1 week later

Well here we are. One week later.

This week has been crazy. Sunday we had all the processions and afterwards, it was a really good time of family. Really all this week has been wholesomely full of family. Lots of big meals with lots of people. Lots of team efforts and family pitching in to help out. This week, we took on the project of cleaning this house.

Years of laziness and disorganization have left this house in horrible condition. The was a continuous drip of water in the kitchen for months. The back yard wasn't enterable as it was full of wood scraps, trash, and whatever other thing you can think of. There was trash and stacks of random things in every corner and a living room full of it upstairs. I wanted so badly to fix it all when I got here but I just couldn't do it alone. I asked for us to do it as a family but with my host dad as he was and my host mom working with mayor stuff, we never did it. Well this week, we are doing it. We are restoring the greenhouse in the backyard, fixing things around the house, cleaning all the junk out and leaving the house in a good state. After 6 full truckloads of trash to the dump, I found a door to a patio upstairs I never knew existed. Tomorrow we have about 4 trucks full of wood to take from the backyard. It's truly incredible how much stuff there is. I am continuously thinking in how much better off I am living simply than with all the junk that the consumerism of today pushes us to buy. We have thrown out bags and bags of clothes, and toys and just random crap that is unnecessary.

I repeat, its been crazy. But I also must say, it feels nice working a good hard 8 hour days. At least, I am working. These chilean guys stop every 45 minutes to drink wine or beer or eat. Every time I raise my head my compadres are drinking something else!

All in all, well it has been a good way to help. However, its definitely still hard. I never would have thought this would be my exchange. If I know one thing about God, its that he likes to break plans and show us we really aren't in control.

Well its time to go eat some more and rest my body. Everything hurts.

Thanks everyone for all your support.

Alder

As I sit by this iron stove listening in peace to crackle of the flame, I am overwhelmed. This last 24 hours has been well... awful.

Late last night a bang thundered through the house. Seconds later, screams followed. My host dad has fallen down the stairs and my host mom was screaming for me to come. I jumped out of bed to see what had happened. I see the staircase, and there, his body. Sprawled facedown at the bottom of the stairs. "What do we do" was the only thought my host mom and I had.

We called the ambulance, my host aunt, and the police immediately. I was trying so desperately to turn him over, to see some source of life. My host mom as well. The silence of her cries flooded the house "don't leave me! Stay here for our daughter! for Tania"

The medics arrived within minutes but with their help we still couldn't move him. At almost 300lbs, it took 6 of us to get him to the Ambulance. They tried to revive him but to no avail. He had suffered a heart attack. I just stood there, praying.

We brought him to the hospital but we all new he was already gone. They pronounced my host dad dead at 3:45 a.m November 8th.

A day full of trying to support my host family and stay strong as left me utterly lost. This family accepted me so graciously into their home and now the man of the house is gone. My sister got in from Santiago at 4 this afternoon and we have spent the whole day at the Wake in the house. Here, they spend 2 days in the house with the body and then go to the funeral and burial. This town has united to support our family and that is something beautiful to see. The future is completely unwritten from here.

Last night I was preparing to head off to my 90km bike race through Patagonia. Now, I am thinking of the man who spent countless meals with me, taught me Truco (a latin card game), talked philosophy with me, and was constantly teaching me patience.

Alder Milla Vasquez, gracias para el tiempo que tuve contigo... y para todo que me enseñaste.

When I first arrived and my room's heating was broken, he sat next to this stove late into the evening feeding the flame so I wouldn't be cold... Alder, now its my turn. God bless.

Please pray for all the Andrade and Milla family.

Kings, penguins, and french people.

Tuesday, a good friend and I made plans to ditch class and head out to the Emperor Penguin Park that is about two hours south of Porvenir. Unhealthy snacks and cameras in hand, we embarked. After snatching some photos and watching those crazy animals be all penguin-like, we then head further south to a tiny little town call Cameron.

