So it has been a while again. Sometimes there is so much I want to say I avoid posting because I think it will take too long. So my new plan is short little blip-vignet-updates.
Right now I am in Chañaral. nothing special. I am here for a national park that I didnt go to because it was too expensive to get there. So instead I walked on an endless EMPTY beach for about 8 hours. and snaked on my new addiction! Chilean Bread, Palta (avocado), and salt! I am an artist with this! I follow this with an apple and peanut butter. I have lived on this since santiago. seriously 3 times a day. its getting bad! haha. but there are worse addictions. am I right...AM I RIGHT!! wink*, eyebrow raise*...
I spent 4 nights of the last week with the most beautiful Chilean family! The mother is the cousin (older cousin, heidi style) of one of my friends I met in Santiago. He hooked me UP! I couldnt beleive it one minute I was saying I was headed to La Serena and the next thing I knew he was on the phone with his cousin Sonia at midnight on a wednesday asking if I could come on friday! and she said yes!!! It is her and her two beautiful, smart, funny, talented children. I could really go on and on about them. But it really marked the start of a new phase of my trip. More running. some meditation. less being lonely and sad for no reason. and more staying with families. It is SOOO rewarding. I love them. and i just got a message that the young daugher, Laura, said to her mom she doesnt understand why I had to go!!!! Que Tierna! Oh and they only speak spanish. So I am very happy with my progress that I can grow so fond and close with people who dont speak english!
Now I head to Peru to meet Mom and Dad! I am stopping at San Pedro de Atacama (in Chile) it is the place everyone goes to in the North of Chile! supposed to be amazing! haha. But I dont really know what it is! I never do, or if I do, I am wrong.
LOVE YOU ALL! thanks for reading.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Volver
Back in Santiago. staying in what may be the nicest apartment I will live in for the next 10 years. literally steps away from all the best attractions in the city, I could cartwheel the most beutiful park here, that looks like it is out of disneyland, with a castle and everything. Needless to say things are good. very relaxed, mostly eating, going to muesuems, swiming in my SOLARIUM!!, reading, and hanging out with my santiago buddies.
Not sure how i am going to be able to rough it after this. but luckily I am meeting my parents for another 9 days of luxury in Peru! doing a bit of spoiled tourist traveling right now. and I like it.
Not sure how i am going to be able to rough it after this. but luckily I am meeting my parents for another 9 days of luxury in Peru! doing a bit of spoiled tourist traveling right now. and I like it.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
malacalachalahayo
Just got back from a Malacalhello, and it took me the entire two days I was there to be able to say it. It is not spanish, so I am not a complete jackass. I went on a whim from Valdivia, which was another whim, and arrived thursday night. I looked fruitlessly in the very small town for a hostel that might have space, and found that none seemed to be open. In fact the town appeared mostly deserted. So I decided this would be a good opportunity to save some money and walked out of the town (about a 2 minuted walk) and found a cozy little spot in the dirt. It was a nice warm night and the sky was full of stars. It seemed nothing could go wrong. then my imagination got the best of me and dogs barking became the police looking for rogue backpackers, and cars headlights became UFO´s, then the temperature dropped, and me in my tshirt and 45 degree sleeping bag didnt cut it. well needless to say I didnt sleep much, but I was able to watch a beautiful sunrise, without use of my hands or feet, but it was worth it.
The next day I hiked in a beautiful national park nearby that has forests of Araucaria trees, and of course volcanoes (I never thought volcanoes and glaciers would become...ordinary). The Araucaria trees or "monkey puzzle trees" as we call them are these massive pines with very few, cactus like, branches. Hard to describe, but very beautiful.
Now I am in Temuco waiting for a bus to head back to Santiago. I indulged in a little YMCA swimming pool today after being sprayed with air freshner at the last internet cafe. At the Y they took pity on me and gave me a discount for the pool. Probably because they could tell I really needed to bathe.
Looking forward to Santiago. I am renting a PHAT apartment for a week (haggled for half price of course). It will be shi shi sha sha and a drastic change from all the farms, camping and rogue backpacking I have been doing.
The next day I hiked in a beautiful national park nearby that has forests of Araucaria trees, and of course volcanoes (I never thought volcanoes and glaciers would become...ordinary). The Araucaria trees or "monkey puzzle trees" as we call them are these massive pines with very few, cactus like, branches. Hard to describe, but very beautiful.
