Christmas in El Tabo, Conclusion: No Rest for the Weary

(continued from Part IV.) We got back into the car to go back to El Tabo and that's when the phone rang...

It was Rodrigo's mom.  She was inviting the three of us to come to their cabin for 'once' (pronounced [ohn-se], as in 'eleven' in Spanish).  'Once' is sort of like British tea time, only with a Chilean flavor, and it is very customary in Chile.  She also wanted us to pick up Leandro and Uncle Nanu, who were going to watch the house while we were away.  

'once'

Though we still had a lot to do and it was late in the day, the last part of that request was a necessity, and since we were already in the same area where they were, off we went for 'once.'  I have to say, Jorge was a real trooper, showing a lot of patience trying to find this resort, which was inland and upwards a bit.  After several wrong turns, we finally made it.

The resort was actually a beautiful, quiet place located on a rustic hillside and nestled with lots of tiny cabin-like houses.  It seemed like a vacation spot for the well-to-do, with manicured lawns and all of the houses painted in a uniform pristine white color.  Rodrigo's family had rented one of these and once we found our way into the resort parking lot, we found them rather quickly.

In all, we spent about an hour with the family, with mom serving us the typical 'once' of cheese, ham, bread, and blech, tea!  She chatted away about nothing and everything at once, and my only respite was a tour of the grounds by dad, which was nice!

By the time we were ready to leave it was already getting dark and cold and since we had a long drive in the morning (12 hours worth!), we knew sleep was essential, but getting much of it was going to be next to impossible.  We dropped Rodrigo, Leandro and Nanu off at Jorge's and then he and I headed back to mama's to shower.  It was already close to midnight.

By this time, I'd already had a couple of visits with Jorge's family, so I was totally comfortable and actually enjoyed myself with his mom, his sisters Maria Eugenia and Erika, and her daughter Massael, who were all wide awake and chatty.  Two showers and a couple of cups of coffee later(Chileans LOVE their coffee!), we headed home to pack and try and get some shut eye, but not so fast!

Now I thought I was disorganized when it came to packing for a trip, but watching these two made my head spin!  Chaos...utter chaos!  I smoked a few cigarettes, checked my Facebook, called home, and sat with Uncle Nanu for at least two to three hours as Jorge and Rodrigo got their things together. By the time they had finished, it was around 3 a.m., and we then sat down for a glass or two of wine before heading off finally to sleep.  Jorge had set the alarms for 5 a.m.!  Christmas?  What Christmas? 

Check out the rest of this crazy, chaotic Christmas in El Tabo below:

Christmas Eve

A Christmas Morning Surprise

Christmas Lunch and a Visit to Patricio's

A Road Trip to Algorrobo

Stay tuned for some more of my Chilean Adventure coming soon.

     

Christmas in El Tabo, Part IV: A Road Trip to Algorrobo

Once Rodrigo had cleaned and dressed, he brought me across the street from Jorge's shop to the 'artisan market,' where he sold his wares.  The three of us, along with Jorge's mom, were going on a week long trip down south the next day and he needed to pick up some things for the stay.

The artisan markets are very popular in Chile.  They're much like a flea market here in the U.S., only the wares are much nicer.  Real artisans occupy the booths offering all sorts of unique items, from toys to homemade clothes (my Mapuche jacket came from Rodrigo's friend at the market.), jewelry, knick-knacks and much more.

The experience of walking through the market to Rodrigo's booth with him helped me see just how much of a sweetheart he really is.  His place was towards the back, and we stopped at least three or four times because fellow artisans wanted to chit chat with him. One such vendor, Evelyn, was just getting ready to close her booth for the day and apparently she needed a ride somewhere from what I could discern from their conversation.

I was right.  The woman needed to get to Algorrobo, a seaside town up the coast where her son was working in a restaurant.  They were going to meet and make their way home.  Of course, Rodrigo offered her the ride in Jorge's car, and once Rodri had gathered his belongings, we took a nice little ride up the coast.

Algorrobo is a beautiful, touristy place about a half-hour ride north from El Tabo.  The entire ride up was filled with scenic vistas everywhere and spectacular views of the Pacific.  Somewhere along the ride, Jorge pointed out the Pablo Neruda House, a place where he'd once been a curator in his younger days.  For any of you who don't know Pablo Neruda, he was a famous Chilean writer and poet and Jorge has some pretty fascinating stories from his days there.

