So my travels in South America is coming to a close. I leave this Viernes/Friday from Santiago to Lima, Peru, and then to Los Angeles, California, for only about 24 hours (more or less) before leaving early the next morning for Asia. My travels in Chile are best described in some words as: hermoso, pobre, loving, humbling, spiritual, dificil, understanding, community, peñi, lamngen, cooperation, sharing, real. Living in the Tracura region was amazing. The trafcura farm was self efficient and the people that live and work there make it so. My days there were spent with much learning of the Mapuche culture, language, native plants, and spanish as well. Money is not to be made for profit and trading is done all the time in this rural region. One day I visited my old Chileano hero living solo in the moutain. I found out that this old peñi (mapuche language for Brother) that I had met the first day with Julia (when we got lost) was named Raul. But everyone here calls him Raulito (little Raul). He is a really sweet old man with some physical health problem that causes him to shake and studder uncontrollably. I had baked a fresh sweet roll over the fire in the morning and had made this especially for Raulito. I visited him to give him this and he invited me in to share some mate and to give me some pinioñs (Nuts from the old Aucaria trees that can be consumed and is very much a traditional Mapuche food.)
Trading on the mountains is called (phonetically) Trafking. Anyway, everybody living in the mountains called me Lamngen which means Sister in the Mapuche language. All women called this and men are called Peñi, which is Brother. My name Melinda was hardly ever used. I got to cook alot in the Ruka (ruka is the traditional house structure of the Mapuche people.) One day I had cooked some chinese food (chaufaun). I was really craving any type of asain food at this point. Anyway, when you cook on the farm it is always for everyone. So I cooked a whole lot of chaufaun. Long story short, everyone was in love with my cooking. And I ended up cooking many more other times. There is no complaints from me, though...becoz I love to cook! And I got to cook fresh veggies straight from the farm land which is nice. Anyway, I need to get going here. I enjoyed chile so much...the people are friendly, the food is wonderful, and the environments/ lands are so different and beautiful! So, I have to get going ......Much luv to everyone!
Que te vaya bien!
ciao! and besos!
xo
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