San Pedro de Alcantara

A few weeks ago, I had a student come up to me on a Thursday to tell me how she had planned an entire weekend of activities for me, so I needed to go home with her on Friday, the next day. She had already cleared it with her parents, she said, her whole family was looking forward to meeting me. She said, first I am going to take you to the church, a very old church in our town, then we are going to visit the piedra del sol, then we are going to make bread, and then... I was so heartbroken to have to tell her I already had plans to go to Santiago for the weekend and I had made the plans weeks in advance, but I could plan to go another weekend if it worked out. She says..ok, the next time I talk to my parents, I will ask.

Sure enough, it was ok and the weekend we planned for was this past weekend. I packed a bag and met her in the plaza around 4:30. We walked to the bus terminal. The bus wasn´t leaving until 5:30, but it was important to get on the bus and get a seat early...since it would be packed. She found a seat in the way back of the bus and after we were all situated, she asked if I wanted ice cream while I waited. I thought, hey, why not. I reached for some coins, but she stopped me and said, no, I buy, then she ran off the bus.

The bus was filling up fast and I could see everyone look at me questioning my presence on this particular bus. This bus was more used the the typical main route buses. The auxiliary men were tying down bags on the rooftops, since there wasn´t room underneath. More and more people filled the bus and I was starting to get nervous about the whereabouts of Blenda. She had gone to buy ice cream, but how long was the line and would she be back? All of the sudden, I saw her peaking around the long line of people standing in the aisle, waving to let me know she was there, and showing me the big cup of ice cream she had bought. She made her way back to the very last seat where I was and where her bag was saving her spot. She handed me the ice cream and said, Jami, you stay seated because you are an adult. I have to stand because I am a student. Students don´t pay full fare, so this if the first reason they stand, the second is because they are young.

The bus started up and soon we were pulling out of the lot. The line of people standing in the aisle had only grown between the time I got my ice cream and when we actually left. We started down the main highway but after climbing the hill to Lolol, we turned off on a dirt road. Slowly but surely, people started getting off the bus and about 45 minutes later, Blenda had a seat she could sit in. The whole bus ride lasted about 1-1 1/2 hours. We finally got off in a little town called San Pedro de Alcantara, population somewhere between 80 and 100.

We walked from the corner we were dropped off at to the school, which was a half of a block, where the family lived. They had a cute little house, adobe walls with cement finish. The front door was simply a gate with a hedge along the sides. After you pass through the gate you walk through the short hallway which immediately opens up to the outdoor faucet for the kitchen and a walkway that connects all the rooms. When I think of ranch style, this is what I think of. You go directly from the outdoors to your bedroom or to the living room. The roof hangs over the walk way. Along the walk way, Blenda´s mom had all kinds of blooming plants in empty two liter pop bottles or little pots mingled in with all the chairs for people to sit in...wooden chairs with woven seats and multied colored crochetted cushions....very pretty.

I met all the family, even an Uncle and a neighbor, then Blenda gave me the tour. They had flowers and all kind of vegetables, fruits, herbs...all neatly maintained. There was a a huge adobe stove where they make bread and cook other things. They have a series of grapevines hanging over where they wash their clothes by hand in large tubs. A little shed with tools. A coop for the chickens and rooster. A little cage for their pet rabbit. A huge teepee of wood for burning, either for heat or for the stove. Everything was very pretty...veyr simple.

I dropped my things off in my room and then went to the kitchen to have tea and some fresh home made bread with tomatoes. Then, we took a quick walk to the church located at the end because Blenda´s mom wanted to know if there would be Catechism and Mass this weekend, seeing how it was election weekend. The sister wasn´t answering the door, so we went back to the house. We sat around the table in the living room and shelled peas, shucked peas...I really don´t know what the word is for extracting peas from their pod...but that is what we did. So while we were taking care of the peas, we sat and watched Happy Gilmore..in spanish of course. ha! After the movie, we turned in for the night.

The next morning, I woke up and went outside where Blenda´s Mom was sweeping the earth with the branch of a bush...of which she had tied the limbs down so they were closer together and better from sweeping. I had a bit of tea and some eggs from the campo. Eggs from the campo are the best I was told again...good, very yellow, not like those eggs closer to town.

We walked down to the church to see if the Sister was up and moving yet. She answered the door and invited us in. She showed us the church. The church was first a Franciscan monestary and later it was run by priests. The church was as old as the town...about 300 years old. It is on a list to be restored. On our way out the door, the sister siad there wouldn´t be catechism or mass this weekend because of the elections...she wanted everyone to stay calm and tranquil.

With the news of no catechism Saturday night, we walked around town to tell everyone who goes that there wouldn´t be catechism. Door to door...ok only about 6 doors, but in a small town, that feels like just about every door. We didn´t use the door bell....Blenda just yelled out...Halo? We would wait and soon someone would show and she would say...no catechism today. They would reply...ok, thank you. We would see a little kid in the street and she would tell them...tell your mom there is no catechism today. We walked up the street where a little old lady was picking strawberries...no catechism today...ok...do you want some strawberries? Sure...ok...The strawberries lasted us until the next house...the house we didn´t approach because of the dogs. Blenda just yelled louder since they were a good 50 meters away. On our way back we stopped to talk to the strawberry lady once more. Her little dog was chained to his dog house. I asked her what her name was...she said pequeña...which translates to little one. I had to laugh because we used to have a llama named little one and his name was little one because no one could think of a name.

