Women and Seeds

Martes 30 octubre:

Wifi and cell service in Villarrica are taking the day off, so instead of writing an essay I will catch up on the last week.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of attending a Trafkintu with a few of my classmates. The Trafkintu is a seed sharing ceremony and fair that is based in traditional Mapuche customs and that is still practiced today, especially throughout the region in which I live. We hitched a ride with Constanza, this badass lady who has studied bio-cultural conservation in southern Chile and Oaxaca, Mexico. She took us east, to a property near Lago Caburgua where tables and chairs were arranged in a semi-circle around a canelo tree. We all shared food and mate inside a building on the uphill side of the property, then gathered around the canelo tree for a ceremony. Then, all of us (perhaps a hundred or more) presented what we had brought (seeds, food, crafted products, plants) at the tables and traded. I made cards with drawings of a California Poppy to trade, but let me tell you, they were NOT a hot seller, so I just enjoyed witnessing the interactions and fluidity of the whole process instead. The sun was glaring and hot through the hazy humidity and it was fatiguing to converse with new people as a guest to a new culture, but looking back I am very grateful for the experience. Later that day, I dipped my feet in cold Caburgua water and watched fat fish from the dock with a new friend, little Almendra.

Sunday was a day for nerds and Monday was a day of exploring with my dad (!!!). We took a trip out to Quelhue, northeast of Pucón, and found the mouth of Río Minetue where the flood water swirls all around the willows in a rush to the big openness of Lago Villarrica. Further up the watershed we found the thumping waterfalls of Ojos de Caburgua and later on Lago Caburgua itself. I also got to point out to my dad the song of Cachudito (Tufted Tit Tyrant) from the shore of the lake, very cool! Now he is off to paddle through beautiful Patagonia and find his own little slice of heaven in this crazy country. Thank you, Dad, for making the time to see me and for the conversations on our adventure through my rainy, new home.

And today in class I learned things that will most definitely shape my life after college, no big deal.

Miércoles 31 octubre:

I realized today that popping bubble wrap is just as therapeutic no matter where in the world you are. Silvia and I just shared a rectangle of it over the kitchen table. 

Sábado 4 noviembre:

A group of friends and I took a bus south on the morning of the 1st, stopping in Puerto Montt and picking up a rental car (how extravagant!). From there we took a ferry to the Isla Grande de Chiloé—a dream of mine for a good bit—and skirted around the top of the island to Ancud, where we filled our bellies with empanadas and met up with another car full of friends. From there we ditched town and made a big western loop around a peninsula and found an empty beach as the cloudy day was losing its shine. We pitched a tent two coves over from the car (carried all our gear around some rocky “cliffs”) and had a really nice evening with sopapillas, bioluminescence, and some grape juice.

 The next morning’s return to the car challenged us with some high morning tide, but it was nothing bare feet and rolled up pants couldn’t handle. That day in the car took us back around the east side of the island, over dirt roads and through fishing villages (the real deal, I was so in love). In Quemchi, we stopped and walked around the fishing boats parked on the beach and feasted on fresh Piure (a bright red squishy delicacy from the sea). Saturday ended in Dalcalhue, further south, with more seafood (SO GOOD) and a cabin shared with the other car group. 

Sunday started with coffee, milcao, and empanadas de manzana. Then we drove in the wind and rain, further south down Chiloé and west toward the big ocean. The town of Cucao at the end of the road was windy and rainy like a good Humboldt storm, but the wind on the beach was the strongest I’ve ever been in. We ran and jumped and hollared with the wind, leaning against it with all our weight and gawked at the beauty of the river of sand rushing past our feet. It was a little magical. Last night we showered, dined on pumpkin and lentils and watched Kingsmen in a cabaña in Huillinco (another dream destination of mine). 

Today we bombed back up to the mainland after some scrambled eggs and a quick goodbye to Lago Huillinco. The bus ride home from Puerto Montt was full of rainbows and this weekend was one of green island hills, well-chosen CDs, and lots and lots of cheese. None of us were ready to leave. 

Miércoles 7 noviembre:

We are finished with day three of the Field Methods Week of my study abroad program, where we are staying at a research station and collecting data and experiences for our group projects. My group is studying local women's motivations for maintaining home gardens and how they contribute to biodiversity and cultural conservation. Today, my study group toured three home gardens and met with the women who managed them. Each garden was special in its own way and the knowledge that each woman had was incomprehensible. We were blessed with sun and the vitamin D pulsing through our body did wonders for everyone’s mood. At dinner, we shared our different experiences and connected with each other emotionally, really for the first time this program. 

Viernes 9 noviembre:

Field Methods Week is over and I am back home. The rain is falling sleepily and the wind is making the walls creak and I am adjusting to the sounds of Villarrica at night after 5 days in the campo. The research station was in Pichare, a community east of here, and the two women whom we interviewed lived on the other side of the mountain, to the south. I got to know Rosa the best, she shared her hill-side home with us and from her porch we could see three volcanos. During the week, I slept in a cabin in a field, and every morning I watched the sun light up the volcano at the end of the valley. On the first day, we climbed a monstrous hill through old growth coigüe and araucaria forest and over steep snow to get a birds eye view of our study area, and spent the rest of the week threading through the hills to know the local people and their land. 

Sábado 11 noviembre:

My dad is back in town again for a short stint, but we were able to explore more than I ever knew existed in this little corner of Chile. Yesterday we walked among gnarly monkey puzzle trees in the dripping rain near Volcán Lanín and the Argentina border. Today, though, we headed south into the Región de Los Rios with little idea of a destination but plenty of bread and cheese to fuel the journey. The road took us through steep valleys and over mountain passes, and the sun shining through the thunderclouds created a mosaic of electric green across the hillsides. 

While winding the gravel backroads, my dad told me all about his kayak trip through the fjords of patagonia–about the storm, his companions, and feasts they shared. Sounds to me like this trip has challenged him in a good way, and perhaps he is not the same dude who flew into the land of difficult spanish only two weeks ago. I am so lucky to have shared this place with him, and am dreaming of the day when we finally see wilderness from our own kayaks together. 

Lago Caburgua

Dad striking a pose 

This is piure, sea anemone things growing on a rope. They take a year to grow.

Piure, the sea anemone thing in a bowl with lemon juice and cilantro.

Boats napping on the beach in Dalcalhue, Isla Grande de Chiloé.

Little slices of moon for sale, Gromit. Dalcalhue, Chiloé.

Cool kid Grace at Lago Huillinco, storms a'comin.

That storm got us acting a bit crazy.

I want to meet whoever chose these colors. Castro, Chiloé.

King of the street, Castro, Chiloé.

Climbed up a steep hill, found this at the top, Santuario el Cañi.

This baby is a mighty Coihue, Santuario el Cañi.

I hadn't yet appreciated the forest in Chile as much as I did in this moment.

This moment too. 

This is how Rosa greeted us to her home: Sopaipillas and Mate.

Wonderful Rosa and her chacra garden with beans, peas, and potatoes.

Lago Villarrica.

I don't even know.

BIG waterfall, hike near Argentina.

Spring has been really been flashing the bling-bling 'round here, Lago Villarrica.

Jaw dropped, the buses here simply do not give a rats ass. 

On the drive South, near Puerto Fuy.

That blink-and-you-miss-it kind of good.