Community

They said time would go fast. For some reason I didn't believe it. Instead I had an image of these four months as the longest of my life...an invented image of a place void of solid people or places but full of time that would constantly surround me and remind me I was far away. Now I am in a real Chile with vivid colors and tastes, with a real bed I lie in every night and real food and beer that are putting real weight on my body. I am becoming friends with real people whose personalities are engraining themselves into my new image of this place. And time is not surrounding me, intimidating me. It has started to evade me, its absence has started to intimidate me. It is flying. Soaring. Getting lost in the crevices around the city. Maybe time is somewhere in the abyss with my lost credit card (my second lost credit card).

Tonight (or more like in early morning) the moon moves from Capricorn to Aquarius. 

The Moon in Capricorn inspires our ambitions. Time to build, dig, organize, and make practical progress on a dream.

The Moon in Aquarius connects us to our community, reminds us that we are in this together. 

I need to soak up the Capricorn and embrace the Aquarius. Right now the group is working on our proposals for our independent projects. I gotta dig in and organize so I can realize my dream for my project (more on that later)! I also need to take a minute to remember the awesome connections that I have, back home and here, and appreciate the people that make up my community. Love you all!

Speaking of community, this past weekend the crew went on two different excursions to two distinct communities. On Friday instead of class, we headed to a población, or the projects. What I thought was going to be an awkward outing of "look gringos, poor people!" was actually really great (and not awkward). This particular población was a project in social living, where there was a big communal  three-story apartment building. Ironically in Valpo, the poorer people, living farther up on the hills, have the best views in the city, and this particular group of people has the best one that I've seen. 

On Sunday, we were warmly welcomed into an urban community of Mapuches (an indigenous group of Chile). The point was to volunteer with them for a day, but we did minimal work while they fed us, played music for us, taught us their field-hockey-esque game, and did I mention fed us? A lot. Sopapillas (with a higher fried dough density than the Mexican version). Pebre (an awesome pico de gallo sauce). Soup. Bread (unfried). Empenadas (traditional Chilean food -- made by hand with help from some of us).  And more sopapillas; they were overflowing from baskets on the table. Throughout the day we played various sports: a game of fútbol with some kids, some basketball, and later we learned pelin, a traditional Mapuche game that is completely hazardous to your shins....but fun. At the end of the day we danced a little queca, the traditional Chilean partner dance. Although they didn't have much actual work for us to do, I think it was very valuable to them to be able to share their culture, which they are intent on preserving. And of course, it was a valuable community-based experience for us as well. Here's a little preview of me making a fool of myself with the queca. Besos!