Now I am in Temuco waiting for a bus to head back to Santiago. I indulged in a little YMCA swimming pool today after being sprayed with air freshner at the last internet cafe. At the Y they took pity on me and gave me a discount for the pool. Probably because they could tell I really needed to bathe.
Looking forward to Santiago. I am renting a PHAT apartment for a week (haggled for half price of course). It will be shi shi sha sha and a drastic change from all the farms, camping and rogue backpacking I have been doing.
Monday, April 5, 2010
WWWWWOOOOOOFFFF!!!!!
Well I just got back from my first Farm. It was pretty amazing. hard to describe. It was such an intense experience in so many ways. The farm is located on a hill about 45 min car ride to the nearest town (which is barely a town) and about 2-3 hours to the nearest city (which is barely a city). In other words... remote. The property is long and skinny on a steep hill between the road and the water. When you reach the house the view opens up to this beautiful Fjord (lake, bay thing...large body of water) with mountains all around it. All very green. It was breathtaking. And this view was my television for the past week. we ate breakfast dinners and lunches in front of this big window that overlooked it all, and we would all sit together, eating delicious fresh food and just stare at it all.
The work varied by day. I helped put up fences, put insulation around their house (grass insulation that is). we went to buy wood and brought it to their house. And when you live that far away without a car, bringing wood to your house is a very difficult chore. Their main source of income is honey, they have 19 hives, or 3,000 bees. I couldn`t really help much with that. but I got to observe with the suit and everything and it was really fascinating.
I also discovered my passion. Before I thought it was theatre, until I came to this farm and discovered an activity I could do my whole life and be a very happy man. Picking Blackberries! Their farm is covered in wild blackberries and I spent many hours picking/eating kilo after kilo. It is so peaceful and simple and wonderful.
Their farm is not the typical rows of produce type farm, since their main product is honey it looked more like an overgrown backyard. The climate is a cold rainforest, meaning it rains average once or twice a day, and everything is covered in dense vegetation. A really beautiful climate. I didnt mind the rain that much. It would never last that long. And there was always at least a little sun every day.
They were a really beautiful family. The two parents and their son, 11, who I adored. They had never had a United Statesian in their household, and they seemed a little apprehensive to be having me. This was my first experience with people who were very emotionally affected by the dictatorship in Chile and for them it is still fresh. Most of the people I have talked to about it are too young to remember. But for them our country is still a potent enemy, that brought a dictatoriship which killed thousands and completely changed their cultural and economic landscape. At moments it was a bit difficult to be there and to hear what they had to say. But I think I grew a lot because of it. And they made me feel very welcome in their home. By the end of it I felt part of the family.
This was a beautiful life changing experience that I can´t recomend enough to anyone. www.wwoof.org. There is so much I could say about it, but I will save it for in person.
Love,
Joe
The work varied by day. I helped put up fences, put insulation around their house (grass insulation that is). we went to buy wood and brought it to their house. And when you live that far away without a car, bringing wood to your house is a very difficult chore. Their main source of income is honey, they have 19 hives, or 3,000 bees. I couldn`t really help much with that. but I got to observe with the suit and everything and it was really fascinating.
I also discovered my passion. Before I thought it was theatre, until I came to this farm and discovered an activity I could do my whole life and be a very happy man. Picking Blackberries! Their farm is covered in wild blackberries and I spent many hours picking/eating kilo after kilo. It is so peaceful and simple and wonderful.
Their farm is not the typical rows of produce type farm, since their main product is honey it looked more like an overgrown backyard. The climate is a cold rainforest, meaning it rains average once or twice a day, and everything is covered in dense vegetation. A really beautiful climate. I didnt mind the rain that much. It would never last that long. And there was always at least a little sun every day.
They were a really beautiful family. The two parents and their son, 11, who I adored. They had never had a United Statesian in their household, and they seemed a little apprehensive to be having me. This was my first experience with people who were very emotionally affected by the dictatorship in Chile and for them it is still fresh. Most of the people I have talked to about it are too young to remember. But for them our country is still a potent enemy, that brought a dictatoriship which killed thousands and completely changed their cultural and economic landscape. At moments it was a bit difficult to be there and to hear what they had to say. But I think I grew a lot because of it. And they made me feel very welcome in their home. By the end of it I felt part of the family.
This was a beautiful life changing experience that I can´t recomend enough to anyone. www.wwoof.org. There is so much I could say about it, but I will save it for in person.
Love,
Joe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)