mountains!

Many of you know that we have a place in our heart for the mountains.  We sadly said farewell to our beach side cabanas and lifestyle, packed the surfboard and towels into the shwarma karma mobile and hit the road southeast toward the Andes Mountains with excitement in our hearts.  Traveling can be like that….excitement typically has a death grip on all other emotions. 

We landed well in our wonderful little meadow cabana about 5 minutes walk from a big, refreshing lake (notice that the attennae is attached to a ten-foot stick).

Pucon is a wonderful little lakeside mountain, tourist destination.  The Germans settled here in the mid 1800s after Spain finally defeated the local indigenous population.  You see the German touch all over the place.  But obviously the most striking part of the town is the 10,000 foot smoking volcano that rises up and looms over the city.   It erupts on occasion and sends whoever’s here running for high ground (to get away from lava flow, glacial melt and mudslides). 

We’ve enjoyed making the walk down from the cabin in the afternoon to enjoy the hot black sand and cool mountain water.

We’ve been trying to hit the road in the mornings to see what beauty mother-nature has turned up in this area of the world.  This is a pretty strikingly beautiful landscape.

There are many rivers in the area.  We haven’t visited half of them yet and we’ve been here about a week.

But what we’ve seen thus far is amazing.

The Chileans are amazing people.  Their space etiquette is much different than ours in the US.  You could be sitting on an empty beach miles long and another group might show up and make camp right next to you.  This might bother you, except they are also very generous in their spirit:  smiling, laughing and offering you food and drink.  There is a wonderful vibe in the most crowded of places, like the main beach of Pucon.

We were invited to our first kayak race.  It was pretty awesome.  I think I know my next sport.

One of the things I love about the mountains is getting lost in the shear size and immensity of a place, yet appreciating the small details as well: the flowers on a small ledge, a tree growing up out of a crack in the rock, etc…

Jaden and I have been spending a lot more time together recently.  The time I’ve spent with him is paying off, as he wants to spend more and more time with me.  He’s also getting really heavy, so carrying him is harder and harder.

Nature is truly the ultimate classroom.  Today’s lesson: sink or float.  Jaden learned that rocks sink and splash, sticks float and unfortunately flowers float upstream??.  Oh well, there are more where that came from.

I love this photo.  It remind me of Where’s Waldo.  Hey, where’s Kate?  She is pretty camouflaged for this environment.

Anyway, as I’m sure you can tell, we’re having a great time.  We love and miss all of you in SB.  For those of you that are reading the blog, thank you.  I love getting those notes too, even if there only a sentence or two, keep them coming.

If you were to compare our trip to riding a wave, the last few weeks we've been fully barreled! Stoked!  Everything has been working out as well or better than we could have imagined.  Jaden has friends a touch older than him, that he runs around with constantly.  Kate's been working intermittently teaching English, she also has some girlfriends to spend time with.  While she's away and I'm at work, Jaden has been cared for by a lovely Spanish lady, Daisy.  Jaden is becoming bilingual.  His Spanish vocab is growing by leaps and bounds.  I've been surfing with friends and working everyday.  It's been the perfect scenario.  But the tube ride is almost over and it's almost time to get off this wave and do some paddling to get out again.

Four days ago we bought a new car!  YEEAAHHHH!  I've never had so much joy in a purchase.  This car will give us new options and freedoms that the bus schedule doesn't permit.  That's to say if it doesn't break down.

'95 Puegeot 505 (Estate Car) The ultimate rural mobile

In some countries it's used for a hurst or ambulance!

We call it the shwarma carma mobile!

We've also left Pichilemu and driven south on this amazing coast line to a quaint fishing village, Curanipe.  We're staying in some beautiful cabanas on the hill overlooking the ocean with our new British friends Lisa, Ossian and young Leo.  I don't want to say too much about this part of the coast, as it seems to be a hidden gem.  I'd like it to remain more or less secret and quiet around these parts.

One of many abandoned beaches

Jaden's starting to run, mostly away...

love this beach

Check out baby J's new swimsuit!  A one piece.

A few perks of our new place, pool, bbq, view, aaahhhhh.....

Hangin with the brits has been great!

We're still riding the wave that's been so wonderful, hanging with the brits, surfing and playing on the beach.  I need a few days to rest my body after the construction job.  Soon enough we're going to make our play for the mountains and a new wave/adventure.  Can't wait!

Chile does NOT disappoint!

