Reflections on Chile

Futaleufú, Los Lagos Region Chile, on a clear day.

Well I left Chilean Patagonia a little over two weeks ago, and it’s incredible how far away it feels already. (And not just spatially far away, although yes it is quite far at almost 6,000 miles.) Being back in the Boston area where everything feels so familiar, it would be easy to forget how familiar Patagonia was as well. Living in Futaleufú for almost a whole year, it became my reality, even more real to me than home at the time. It’s nice to have this blog, friends to talk to, and thousands of pictures to help bring myself back into that reality from time to time.

I’d like to reflect a last few things that have to do with “language, environment and interculturalism” (relevant based on this blog’s description) as 2014 comes to a close.

Hospedaje Adolfo, the hostel and boarding house where I lived.

Spanish of Chilean Patagonia. My first several months in Futaleufú I had the most difficulty in understanding Chilean Spanish. My Spanish was learned in the classroom and in Spain, so I needed to learn an entirely new Spanish upon arriving in Chile. Sitting around the lunch table, for instance, where I often ate with around 7 other people on a daily basis, trying to following the conversation could be awfully disheartening. It’s a general truth that it is harder to understand what is being said between other native speakers, than when someone is speaking directly to you and there is opportunity to check for understanding. As the year went by, I’ve slowly understood more and more.

The kids in Chaitén’s English Club at their farewell lunch.

There are many chilenismos or Chilean and Patagonia slang words that play a big part in the language of Chilean Patagonia. “Che,” “po,” “cachar,” the verb ending “-ai” that commonly replaces “-as” in the tú form, to name a few. (Not to mention a number of expletives that are very common in casual speech.) These took a while to get used to. But it’s not just the isolated ‘chileanisms’ that made it difficult to understand the new language but rather it was everything at once: the rhythm people use when talking, how people pronounce each word or tend to phrase things, their accents, the extreme regional differences in vocabulary, as well as yes, the idioms and slang.

Classwork by an 7th grade student talented in English.

Since the beginning of the year I have greatly increased my ability to understand Chilean Spanish and to speak it more accurately. However, I could only come so far in one year. At this point I still can only understand perhaps 50% of conversations going on between other people in the same room, but it easier to tune out and in and quickly ask for clarification on important topics. In recent weeks, I heard my own voice recorded and reacted with surprise. Living and speaking with locals for so long, I somehow expected my voice to sound more like their voices, but I still sounded awfully foreign. Oh well, I seem to be the only one bothered by it, so I won’t let it bother me! I am really proud of the extent to which I’ve been able to dominate the language.

Argentinians and also people from Chilean Patagonia use the word “che” quite freely. Deriving its meaning from the Mapuche word for “person” it is used sort of like “dude” or “man” in English. The word is pervasive – I remember the following anecdote from my kindergarten class: I helped one child ask another to lend him a pencil or eraser and then coached him to say thank you. “Graciasch” he said, seeming to combine “thanks” and “che” into one abbreviated word. It was adorable coming from a 5-year-old.

In the restaurant on the corner, I found a copy of Trivial Pursuit (in Spanish), an iconic family game of my childhood.

Culture shock? I can’t say I experienced any acute moments of culture shock. But I can now more fully appreciate the difficulty of relocating one’s whole life to a new place. If I had a shock in Chile, it was a combination ‘culture, language and career’ shock. Moving to a new place can be stressful. Moving to a new place where they speak a new language and where you’ll be doing a new type of work is very difficult. It turned out that Chilean Spanish took some getting used to, and it took me quite a while to get used to the culture of the school and to get good at my teaching responsibilities. I can say that in the end I worked through the various “shocks” and am happy with what I’ve learned accomplished this year. And now that I’ve gotten over the hardest cultural differences, it will be much easier the next time I find myself in Chilean Patagonia!

Spending time with some friends at a barbecue.

