So as I write this I am very far south in the world. I was on the bus this morning coming from Santiago and I thought I was going to Osorno. I knew that Osorno wasn´t a huge destination in itself, more of a stopover on your way to bigger and better things. But I still thought it would be tolerable for a day. FALSE. So I stepped off the bus in Osorno and then stepped right back on and rode it all the way to Puerto Varas. Puerto Varas is a sweet town with a thick German influnce, a beautiful lake, and lots of tourist business. It´s the perfect place to layover for a day.
Then tomorrow I will traverse the lake Todos Los Lagos to get to Bariloche, Argentina. There I will reunite with my two friends from Lewis and Clark who I haven´t seen in almost a year! I´m so excited. They are on their easter break so it´s the perfect chance for them to travel and get to know Argentina. Then on Monday we will all return to Buenos Aires where they are studying!
Wooo!
Life is good!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Comida Chilena Comida Rapida
In the past week I have met quite a few people who have just recently arrived in Chile. Most of those who I met were anxious to to taste typical Chilean food. And who can blame them? Tasting native cuisines is one of the best parts of traveling. What would you guess native Chilean food looks like? Lots of beans and rice? Heafty amounts of meat? Well folks, I´m sad to report that if it´s fast food then it´s Chilean food. I have yet to see a bean in a restaurant yet and as for rice, the most I´ve consumed it in restaurants is alongside Indian food or Sushi. Ha. That said, there is quite a lot of good foreign food in Santiago. A high population of Japanese people insures the sushi is good (they pronounce is suchi).
There are a few dishes that are considered typically Chilean but they are either fried or loaded with sugar. Humitas for example, look like a Chilean version of tamales except less soft and with a cup of sugar cooked into it. I can´t say that I´ve ever actually finished a humita before because they´re just so damn rich. Another typical Chilean dish is empanadas. I learned on the farm that Chilean expatriates sooth homesickness with an empanada and a glass of vino tinto to take them back home.
Another culinary definition of Chilean food is salty food. I now put salt on everything. Eggs, salad, vegetables, fish, bread. You name it I, and a lot of other Chileans, salt it. Sometimes I feel bad when I reach for the salt, but it just makes everything taste so damn good. I´m curious to see what happens to my salt intake once I´m state side.
Now the third hint for detecting if what you´re eating is Chilean is if it is covered in Mayonase. Sandwhiches, some salads and a bevvy of other things fall victim to mayo suffocation. One part food and one part mayo? That´s how they like it. Okay perhaps I´m exaggerating a bit. I haven´t had nearly that many bad experiences with mayo because I´ve mostly been eating vegetarian dishes and somehow the two are mutually exclusive. But Nora did tell me that with every meal her host mother makes sure to let her know that there is mayo on the table. And she can use it if she wants to. And here´s a knife for the mayo. In case you want it. MAYO:
There are a few dishes that are considered typically Chilean but they are either fried or loaded with sugar. Humitas for example, look like a Chilean version of tamales except less soft and with a cup of sugar cooked into it. I can´t say that I´ve ever actually finished a humita before because they´re just so damn rich. Another typical Chilean dish is empanadas. I learned on the farm that Chilean expatriates sooth homesickness with an empanada and a glass of vino tinto to take them back home.
Another culinary definition of Chilean food is salty food. I now put salt on everything. Eggs, salad, vegetables, fish, bread. You name it I, and a lot of other Chileans, salt it. Sometimes I feel bad when I reach for the salt, but it just makes everything taste so damn good. I´m curious to see what happens to my salt intake once I´m state side.
Now the third hint for detecting if what you´re eating is Chilean is if it is covered in Mayonase. Sandwhiches, some salads and a bevvy of other things fall victim to mayo suffocation. One part food and one part mayo? That´s how they like it. Okay perhaps I´m exaggerating a bit. I haven´t had nearly that many bad experiences with mayo because I´ve mostly been eating vegetarian dishes and somehow the two are mutually exclusive. But Nora did tell me that with every meal her host mother makes sure to let her know that there is mayo on the table. And she can use it if she wants to. And here´s a knife for the mayo. In case you want it. MAYO:
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Lost In Translation
Imagine going to Canada for spring break and you ask someone at your hotel where the grocery store is and they tell you that they have no idea what you´re talking about. ¨A grocery store?¨¨ You repeat. ¨¨You don´t know what a grocery store is?¨¨ ¨¨I have no idea what you´re talking about.¨¨ Well that´s weird, you think, I thought they spoke English here...
