Basketball Pucon



One of the young girls on the team asked me, "How is it that you found this basketball program?"  "Well, I said, "Achilles has a magnet inside him and it leads him straight to any and all basketball related things anywhere in the world."  It is true.  We weren't here more than 2 weeks when he found the local gym.  By the following week he was assistant coach  for the Pucon Summer Basketball Program.  Elijah was playing on the kids team, Achilles on the men's team.  I guess that makes me team mom?  Last night the coach, Jose Antonio called and let us know there was a game that night.  Very last minute, but we made it down to town just in time in the pouring rain.  Elijah got to wear a Pucon uniform, made a basket and even got a medal after the game.  The kids are amazing, friendly, inclusive. The coach awesome. 

I love to see my boys so happy!



Coach Jose Antonio with the kids





Elijah in action #6 LeBron's number :)



The Volcano

One of the first hikes we did was at Parque Nacional Villarica. We live off the road to the park and it was just a short drive to the trail head, albeit on a crazy bumpy dirt road.  The volcano itself is impressive.  Most times when it is not shrouded in clouds, you can see smoke coming out ot the crater. Not being used to living next to a volcano, I often forget about it, focusing instead on where I place my feet on the uneven dirt and coblestone streets and sidewalks.  But then occasionally I look up and there it is! I always feel a sense of shock.  What is this massive snow covered thing doing here?

We also did a tour of some lava caves that were created during one of Villarica's eruptions.  Fascinating!  The cave went on for at least  3/4 of a mile and it hasn't even been completely explored yet.  It is THE most active volcano in all of South America, and Chile alone has 2000 volcanoes! It last erupted in 1998.  Before that it was 1960, 1971, and 1984.  Well according to my mathematically minded son it is about time again!   Luckily now with modern instruments we are assured that the volcano will give us a least a month's notice before she blows.  I'll tell you though, after that Pucon traffic we won't be waiting around to see it!



Hiking at Parque Nacional Villarica





We made it to the viewpoint after a long hard hike :)



From inside the lava cave looking out




Inside the cave with our safety helmets on



Huerquehue and Kuchen

We spent the day hiking at Huerquehue National Park, about an hour from home.  A luscious green woodsy region reminiscent of Washington State.  Towering old trees, ferns, waterfalls. A magical day surrounded by big nature.  Little did we know that coming home (at 7:30pm) we would encounter a mammoth traffic jam.  Not here, not in the middle of nowhere on a one lane road in central Chile.  Surely there had to be an accident ahead.  20 minutes turned into 30 to 45, to an hour and still we barely inched along.  Several joggers passed us.  We never caught them.  As Achilles grumbled, I started to notice my surroundings.  Everywhere I looked I saw homemade wooden signs advertising kuchen.  What in the world is kuchen?  And why are so many people selling it?  My Spanish is pretty good, but I have never heard of kuchen. 

Well we finally made it home (it took 2 hours!) Our neighbors assured us that there was no accident, just the normal Pucon summer rush hour. Wow!  They also shared with us the meaning of kuchen.  (Pronounced  koohen).  Kuchen is pie.  In German!  There is a big German influence in this part of Chile, and the word stuck.  Well you know the rest, I must make my own kuchen.  Off to pick more blackberries!



HIking in the National Park




Waterfall Nido de Aguila




One of dozens of signs on our journey home





My very first kruchen.  Elijah gave it two thumbs up!



Making Friends

February 16, 2013

Mauro the owner of the property has two grandkids that live nearby.  These are Elijah’s first Chilean friends.  The boy, Mauro is 6, his little sister, Amanda is 4.  They come up to visit often as their mom helps take care of the property.  Elijah has learned a bit of Spanish, but hasn’t ventured to begin speaking much yet.  Because of the language gap their play is somewhat limited, also owing to the fact that the kids are younger and a bit pestery.  However, with some intervention by Achilles or myself they’ve begun to get comfortable together.

The other night the people at the big house, (we live in the small house), had a BBQ.  Everyone was enjoying a nice evening, hanging out, drinking good Chilean wine, the kids alternated between being huddled around a phone video game and running around the property.  Out of the darkness we heard Elijah’s voice quite firmly “STOP, STOP, STOP… S…. T…. O….. P!”.  To no avail, the little boy was pestering him and wouldn’t stop whatever he was doing.  Then we heard “PARE  PARE  PARE  P…. A… R….E!”.    Whatever was going on stopped.

I asked him later, “How did you know how to tell Mauro stop in Spanish?”  “Oh,” he said, “I learned it from the stop sign.” 