I also want to say, even if it sounds a bit cliché, it’s hard to really understand it or believe until you get to a new place, but people really are very similar wherever you go. It’s the little (or sometimes not-so-little) cultural differences that can cause discomfort or misunderstanding, but beyond the little things you usually recognize the similarities in human nature are exponentially bigger than the differences in the end.

Filling up from a waterfall while on a hike.

Water. After the people, I think the number one thing I will miss about my home this year will be the water. The rivers, lakes and waterfalls are really incredible. Their color and their purity astound me. I could stare at them endlessly. And on a warmish day I’ll often jump in for a swim even when the temperatures are a bit icy. The water is also delicious in Patagonia, from the tap or straight from a river or waterfall. These rivers are not the Mapocho River in Santiago… but they are in danger. Controversial mining and dam projects are constantly on the horizon.

Going down the El Azul River in riverbug with Bochinche Expeditions.

Beyond admiring the water, drinking it and swimming in it, I have been lucky enough to go in both the El Azul River and the Espolón River in riverbug. A riverbug is something like a small personal raft that you can ride down the river, controlling yourself with flippers and webbed gloves. It was incredibly fun. Futaleufú has a huge tourism economy with thousands of Chileans and international tourists coming each summer for kayaking, rafting, riverbugs, fly-fishing, hiking and fresh air. It’s the only city in all of Chile that has riverbugs.

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Well, I’ve got to end by thanking the family, friends and coworkers who’ve helped me be able to get to Chile this year, and to make it through to the end. It was a really incredible experience, one that I almost almost decided to extend to a second year. I can’t say that I made a right or wrong decision by deciding to move back up to the Boston area this year, but either way I think it is going to be a good year. I will continue to pursue my career in English Language Teaching. And I hope to make it back to Patagonia soon!

View of the El Espolón River from Gelvez Bridge outside of Futa.

Working in the dirt

The greenhouse at Escuela Futaleufú.

I have to say that working on the greenhouse and composter at the school has been one of the most meaningful and healing activities I’ve done all year here in Futaleufú. I love it – turning organic things into other organic things, growing food, it’s wonderful. I tend to skip the shovels (I don’t have a spade actually) when possible and just get into the soil with my hands, I feel like it makes the work more intimate.

The children in the Brigada planting seedtrays in late winter.

The greenhouse and composter are part of the environmental education elective class or taller at the school. The 5th and 6th graders participate in the Brigada Ecológica which I help run alongside a teacher from the school and another local expert in biology and environmental issues. In the class, rather than spending most of our time learning concepts or taking tests, we dedicate our time to various hands-on projects around the school and the community.

We have, for example, done a clean-up of the Laguna Espejo in town and afterwards looked for steps to reduce littering in the area of the lake. We have run a composter at the school collecting organic waste from the school kitchen and turning it into a nutritive organic fertilizer. And we have repaired, planted and cared for the school’s greenhouse – growing a variety of plants including potatoes, lettuce, carrots, cabbage (to much cabbage really), beans, beets, parsley and radishes. We even have little strawberry bush plants growing in a “raised bed” that consists of a styrofoam container.

It’s no surprise that we don’t always get that much done during the class as it’s only run once a week with each grade, and I end up doing a lot of the gardening and composting work on my own outside of class time. But I think that’s ok – the point of an educational garden is that the students get to interact with it, learn from their work in it and get a sense of putting into motion some of the concepts and ideals they are learning about. And I think that the students get that from the greenhouse, while I also get the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment from putting in time to make the greenhouse successful.

Me happy after building a window in the greenhouse.

Yesterday I added a window to the greenhouse, because as the weather gets hotter and hotter it’s becoming more and more important to ventilate during the day to keep the plants from burning. I found the needed wood, borrowed a saw, bought the nails, and cut, sawed, hammered until the job was done. I think it turned out pretty good, and I know my little plants will appreciate it 🙂

Of course I always wish I could have done a little more. I will be leaving Futaleufú a week from tomorrow, on a bus to take me to a bus to a plane to a plane to drop me in Connecticut, USA. I will have to say goodbye to the little plants while they are still growing, before having gotten a chance to work on some sustainable watering systems with the kids. But I have gotten to eat some tasty radishes and their greens, which has been a pretty delicious and rewarding experience.

