest time, so of course we always picked her number to tease her. As the night progressed the boys and Maite headed off to bed (they were leaving the next morning for a backetball tournament in Antofogasta (the north of Chile), so it left only the adults to enjoy the fun. It was funny though because the next day before the boys left, I heard them singing the chant to the game F**k me up like all day. I don't know why it is so funny to hear english swear words with a spanish accent, but it is hilarious to me.

But it was a super fun day and I think Ignacio had a pretty good birthday. After his birthday things around here started to get a little hectic. I had a test that following wednesday that I was stressing out about, since it covered a ton of information. And then also that tuesday (15th de spetiembre) we celebrated Sergio's birthday, and then after that came the independence day holiday.

I hope the test went well, but I won't find out until this week sometime. Sergio's birthday was fun. We all went to Constanza and Sergio's apartment for dinner, drinks and a good time with friends and family. For Sergio, Marcelo Erin and I bought him a cd of 80's songs (he loves the 80's), a polerón (sweatshirt) and a starbucks coffee mug, which worked out well because he broke his best coffee mug the week before and we had no idea. A whole bunch of people came over and it was fun to just sit back and listen, but I was a little preoccupied since I had my exam the next day and still needed to study. So I left early with TuTi and Maite while Erin, who also had the exam the next day, stayed back and partied more. Which I guess I missed the people dancing the cueca and the sao sao (types of dances) and more fun things. But oh well.

After wednesday (september 16th), I finished my classes for the week and got to have a couple days of vacation for the holiday of independence and here it is called fiestas patrias. Those stories will have to wait for another post though because they are a story all in themselves.