I sooo wanted to stop somewhere along the way, and after we dropped Evelyn off, that's just what we did.  A little bit past where we dropped her at the restaurant, there was this spectacular beach laid out in front of these resort-like apartments.  Jorge had told me about the place because I remembered him talking about the world's largest swimming pool, which sat right there between the apartments and the Pacific. Unfortunately, the pool wasn't open to the public, but it was immense and a site to see!

Jorge parked the car and the three of us walked around a bit and took some pictures.  We didn't stay long, though, because by then it was already almost 8:00 p.m. and we had more things to do.  The next day was our trip down south and we still had to take showers (a luxury) and dinner at mama's, get home to pack, and get some shut eye before the long, twelve hour drive.  We got back into the car to go back to El Tabo and that's when the phone rang...

to be continued...

Check out the first three parts of Christmas in El Tabo:

Christmas Eve

A Christmas Morning Surprise

Christmas Lunch and a Visit to Patricio's

Christmas in El Tabo, Part III: Christmas Lunch and a Visit to Patricio's

Once Rodrigo's family had gone on their way to their cabin in Algorrobo, it was time to return to mama's ranch for some Christmas lunch, which was basically leftovers from the night before.  The only thing different this time was the first course, a blandish soup consisting of one big potato, some noodles, and a strange looking piece of barbecued meat.

Now here's one of those times when my not-so-fluent Spanish got the best of me.  Rodrigo could see that I was a little confused as to the contents of the soup and he tried explaining it to me.  In his description, I thought he said the word 'conejo,' which means 'rabbit.'  I smiled and nodded, but inside I was completely grossed out!  I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to new foods, but rabbits are sooooo cute!  I'd never eaten rabbit before, and I really would never want to.

frugal-cafe

Not to be rude, I ate the contents of the soup...all of it...and oh so slowly, too.  I later confirmed from Jorge that it was not rabbit in the soup, but beef cooked a special way.  I wish I'd found out earlier...the whole thing would have definitely gone down smoother!

By the time dinner was finished it was nearly 5 o'clock already.  Between getting up late and it being summer, there were still plenty of daylight hours left (the sun is up even longer down there than here in NY...it sets at almost 10 o'clock!), so even though we'd had a full day in just five hours, there was still plenty to come on this eventful Christmas Day.  Our next stop was to visit Jorge's cousin Patricio, who lived nearby mama's house.

Patricio is an eccentric fellow, for sure.  He's got a lot of money and according to Jorge he has so much of it he doesn't know how to spend it.  I'd bought a laptop computer and a karaoke machine (those Chileans LOVE their karaoke!) for him at Best Buy and we were delivering the items to him.

Much of Patricio's wealth comes from the property he owns, which is expansive and takes up much of the hillside where Jorge's mom and other family members live.  On the way to his house, Jorge had explained that Patricio likes to buy 'stuff,' and he wasn't kidding.  Oh, the show Hoarders would love to visit this house!  The man's immense home was filled to the brim with huge collections of all sorts of things, from Matchbox cars to dolls, plates, videotapes...you name it.  Virtually every inch of the house was filled with some sort of collection.

The house itself was very old fashioned and very beautiful.  It actually reminded me of a much larger version of a 19th Century house I once lived in and I wouldn't mind living in it.  I quickly found out even before seeing the collectibles that 'things' weren't the only items Patricio liked to collect.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted by not only Jorge's cousin, but by 14 dogs, too, and there was a collection of about 100 chickens out back. Oy!

We didn't spend a lot of time at Patricio's house.  While we were there, he served us a couple of shots of some sort of alcoholic concoction he had made himself and I think I grew a couple of new hairs on my chest from the experience.  Afterwards, he took us outside to see one of the most incredible things I ever saw.  Patricio had a two-story guest house built in a tree towards the front of his property, which he gave us a tour of.  It was incredible and I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't want to be rude.

After our visit with the cousin, it was off to Massael's, Jorge's thrift store in town, so that Rodrigo could take a shower (there's no hot water at the house!).  Little did I know at the time, there'd be much more still to come on this Christmas Day.

Sunset in El Tabo on Christmas Day

Stay tuned...

Check out the first two parts of Christmas in El Tabo:

Christmas Eve

A Christmas Morning Surprise

Christmas in El Tabo, Part II: A Christmas Morning Surprise

Even though we went to bed very late on Christmas Eve, I still didn't sleep well when I did go to bed. You see, December is summertime in Chile and so the bugs were out, and there are these kind of super mosquitoes down there that are very deliberate and very, um, ,pesky.  I had one in my room that drove me bonkers all night long, buzzing all around my head and giving me some very itchy bites all over my body.  Blech!  That all did not bode well for what was to come next, as I didn't fall asleep until around 6:30 A.M.