With a coastline that is almost 2,700 miles long, you've got to expect that there are some quiet, serene and secluded beaches in which to explore.  If you're a surfer, you might find yourself wondering if there are secret point breaks, either unknown or rarely surfed, along this dramatic coastline.  From our experience, in the central region of this country, Chile does not disappoint...

Picture Big Sur stretched out for hundreds of miles in both directions without the tourism and paved roads.

Long, secluded sandy beaches,

dramatic headlands, morros sticking out the water,

lone, long point breaks,

rugged coastline in every direction.  It's got it all.

The best part is, no people either.  We've found ourselves on beaches with absolutely nobody around us in any direction.

Are there secret spots?  Sure!  But I'm good at keeping a secret....  These picts are from our weekend jaunts into the unknown.

Hmmmm!

YESSSS!

Penguins and Porpoises

Yesterday morning I was out surfing Punta de Lobos.  That's nothing new.  I've been surfing that spot almost everyday for the last month.  The great part about yesterday and the reason I'm writing about it today is two fold.  First, I had an incredible surf session.  I paddled out with two friends and we were the only ones out on a world class break for almost one and a half hours.  It was incredible conditions too.  The water was glassy, the sun was breaking through the morning clouds and the waves were 2 -3 feet over my head and consistent.  It was kind of like a dream come true.

Then the whole morning took a turn toward the sensational.  I saw my first South American porpoises.  They were cute, very small dolphins.  They looked more like channel dolphins but even smaller.

A wave or two later the penguins showed up.  You know the water's cold when you're surfing with penguins!

I haven't mentioned much on the wildlife here in Chile.  It's pretty great.  We've seen many animals.  Lately I've been taken by the large flocks of birds flying south for the summer.  Sometimes I feel like I'm on a Discovery Channel show.  I'm also impressed by the colorful insects and beetles that fly around everywhere.

I've also had a run in with a beautiful snake and an extremely small scorpion.  The snake was cool, the only problem was that it lived in a roof that we were trying to take off.  We were as gentle as we could be, as snake sightings seem to be fairly uncommon in this part of Chile these days.  Unfortunately, one of my Chilean colleagues got a little overzealous and the snake didn't fair too well.

As in most places, the ocean life has dwindled around civilization.  Punta de Lobos means point of sea lions (Sea Lion Point).  I've only seen a handful of them since I've been here.  Apparently they disappeared when the fishermen overfished the area.  This seems to be a common problem everywhere in Chile.  They have rules against this but it's hard to police such a long stretch of coast.

Anyway, the beauty and grandeur of this place never ceases to amaze.

The techie traveller

Kate and I have gone on numerous trips in the last ten years.  This is the first trip that we decided to bring along our computer.  The are numerous advantages and disadvantages to being a techie traveller.  

The advantages are obvious, we can tap into wireless networks and use our computer for all sorts of things.  We skype with our family, letting them see Jaden grow up.  In fact, they probably see him more now than they would if we were in Santa Barbara.  We email and call friends (gmail phone is awesome, 1 cent a minute to call the US from Chile).  We check Facebook and we stay up to date on world and US news.  Kate stays on top of her picture album projects and I update this blog when I can.  We also use the internet to study Spanish and learn about the Chilean culture.  Overall it's a wonderful thing right?

As great as it is, there are some pitfalls traveling with technology.  On previous trips, Kate and I spent a lot of time talking, reading, playing games and exploring.  We still spend a lot of time exploring but we find we spend a lot less time reading and playing games.  Why?  We have the ability to connect with friends and family, watch TV, movies, etcetera at our finger tips, all the time.  We found that after the first week or so of traveling that we really wanted to watch our favorite and only tv show (not to be revealed due to embarrassment).  We accessed www.hulu.com and realized that due to copyright issues we couldn't watch that show or any show on hulu out of the country.  Did that stop us? I don't think so.  I went to the Chile forum, which is a forum for foreigners in Chile.  I queried how to watch US shows in the Chile.  I quickly found that I could download a program that would route my Chilean IP address to a US IP address before accessing any US Internet sites.  10 minutes later we were watching our favorite show.  Two nights later, after a long day of traveling, we thought we'd watch a movie.  Easy!  

Recently, two days ago, I realized that I was watching more TV here than we ever watched in the US.  That coupled with the easy access to the internet and all the wonderful connections we make in email, skype, facebook, etc... we weren't talking as much, playing games, or reading like we use to or would like to.  That said, we've decided to make more of a concerted effort to stay away from the pitfalls of the computer.  We'll still skype, email, blog and facebook.  But we won't be watching TV or downloading movies from the internet near as often.  It will be a tasty treat to relax to on occasion, once a week, but not a staple of our daily diet.  

