Farm Life

I think I can say we have never been this relaxed in our lives.

Our days consist of getting up, and doing some work on the farm for a couple of hours. Gardening, raking grass, making pan (bread), and/or lunch, harvesting raspberries. Then, after almuerzo (lunch), we have siesta until about 4 (although with the heat of the last week, we don´t start working again until 5). We can spend our other time reading, writing, doing art, learning spanish. Its been pretty wonderful.

We also have the opportunity to learn about many things here. The way of working with the land is very close, and not a whole lot for profit. Claudio and Rosalind grow enough food to live upon, and buy very little. They sell raspberries, and last year, a crop of rhubarb. The raspberries just came on so we are spending quite a bit of time with them in the last week, eating, freezing, eating... The climate here permits frosts until very late in the year, and so the crops they can grow must be extremely hardy.

It is difficult to relate the sorts of things that we are experiencing here as I sit in a crowded internet cafe, my time displayed in front of me. The rhythm of this travel experience is not one of go-go-go, but one of sinking in, and allowing ourselves much in the sense of introspection and slowly understanding how people are here in this place.

We hiked an amazing mountain, Cerro Piltriquitron, last weekend. We probably walked 40 km in two days, ascending the peak twice as the first time it was shrouded in clouds. The second time we were rewarded with beautiful views, though the cold was biting. I would post a picture but the internet just screwed up my upload.

We plan to walk in to Chile in the next couple of weeks. There is a pedestrian only crossing that can be accessed from a village near here (Lago Puelo), and from there it is 9 km to the border, and another 9 to the next town. Sounds a bit like an adventure, and will put us in a remote part of Chile, where horses are still an acknowledged means of travel.