A radish growing in the greenhouse.

No a la Mina – No to the Mine!

There was a great exhibit of student artwork in the school recently, featuring drawings that voice opinions on supposed plans to mine for gold, silver, copper and other minerals under the nearby El Espolón River. Below is a sample of my favorite drawings.

“This water shines more than gold… Let the river flow clean and free.”

“Don’t let this happen… No to the mine!… Water is worth more than gold.”

“Don’t exchange your beautiful town for gold.”

“Mines run out. You can’t sell life!

“How much can gold be worth?”

Miner faces two options.

The Espolón River, Espolón Lake, the Futaleufú River and the whole water system in the area is at risk from this project. In my opinion the best and most impressive resource this region has its water. It’s incredible how clean the lakes and rivers are (apart from a little didymo of course). Everyone has access to good, clean water. And the lakes and rivers are amazing for kayakers, rafters and the like – making the region’s water its most important resource for tourism as well. Mining in the El Espolón River would pollute that resource.

The clear waters of the Futaleufú River

Even with regulation, mining pollutes. My first weekend in Futaleufú, after FutaFest, a powerful photo exhibit was launched showing effects of mining around the world (several photos below). Printed on large boards and displayed in the central plaza, the photos really showed how the mining industry extracts riches, destroys natural resources and leaves poverty. It’s true, we need minerals in this world to construct, manufacture and have products – but can you really justify the pollution, destruction and poverty this brings? For communities worldwide, having mineral deposits is much more of a curse than a blessing.

Image from photo exhibit

Image from photo exhibit

Image from photo exhibit

The title panel in the exhibit reads, in part:

“NO TO THE MINE! In the last 10 years, we recorded the work routine and the life of miners around the world.

As journalists, we were interested in knowing what there was in common between miners who worked in such different places as Potosí (Bolivia), Ijen Volcano (Java Island, Indonesia), North Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Serra Pelada (Brazil). Some characteristics were always present in the areas we researched: suffering, diseases acquired from work in the mine, poverty and destruction of the environment and nearby communities.” Read more.

People gather for action against damns and mines. “Life grows without contamination. Life in Futaleufú is our riches.”

The two companies involved in the potential mining project are Geocom Resources (a U.S.-based mineral exploration company) and Kinross Gold Corporation (a Canada-based gold-mining company). These two companies, working together, bought up mineral rights in the Espolón Valley between 2005 and 2007. While it is widely believed that the land they have rights to is rich in minerals, mining had not yet begun and no official plans to begin mining have been announced. The companies have not gone through the needed environmental review and passed other legal and political measures yet. The region’s own landscape and location may be hampering any plans to mine as well – it is difficult to navigate the area and even more difficult to provide it with the amount of reliable electricity and resources that would be needed to maintain the mine and necessary refining facilities continuously.

“Clean water is worth more than gold.”

Strong local opposition to the mine is also an important factor. The people here in Futaleufú and the surrounding areas understand the gravity of the risks involved and do not want mining anywhere near their community. They are organizing in various ways to oppose the threat. There is even a campaign to gain a level of political autonomy for Chilean Patagonia, so the region can protect its own resources instead of being subject to decisions made so far away in Santiago. Thanks to organizations such as Futaleufú Riverkeeper and locally based groups, there is strength and a willingness to fight. Let’s just hope that they won’t have to fight forever.

You can find out a lot more about the story from Futaleufu Riverkeeper, Earthworks, Patagonia Under Siege and the Patagon Journal.

Just About Springtime in Patagonia

A beautiful day in the rural sector of El Espolón.

I’ve been back from winter vacation for just over a month now, and weather is starting to get a lot more pleasant here in Futaleufú. Less rain, more sun. Less cold, more warmth. At the same time, my classes are getting more manageable as I become more skilled and confident in what I am doing. Don’t get me wrong, there are still new things to take on and new clubs and classes to frazzle me here and there, but at the same time I’m feeling a lot happier with my work.

