The last stretch of my time in South America

One thing I forgot to mention that I learned from Ida... A quicker pace of travel! So when I landed in Santiago Chile my first stop was to the bus terminal to buy a ticket for a night bus to Temuco. Santiago is another huge city that I am excited to explore, but for now I would much rather make sure I get to see places further south and save Santiago and the coast near Santiago for last. I only have two weeks here in Chile before I fly to Aotearoa (Maori for New Zealand).



I bought my bus ticket and spent a few moments dazed by the hefty price, along with the prices on the signs for snacks and food that are three to five times the cost of things in Bolivia. I had 4 or so hours before my bus ride and I decide to walk around near the station. I made a lap around the block passing many people that were all dressed up to go to the giant church near the terminal. My trip around the block brought be back past this church, only this time the music peaked my interest. I stood in one of the many doorways for a little while before sitting down. This was most definately the largest congregation I have ever seen. My home church of Saint Anne´s Episcopal is proud to have a congregation larger than twelve on any given Sunday, and although I have seen many gathered at bigger churches in Spokane and Seattle, I have never seen anything like this one in Santiago. Several times on my trip so far I have visited churches, sometimes just to see the elaborate decorations inside, but mostly to have a peaceful place for me to sit and write and gather my thoughts. With all of my things in tow, my big backpack, small back pack and handfuls of other things (journal, sweater, jacket--the latter two items completely pointless in Chile´s summer heat) the church was a wonderful place to tuck everything under a pew and write in my journal. I listened to the music and soon realized that the speaker being introduced was not from Chile, he was from some Southern State and a representative of some kind of international pentacostal organization. There were two men actually and both of them spoke in English while a translator tried to keep up. It was kind of bizzare to be listening to English, and to be listening to pentacostal church messages. When the music started up again and I must have looked helpless because the young woman in front of me gave a copy of the music and the guy next to me pointed out where they were in the song. It was a little thing, but as they continued to help me along during the service I felt very taken care of. At the end of the service she gave me the program booklet as a souvenier and I left the church feeling really relaxed and calm, something a bit uncommon when setting out on a city you don´t know.

I found the bus terminal that I was supposed to be at (different than where I bought the ticket), found my bus and boarded early. There weren´t many passengers so I got two seats to myself. To my great annoyance there was a young guy in the seats in front of me that would not stop turning around and staring at me. I was continually positioning the book I was reading to block his face, but he moved his seat down so he could stare at me even more obviously. I am so sick of creeps. The bright side was with such an annoying guy in front of me and hardly anyone else around I felt free to slip off my shoes and unleash the stink of my dirty feet and socks. ¨How do like that mister?¨ I was thinking.

I got some sleep on the bus, not much though, so when we pulled into Temuco I decided to just find a bench to sleep on at the station. It was around 6 am and nothing would be open until 10 or so anyway. I woke up about 3 hours later to a woman (a mapuche woman to be exact) nearly sitting on my head. I put on my pack and asked the same family which way I needed to head to get to town and started walking. As I walked I realized what a large urban city I was entering and really just wanted to go and talk to the ladies that had nearly sat on me. I spotted some other backpackers and asked them about a hostel, I already new that backpacker accomodations here would be sparse. I got a suggestion from them, but decided to first use the internet, look up a couple more places and let my parent know I had made it to Chile. I found another hostel name and address, but wanted to check out the center before needing to take a colectivo to get to the address.

I was feeling a bit strange about being in Temuco. I planned to come here because when I looked up info on Mapuche organizations way back in time most of the offices were here. As I walked I thought about what a strange thing to lead me here, I questioned myself a bit about what I thought I had to gain or give by coming for the purpose of learning more about Mapuche people, their struggle and their lives. During my entire journey I have been contemplating and genuinely experiencing forms of Indigenous Solidarity, but with the language barrier it has really been difficult to understand what people are telling me and to feel understood. I realized that although I came here because of my interest in the land and water rights that are constantly being challenged by the government and idiots from the US and Europe... maybe I would just end up wandering through markets where ¨Mapuche¨ souveniers are sold and then going to a beach. I especially felt this way because I didn´t know how I would go about learning more. I honestly did the following: I didn´t see many other people after the bus terminal that were in obvious Mapuche dress, so when I saw an old Mapuche woman walking ahead of me in the street I walked faster to catch up with her and asked if there were offices of Mapuche organizations nearby. What would I think or do if someone did the same???!!! It wasn´t an inherently rude question, but it was a very uncomfortable thing to do. Part of me felt like I was now just the same as some of the crazy white people that have approached me and asked questions that seemed totally ridiculous at the time... She told me that there was an office right in front of us, on the other side of the street. I thought, great she is just trying to get me to go away, before I spotted the office. It is an office run by the government of Chile though, with a focus on Indigenous rights, but not really what I was hoping to find. I looked around a little with my giant bag on my back and decided maybe I would return later. This was not the type of office I hoped to find and again I was feeling like A) I had just violated an old womans space by asking the kind of question that I myself don´t really enjoy getting from outsiders B) I may just need to move on and forget about the solidarity component...

As usual, fate had a rather different idea.

I did wander through a market, two actually. There is a permanent mostly touristic market and right now there are a lot of vendors and musicians in the center because it is (like practically everwhere I have gone!) the foundation days of this city. I looked around and sat down to write for a while before buying nectarines for lunch (all other food is too expensive) and deciding to use the internet one more time at a cheaper place I had spotted during my walk. I climbed the stairs of the building, but the internet place was closed. I was sitting outside of the door eating my nectarine when I noticed that the office next to me said something like ¨Associacion Nacional Mapuche Democracia y Justicia.¨

At this point I thought. Okay. I wake up this morning to a Mapuche woman nearly sitting on my head, I followed someone down the street to find myself right outside the local office of the sector of the government that deals with Indigenous rights, now I am sitting right outside of another Mapuche office, is this the world-life making sure I don´t give up on any of my hopes for finding Indigenous Solidarity in Chile?

So I knocked and the door was opened. Opened by Luis Alberto Coilla Marin, the president of Asociacion Nacional Mapuche Wenewenche (http://www.wenewenche.org/). I told him that I am from Estados Unidos, from a tribe and hoping to learn more about Mapuche people. I was welcomed in and after talking with him and Ines the secretary for a little while he asked where I was staying. I explained that at the moment I didn´t have a hostel, but I had an address for one. Ines took a look at the address and said it would be better to find one close to the center, they discussed where the nearest one would be for a moment before Ines´face lit up and she said that I should just come stay with her because here family is away on vacation! It was lunch time anyway so Alberto gave us a ride to Ines´ and said that he could take me to a community the next day, but today I could get some rest and get to see more of town.

I was feeling pretty rugged after the night on the bus, so I was ecstatic about get to take a shower at Ines´ and when I got out of the shower she had coffee, yogurt, bread and cheese ready for me. She had given me a tour of the small apartment that she lives in with her family and I could tell that the bed and bedding would be one of the most comfortable of my trip. She gave me a key to the place before leaving again for work and I had the afternoon to wash my clothes in the washing machine and sleep. Glorious Sleep. When I woke up I got ready and left to return to the office where I met Ines´ best friend and the three of us walked around the stands I had visited earlier in the central plaza and bought food for one of the most popular foods in Chile: Hot dogs. We went back to Ines´ to make dinner, and I had hotdogs like I have never had them before. On really good bread with avacado, tomato, mayo, mustard and something that was like relish...although really I have no idea what it was. Later when it was just me and Ines´we watched a movie and all I could think about was the luck, the chances, that brought me here.