The best of Temuco.

Our SIT group spent the past week in a rural village near Temuco, about 8 hours south of Santiago by bus. We stayed in pairs with indigenous Mapuche families and immursed ourselves as much as possible in the culture. The following is a series of highlights from one of the best weeks of my life, in no particular order:

1) We realized within the first 5 minutes of our visit that "indigenous" didn't necessarily mean living with thatched roofs and dirt floors, like many of us had anticipated (see picture below). Most of our families had electricity, running water, and a television. We did, however, lack hot running water, so I only managed to give myself one cold bucket bath during the week. For those of you who are familiar with my hygiene habits, though, that wasn't too out of the ordinary.

2) Rachel, the other SIT student, and I went to church with our family, and somehow I ended up giving a speech in Spanish to the entire congregation. I managed to produce a few cohesive sentences, and for that I was very thankful. I said something like, "Thank you for having us...we're very excited to be here and to share this experience with you..." Booya! This happened just a few hours after arriving Sunday morning. Talk about first impressions.

3) The food was heavenly yet deadly at the same time. We basically ate an entire cow for lunch and dinner. And lots of sopaipillas (fried dough would be the best way to describe them). We knew we were in for a week of hearty eating on the first day when we asked for "just a little bit of food, something small," and got this:

4) We had a class of Mapudungun, the indigenous language of the Mapuche people. I'm sure you can guess just by the name of the language itself that it's rather difficult. We all struggled with the pronunciation but had a great time trying nonetheless.

5) I taught Rachel and my host siblings (Raul and Mabel) how to play Dutch Blitz, only the best card game ever (and it just so happens to originate in Pennsylvania). They absolutely loved it and were thrilled to receive their own set as a gift.

6) We learned how to play palín, the Mapuche sport. It's very similar to field hockey, only with a much longer and narrower field. We were actually pretty bad in terms of skill but made up for it in aggressiveness. We all came away with a few battle wounds.

7) Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of the week was the music. Raul, my host brother, plays multiple instruments and is currently studying to be a music teacher. He and his four younger cousins formed a music group in 2006 (with Raul as their teacher) that plays a lot of traditional music from Peru and Northern Chile. Rachel and I were lucky enough to see them perform a few times during the week. Even if just a practice or an impromptu performance at a family gathering, they gave me the chills. Did I mention they have a CD? It's incredible. Also, every once in a while after dinner, my host father (whose name also happens to be Raul) and I would sing hymns from the Spanish hymnal. Harmony is a beautiful thing. I can think of very few things I enjoy more than harmonizing with a fellow singer.

THIS IS A VIDEO OF THE MUSIC GROUP

8) I prayed for the first time in Spanish. Out loud. For a large group of people. My host father liked to volunteer me for things like that and catch me off guard. It was like the church speech all over again. Again, I survived, and managed to put together a few sentences that I assume made a bit of sense judging by the intermittent "amens."

9) Every night after dinner, and sometimes more often, we would drink mate (pronounced MAH-tay). It's a huge cultural thing here, almost as popular as in Argentina. It's comparable to tea in taste, but it involves so much more community. There's only one mug for the table, filled with loose herbs and hot water. You drink out of a silver straw that has a filter at the bottom, and once you've finished, the server wipes the straw clean, fills the mug up again, and passes it on to the next person. We would spend at least an hour every night talking over mate. I plan to bring a few mate mugs and straws back home with me and start a new tradition with my friends.

10) Our wonderful family: Raul (father), Lucy (mother), Mabel (sister), and Raul (brother, nicknamed Ruly). They welcomed me and Rachel into their lives with open arms and showed us hospitality like we've never seen before. There wasn't a dry eye in the house on the night of our departure. And to think, we were only there for a week. It's hard to believe.


I think I can speak for the majority of the group when I say that we didn't want to return to Santiago, partly because we knew there was a lot of work (and noise and pollution) waiting for us, but mostly because the week with the Mapuche people was so peaceful. Getting attached to our host families was a contributor, too. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. I'm currently trying to figure out what I can study during the research period in May in order to return to the community, or at least be nearby.

This week we are trying to soak up the last few days in Santiago before flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday. We'll be there for two weeks, again staying with host families in pairs. And then before you know it, it will be May, when we conduct our individual research projects. EEK. It's going too fast.

I hope all is well with you! Keep the updates coming :-)