A temporary waterfall from days of rain and melting snow, along the Malito River.

In the weekly adult English class we’ve been having a good turn out this semester. In an effort to give the class some needed structure and continuity, I developed a curriculum plan and provided this to all the students on the first day. We started with self introductions and greetings (this How are you intro presentation is part of the first class), then talking about ourselves and talking about our family. We’ll move to food, traveling, directions, making purchases and other topics while taking several classes during the semester to focus specifically on grammatical issues.  I also have been giving homework assignments and encouraging my students to use online resources such as duolingo.com to continue learning.

A bingo activity for talking about ourselves and asking questions about others.

We still have a good deal of turnover from week-to-week, meaning it’s never the same exact group of students attending two classes in a row, but a lot of students keep coming back even if they miss a class or two. I hope to really give them the resources to improve their English and encouragement to take their learning into their own hands. Everyone in the class is at a different level and has different priorities, so another thing I strive to do in the class is make it versatile enough to offer something each of those different learning levels and needs.

A pup from La Gringa’s litter this past fall, waking up from a group nap.

In other news, at the end of October we expect to have a second litter of puppies at the house, right around Halloween! I think we should sew and dress them up in little itty-bitty costumes for dogs. There may even be some full golden retrievers in the litter, as la Gringa (the mother) has reunited with an old golden retriever boyfriend of hers. I look forward to repeating the experience living with puppies. Having never lived with dogs before this year, I found the first time living with a litter of puppies last fall to be absolutely heartwarming.

The kindergarteners getting ready to do the fruit counting song.

As for other classes, they have been chugging along. For kindergarten and pre-kindergarten I have been relying heavily on the help of videos (now that I have finally gotten a cord allowing me to connect the school’s projectors to my mac – thank you so much Madeline!), of course with a lot of interactive elements and short activities before and after. I can’t say it’s a bad thing: the children engage with me and with the songs, they have a good time, and there are a lot of very good free videos on YouTube for young ESL learners. My favorites are on Dream English Kids and Super Simple Songs.

A clothing activity for the first graders, racing to put on the items.

I have started two new English clubs, one for younger kids (3rd-4th grade) and one for older kids (5th-8th). There’s a definite learning curve to leading this sort of activity, but most days go well, the kids have a lot of fun and they keep coming back. We are practicing for the English Olympics, a province-wide event that the foundation is planning for the end of September. Meanwhile, my first graders are learning about clothing and weather, and my second graders have just finished learning a ton of types of food.

Some 6th graders from the brigada working on our composter.

With the Brigada Ecológica, the special environmental class for the 5th and 6th grades, it’s just about time to get our seedlings planted into the ground in our greenhouse. We have tomato, lettuce, chard, carrots and cucumber ready to go. There’s also a scrumptious compost mix that the brigada has been cultivating, that will soon be ready to help the little plants grow up. (For full disclosure: some days it’s hard to get students animated about working on the compost due to the smell – we need to fix our green-to-brown ratio to address this issue.)

I’m happy to say that I’ve accomplished one of my major goals in coming to Patagonia to work in this position: figuring out whether this kind of teaching was for me or not. And what I’ve found is that I do like this work and I can be a good English language teacher. It’s a good feeling. And I’m going to remind myself of that feeling to focus my energies and stay confident in my work.

Teaching English to the Big Kids

Part of my responsibilities as the volunteer English teacher in Futaleufú is working with high schoolers and adults. This is the first time I have had much experience working with kids older than twelve, at least since high school I suppose.

Me with the debate team at breakfast before the first day of the debate competition

Debate: I got to co-lead the English debate team, a group of 6 high school students that chose to participate in the national debate competition in May and June of this year. It has been really fun working with them, exploring debate together, and developing our arguments and speaking skills.

