Going Out: Chilean Style

It's Friday night, 11PM. You are at Tufts. What are you doing? Most likely leaving for a party or at a party.

It's Friday night, 11PM. You are in Chile. What are you doing? Maybe eating dinner, giving a friend a call, and thinking about going out in a few hours.

People go out LATE here!!

Partying is also not the same here. During my first Sunday lunch with my family my Chilean grandmother asked me if I was partying the night before and my host mom laughed and asked if I was hungover. (No). I have never discussed partying with my real grandma and I don't plan on doing it soon.

Friday night I went out to a dance club and bar with my friend Becca's host family. The group included Becca, Meera, and I (las gringas!), Becca's host sisters, their boyfriends, one of their friends, the friend's brother, and the brother's friend. We range in ages from 18-27. In the US that is considered a large age difference; however, here in Chile it is quite different. We were also joined by Becca's host mom, her boyfriend, his sister and brother-in-law, his cousin, and his cousin's friend. I can't say that I've never partied with my parents but I certainly can say that I don't regularly volunteer to go dancing with them at 4 am on a Friday night.

Maybe I am out of the loop, but I don't consider karaoke clubs a popular option for young people in the US. I'm afraid that I have to admit that I have participated in karaoke parties more than once..but never in the US.

Saturday night I went out to El Pub Chihuahua with several friends from Tufts and Maca and Rodrigo. We spent hours drinking 2 x 1 cocktails, eating mini-empanadas, listening to drunk Chileans sing, and dancing on our chairs. At around 3 am the DJ called "Maca y Las Gringas" up to the stage and we sang or, as Rodrigo later pointed out, we yelled Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". Sorry for the bad picture but that's all I had.

I'm starting to understand nightlife in Santiago. You plan to pregame at 11:30, actually pregame at 12, go out at 1, start dancing at 2, leave the club at 4, chow down on chorillana until 6, then head home. And don't worry about what your parents will say because they are probably with you.