The next thing I knew, I heard Rodrigo's phone ringing in the other room.  I think the ring jolted us all into awareness that we'd slept enough.  It was just before noon.  Rodrigo's conversation was short, and I could hear the two of them talking with fervor after he hung up.  In about two seconds, Jorge knocked on my door and I was jolted awake!

John, get up!  We gotta get ready.  We're getting company.  With that, the front door opened as Jorge added, Rodrigo's whole family is here!  Holy crap!

I had no time to prepare myself for what happened next.  In just ten seconds the small house was filled with Rodrigo's family, who were stopping by for a Christmas visit on their way to a cabin in nearby Algorrobo for a family vacation.  They were all there...his mom and dad, two uncles, a couple of nieces and a nephew, and they filled both the inside and the outside of the house with typical familial chaos.

Merry Christmas!

The next couple of hours or so was a whirlwind of uncomfortableness for all three of us.  The unannounced visit was bad enough for Rodrigo, but poor Jorge.  These were his in-laws.  And as for me, well, let's just say between my always initial shyness and the fact that none of them spoke a word of English, it was awkward to say the least.

At one point towards the beginning of the visit, I went outside for a cigarette, right near where Rodri's Uncle Nanu was standing...

Esquizofrenia!

Rodrigo gave me a warning about his strange-looking older uncle who was missing most of his front teeth.  He was moving his forefinger in a clockwise motion as he said it.  I just smiled and nodded at the man while I enjoyed my smoke. The whole family pretty much ignored me anyway, thankfully, except Rodrigo's mom who was very pleasant and sweet.  She chitchatted with us in the dining room as we dined on an impromptu 'tea' of ham, cheese and bread.  That's what Chileans do...they eat...just like Italians, lol.  Dad wasn't as pleasant, very stern, and he spent most of his time outside surveying the outside of the house, apparently looking for faults to criticize.

Al in all, the whole visit was short, thankfully, and that's because Jorge, Rodrigo and I had been invited to Jorge's mom's at two o'clock for lunch.  The whirlwind that started that Christmas morning had finished, and it was only been the beginning of what would become a long, adventurous day!

...stay tuned for more...

Check out the first 'chapter' of my Christmas in El Tabo right here.

Christmas in El Tabo, Part I: Christmas Eve

Last Christmas was very different than any other I'd ever spent before.  Last Christmas I spent in El Tabo. "Where is El Tabo?" you may ask. Well, until this time last year I'd never heard of it either. You see, El Tabo is a town on the west coast of Chile and that's where I spent a Christmas I won't soon forget.

I'd only been in Chile for about a day and a half when it came time to celebrate Christmas.  Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were going to be spent at my friend Jorge's mom's house up on the hillside from where he and Rodrigo lived.  I'm usually a shy person, so it takes me awhile to warm up and feel comfortable, but that really wasn't the case with Jorge's family.  

Mama and me

We were expected at his mom's house at 10 on Christmas Eve.  During the afternoon, we had stopped off at the market for some soda and potatoes to bring to his mom's for dinner, so I got to meet her beforehand. (She looked exactly like Jorge if he were a woman, lol.)

The house is located in the countryside, totally isolated and with dirt roads, horses and sheep, and lots of land.  A white picket fence surrounds the front yard of mama's house on three sides, and a large vegetable garden lies to the left of the house, next to where a single horse and a sheep hung out. A Christmas tree adorned the living room and other decorations were scattered here and there like anyplace else.

Like any typical mom, Jorge's mother offered us some food and drink.  The food was a fresh baked fruit cake, much like an Italian Panettone, and the drink was comparable to egg nog, and it was homemade, too. Delish!  After the quick bite, Jorge and I were off to get some last minute things before we returned to mama's later that evening.

We got to mama's house a little after ten.  There would be eight of us altogether: mama, Jorge, Rodrigo, me, Rodrigo's brother, Jorge's two sisters Erika and Maria Eugenia and Jorge's niece Massael. The first thing I did when I got there was greet Jorge's mom with a kiss and a Feliz Navidad, but I was corrected.

No es la Navidad hasta los doce!

Okay then...

Within minutes, the rest of the family arrived and I was as apprehensive about meeting them as they were about meeting me.  I was also a little intimidated by the Spanish, as there were seven of them and only one of me, but I held my own I think.  Within only a few minutes we were all chatting like old friends.