The winning team at the 2014 PIAP Debate Competition regionals in Puerto Montt.

Between May and June, I traveled three times to the regional capital of Puerto Montt with the small debate team and with my friend and fellow gringo English teacher Mike. It was an exciting experience for the girls, not to mention for me! The big city is very different from quiet Futaleufú. The debate competition was well-organized and in my opinion a really cool opportunity for high schoolers to develop and exhibit not only their English skills but also their critical thinking skills.

The advertisement I posted all around town for my class.

Adult class: This year is my first time teaching a group of adults– well, perhaps apart from the origami lessons I used to give to my aunts, uncles and grandparents when I was a kid. Origami kind of teaches itself, but a language not so much. True, just by being present to answer questions and lead discussions in English that is doing something, but I’ve been trying to come up with ways to give the class some structure and direction. It was a rocky start for me (no students can make you more nervous than your peers, right!?) but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

I try to base the content on the level and desired topics of the students. The students who have been coming are all around intermediate level, but some have also come who are beginners and advanced. This past semester we covered verbs have, be, do; question words; family; directions; and moods. I use a lot of powerpoint presentations with this class, give a lot of conversation starters, and have done some “show and tell” like activities where the students have to share about their family, town, etc. (Here’s one powerpoint presentation I’ve used with the class – Adult English – Talking about ourselves)

High School: The other day I substituted for the first time in several high school classrooms. Teenagers are really something else, aren’t they. Even accounting for the fact that I was not at all prepared for the situation, I have to say facing a classroom of high schoolers is very challenging. It was a relief going back to the happy faces of my Pre-K through 2nd graders 🙂

Me on the ferry to El Espolón.

El Espolón: I’m not sure if 3rd through 5th graders count as “big kids” but for me they do. Every Thursday (when nothing goes wrong with the ferry, when I’m not traveling to Puerto Montt, and when school is not canceled for meetings) I travel to the rural sector of El Espolón to teach the 5 children who live and attend school there. (After 6th grade, children in the rural schools have to attend school in Futaleufú where they stay over in the school Monday through Friday.)

The kids from El Espolón with teacher Jonathan and their house projects.

Teaching in El Espolón is easily one of the funnest parts of my week. It’s a small group of kids and we do a lot of games, songs and group challenges. Because it’s a small group I feel like I can get to know the learning of each of the kids. I work alongside Jonathan, a Chilean English teacher who recently moved to Futaleufú from Puerto Montt. It’s a really good relationship because I think we each learn a bit from the other. Plus it’s nice to have company on the 3-hour trip to and from El Espolón!

To Chaitén and back

Chaitén at the end of a rainy day.

I have made several trips away from Futaleufú in the two and a half months I have lived here so far. Once to Palena for a meeting of the regional English Network (and what an interesting time Phoebe and I had trying to get back from Palena to Futa on a Saturday). Once to Esquel, Argentina, to get away to a city over a long weekend. And twice to Chaitén, to visit Kristin the volunteer teacher there and for a Foundation meeting.

Two friends I made in Chaitén, in the jungle-like foliage.

Chaitén is a coastal town on the Gulf of Corcovado, across from the island of Chiloé. It is about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Futaleufú or Palena which lie to the west near the border with Argentina. Chaitén is engulfed in lush green rainforest-like flora and a gorgeous landscape. The town is also covered in quite a lot of volcanic ash and about half the houses are abandoned– either ruined or buried in ash– due to the eruption of Volcán Chaitén in May of 2008.

Javier’s campo, where he is building a cabin and plans to open a camp site.

Chaitén is a really gorgeous place, with beautiful rural areas (the campo) just out of town, the famous hot springs or termas of El Amarillo 20 minutes away, the controversial but certainly amazing Parque Pumalín (a large private land reserve and park owned by an American) very close by, and of course an active volcano on the landscape. I was lucky to get to take a trip to the campo with my friend Javier and also to visit the wonderfully hot termas on a cool rainy day.

Over one house’s front door: “Chaitén is a paradise that will continue to live.”

