3 hopeful thoughts

[ Asi cada mañana de mi 
vida traigo del sueño otro sueño ]

...so every morning of my life I bring the dream another dream...

Pablo Neruda

Here I stand, at the top of Cerro la Campana. Feeling a million things, and seeing what feels like the entire world below me. To the east the Andes, and to the west the Pacific Ocean. Life seems to stretch for miles in this solitary view. Exhilarated by the effort of my body, and the weight of the world beneath my feet..I am made small. Those before me, pass fondly through my memory...and in their honor I live on.

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Another week in Chile! As you can see above, the biggest excitement of my week was climbing Cerro la Campana! I made the trip with my two friends, Monica and Jade, who are also WT volunteers. Cerro La Campana is located in a nearby town, Olmué, about an hour from where I live. Rising early in efforts to get a good start, we journeyed to the Sendero Andinista to climb 1890 meters in only 7km distance. Let's just say "steep" doesn't cut it! We definitely were a bit naive, in the beginning...but as the day went on, we realized what an endeavor we had started, and we officially made the summit at 2:30pm!!! It was worth everything...the summit allows you to see not only the ocean coastline, but also the Andean summit of Aconcagua! It was SO beautiful. We stayed at the top for about an hour before beginning the tedious and very steep descent. I naturally took several could falls on the way down...luckily only warranting dirty hands, feet, and a few scrapes:) This mountain is famous because Charles Darwin first climbed it in 1834, and about 1km from the top there is a plaque stating this, though "Carlos" Darwin is who they cite:) We were all sore, tired and exhausted when we got to the bottom at sundown...and went home to shower and scrub off the dirt. We decided to reward ourselves at our new favorite place "Beliche" with pizza and beer!...! I have never been so happy and satisfied. I also got to stay over at la casa de Mon, and meet her family along with Jade's (they are neighbors!). All in all an absolutely perfect day! Below are a few photos:

Cerro la Campana

Gringas on a rock:)

El Cumbre!!!!

...the rest are on my Picasa sight:  https://picasaweb.google.com/lindsay.c.keene/CerroLaCampanaGringasOnARock?authkey=Gv1sRgCPOW5tbqodHRjwE&feat=directlink

Other events of the week....At my school, we had a week of integration...which seemed to mean, that everyday we had an activity that took about 4 hours and I didn't teach much! Monday was a big breakfast with the whole school, Wednesday was a school wide run, about a 4k, that was actually super fun! and Friday my school took a field trip to el campo (the country) for a day of recreation...a.k.a. games and swimming! It felt so good to swim in the pool and lay in the sun...and yes, my students could not get over the sight of my pale skin which was 'muy muy blanc'a in their opinion. As if I didn't know! Nonetheless, it was a good day of bonding with my co-teachers, every one is quite young and good spirited, and I had a really good time. We also made the infamous completos for the kids at lunchtime....kids go nuts over these things and I honestly will never get it...Here is a photo of one:

Need I say more?! They are obsessed with mayo....it's just insane! Kids were eating 2 or 3 of them! I ordered mine with no viennese (hotdog) and no mayo please! And they thought I was nuts....then again, I enjoyed my bread and avocado quite a bit! No completo for me!

Unfortunately, Ely has been quite sick (from her pregnancy) and unable to attend school or any of the activities all week...so I have been forced to be pretty independent lately! I do hope she starts feeling better soon....walls are thin here, and it doesn't sound like much fun:( This week I will be teaching alone as well, and I am a bit nervous...the kids are good, but the younger ones are a bit wily and they don't know as much English...! Eeks...I am sure I will have stories to report!

Another Chilean anecdote for you: I finally unlocked the mystery of the fruit called 'tuna'. I first tried this interesting thing about 3 weeks ago...its green, oblong-ish shaped, and has a thick soft skin - on the inside there is  a piece of fruit, much like a kiwi but with more seeds that are bigger, (more like grape seeds) which you just sort of chomp through and swallow. I enjoyed them very much from the start...and one day was eating one at school and peeling it with my hands when the custodian stopped me and in rapid undecipherable Spanish tried to to tell me "something" about what I was doing...per usual, i just nodded and pretended to get it. WELL! Today I realized that she was warning me that 'tuna' is Spanish for "prickly pear"...it is actually a cactus flower, and that by eating it with my hands I was risking the spina/thorns getting into my mouth, throat, and hands. Lesson well-learned because as of today I have been sitting here with a tweezers trying to pull out about 20 little spina stuck in all of my fingers:( Ouch! Naturally my thoughts went back to this day, and the inevitable "ooooohhhh"ensued! 

That should be all for now. In just 4 days, our entire WT group is headed to Mendoza Argentina! We are very very excited! We plan on taking several bike/wine tours and living up the nightlife of Argentina! I am sure we will make attempts to dance as well:) Certain things are a lot cheaper in Argentina, so shopping (for things like peanut butter, toiletries, clothes, mate') is also on the agenda. I look forward to this trip, and to reuniting with my fellow volunteers from the south:) 


In the meantime, I hear good news from home...I am so sad I am not there to join in the excitement in the upcoming wedding of Aj and Duffy, and to feel the guagua (baby) de Lis and Josh kick, and to be excited for Luke's upcoming graduation. These are a few of the things I ponder, miss, and ache for. I love you all so much...and count my blessings each and everyday.


Til next time,

lck