This, or some form of this, happens to me frequently. Chileans claim to speak Spanish but sometimes I feel like it´s a different language entirely. I asked Adriana, the farm owner, if she´d seen my camisa verde anywhere and she looked at me and said flatly that she had no idea what I was talking about. A camisa! You don´t know what a camisa is?¨ I laughed. For any non spanish speakers a camisa is a shirt. I´m pretty sure it was roughly the tenth word I learned in Spanish and here she was clueless. I pulled at my shirt and asked what she called it. ¨¨ohhhh, si¨¨ the response came smoothly, ¨una pulera¨¨
Of course.
The Spanish in Chile is highly stylized. They love their diminutives; aguita, riquito, fresquito, un pancito. They also drop ¨s¨s whenever they want. So ¨dos¨ becomes ¨doh¨ and ¨las tomates¨ becomes ¨lah tomate.¨ And thus it is a constant game of trying to figure out what exactly they are saying. Is there supposed to be an s there and they dropped it? Or is it another word that I just don´t recognize without an s. Additionally, there are a bounty of words that you find only in Chile. Paltas (aguacates), puleras (camisas), torros de lomo (topes), arros (aretes), etc. And so it has been quite an adventure having to navigate and learn all this new vocabulary and slang. Living on the farm, I was less exposed to the slang but now that I´m with Nora and talking with more Chilean students I´m overwhelmed by a wave of new words. Really though it´s quite fun to get good at speaking like the Chileans do. And any time I (or any gringo) integrates Chilean into there spanish it gets a laugh of approval.
It is my language that gives away my foriegness more than anything. Chileans speak rapidly and heavily. But then I get in the cab and speak lightly and springily but more or less slowly and it´s a dead give away. There was a period where I resented how hard it was to understand Chilean Spanish but now I just feel indebted to it. Because it´s so hard to understand and because there are so many different words to learn, I´ve had to work that much harder on my Spanish and gotten that much better. I don´t feel that I will ever be 100% fluent in Spanish but right now I feel totally content and confident in my abilities.
This, or some form of this, happens to me frequently. Chileans claim to speak Spanish but sometimes I feel like it´s a different language entirely. I asked Adriana, the farm owner, if she´d seen my camisa verde anywhere and she looked at me and said flatly that she had no idea what I was talking about. A camisa! You don´t know what a camisa is?¨ I laughed. For any non spanish speakers a camisa is a shirt. I´m pretty sure it was roughly the tenth word I learned in Spanish and here she was clueless. I pulled at my shirt and asked what she called it. ¨¨ohhhh, si¨¨ the response came smoothly, ¨una pulera¨¨
Of course.
The Spanish in Chile is highly stylized. They love their diminutives; aguita, riquito, fresquito, un pancito. They also drop ¨s¨s whenever they want. So ¨dos¨ becomes ¨doh¨ and ¨las tomates¨ becomes ¨lah tomate.¨ And thus it is a constant game of trying to figure out what exactly they are saying. Is there supposed to be an s there and they dropped it? Or is it another word that I just don´t recognize without an s. Additionally, there are a bounty of words that you find only in Chile. Paltas (aguacates), puleras (camisas), torros de lomo (topes), arros (aretes), etc. And so it has been quite an adventure having to navigate and learn all this new vocabulary and slang. Living on the farm, I was less exposed to the slang but now that I´m with Nora and talking with more Chilean students I´m overwhelmed by a wave of new words. Really though it´s quite fun to get good at speaking like the Chileans do. And any time I (or any gringo) integrates Chilean into there spanish it gets a laugh of approval.
It is my language that gives away my foriegness more than anything. Chileans speak rapidly and heavily. But then I get in the cab and speak lightly and springily but more or less slowly and it´s a dead give away. There was a period where I resented how hard it was to understand Chilean Spanish but now I just feel indebted to it. Because it´s so hard to understand and because there are so many different words to learn, I´ve had to work that much harder on my Spanish and gotten that much better. I don´t feel that I will ever be 100% fluent in Spanish but right now I feel totally content and confident in my abilities.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Vicuña
The town I´m staying in now is utterly charming. Like Sedona, Arizona this valley has a high magnetic energy and claims to be healing and sacred. I can´t say persay that I feel healed or more holy but I am enoying my time here.