Christmas Eve dinner consisted of some chicken and beef, with a traditional Chilean salad of tomatoes and onions, string beans, bread, rice and potato salad,  I have to admit that it was much more enjoyable than the fish I'm usually forced to eat on the holiday.  After dinner, everyone adjourned to the living room for some chit chat while they waited for midnight to arrive.  That's when they opened their gifts.

I hadn't expected anything, so when Jorge, Rodrigo and mama passed me some presents with my name on it, I was both surprised and humbled.  Mama gave me a nice bottle of wine (Chilean, of course!), Jorge a dirty, dirty Chilean 'toy', and Rodrigo a beautiful, authentic Mapuche llama's wool jacket.  (Mapuche is the name given to the indigenous native Americans from the area.)  Very cool!

Rocking my Mapuche jacket

As with any other family, the one who made out like a bandit was Massael, the only child in the group.  Among other things, she got an art set, a Chilean version of Monopoly, games, a puzzle,, and a mini-tablet.  WLike with any other child, watching her open her gifts was adorable!

Overall, last Christmas Eve was enjoyable.  Jorge's whole family was very warm and welcoming, and the language gap didn't mean a thing.  Even the little one, who's relationship with Jorge is cold and sarcastic on the outside, but very loving deep down, warmed up to me eventually.  By the time we returned to Jorge and Rodrigo's, it was already well after two, but we chit-chatted and drank wine until the wee hours.  I went to bed that night with a warm heart and a big smile!

To be continued...

Song of the Day - Let's Have a Kiki - Scissor Sisters

Oh, what a wonderful kiki...

this kiki is marvelous!

Today's song has been planned for at least a week or so.  Since on December 23rd, 2013, I landed in Santiago, Chile and met with my old friend Jorge and his teddy bear of a partner, Rodrigo, I wanted to commemorate the day with a special song that we probably heard 50 times during my visit. During the trip, of course, music played a major role, especially during the long trips in the car.  I guess you could say that there are certain songs that should be included in a Soundtrack to Chile 13, and this is certainly one of them.  Oh, so many one liners...lol...

Thinking of Chile

One year ago today I was on a plane heading towards Chile.  It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year already, and I've been feeling sentimental about it for at least a couple of weeks. I'd never ever dreamed that I'd be visiting South America, especially Chile, but circumstances came up and off I went.

 
Lago Panguipulli

As you might imagine, my trip down there was the trip of a lifetime, but not for the reasons you might think.  Oh yes, I saw some spectacularly beautiful places and lived through some very fun and adventurous times during my trip, that is true.  However the best part about my trip down to Chile, though, was the people I was with, and I'm missing them a lot right about now.

My connection to Chile in the first place was my friend Jorge.  I'd met Jorge a few years ago while he was living here on Long Island.  At first he and I tried dating, and when that didn't work out, we became fast friends.  Jorge is good people...great people in fact, and one of the main reasons I'm feeling sentimental about not returning.  

Me n Rodri

During the time that he's been back there, Jorge met a guy named Rodrigo, with whom he is currently betrothed.  I first met Rodrigo at the airport and I loved him immediately.  He speaks nary a word of English, yet his warmth exudes all and transcends language.  During my entire stay, he was my cook, my tour guide and my newest bestest friend.  The two of them make a perfect couple, actually.  Jorge is the level-headed one with a sharp wit and a good sense of things, while Rodri is affable and fun and not so serious.  Ah, I miss them both!  I know that if we all lived in the same place, we'd surely be really good friends all the time.  

Anyway, I'd kept a journal during the two weeks I'd spent in Chile and I had planned on doing a series on my travels on Yahoo.  That was before it shut down.  I did pen a couple though, before it did, and I'll be sharing them in the coming days to commemorate that oh so memorable trip.  Who knows, depending upon time I may even be able to pen some new ones, finish the story, and I can dream and start thinking about the next time I'll see my friends.  So stay tuned...

Jorge and some trees, lol

Chile - A Few Photos

A week ago this moment I was sitting in a sauna known as the Rio de Janeiro International Airport.  It was the culmination of a 12-day, adventurous and life-changing trip to Chile.  I never in a million years would have ever thought I'd go to Chile, and I am glad I did.

I'm not sure exactly where to start with this story because there's so much to tell.  Since I earn dinero on Yahoo, I'm probably going to start there, but I'll supplement that with posts on here as I go.  In the meantime, here's a few photos from a couple of places I visited while in Chile.  It should whet your appetite for learning more about a relatively unknown travel destination and a trip of my lifetime...

