21 de mayo: un feriado en Chile

A note for those who employ people who are new to the country: provide a written list of holidays in which your place of business is closed. Holidays in which everything shuts down are not automatically known by non-natives. But, yay! Day off! 

21 de mayo

I might have guessed that today would be a major holiday, though, as a) every city we have visited has had a major street named 21 de Mayo, and b) the date commemorates a pretty significant naval battle in Chilean history. A country that has defended 4,000 miles of coastline throughout its history takes its naval history and heroes very seriously. 

The Battle of Iquique was an early battle in the Guerra del Pacífico - a war fought in the late 1800s between Chile and Bolivia/Peru over taxes and saltpeter mines. Chile's strategy had been to control the seas first, and then move into the land battles. 

The Chilean wooden corvette
was no match for the modern Peruvian ironclad

But here's the thing: Chile lost this battle to Peru. Arturo Prat (we live on a street named after him) was defeated and killed within four hours of battle. It was this that inspired a renewed sense of patriotism (read: young men volunteered to join the military in large numbers after this defeat) and over time Arturo Prat has become a celebrated figure in naval history. 

Monument to Arturo Prat in Valpo
a symbol of Pratriotism

We talk about the importance of celebrating losses and failures, but rarely do it. Way to go big, Chile!