Just like the rest of Chile, it is extremely colorful. It´s also very old though too so almost everywhere I look the paint is peeling. The best part is that where the paint is peeling, it opens up to reveal a previous paint coat and thus a different color. The result is that the wooden doors all over town, when you look closely, reveal mini rainbows. In effect, they are their own timelines, anchoring the owner in a past where the door was blue or green or yellow as opposed to the pink color that dominates it now. Paint drops on the groud around the houses are telling of a family adding another story to the timeline.
As if trying to lay their own claim to the paint history, the youth of Vicuña have covered the walls of the pueblo with uninteresting graffiti. No matter though, when you think about the city as a canvas for a giant community mural, then it seems more poetic.
Just like the rest of Chile, it is extremely colorful. It´s also very old though too so almost everywhere I look the paint is peeling. The best part is that where the paint is peeling, it opens up to reveal a previous paint coat and thus a different color. The result is that the wooden doors all over town, when you look closely, reveal mini rainbows. In effect, they are their own timelines, anchoring the owner in a past where the door was blue or green or yellow as opposed to the pink color that dominates it now. Paint drops on the groud around the houses are telling of a family adding another story to the timeline.
As if trying to lay their own claim to the paint history, the youth of Vicuña have covered the walls of the pueblo with uninteresting graffiti. No matter though, when you think about the city as a canvas for a giant community mural, then it seems more poetic.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sea Lions, Sea Otters and Elephant Seals Oh My!
So this weekend was really really fun. I got to meet a lot of Nora´s new friends in La Serena which was great. Then, on Saturday we took a day trip to a place called Isla Damas which is an hours north of La Serena. We visited three islands in total by boat. The first two though we just toured around because it´s a national park and so they don´t let you walk on two of the islands and then on the third you can only be there for an hour.
So the day started out with a bus coming to pick me and Nora up at my hostal. Then we drove around town and picked up a few more tourists. Then we had a two hour drive north and west to the coast. From there we spent a hald hour on a boat getting to the islands. Our boat had roughly 12 tourists, one guide, and two people in charge of the boat. We spent about four or five hours on the water just traveling around looking for different wildlife. In that time we saw hundreds of penguins. The kind we saw were Magellanic penguins and they were very cute. In total there are 17 different types of peguins in the world and they all live south of the equator. We also saw four different types of pelicans which are very cool birds- I might need to add them to my list of favorite animals. Then we saw an elephant seal which I really wasn´´t expecting but it was even bigger than I thought they were. They are huge and really vicious and I´m pretty sure when the males fight it´s to the death. When it comes to their food thought they cover themselves in sand and then wait for a little penguin to waddle by and they quickly snap and eat it. Quite a good idea if you ask me.
Additionally we saw a sea otter, 50 or so dolphins swimming and jumping (better than sea world). And a big group of sea lions sunning themselves on the rock. The islands are all rocky and really incredible shapes but unfortunately they are all covered in white bird shit so they´re not that breathtaking.
I have to run now- tonight I´m going to stay up late and go to an observatory to see the stars. I can´t wait!
¡Hasta luego!
So the day started out with a bus coming to pick me and Nora up at my hostal. Then we drove around town and picked up a few more tourists. Then we had a two hour drive north and west to the coast. From there we spent a hald hour on a boat getting to the islands. Our boat had roughly 12 tourists, one guide, and two people in charge of the boat. We spent about four or five hours on the water just traveling around looking for different wildlife. In that time we saw hundreds of penguins. The kind we saw were Magellanic penguins and they were very cute. In total there are 17 different types of peguins in the world and they all live south of the equator. We also saw four different types of pelicans which are very cool birds- I might need to add them to my list of favorite animals. Then we saw an elephant seal which I really wasn´´t expecting but it was even bigger than I thought they were. They are huge and really vicious and I´m pretty sure when the males fight it´s to the death. When it comes to their food thought they cover themselves in sand and then wait for a little penguin to waddle by and they quickly snap and eat it. Quite a good idea if you ask me.
Additionally we saw a sea otter, 50 or so dolphins swimming and jumping (better than sea world). And a big group of sea lions sunning themselves on the rock. The islands are all rocky and really incredible shapes but unfortunately they are all covered in white bird shit so they´re not that breathtaking.
I have to run now- tonight I´m going to stay up late and go to an observatory to see the stars. I can´t wait!
¡Hasta luego!
