Flag Day!

Wow! I know I just posted yesterday, but I just came home from the Flag Day celebration in the city square. Every year, one of the schools is in charge of it, and this year it was my school! So basically, I just stood there taking pictures with my mouth wide open the whole time. It was great, and I'd love to share some pictures with you!

This is the students of Gabriela Mistral lining up to walk to the parade!

These are the 3rd Grade girls who were chosen to carry the flag. The one on the left is the one that read the poem later.

A better view of all of the students. This is about half of the school actually, because most kids have already left for "La Tirana"

These are their complete uniforms. Typically students will only wear the sweatpants, but on formal days they must wear this. I'd say kids wear this outfit once a week just normally anyway. Not the gloves though. Love the gloves.

Some of the 8th Grade girls that were flag bearers. I shared with them my flag bearing days...

These are 5th and 6th Grade girls that danced the Cueca. That is the most famous dance in Chile. They are my students!

These are 4th Grade girls that danced another dance...I don't know what it was called.

These girls danced a dance that is very traditional in the south. They are in 2nd and 3rd Grade, so I don't actually have them in class, but they always come visit my classroom during the breaks and give me candy or bread. :)

The whole group of 4th Graders that danced the dance with no name.

The two flag-bearers of Gabriela Minstral. The taller one is in 7th Grade, and the shorter is in 8th and very good at sports.

This is the choir, and they come from all ages from 5th-8th. They are all my students.

Haha. These are two of my 8th Graders. The one on the left is Nico, but I don't know the other one's name...Nico is very nice. :) They were begging for me to take a picture of them.

These boys are in 6th Grade. I've actually only had their class once, because we NEVER have class on Fridays. Today is a perfect example...

Haha. These are bossy 7th Graders. I love them. The one in the middle is the Queen of the Class. I'm still not exactly sure what that means, but I will find out in August. These girls are very funny.

4th Grade boys. They were so excited for pictures!

I think these kids are in 2nd Grade, but I'm not sure because I don't teach that young. They are candy deliverers as well. As well as super cute.

7th and 8th Grade boys sitting on the bench before the celebration started.

Then all of the upper-classmen realized that I was taking pictures, so they ran over to get in on it. It caused quite the scene. Oops.

More of the riot in action. Haha. They are funny kids.

The choir getting set-up for their performance.

The flag bearers from all of the other schools in town. Gabriela Mistral students were the stars of the show though.

When the celebration started, this is what it looked like.

Then they unveiled the flag of flowers. Very fancy.


Now for my very professional footage taken by my camera on video mode...

This first video is a girl from 3rd Grade. This poem is about 6 minutes long, but I just gave you the first few minutes. She is amazing, and I have seen her perform this 3 times this week. It was amazing to see how the whole community was so proud of her.



This next clip is the first dance. Some lady walked in front of me, so it is broken up into two sections, but it's cute none the less. These kids are in 4th Grade. They are the youngest ones I teach.





This dance is a traditional one from the South. The little beanies and turtlenecks that the boys are wearing are even traditional garb, except one of the boys is earing a "Colo-Colo" beanie, and that's just a favorite futbol team around these parts...These kids are in 2nd and 3rd Grade, so I don't teach them, but I have gotten to know a lot of them at recess and such.



This is the last dance, and the most popular in Chile. It is called the Cueca, and supposedly I am going to learn it. The girls dancing it are from 5th and 6th Grades. Their dresses were made by some of the parents, and obviously represent the Chilean flag (because it's Flag Day and all).


This is the Choir singing the song of the flag. Only part of it, of course.



This is the actual parade. The first snapshot is the flag-bearers of Gabriela Mistral, but my camera was running low on battery, so I didn't get all of the other schools. The second snapshot is all of the students from my schools and a lot of the teachers. They were all so nervous!

I hope that you have enjoyed this entry. This is just a short view into Chilean culture. The whole town came out to watch this, and I was excited to be a part of it. Happy Flag Day! I'm off to Peru!