At the same time, the abandoned houses can be a bit dispiriting, and it is no doubt that the volcanic eruption was a harsh blow for the town. Chaitén’s current population is less than half what it was prior to the eruption, and while the town is rebuilding, it is a slow process. But having visited the town, I can see why its inhabitants are committed to living in and rebuilding Chaitén.

The expansive beach and two friends of mine.

I really enjoyed a walk on the beach in Chaitén, accompanied by two canine friends I made the morning that I left. The beach is extensive and is made up of a mix of sand, ash and rocks. During the days of the volcanic eruption, the Río Blanco, the river that passes through Chaitén, overflowed and changed course, flooding the town and carrying in its rushing waters tons of ash and refuse which it deposited on the coast. For this reason, the beach is now considerably higher in elevation and wider than it previously was. (This is actually why ferries like the one I arrived on in February cannot reach the shore during low tide.) It took me 10 minutes to walk across the beach to the shore.

Snow on the Cuesta Moraga.

On the bus ride on my way back from Chaitén, it snowed for the first time this year (quite early really as it was only March). It was a really cool addition to the beautiful landscape between Chaitén and Futa, and a nice atmosphere for a nap and some quiet reflection.

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P.S. There are cows grazing in the plaza in Chaitén. I don’t know who they belong to, but they are there and they make no apologies for it.

Moooo.

Teaching English to the Very Young

Some of my English classes go super easy and are super fun for both the students and the teacher. Others classes still completely elude me after two months teaching!

What works: I love working with the 1st and 2nd graders. They are quick enough to engage in games, understand we are all there to learn English, and want to challenge themselves. They’re not so smart that you have to make things complicated, and it never occurs to them to be embarrassed.

House poster I use to review house vocabulary with the 2nd grade.

With the 1st and 2nd graders, we do a lot of flashcards, memory cards, working with real objects, hiding games, charades, and the like. I made house flashcards and an empty house poster so that when we review house vocabulary I can invite them up to the board one at a time to decide where the different rooms should go in the house. We hide objects representing new vocabulary words around the room and play “hot and cold” using the object names. We shout, sing and dance.

The pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children love my puppets, songs, and colorful materials for teaching vocabulary. I love seeing their faces light up when I walk in the room or pull out an animal cut-out. Singing with them is the best.

Animal cut-outs I made for teaching farm animals.

What’s most challenging: The most successful part of my pre-kinder and kindergarten lessons is usually the first 3 minutes, before I lose their attention and focus– or at least the attention and focus of the most rambunctious members of the class making it hard to keep on track.

Really cool horse colored by one of my kindergarteners.

Striking a balance with how to lead large groups of 4- to 5-year-olds is a huge challenge. They say that no activity should be longer than 5 minutes because the children lose their focus so easily. But then again, they take so long to do anything at that age. So the activities need to be incredibly simple but also interesting enough to keep their attention! Every week I am learning a little bit more how to do this.

Luckily, the pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners are not under a lot of pressure to learn English right away – as long as I keep them singing, laughing and listening to English all year that will make a huge difference in their language learning in the future. In the meantime, I will also be getting better at understanding the Spanish of 5-year-olds  : )

My pre-Kinder class and me with our farm animals poster.

Canine Culture

I make fast friends wherever I go in Chile. In any town, I find that there are happy little faces with wet noses who are eager to play and get to know me.

Tired doggy taking a nap on Paseo Ahumada in Santiago.

In Santiago there are many street dogs. For the most part I saw them lounging in the sun during the heat of the day. They’re not super healthy but actually are not that skinny either. Friends I met in Santiago say for the most part they are ignored, until every once in a while when one will attack someone and for a while there will be talk of getting rid of them. But then things die down again. All the dogs I met there seemed friendly!

Doggy who followed us into the hills.

In Palena, when Matt, Kristin, Phoebe and I went on a hike through the fields and hills next to the town, we had a little follower. A playful black puppy who got covered in burs during the trip. We lost him in the woods at one point and he never caught up… I hope he made it back to town ok!