Hopefully with that in mind, the computer will only enrich our adventures, not take away from them.  We're here to do something different and immerse ourselves in a different culture, not that of the good ol' USA.

As promised here's a little treat from Jaden to you...

In a country where we saw a man cut a sizable lawn with scissors, you've got to suspect that a construction site might not be using all the latest technology to build a house.  I'm learning first hand how to build a house the old fashion way.  We leveled the foundation with a hose, we cut wood with a handsaw and we recycle as many nails as possible, straightening them against the ground.  It's been a backbreaking and entertaining experience.  I'm learning some spanish and fine tuning some of my carpentry skills.  The Chileans that I'm working with are ingenious, problem solving in ways I couldn't imagine.  They are used to making things work without the right material or tools.

I'm not belittling the way in which things are done here.  In fact, I think the house that we are building will be strong, last a lifetime and withstand any earthquake.  They do things really well here.  I'm interested in seeing how the finer details of the house, the finish work, turns out.

Speaking of work, it turns out that Chile's normal work week is 45 hours, rather than our 40 hour work week.  They work 6 days a week for 7.5 hours or 9 hours a day for 5 days, rather than 5 days a week for 8 hours.  Maybe that's one reason their economy continues to grow while ours has stagnated and even lessened of late.

That's all for now.  I've got to get back to work!

What an adventure!

In the documentary 180 degrees South, Ivan Chouinard said that he thought people overused the term adventure.  At the time, I agreed with him.  An adventure should take one to the brink or edge of human possibility.  Now, however, I'm of a different mind.  Adventure is something that I think is accessible to all people and in many different ways.  You don't have to go to Timbuktu to find adventure or jump off the tallest buildings.  I think adventure lies to the side of the path you currently take.  All you have to do is veer off your routine to find adventure and the joy of discovery that adventure gives you is, and most likely will be, attained.  That said, having a child is an adventure!

We are having a grand adventure here in Chile.  We are learning to think in a more Chilean fashion.  For example, I wanted to get my paraglider from Iquique to Santiago in one day (a very gringo thought).  I asked all the bus companies and shipping companies if this was possible and I was stonewalled (not possible).  Then I realized that I wasn't thinking like a Chileno.  I went to one of the bus companies again and explained my reason for needing to send my paraglider by bus... I have a baby that can't go on the bus with me etc...  I was immediately given a ticket for the bus and my glider was on its way.  I had to think Chileno before I could access the obvious.  The nuances of life here are very different than the US.  It's not better or worse, it's simply different, and that is where the adventure begins.  Finding out how to do things and to operate within a different system takes us in funny circles, sometimes around the whole city once or twice.

On a personal note, the family is doing great.  We arrived in Pichilemu on Monday afternoon after a few days in Santiago.  We will be here for the next 2 months or so, which is exciting.  We want to sink our roots in and give Jaden some stability for a while.  We are staying in a Cabana on the hill with the most amazing view of the ocean.  We live next to the owners of the Cabanas Buena Vista.  They have two children with which Jaden can play.  I'm working construction within eye and ear shot of the house.  It's literally a perfect setup.

I'm going surfing tomorrow and from my living room window it looks like it's going to be big.  Kate starts Spanish classes next week and Jaden is going to have his first babysitter for a long time (since Dia  and the Grandmothers).  We are excited to give Jaden some more exposure to Spanish.  He is so amazing.  He learns new words everyday.  Unfortunately one of those words is "no," but that's okay I suppose.  He's starting to let us know what he likes and doesn't like.  It's simply amazing watching him grow up so quickly.  If you'd like to take a look, check out the youtube videos found here:

www.youtube.com/user/katembarker

Having fun in Iquique!  Flew over the city countless times!

One of Jaden's new tricks! Funny boy!

Jaden loved playing with the fountains in Iquique!

I love chocolate!

More flying

Jaden checking out one of the wonderfully busy parks in Santiago.

We had a great hike in the city.

Another great view of Santiago!

Our new place in Pichilemu. Jaden's chillin on our deck.

Our front yard, with the construction job behind the palm tree.  We ripped down that shed today.

Spring flowers are going crazy everywhere!  Jaden calls them "caca."

Back to work.

What a looker!

Just having some fun on the beach.

The seafood is delicious here.  Argentina is famous for their beef.  Chile is famous for their seafood.  Mmmm!!!!