I love it!  It is working!



Mauro and Elijah at the park sharing a bike ride




Playing cards on a rainy day




Sunset from our house



Wild blackberries and Hashuki

Feb 10

I am so happy today.  We walked down our drive, around the corner and up the driveway to the neighbors’s property.  This is our routine. With apple in hand we were on our way to feed Hashuki, our neighbors beautiful tan horse.  We don’t know the horse’s real name, but Elijah named her Hashuki (which according to him is Japanese for horse) and the name stuck.  Hashuki meets at edge of the meadow, sticks her sweet head through the hole in the vegetation over the fence and we smile and pet her and try to feed her.  She doesn’t like carrots.  Today we were trying an apple, but Hashuki didn’t come.  That was ok because on the path I noticed that the wild blackberries were ripe.  Not all of them, but some.  I have had my eye on them since last week.  I’ve picked one or two and popped them in my mouth while rambling down the path.  But today there were a significant number of them.  I am happy.  I LOVE picking blackberries.  I love feeling like I am living off the land.  Within minutes I had gathered too many to hold.  Achilles went back to the house and brought me a bowl.  We continued down the lane, the boys playing tag and throwing rocks, me happily absorbed in my blackberry picking.  Then it began to rain.  It was lovely.  We walked back to our house and arrived soaked through. Wet and happy I made us blackberry smoothies. 

Homemade blackberry smoothies from the berries I picked

Hashuki our friend the caballo

Our patio where we eat all our meals

View of the volcano from our back yard

Walk to town and the Beach

Feb 5

So we made it downtown on foot.  The first part is on a slippery rock strewn dirt road going through farmland/woodland areas.  Beautiful and serene, I held on to Achilles arm most of the way down.  The second part is on a rather busy road, no sidewalk… trying to navigate the side of the road watching out for zooming by cars.  It was quite a feat.

We went to the lake.  On one side there are boat tours the other is the local beach.  I have NEVER seen such a crowded beach. It looked like what you imagine Rio to look like.  Every inch of space completely covered in a mass of humanity.  The water was inviting though and the black volcanic sand amazing as it wipes off completely.  I also liked that a guy came by to sell me a water so I didn’t have to go up to the hotel to buy one. 

After cruising around the rather packed town a bit we headed back up.  I opted for a taxi back up the mountain.  It was worth every cent of the $12 we paid.  Happy to be back in our little mountain paradise. 

On our way down to town

The beach at Pucon on a hot summer day

Elijah and Achilles try the water of Lake VillaRica

First Day of School

 From the top of the main city park in Santiago

Feb 5, 2013

Today we started our home school.  We decided it best to work outside, barefoot.  Our official school is on our breakfast table on our patio and overlooks the lake.  We brought out our supplies and set up.  We didn’t wake up early, we didn’t rush, we just started after breakfast when we were ready.  Elijah was enthusiastic.  We’ve only been in Chile 5 days, but it seems like a month already.  Things are so different here.

Our first days were in Santiago.  We spent them seeing the city center, and then exploring the city’s biggest park.  Then we had another travel day coming to Pucon.  Our flight left Santiago at 9 am. Which doesn’t seem bad right?  But Chile is 5 hours ahead of California so to get there on time we had to wake up at 1:30 am our time!  The last few days have been a bit of a jet-lagged whirlwind getting settled in our new home. 

Our new house is amazing… but I digress… school.  I taught reading, Spanish, and Science.  Achilles then did a PE and math lesson.  Later in the afternoon we will do writing and music. 

I think we are off to a great start!

First day of school

Our New Home

Feb 4, 2013

Our home is on a beautiful piece of land overlooking Lake Villarica.  It has a stunning view.  Mauro, the owner picked us up at the airport 1 and ½ hours away in Temuco, and drove us to our new place in the pouring rain.  He greeted us with handmade local candy and a big smile.  He is a true gem. A self-made business man who built a house on top of a mountain to listen to the birds and watch more sunsets.  He is a writer/philosopher with a heart of gold. We hit it off right away.  He of course, loves Achilles and the two of them go on and on in Spanglish about everything under the sun. 

The house itself has everything we need.  It is all wood with lots of airy windows.  The rain only stayed one day and since it has been hot and beautiful.  The only down fall is that it is quite far from town.  About 3 miles down the mountain on a dirt road.  Super bumpy by car, which my back intensely dislikes.  Mauro has taken us a few times to town in his truck, but today we are going to try and walk it.  I’ll report on how it goes!

 Our living room

 The front of the house

View from the back of the property