Monday, March 8, 2010
La Colmena Adentro
The longer I live here the less human I feel. I feel like I am slowly turning into something more organic, a compost perhaps? No, that´s no quite it... Bees have been buzzing around my head for days. Two days ago I picked one off of me thinking it was a stray hair. When that supposed hair buzzed its wings I freaked out. But that was my first clue that things we´re not right. The next day I had the sensation that there were bees resting in my hair. ¨It´s a bird´s nest not a bee´s nest¨ I told them. The joke was on me though because it wasn´t my hair they were interested in but the hive in my head. That´s right I have a beehive in my head. Honey drips out of my ears like Vermont maple syrup slow and sweet. I´ve already filled three jars today! My only complaint is the constant buzzing in my head. Buuzzzz Buzzzzzzz all day long.
At first I tried to swat them away. ¨Get out! Get out!¨ ¨¡Fuera!¨ But it was to no avail so I let them stay. Next to move in were the birds. They´ve been nesting outside my bedroom ever since I arrived and they have quite a lovely view but they wanted more. ¨Oohh,¨ they chirped, ¨I´ve always wanted to live with an American!¨ It was an easy transition since I lost my hair brush in Santiago. ¨Well since it seems I´ve build a better nest by accident than you on purpose, I suppose you can stay.¨
Next were the ants. Now they haven´t moved in, don´t get any clever ideas, but they use me as a bridge to cross the arroyo. When they first asked me to do it I was suspicious. ¨How´d you do it before?¨ I inquired- I wasn´t about to do an unnecessary favor.¨¨They replied simply, ¨we had another gringa doing it but she had to go home.¨ Okay, I shrugged. So now my day consists of sitting my bottom on one side of the arroyo and stretching both legs across to the other side. ¨You´re shorted than our last gringa,¨ they complain. ¨Watch it,¨ I warn.
Finally (I hope!) there was the spider. ¨May I?¨ She kindly asked. ¨Is your name Charlotte by chance?¨ ¨No, Silvia.¨ ¨Okay. Just wondering. Well I would let you Silvia but you see that I´m already opperating at maximum capacity. Where would you make your home? My head is filled with the birds and the bees. I´ve got the ants in my pants. I think it´s too dark for you in my stomach, not to mention other gastro-intestinal complications...¨ ¨I was thinking your belly-botton¨ she interuppted quietly. ¨Great!¨
Now I bet I can guess what you´re thinking- how would a spider make a web inside my belly-button? Well did you ever at any point in your life put your two thumbs and two pointer fingers together to make a diamond like shape and thus attempt to make the smallest hole you could possibly make that would still let in light? Well if you didn´t try it. If you did, then you know how small Silvia is. She´s a perfectionist though so I´ve had to pick out three webs already. I don´t mind though because a silk cottonball is a wonderful thing to own.
So you see? I feel more like the earth than I do like Lissie. And oh if you could only see me know. But I don´t think you can because I´m so covered in dirt and twigs. The army only wishes they could get their hands on this kind of quality camo. But for now I´m not serving the army, just a few fascinating creatures.
At first I tried to swat them away. ¨Get out! Get out!¨ ¨¡Fuera!¨ But it was to no avail so I let them stay. Next to move in were the birds. They´ve been nesting outside my bedroom ever since I arrived and they have quite a lovely view but they wanted more. ¨Oohh,¨ they chirped, ¨I´ve always wanted to live with an American!¨ It was an easy transition since I lost my hair brush in Santiago. ¨Well since it seems I´ve build a better nest by accident than you on purpose, I suppose you can stay.¨
Next were the ants. Now they haven´t moved in, don´t get any clever ideas, but they use me as a bridge to cross the arroyo. When they first asked me to do it I was suspicious. ¨How´d you do it before?¨ I inquired- I wasn´t about to do an unnecessary favor.¨¨They replied simply, ¨we had another gringa doing it but she had to go home.¨ Okay, I shrugged. So now my day consists of sitting my bottom on one side of the arroyo and stretching both legs across to the other side. ¨You´re shorted than our last gringa,¨ they complain. ¨Watch it,¨ I warn.
