The week of November 22-28 was “the week of parties” for me. The first of three parties was on Thanksgiving. I went up to Vilches for the annual Thanksgiving feast there. Ted and Maruja generally host and other US volunteers always attend. This year there was a small crowd partially due to a march for non-violence against women that many of the volunteers who would have come were participating in. In the end there were 6 of us. I’m told on a normal Thanksgiving there are about 20 people. We still had all the necessary foods such as turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, various salads, pumpkin pie (made from scratch by yours truly, it was very good if I may say so myself) and turkey cookies (they were a hit, see picture below). After stuffing ourselves full of delicious food Ted and I set up a couple hammocks in the woods and I enjoyed an afternoon napping in a hammock :D Oh yeah, and we ate our Thanksgiving meal on the patio under a grape arbor with a great view of the surrounding hills and forests. Before heading back to Talca we stopped to play with the kitties across the street. They have grown sooo much!
The next party was more of a closing ceremony/end of the year celebration at Domodungu (the women’s center). At this celebration there was sharing/reflection on the different workshops, we did a circle dance, a candle lighting ritual and ended with snacks (homemade bread with pebre (Chilean salsa), chopped up tomatoes (eaten with bread), tea and coffee).
Then there was Kym’s birthday party. She came down from Vilches and we went to a feria with a couple friends. After looking at all the treats, arts and crafts and other things for purchase we headed to the grocery store and bought food to prepare. We then went to one of the friend’s houses for a night of cards, dancing and of course good food. Like any good party we didn’t stop until 4:30 am.
The next day I pulled myself out of bed around 1:15 in order to make it to Sarah’s house for my second Thanksgiving. Since she wasn’t able to go to the Thanksgiving in Vilches she decided to host one of her own. When I got there a little after two we started with appetizers- crackers and cheese, veggies and ice cream (kinda odd I know but I’ll eat ice cream whenever you give it to me!). It soon became apparent that the turkey wasn’t going to be done anytime soon so we ate salad, some mashed potates and green beans. After everyone had their fill we sat and talked and soon started playing UNO. A few hours later (around 6:30) the turkey was finally done and we all had stuffing, turkey, more potatoes and pumpkin pie. After more chatting we had ice cream again and then all headed home around 9 pm. I never imagined I’d have two Thanksgivings in the same year while in Chile!
The week of November 29 – December 5 included lots of travel. The first traveling took place on Wednesday December first when I went to a local campground for the Domodungu end of the year outing. At least 50 women (probably more) went and we took over the picnic table area. It was surprisingly cold and a bit windy at the campground which was disappointing b/c they had 2 pools. A good number of people did go swimming and said the water was nice but if I’m not hot, I don’t really like to go swimming. Anyway we spent the day talking, eating, napping and going for walks.
Then on December 3 we headed to Vina del Mar for the weekend. There were many objectives on this trip- to meet up with the study abroad group from CSB/SJU, to see Chilean friends from when I was in Vina 2 years ago and of course to have fun. In the end we accomplished 2 of these objectives. On Friday we got off the bus in Valpariso and immediately bought tickets to Algarrobo (we got on the bus 2 minutes before it pulled out) where we meet up with the study abroad group at the World’s Largest Pool. It was a really nice place and we were immediately welcomed by the group. Throughout the night we explained many times who we were and what we were doing in Chile. It was fun getting to know the group, here where they lived, what classes they were taking, and share stories of fun times in Vina. The next day we all headed to the pool. After getting sufficiently warm by laying in the sun I ventured to the pool… it was freezing!!! I guess one shouldn’t expect the World’s Largest Pool to be like a bathtub but I was surprised by how cold the water was… after a few minutes you got used to it and as long as you kept moving it was fine but if you stood too still it got chilly. Never the less it was fun to play in the world’s largest pool… you can even rent kayaks, sail boats and paddle boats to use in the pool. Talk about crazy! After soaking up some more sun we headed back to Vina. Once we had checked into our hostel we headed to the beach and walked around for awhile looking at all the vendors until we got hungry. At dinner we met some other gringos who were volunteering in Vina and we ended up spending the rest of the night with them. Sunday we spent wandering around Valparaiso and also went to the beach for a little bit. We were going to meet up with a couple of my Chilean friends but all our plans ended up falling through so in the end we hung out with our new friends from the night before. After hitting up Starbucks for breakfast on Monday we took made the nearly 6 hour bus ride back to Talca. The ride home seemed much longer than the ride up! (and on the way up we even hit some traffic so it actually took longer…). All in all it was a good weekend and sometime within the next year we will be making a trip or two back to Vina!
This past week I went with the greenhouse group to Constitución, a seaside town about 2 hours away. On the way there we took an old 2 car train. The train was slow and made many stops along the way so it took about 3.5 hours to get there. Once off the train we headed straight to the beach where we stayed the entire day. It was a pretty windy day but as long as you were in the sun it was warm. Just like on the Domodungu end of the year outing we passed the day chatting, eating and napping. One of the ladies, Marcela, really wanted to play in the water and brought 2 swim suits so Sarah and Marcela played in the ocean for a little bit. They had a good time but I was content just watching. We headed back to Talca around 7:00, getting there around 9:00 pm. Before heading to our houses, Sarah and I stopped at Annita’s (member of the greenhouse group) and each got a bag full of little plums from a tree in her back yard. They are very yummy and I snacked on them all the way home.
I’ve started playing tennis at the Talca Country Club where my host dad works. Typically only the really rich people can go to the Club but since my host dad works in the little club house by the tennis courts he knows the tennis coaches and they said I could come and play. I borrowed a racquet from Ted and have now gone three times. I’m certainly a bit rusty but it’s great to be playing again! The coach says he can tell I’ve played before and that in not too long I should be playing really well. The courts are clay which surprised me at first. Since I’ve never played on clay before it took a little getting used to but now it isn’t odd at all… I just leave with my shoes and ankles covered in reddish orange dust!
Yesterday was a lazy rainy day. It was great to just lounge around and do nothing all day long! The last three weekends have been full of traveling and parties so I’m happy to just hang out at home this weekend. My host dad said that it was unusual to have rain in December… I guess it often doesn’t rain at all during the summer! The last time it rained was about a month ago, just after I moved to Talca.
Hope you are all enjoying the snow and getting ready for Christmas! I have a baby pine tree that I got from the greenhouse at Domodungu and is going to be my Christmas tree this year. My family has been talking about finding their fake tree but so far it hasn’t appeared. Other than that there aren’t any decorations up around the house but there are decorations around town and the orphanage is getting in the Christmas spirit as well.
Pictures are as follows: Kym's birthday, closing ceremony at Domodungu, Thanksgiving in Vilches (2 photos), end of the year outing with Domodungu (3 photos), Thanksgiving at Sarah's, Constitucion with greenhouse group (5 photos), World's Largest Pool (2 photos), my baby Christmas tree, a few of the little girls at the orphanage, a beach in Vina del mar and Valparaiso (2 photos).