This town optimizes small. The school has about 20 kids from 1st to 12th grade and has one street. We were walking around, talking life and being watched the people who are clearly not used to foreigners (me, he is chilean). After walking up the one road for a bit, we ran into something strange. A group of tall French and Argentines speaking a slur of Spanish and French loading up horses with camera and trekking equipment. This, my friends, is not something that happens every day in Cameron. After talking to them a bit we figured out they were doing a reality adventure type contest t.v. program right here in Tierra del Fuego. It was pretty neat to talk to them. In midst of it, a slight jealousy of their adventure started to creep over my shoulders when I realized something wholesomely beautiful. They came to this country for 2 weeks to be guided through it by natives and to snap pictures of the scenery. They will never get to know the people, the food, the dances, the lifestyle, or the truly remote and beautiful spots. This is why I came here, I am perfectly content in that decision.

Now you are all wondering what in the world the "king" part of the title is. Well let me take a minute, just sit right, and i'll tell you how I became the King of a town called Porvenir. (just dropping some Will smith beats) 

This week was my schools spirit week and my team elected me to be their King! Well, I was all for it. Well turns out, as part of king, I had to dance a lot (not a problem), cheer a lot (eh), eat some gross food in the name of competition (ok), and take off my shirt so my queen could give me more lipstick kisses than the other team (heck ya). Its been 5 days and I still cant get the lipstick of my back. Their competitions here are super funny. They have a Mr. and Mrs. competition and for example, there was a Mrs. Curves and they actually measured the girls from both teams to see how curvy they are. I couldn't believe it. Last night was the dance and well, my team won. Team blue for life.

Thats all I got. Below are some pictures. Viva Chile.

This is when I went to a farm and rode for a couple hours and this beautiful steed. Look at the good looking Chilean. 

some pics of Santiago

Cuidate en Santiago.

Last wednesday, this small town boy headed out to the big city. As I told my classmates and friends I was heading out to Santiago, they all gave me some big city advice. Translated to english it read a little like this:

*Dont drink the water there, its terrible and will make you sick.
*If you walk the streets past dark somebody will most likely jump you and steal all your money
*its really dirty there
*people aren't nice

That was most of the advice I received for my 3 day journey north. Now lets take some time to analyze it. The water, while not quite as good as patagonian water, did not kill me, make me throw up, or spend days pooping. So that was cool. I could even order a tap water in a restaurant, which when I do in Porvenir, they just look at me funny. Secondly, I was out till approximately 3 in the morning two of the nights with friends walking around and to my demise, am still here and nobody robbed me. Shucks.
Now to address the dirt. Yes, Santiago is super smoggy but it wasn't terrible when I was there and they streets were cleaner than in Porvenir! Them southerners really like to litter. And finally, I asked a variety of people for advice and where to eat or go out and they were super friendly and willing to answer.

Now, I am sure there are exceptions to my experience and dangerous, dirty, silly places, but all in all, had a very pleasant experience in Santiago. I must say however, its wreaked of America. I stepped off the plane to a starbuck and cinnabon and there was english at every turn. Viva Patagonia!

Shoot! I'm almost an adult

In 5 days, I will turn 18. To me, that is something extraordinarily peculiar. I have thought I was an adult  since about the age of 10 and now its really happening. What my life looks like in my life right now:

Not doing my own laundry (gotta love Chile- I hate laundry)

Only cooking about once a week

Listening to/making sex jokes or gringo jokes all the time

Learning the cello (life long dream, and turns out my school has cellos to lend) 

learning spanish 

learning bad words in spanish

using bad words in spanish 

not driving 

walking to school everyday and loving every second of it

living in freaken Patagonia Chile! 

Well thats not really going to change at all with adulthood except I must point out, the drinking age here is 18 and I have been told that Chilean wine is incredible...

The last week there was no school in celebration of Chilean independence and man did we celebrate! Whether it was dancing the national dance in front of the whole town, eating incredible traditional chilean food, or dancing until 6 in the morning! It was definitely a good week. 

Thats all I got for you all. Ill get you pictures at a later date. Stay classy. 

Mellow

Island life combined with small town combined with latin america results in one thing, mellow. There is a large culture of "tranquilo" and everything is just a little slow. I am still trying to get used to this. I like parts of it but a large part of me wants to head out and adventure but the people here work, eat, sleep, hang out, and watch television. I thought that was America but its appears it has permeated to the end of the world. So much inside of me wants to get out and run and explore this area and learn as much as possible and I feel as though I am learning in a much more mellow way and not nearly as much as I could be. Here are some photos of the last couple weeks.