Finally (I hope!) there was the spider. ¨May I?¨ She kindly asked. ¨Is your name Charlotte by chance?¨ ¨No, Silvia.¨ ¨Okay. Just wondering. Well I would let you Silvia but you see that I´m already opperating at maximum capacity. Where would you make your home? My head is filled with the birds and the bees. I´ve got the ants in my pants. I think it´s too dark for you in my stomach, not to mention other gastro-intestinal complications...¨ ¨I was thinking your belly-botton¨ she interuppted quietly. ¨Great!¨
Now I bet I can guess what you´re thinking- how would a spider make a web inside my belly-button? Well did you ever at any point in your life put your two thumbs and two pointer fingers together to make a diamond like shape and thus attempt to make the smallest hole you could possibly make that would still let in light? Well if you didn´t try it. If you did, then you know how small Silvia is. She´s a perfectionist though so I´ve had to pick out three webs already. I don´t mind though because a silk cottonball is a wonderful thing to own.
So you see? I feel more like the earth than I do like Lissie. And oh if you could only see me know. But I don´t think you can because I´m so covered in dirt and twigs. The army only wishes they could get their hands on this kind of quality camo. But for now I´m not serving the army, just a few fascinating creatures.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Destruction
You hear an earthquake before you feel it. I´ve heard it described as a car coming around the bend that just never passes the house. To me though, it sounds like a combination of what a giant´s rumbling stomach must sound like and the noise you hear when you press a conch shell up close to your ear. It´s loud but at the same time subtle and entirely distinct.
The dogs went crazy for a long time before the termors began. We only have one dog, but with all the dogs within earshot it was about fifteen howling voices. They would switch off between howling and crying. In fact, ever since the quake our dog, Yancul, has been different. He is much more affectionate and sweet whereas before he was fairly macho and disinterested in us.
The terremoto caught me in the middle of a dream. I was dreaming that I was halfheartedly playing a game with my brother. He was trying to jump over my room. ¨You´re going to break the window,¨I told him. But then suddenly I woke up and became aware of the fact that I didn´t have a brother so something else was causing my window to violently thrash. It looked like a jumping bean had reincarnated as my glass window but had forgotten that in it´s new life it wasn´t supposed to jump. I ran to the doorframe and paused. ¨Ëarthquake, earthquake, earthquake¨ I thought. ¨What the hell do you do for an earthquake?¨ As the roof rumbled over me it hit me that inside is not where you want to be. So I ran. I ran down the hall and outside. And from there I ran across the grass. The moon was full that night and shined so bright it was as if god had set up a spot light. It was a short time before I realized that it was freezing. I looked down at what I was wearing. My powder blue shorts, an oversized shirt, and bare feet. In the wet grass they turned to ice. I stood hugging Adriana, the owner of the avocado farm, until the shaking stopped.
In the days since, after seeing all the destruction and sadness the earthquake caused I feel slightly sick to say this about this but at the time there was a small part of me that was loving what was happening. It is an incredible thing to feel the earth move beneath your feet. I was in complete awe. I watched as the moonlit water slopped out of the pool. ¨Yes!¨I wanted to yell, ¨you are earth and you are all powerful! We can´t hold you back! Roar!!¨ Now I wish I´d kept that part of me quiter.
At the time it wasn´t scary. Three factors account for that. One is that your mind due to adreneline or whatever shuts down so that the trauma isn´t as tramatic. Two is that I felt safe being in the countryside. The city is the most dangerous place to be for an earthquake because you´re in danger of broken glass or whatever else falling on your head. And third is that earlier that day we worked hard. I mean hard. Pulling weeds, moving barrels, lugging branches, digging holes, etc so that by the time I put my head on the pillow I was no longer Lissie Perkal, but rather, a rock. In some ways I´m surprised I even woke up. The scariest part though was our ignorance. We didn´t know where the epicenter was and if our loved ones were okay. To hear, the next day that the epicenter was in Concepcion, a city more than 500km south and that we still felt an earthquake 6 was shocking.
It was the days that followed that we´re the worst. We didn´t have electricty or water. Everyone was slightly on edge. Any time there was a tremor we tensed up and had to wait to see if it was just a tremor or a reason to run outside. Many sentences were interupted to listen for the rumbling warning. Any little noise in the house sent my heart racing. There were many times lying in bed where I would hear a noise and my heart would start pounding so hard that I couldn´t tell if it was a tremor shaking my bed or just my throbbing lifesource. Two or three times the replicas (do we call them that in English? Aftershocks) were so strong that I had my jacket on and was running out the door again before they stopped. The thing about tremors is that you just never know. It could be the start of another quake or it could be nothing. For the last earthquake Chile had in the 80´s there were tremors all day long and then in the evening the earthquake hit. But for people who live down here tremors are like raindrops, they happen sometimes but it´s not really a big deal.