We walked back into town and stopped at a hotel...the only hotel in town which was owned by the same owner of the Santa Cruz hotel...Carlos Cardoen. Blenda had never seen the inside and the man who tended the house was there. She asked him if we could see the house...he said sure, so we went in and got a grand tour. The hotel was an old plantation sort of house. Very pretty and very well decorated- restored.

We went back to the house and ate lunch, then packed a snack for the road, since we would be walking to the piedra del sol...the rock of the sun. We were walking along the dirt road for a good ten minutes when a hauso came along in a pick up truck. It was a friend of the family...so he gave us a lift to the stone. We said caio and walked along the fence. Usually a fence to me means no treaspassing, but I was assured that it was ok. We would pass here, Blenda said, so looking at the gap at the bottom of the fence, I assumed that meant crawling through the gap...so I army crawled my way under the fence. Blenda just roared with laughter...no, she said...like this as she climbed up the side of teh rock and dropped down on the other side of the fence.

The rock of the sun is a huge rock with a sun formation...the sun formation is a circle in the center with ripples that from the rays. There is only one rock, but it is said to be a rock that dates back to the Aztecs...but no one really knows. There was a little look out area we climbed to, that looked over the nearly dried up river bed. The views were very nice. We ate an orange at the top...then explored around the rocks and trees. The plants are similar but very different here in CHile. One example...A pine tree is a pine tree but the cones are growing where the trunk and the branch meet.After exploring, we hit the road back to the house. It was a good 20-30 minute walk. I collected some flowers along the way to give to her Mom.

When we returned, Blenda´s brothers were outside playing futbol. So, we joined them for a little game in the street. A couple of her younger brothers friends came along to join us. I had brought my frisbee, so we played with that a bit. The boys kept asking me...what do you call this? I sat down to take a little break and just watch. Blenda´s little brother had taken off on his bike and a few minutes later he returned. He rode his bike up to where I was sitting and handed me a sucker. He had gone up the street to get me a sucker. How sweet I thought. I thanked him and popped the strawberry yogurt flavored sucker in my mouth. He just smiled.

Blenda´s Dad yelled to tell me they were making bread. I really didn´t have a hand in making the bread, but I did unch some holes on the top with a fork. We had set the bread out to rise before we headed to the rock of the sun, so it was ready to put in the oven. They layed the pieces of bread (look like rolls) on what looked like an oar for a boat. They placed it on the floor of the over then covered the openings with a metal sheet...the hot coals that were used to heat the oven, now rested outside the metal doors. The bread took about ten minutes to bake. When the bread came out...Blenda´s mom had sliced one open for me and put butter on it...Yummy! I took the sucker out of my mouth and wrapped it in the wrapper for later. The bread was delicious.

I hadn´t showered all day, so I was due. A shower here was a bucket of warm water and a pitcher for pouring it over your body. It worked.

After my shower, we had tea, and shortly after it was time to sleep again.

The next morning, we woke up and had tea. This time I ate my tortilla...which is bread without yeast in this case...so very dense bread. Blenda´s mom made is just for me. She is so nice.

It was election day Sunday. No mass today. All the men voted at the school across the street from the house while all the women voted at the registro. Blenda´s mom was working the table, so we took lunch to her. Every person registered to vote had a ballot. They walked into the room, showed their ID, signed in, received their ballot, voted, sealed the ballot with a stamp, dropped it in the box, then pressed their thumbs on a ink pad to show they had voted. The military was present days before the vote, during the vote, and the day after the vote. They were there to assure that the votes would not be currupted and to assure there would not be any disturbances...which there weren´t.

We ate lunch at the house. Blenda´s Aunt and Uncle came over and watched the people going in and out to vote. Toward the end of the day, you could hear the people in the streets talking and waiting for the results. Men in there huaso hats smoking cigs, women walking by pushing their babies...the whole town seemed to be waiting.

I went back inside for a bit, to get out of the sun....blenda´s aunt was ironing Blenda´s uniform for school the next day. They used the old fashioned iron wood handled iron. The kind you open up to put in hot coals to keep it hot for ironing clothes. I just watched her iron in amazement....I had seen these irons on my grandmothers fireplace years ago...or in museums...but never had I ever seen anyone actually use one!

The results came and shortly after people were parading the streets in cars and tooting horns, yelling and cheering. There was a party with a band near by, playing ranchero music...they played all night.

I turned in by 11 or so. We were going to catch the 6:30 bus monday morning to get to school on time. I fell asleep listening to music and just smiling thinking about my trip to the campo.

The next morning, I woke up, brushed my teeth, and packed my things. Blenda went into her parents room to say good bye and wave for me to follow. Her parents were half asleep when I said goodbye. Her mom told me she would send another tortilla for me with Blenda next week. :) I didn´t get a chance to say good bye to her brothers, since the older brother was out at the party and her little brother actually was too, however his curfew was earlier...but we went to bed before them.

It was a great trip to the country. I am sure I am forgetting some parts...but I am sure I will have a chance to add more later....good times. :)

Hope you are well...jami