Kristin with the little puppy “Linguini.”

Also in Palena at the Patagonia Sur office, an adorable puppy mutt wandered by the front door one day. “Don’t look now but there’s a puppy coming by the door,” Matt told me. I did look and I made friends and the little puppy (whom I jokingly named Linguini) made himself at home both outside and inside the house… He also paid a visit during my practice lesson in the backyard garden there. It’s ok, I suppose there will distractions to deal with in my real classes too.

Gringa taking a swim with me in the Rio Espolón.

Futaleufú is full of dogs of all sorts of shapes, sizes and personalities. Some have a roof to call home, while others mostly wander. The most popular ones I think of as the dog rock stars of Futa. Chani, a three-legged grey and white shaggy dog with an upbeat personality may be my favorite. La Gringa (named such because of her light-colored fur, which is still darker than my skin), a friendly golden retriever, lives here at Eva’s house – Hospedaje Adolfo – where I will be living all this year. Gringa is an endearing soul.

Bicho yawning, or maybe smiling?

Gringa’s son Tofi is a giant golden retriever puppy of six months, who probably weighs as much as me but does not know it. I cannot seem to teach him not to jump on me in excitement when I step into the yard. Between him and Bicho (“Bug”), a little white shaggy dog who barks all night and follows me around town all day, I practically have to carry a big stick with me from protection when I go out into the yard. I have to admit though, I’m usually as happy to see them as they are to see me. They are always up for a game of fetch (with the slobbery apples from out in the yard) whenever I am.

At night the dogs roam the streets, the more domesticated and street dogs alike. They form little packs, split up, check in with their friends from across town, wander around, bark loudly into the dark night. Bicho tries to pretend he’s a bigger dog than he is by barking the loudest (Thanks, Bicho).

I never had a dog before but now I feel like I have a dozen. It’s a nice feeling, especially living in a new place, to have a dozen “best friends”.

Chani, probably my favorite dog ever.

Futafest: It’s about the river

“This is nothing like it’s going to be living here,” Phoebe tells us.

This past weekend the two other teachers Kristin and Matt, Phoebe, and I spent most of our time at Futafest, a worldwide kayak and rafting competition held on the Futaleufú River 45 minutes outside the town of Futaleufú, closest to the small community of El Azul. Futafest was full of Americans and other kayakers and tourists from around the world, along with a number of local spectators and participants.

Raft comes racing down the Futaleufú River at Futafest.

The river is incredible. The rapids, the unearthly blue water (I believe because the water comes from melting glaciers), the beautiful trees and surroundings. And the water is so clear – and good to drink!

When I first heard “Futafest” I thought it was named for Futaleufú, the nearest town and where I will be living and working this year. But really it is about the Futaleufú River – its natural beauty, the resources it provides us, and most prominently the fun and enjoyment it offers us. As rivers go, the Futaleufú is one of the very best worldwide for rafting and kayaking.

“No to the Mine” – a sign I made with other volunteers at Futafest.

And that very river is under siege by U.S. companies that want to build a gold mine along the river, causing environmental devastation to the river and other ecosystems and exposing the area’s inhabitants to toxins that are used in the mining process. At the same time, the Spanish company Endesa is developing its plans to damn part of the river and transport the electricity produced north to areas of Chile that need more energy – part of a series of proposed damns around Chilean Patagonia. (Find out more at patagoniasinrepresas.cl.)

The river has so much to offer, and a lot of people fighting to protect it. While orchestrating recycling for the event we met María José, coordinator for Futaleufú Riverkeeper, and Laura who was volunteering with Riverkeeper. The Patagonia Sur Foundation also works to grow discussion, education, and solutions for protecting the river. And all those who live here, visit here, and enjoy and live off of the resources the river has to offer are also ready to protect the Futaleufú.

Phoebe and Coco at Futafest

Playing the Waiting Game

One thing I can say about my time in Chile is that I have done a lot of waiting. I think I’m getting good at it even.