Thankfully now, over a week later, our water is back on and the elecricity too. The replicas continue but each time it´s less and less scary. And I´m here on the farm for another week until I head up north to La Serena to visit Nora. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.
The dogs went crazy for a long time before the termors began. We only have one dog, but with all the dogs within earshot it was about fifteen howling voices. They would switch off between howling and crying. In fact, ever since the quake our dog, Yancul, has been different. He is much more affectionate and sweet whereas before he was fairly macho and disinterested in us.
The terremoto caught me in the middle of a dream. I was dreaming that I was halfheartedly playing a game with my brother. He was trying to jump over my room. ¨You´re going to break the window,¨I told him. But then suddenly I woke up and became aware of the fact that I didn´t have a brother so something else was causing my window to violently thrash. It looked like a jumping bean had reincarnated as my glass window but had forgotten that in it´s new life it wasn´t supposed to jump. I ran to the doorframe and paused. ¨Ëarthquake, earthquake, earthquake¨ I thought. ¨What the hell do you do for an earthquake?¨ As the roof rumbled over me it hit me that inside is not where you want to be. So I ran. I ran down the hall and outside. And from there I ran across the grass. The moon was full that night and shined so bright it was as if god had set up a spot light. It was a short time before I realized that it was freezing. I looked down at what I was wearing. My powder blue shorts, an oversized shirt, and bare feet. In the wet grass they turned to ice. I stood hugging Adriana, the owner of the avocado farm, until the shaking stopped.
In the days since, after seeing all the destruction and sadness the earthquake caused I feel slightly sick to say this about this but at the time there was a small part of me that was loving what was happening. It is an incredible thing to feel the earth move beneath your feet. I was in complete awe. I watched as the moonlit water slopped out of the pool. ¨Yes!¨I wanted to yell, ¨you are earth and you are all powerful! We can´t hold you back! Roar!!¨ Now I wish I´d kept that part of me quiter.
At the time it wasn´t scary. Three factors account for that. One is that your mind due to adreneline or whatever shuts down so that the trauma isn´t as tramatic. Two is that I felt safe being in the countryside. The city is the most dangerous place to be for an earthquake because you´re in danger of broken glass or whatever else falling on your head. And third is that earlier that day we worked hard. I mean hard. Pulling weeds, moving barrels, lugging branches, digging holes, etc so that by the time I put my head on the pillow I was no longer Lissie Perkal, but rather, a rock. In some ways I´m surprised I even woke up. The scariest part though was our ignorance. We didn´t know where the epicenter was and if our loved ones were okay. To hear, the next day that the epicenter was in Concepcion, a city more than 500km south and that we still felt an earthquake 6 was shocking.
It was the days that followed that we´re the worst. We didn´t have electricty or water. Everyone was slightly on edge. Any time there was a tremor we tensed up and had to wait to see if it was just a tremor or a reason to run outside. Many sentences were interupted to listen for the rumbling warning. Any little noise in the house sent my heart racing. There were many times lying in bed where I would hear a noise and my heart would start pounding so hard that I couldn´t tell if it was a tremor shaking my bed or just my throbbing lifesource. Two or three times the replicas (do we call them that in English? Aftershocks) were so strong that I had my jacket on and was running out the door again before they stopped. The thing about tremors is that you just never know. It could be the start of another quake or it could be nothing. For the last earthquake Chile had in the 80´s there were tremors all day long and then in the evening the earthquake hit. But for people who live down here tremors are like raindrops, they happen sometimes but it´s not really a big deal.
Thankfully now, over a week later, our water is back on and the elecricity too. The replicas continue but each time it´s less and less scary. And I´m here on the farm for another week until I head up north to La Serena to visit Nora. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
¡Colsechemos!
An avocado tree is a beautiful thing. The branches of the tree hang like arms on an orangutan. It´s big, long leaves smile back at you and say ¨look how healthy I am!¨
Today I had the best job in the world. Today I was asked to cosechar paltas aka pick some avocados. Getting lost in an avocado tree is a wonderful thing to do.
As I walked down the row of trees, a mixture of hass and edranol, I felt like a god among mortals. Ï´m going to pick you today!¨I roared and they screamed with joy. You see, avocados do not rippen unless they are picked. So by picking them we grant them a longer and more elegant lifestyle. Who (or what) would want to spend their life rotting in a tree awaiting their death? I don´t think a single palta would, especially when you consider how exciting it is for them to be a part of a salad or the digestive journey. ¨Hello new friends!¨ They shout upon entering the salad. ¨And my, look how red and ripe you are!´ So today together, we journeyed towards greatness.
