Markets, Mass and Football/futbol (Take 2 - with photos this time, hopefully)

We decided to just hang out in Santiago for yet another long weekend but this one for two non-Jewish religious holidays (more in a future post).  Saturday, we headed downtown to check out Mercado Central and La Vega and Sunday we branched out to learn something about Peruvian culture.

Mercado Central currently is basically a fish market with about thirty seafood restaurants.  We showed up at lunchtime (3:00) and the place was packed with tourists, Chileans, and fish.  Renee was looking for the guys throwing the fish like at Pike’s Market but these guys were too serious about their wares to be throwing them around for tourists!  The building, opened in 1872, was originally built to house the Palace of Arts but quickly became the main central market for everything but then morphed into a fish market later.  

Mercado Central

Quite the selection - couldn't identify half of them

The most intriguing were the picoroco (Austromegabalanus psittacus) or giant barnacles,  They were still moving on display.

We headed across the "river" to La Vega, the produce market, where I had gone about a month ago with a friend.  River is in quotes because it is basically a ditch through town that most of the time carries just a small stream of "chocolate milk" that I think is sediment.

La Vega

Of course, Renee gravitated towards the cats on potatoes

We got back in time to watch Notre Dame overpower Navy (56-14)

So given that we are in Chile for the year I figured we might as well get to know something about their neighbor to the north and a huge contributor to the immigrant population, Peru.  My friend Deidre and her husband were Marynoll missionaries in Peru for almost four years.  She suggested checking out the Peruvian celebration of the Señor de los Milagros de Nazarenas (Lord of Miracles) and I, of course, said "why not!"  Jonathan was game to go with me and he was rewarded with an adventure complete with lingering smells of incense.  According to wikipedia, it is a festival and procession to honor a mural of Jesus that survived several earthquakes in Lima.  Apparently, where ever there is a large Peruvian immigrant population there is a mass and procession for this including San Francisco.

Inside the cathedral - there must have been 2000 people

It was a bit crowded, the incense got a bit overwhelming, and the prospect of 2000 people taking communion was a bit overwhelming so we headed outside where we were met with the bustle of Plaza de Armas.  The best part for me was that as we exited the mass, the Carabineros (policeman)  band was playing excerpts from Jesus Christ Superstar.  Jonathan enjoyed the street performers with Deidre's daughter.

The singers and instruments

A miner "mime" with Frances

A vendor with his wares of saint cards, rosaries, and other saint chachkies  (no hot dogs though)

Jonathan and I went off to get a bite of Peruvian food for lunch while the "masses" took communion and, according to Deidre, were overcome with emotion as the procession went through the church.  It was at the Cathedral of Santiago which was beautiful and apparently had been rebuilt several times due to earthquakes (I am still bracing myself).

Obviously picture worthy (with a lot of incense)

The band that apparently led the procession (we didn't wait around for it to start)

This time we got back in time for Colo-Colo vs. Universidad de Chile game (2-2 tie)