• About 45 minutes in the immigration line, twice (I hadn’t paid the tax first)
• In line at the grocery stores, which have moved incredibly slowly
• For the bus to take off
• For cheese and vegetables to arrive in the local supermarkets

The most prominent wait so far, though, was on our ferry ride to Chaitén. For context, Matt and I had already experienced something of a comedy of errors on our journey southward. Patagonia is an incredible place that is not easy to get to. We made our 14-hour bus ride from Santiago to Puerto Montt after a short and lively sprint through Santiago on Friday morning. It got in so late that night that we didn’t connect to the internet nor check-in with Phoebe, who had made reservations for our bus the next day, before going to sleep.

At 2am Matt gets a call from Phoebe which I sleepily overhear: our 7am bus ticket reservations have been given up in favor of some folks who were able to pay up-front. She made reservations for us on the 2am ferry which was leaving… already. I didn’t give Phoebe my cell phone number (drat!) and Matt had his phone off during the bus ride as it was low on battery. We recall the garbled message from the woman who had let us into the hostel – saying that a woman had called to say check your mail. It’s too late now, we’ll sort everything out in the morning.

Castro on the Island of Chiloe.

In the end we have to take a bus to Castro on the island of Chiloé the next afternoon and a ferry from Chiloé to Chaitén the following day Sunday. I could not complain about the new plan – Castro is a gorgeous town and we luck out with a hot sunny day. We find an adorable and cheap hostel near the water for that night, come upon a cool reggae band Eleva while walking by the port, and stumble upon a Catholic wedding in the San Francisco church among other things during our time in Castro. The next day we arrive at the port at 10am for our 11am ferry ride.

On the short ferry ride across the water to Castro.

First, they are having trouble getting 3 huge oil tankards on the ferry. We wait patiently with a few hundred other passengers to board the boat. Around 12pm we finally get on the boat, from which we have a great view of the bay, and of the tankards as they continue trying to back them down the ramp and onto the boat. We don’t leave until 2:30pm, which unbeknownst to us means that when we arrive at the port in Chaitén tide will be too low to get off.

When we arrive at the port in Chaitén we hear the announcement: due to low tide, all passengers will have to remain on the boat until 11:40pm. The announcement is met with a sardonic cheer from many, outrage by others, and complacency by some. What can we do? Our 9 1/2 hour trip just turned into a 13 hour trip, as it did for the other 200 or so people on the boat. Phoebe is waiting to pick us up on shore. “I’m watching you guys come in!” she says when she calls. “…We’re not coming!” I respond.

In the end, an extra 4 1/2 hours are a good chance to interact more with a big family from Santiago I met on the ferry (parents with their 4 young boys and a baby girl!), and to teach a handful of international backpackers my favorite card games. Meanwhile a group of revolutionaries begin to organize, make demands of the captain, and plan a peaceful protest. The whole thing is just a bit more exciting to me than it is boring, and not having anything pressing to get to, I am able to entertain myself and enjoy the experience as a monument of the way things are in Patagonia. After all, along with waiting comes improvising, one of my favorite things and an important skill in a place where, according to a lot of the locals on the boat, this sort of thing is very normal.

Passengers organizing below deck.

After several hours of silence, the crew provides a free snack to passengers around 10:30 and organizes sleeping space for stranded travelers in the school’s gym. A few people will go through with the protest – to not leave the boat until some reparations are made (it will last about 25 minutes) – but most are satisfied enough by the solutions. By midnight we are getting off the boat and meeting Phoebe, who has come back to get us in a decrepit van along with a group of folks waiting to get on the same ferry to head up to Puerto Montt (in the meantime the van had broken down and been fixed twice). After a quick 45-minute wait for the other passengers, vehicles, and then the protesters to get off the boat, the folks in our van get out and head down to get on the van, and we are off to El Quijote hostel, where the beers are cold, the small welcome party is cheerful, and the beds are cozy.