The Alliances: All classes and grade levels are divided into teams – Las Alianzas Roja, Naranja, Amarillo, Azul, and Verde (the Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, and Green alliances). What follows is a week-long intense competition among the teams in celebration of the school’s anniversary. The busiest street in town was closed down for foot and bike races as police monitored traffic. A rowing race took place on the river – quite a spectacle as students scrambled to avoid each other and the shores. Their classmates came out in mass blowing horns, waving flags, and cheering each other on. Meanwhile, academic challenges took place in the classrooms as students demonstrated their knowledge in sciences, math and history.
Each day after these tests of brains and braun, everyone headed to the municipal gym for challenges of a more artistic nature – almost exclusively in the form of dance. In one such competition, each alliance was represented by student-student and teacher-student pairs of dancers who boogied to a never-ending remix of pop, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and of course the Cueca. Pairs lasted until the judges (other teachers) determined that their dance skills weren’t up to par, and by a long process of elimination a winner was declared. A word of note: bumping and grinding with each other and/or your teacher is perfectly acceptable…in fact, that’s apparently how you dance to reggaeton and cumbia; so the more you shake it, the better your chances of winning.
Body-painting was next on the agenda. A student from each alliance was painted from head to toe and a teammate described to the judges what the images represented. I was surprised by the creativity and symbolism that went into each student-canvass. Notions of peace, cross-cultural collaboration, humanitarianism and environmentalism were all evident in one team or another. At the same time, I began to recognize the extremes the anniversary competitions were beginning to reach. Races and relays are pretty typical, as are academic challenges. Dance-offs aren't far-fetched but they spanned the spectrum of popular to traditional to provocative. Now body painting? And the next night was to be the legendary, highly-anticipated “Full Monty” – What? Seriously? You’re kidding, right? But based on some of things I had seen during the anniversary as well as other background information I could apply, I anticipated that this grand affair was going to live up to its name...
The Full Monty: And my suspicions proved to be correct – “The Full Monty” was racy, original, provocative, inappropriate, politically incorrect and absolutely hysterical! First, allow me describe the setting: it was a Thursday night and we’re back in the municipal gym. There was a well decorated stage at the front flanked by large speakers. The two emcees paced the stage as they announced the next act/competition and the DJ in the back of the venue managed the music and disco lights. Down in front were the judges’ tables – teachers. The bleachers/stands were once again packed with the alliances divided into their sections, blasting their horns, waving their flags, applauding, screaming, and chanting when the music isn’t drowning them out. Seated in rows on the floor of the gym were all the other teachers, the director, sub-director, and us WolrdTeach volunteers, etc. Basically the VIPs. Thus, the backdrop for the madness of the Full Monty. Now for the activities, and if you were wondering – stripping was most definitely involved, I kid you not. (I'd like to reiterate that this is in front of teachers and parents).
We walked in when the excitement had already begun. They were in the middle of the competition “El Gordito Más Sexy”– yes, that’s sexiest fat boy. Basically, a representative from each team got up on stage, stood on the scale, his weight was announced, and then they shook their stuff as they removed articles of clothing to impress the judges. This was followed by “El Chiquillo Más Sexy” - because little guys can be sexy too! More displays of teenage male sexiness included Señor Speedo and Señor Musculo. There was essentially no difference between the two except the participants were different people. In both occasions, they started out wearing just enough to take off and then danced sexy-style in either a Speedo or their underwear.
Not to be left out, there were a few opportunities for the ladies to show off their sexiness as well. After all, if you’re going to have a Speedo competition, you have to follow up with bikinis, right? Now get ready for this next one: “Señorita Cuerpa Perfecta” – Miss Perfect Body. These curvy teens, clad in either bikinis or 80’s style gym clothes, took the stage and were measured (ah-hem, by boys/fellow students) at the chest, waist, and hips. Erin and I debated what Chileans might consider the perfect body – are we aiming for the hourglass look? Boyish figures? A big booty? What’s the preference here? Our discussion was determined inconclusive considering the range of measurements announced.
