Dia del Nino (8/6)

How would like breakfast in bed and a present when you wake up in the morning? That's the Dia del Nino tradition for the children of Chile. Yep. Like Mother's Day and Father's Day, this is Children's Day. And kids get pretty pampered. Parents are supposed to wake their kids with breakfast and a present. Though our pastor didn't give a sermon about the importance of showing love to our children (he didn't speak a whole lot to fatherhood and motherhood on their respective dates either), there were a lot of families out and about enjoying the special festivities taking place in the street. Balloons, face painting, and silly hats were everywhere.

There was a parade too, but I think that had to do with the Virgin Mary or some other patron virgin. Some of the costumes were incredible. These multi-layered outfits reminded me of mummers. They looked like dancing, feathered, golden, bearded, devils being escorted by spinning ladies and a swaying, brass band. (I think they were the Bolivian/Northern Chile Diablada, but I'm not sure.) They progressed so slowly that Deb and I watched a protion of the parade go by, ate dinner and then passed them again a few blocks away as we headed to the bus stop. They sure were devout marchers because they must have been tired.