As I popped in and out of branches, twisting and turning and using my third eye to zero in on every last palta in the tree, I felt very regal. With a crown on my head, I was finally among my people (where I see a crown, others might see a cowboy hat). ¨My people!¨ I waved my staff, a long wooden pole with a metal hook on the end to reach the high up fruits. And at first it was glorious. We swam together in a sea of plenty. I thanked them for feeding us and making money and I flattered them. I told them how in awe of them I was and how impressive and grateful we were that they survived the weeklong drought the earthquake gifted to us. ¨I know you are a water intensive plant,¨ I cooed ¨Which is why it´s all the more impressive that you´re going so strong.¨ ¨Hooray! Hooray!¨ we shouted.
But as the morning wore on fun ran away with the clouds and I was left to take care of hot and dense. Hot, I can handle, hot is no problem. But dense, dense was something new to me. ¨Back! Back beast! Back!¨ I yelled at dense leaves and branches. But dense pulled my hair and scratched my arms and dense won. but I got in a few good punches and I have captives in my hair to prove it. So I call it quits as soon as the barrel was full and headed for cover in my bedroom.
Today is not a usual day. Normally I would have my assignment for the morning (9-1_30) and then lunch and a rest and then an assignment for the evening. But today my assigment ended (failed) an hour early and there´s no boss in sight to tell me what to do next, so for now I will rest.
Footnote- All of the above avocado speak has been translated for your understanding. These are castellano speaking avocados.
Today I had the best job in the world. Today I was asked to cosechar paltas aka pick some avocados. Getting lost in an avocado tree is a wonderful thing to do.
As I walked down the row of trees, a mixture of hass and edranol, I felt like a god among mortals. Ï´m going to pick you today!¨I roared and they screamed with joy. You see, avocados do not rippen unless they are picked. So by picking them we grant them a longer and more elegant lifestyle. Who (or what) would want to spend their life rotting in a tree awaiting their death? I don´t think a single palta would, especially when you consider how exciting it is for them to be a part of a salad or the digestive journey. ¨Hello new friends!¨ They shout upon entering the salad. ¨And my, look how red and ripe you are!´ So today together, we journeyed towards greatness.
As I popped in and out of branches, twisting and turning and using my third eye to zero in on every last palta in the tree, I felt very regal. With a crown on my head, I was finally among my people (where I see a crown, others might see a cowboy hat). ¨My people!¨ I waved my staff, a long wooden pole with a metal hook on the end to reach the high up fruits. And at first it was glorious. We swam together in a sea of plenty. I thanked them for feeding us and making money and I flattered them. I told them how in awe of them I was and how impressive and grateful we were that they survived the weeklong drought the earthquake gifted to us. ¨I know you are a water intensive plant,¨ I cooed ¨Which is why it´s all the more impressive that you´re going so strong.¨ ¨Hooray! Hooray!¨ we shouted.
But as the morning wore on fun ran away with the clouds and I was left to take care of hot and dense. Hot, I can handle, hot is no problem. But dense, dense was something new to me. ¨Back! Back beast! Back!¨ I yelled at dense leaves and branches. But dense pulled my hair and scratched my arms and dense won. but I got in a few good punches and I have captives in my hair to prove it. So I call it quits as soon as the barrel was full and headed for cover in my bedroom.
Today is not a usual day. Normally I would have my assignment for the morning (9-1_30) and then lunch and a rest and then an assignment for the evening. But today my assigment ended (failed) an hour early and there´s no boss in sight to tell me what to do next, so for now I will rest.
Footnote- All of the above avocado speak has been translated for your understanding. These are castellano speaking avocados.
Monday, March 1, 2010
all good
Hey guys,
i don{t have much time to chat. Right now we{re without electricity and running water and we don{t get any cell service but everything is fine. It was definitely scary but there is something awe inspring about feeling the earth shake beneath your feet. I will write more later but rest assured that I[m fine and happy and filled with avocados.
Much love
xo
i don{t have much time to chat. Right now we{re without electricity and running water and we don{t get any cell service but everything is fine. It was definitely scary but there is something awe inspring about feeling the earth shake beneath your feet. I will write more later but rest assured that I[m fine and happy and filled with avocados.
Much love
xo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)