Now for the dancing! I think this is the part where the Full Monty reached the pinnacle of hilarity. Each alliance had a group of about 8 students who performed a choreographed striptease...that's right, a striptease for your classmates and teachers! Who comes up with this? And who approved it? Go figure.
First up – the boys: Each of their performances generally included a medley of selections from “I’m Too Sexy”, “Sex Bomb”, “You Sexy Thing”, “YMCA”, you get the idea. I have to hand it to them, they were pretty creative and put some serious thought into how they were going to take off their clothes. A favorite of the night was a group who began dressed as panderas, or bakers – white outfit, hats and all. Apparently things got a little hot in the kitchen: think dance moves that resemble kneading bread…but más sexy of course! The grand finale involved hand prints of flour on their bottoms. As inappropriate as it may seem to strip down to your boxers, the entire gym was on their feet with laughter and cheers. I can only imagine how much fun they must have had in choreographing these routines. Next, the girls: Their musical tastes leaned more towards the Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Shakira genres. In contrast to the boys, they were disappointing to watch. They all started out with fewer clothes and their stripping lacked a plot line – come on girls! You’re better than that! In a nutshell, they missed the mark in terms of humor and crossed over into más sleazy.
I feel it needs mentioning that there was another round of dance routines that did not involve removal of clothing. The best was a group that danced to a medley of songs from the Grease soundtrack and it was great to watch, but these were eclipsed by the main attraction.
Nothing was more obvious than how blatantly the “Full Monty” activities fly in the face of our notions of American political correctness, prevention of sexual harassment in schools, and the highly sensitive and statutorily guarded boundary between the under-aged and adults. I was utterly baffled and torn between cracking up and wondering why this is considered ok. After watching this, I sincerely hope they don’t actually wonder why teen pregnancy is so common in this town.Friday: Things were starting to wind down with no activities during the day, but that night the students took it to the streets! Out of the beds of trucks meant for transporting timber along the highways, they built floats covered in balloons, confetti, streamers, and massive paper mache mascots that resembled Pokémon characters. Students packed themselves into the truck beds waving their flags, blowing their horns, chanting, shouting, singing, and tossing confetti as more teammates did the same walking close to the truck and parading up, down and back again through the center of town. By this point, I had decided to take sides. I tried to remain neutral but Alianza Naranja’s team spirit and underdog status won me over. Erin and I joined their procession; the excitement and enthusiasm was contagious.
Saturday: The competitions were over, the winner was announced, and what better way to wrap things up than attending the Fiesta Gala at the school gym? Curiosity sucked us in, and Erin and I went to Prom, Chile-style. Originally just planning to dress casually, our “host-brother’s” sisters-in-law recommended that we borrow one of their dresses. They opened their closets and unloaded piles of gaudy, puffy, sparkly dresses. (I’m frequently encountering evidence that Chile is stuck in the 80’s and the options laid before me seemed to be another exhibit to add to the list). Hot pink, short dresses with confetti sparkles and tulle are plain and simply not my style. I may be trying to immerse myself in another culture but I just didn't feel like compromising on this one. I settled for something a little more “me”. Next, the younger of the two, Javiera – who is also one of my students – straightened my hair while the older, Paula, applied the makeup. The Prom deja vu was getting a little intense. When the girls were satisfied with their work, I looked in the mirror and for the first time since July, I felt…well, less like a volunteer.
Post Anniversary: In the week following the school was still talking about the enjoyment of the Aniversario, but there were also rumors of an injustice. It was Alianza Amarilla that won, but many thought it should have been Naranja…Although I had heard it before, I had an up-close experience to appreciate that Chileans are very competitive people. The creativity and dedication invested into taking every competition above and beyond average was remarkable. I also noticed that they are generally good sports if they don’t attain the glory of the coveted first place. Shocking, interesting, impressive, it was all in all awesome to watch and share the student’s excitement throughout the anniversary week. 
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