City Girl Goes to the Farm

Hi all! Most of you are probably buried in snow right now, so here's an update you can read while you're confined to the indoors

After Pucón I traveled further south to the port city of Valdivia and spent two nights there. Here's the summary: riverside market, sea lions that congregate waiting for fish scraps, university botanical garden/forest, anthropology museum, mote con huesillo (delicious Chilean peach drink), kuchen (much German influence in this region!), ferry hopping to forts, lots of seafood, friendly people. The end.

On Dec. 23 I arrived on Chiloé, the 2nd largest island in South America after Tierra del Fuego (who knew?!). I stayed in Ancud for a few days at a gorgeous hostel overlooking the bay, a great location to watch the sunset. On Christmas day we all had a feast together complete with many many glasses of eggnog. And I took a trip to see the penguin colonies! As nice as the location was of the hostel, though, it felt like a bubble and I was excited to move on.

Next came the definite highlight of my time on the island: staying with a family for two nights on their farm (I had contacted them through Chiloé's well-developed agrotourism network). The family consisted of an older couple named Sonia and Armando and their son and his family. They live in a very rural area with a beautiful landscape everywhere you look. The picture to the right is the view from my bedroom window! They run a lechería, leche meaning milk. And they make cheese! My arrival coincided with milking time, so I went to the barn to observe the action. They have a small machine that milks two cows at a time, but sometimes a particular udder needs to be milked by hand (the milk from each udder is tested to make sure it's free of bacteria, and if it's contaminated it has to be hand milked and is fed to the pigs, who apparently have stronger stomachs than we do). They asked me if I wanted to try, so I sat down on the little milking bench and set to work. Suprisingly enough, for being the Wisconsin cheese-head that I am, I had never milked a cow before! It's much harder than it looks! I kind of pictured the milk coming out cold and fresh (can you tell I grew up in the city?!) but it's actually hot, as I noted when I accidentally squirted myself in the face. After the milking, the cows were led back to the pasture. The next day I got to watch cheese being made!

Between many delicious meals and walks through the hillside, I tagged along with the couple on their daily chores. On the evening of the second night, Sonia motioned to me to join them in getting a cordero. Knowing that cordero is the word for sheep that you eat, I was slightly hesitant but decided to come along. I thought they'd just pluck one out and call it a day, but it was a much lengthier process. It involved running the sheep around to tire them out, hiding behind trees to surprise them into running more, some shouting, some more chasing, some rounding up, and finally the unlucky ones were chosen from the herd. When I saw Armando wielding a knife, I chose to end my observation. Apparently I'm not cut out for all that farm life entails! But I could have told you that before And guess what we had for dinner. Yup, cordero. Although it wasn't that day's catch but the one from Christmas. I must say, it was some  of the best meat I've ever eaten.

It was really a joy to live with this family for a few days and experience farm life on Chiloé. Almost everything we ate came from their land, and they seem quite committed to continuing the traditions of their farm. I have been in the city of Castro (still on Chiloé) for the last few days and have realized that the real treasures of island life lie not in the mainstream cities but in the outskirts. Or it could be said that the most meaningful experiences are not the sites you read about in a guidebook but interactions with people and the surprises you encounter along the way.

On Dec. 31 I head to Puerto Varas for a few days and then will cross over into Bariloche, Argentina. I hope you all have a very Happy New Year! Who thought 2008 would come so fast...



P.S. If you're in need of a good laugh, here's the English translation of a section from a Patagonia travel guide (and no, those aren't my spelling mistakes!)
"The needs of a Visa depends if the native country ask to chilean people, or example the canedian and from american need it. The rest o the people incoming just need passport, meanwhilewho is coming from Argentina, Bilivia and Peru can get to Chile just with the Identification Document. It allows to stay 90 days."

It all makes sense, right? If you can remember a funny translation you've seen during your travels, amuse us all by posting it along with your comments! And Happy New Year again!