Santiago

El Region de Los Lagos

Lago Panguipulli - Jorge

Jorge and Rodrigo

Wha?

llamas

La Montana Magica

Back to Life - Ah Chile!

Song of the Day - Waterloo - ABBA

I've got a lot of songs that will forever remind me, at least somewhat, of my visit to Chile. Here's one that my pal Jorge karaoked to on my last night there. He did a pretty good job, too, though not as good as ABBA...

 

Waterloo ABBA 1974 from alan vaissel on Vimeo.

Back to Life...Ah, Chile!

Well, it's been a long, lazy weekend after returning from Chile and it's back to work for me tomorrow.  Sigh! I've been wanting to write at least a little about my trip, but I just haven't had the time, but stay tuned, for sure.

Chile was an adventure.  No, not like a movie-type adventure with exciting twists and turns, but it wasn't your ordinary vacation either.  I got to learn all about a whole other culture than the one I or many of my fellow Americans are familiar with, and it was fascinating.

I got to see the most spectacular of places, with picturesque vistas, beautiful lakes, regal mountains, and fields and fields of open space where cows or horses would laze the day away.  I tasted the food, met some very special people in spoke a foreign language, I interacted with the droves and droves of homeless dogs that sadly dot the landscape, and I witnessed a forest fire up close, and I loved every moment.

Stay tuned to this blog and my Yahoo page for stories and pictures that will warm your heart, inspire your sense of adventure, and fill you with empathy for a population of homeless canines whose blight is probably little known in places outside of this special country.  Stay tuned to learn more about the beautiful, unique, surprising, and proud country called Chile...

Song of the Day - Let's Have a Kiki - Scissor Sisters

Hey it's Pickles, leave a message...

    Jorge and Rodrigo

Hey, I'm calling you back.
Oooh, she's been a bitch tonight.
And by bitch I mean this rain; no cab, nowhere.
So I had to put on the wig, and the heels
And the lashes, and the ears, and take the train, to the club

And you know the MTA should stand for:
Motherf**kers Touching My Ass

So then I get to the club
Looking like a drowned, harassed rat
And I'm greeted, not by Miss Rose at the door
But our friend, Johnny Five-O

Yes honey, the NYPD shut down the party
So no fee for me, and I don't even know what's the tea!

So I hope you're up girl
Because we are all coming over
Lock the doors, lower the blinds
Fire up the smoke machine and put on your heels
'Cause I know exactly what we need

Oh yeah, where yesterday's song was our theme during the first week of my visit to Chile, this one became THE song for the trip.  Rodrigo, who speaks little English, was so cute trying to learn the words to this one, and all three of us kept singin' out one-liners from the tune over and over again.  So, another shout out to my Chilean pals Jorge and Rodrigo.  I'm already missing our nightly kikis!


This kiki is marveloussssss!!!!!

A Welcome Home Song of the Day - Work B**ch - Britney Spears

I'm baaaccckkkk!!!!!

I just landed back in the New York Big Freeze of 2014 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where it was like a 100 degrees just like 12 hours ago.  It was only 6 degrees when I landed at JFK around 6:30 this morning. Yikes!  Anyway, I couldn't wait to get to my pc and be connected once again.

Here's my first Song of the Day for 2014, and it was chosen for two reasons.  First, Work B**ch will forever be a song that will remind me of my trip to Chile.  It was the first of two that were played over and over again throughout my two week stay there (the next one will be featured tomorrow!).

Secondly, work is what I've got ahead of me.  I came home to a driveway full of snow yet to be shoveled, and lots of unpacking, laundry, shopping, etc.....work....to be done.  Oh, and I am so tired!  In all, my trip back was just around 23 hours door to door.

Rodrigo, me and Jorge

So yeah, Rodrigo and Jorge, this one's for you.  Now get to work bitch!

Song of the Day - Far Away From Home - will.i.am and Nicole Sherzinger

fabian030

Today will be the last Song of the Day for the year 2013 on John's World, for today I leave for Chile.  Here's one of my favorite tunes from the past year, and it's all about taking chances in life, leaving the comforts of all that is familiar to go out and explore and to live and dream, and that's just what I feel like I am doing. Click 'play.' I promise you'll enjoy!

So I hope you've enjoyed my Song of the Day posts and the rest of what you've seen here this year.  John's World is a labor of love for me, and I'll be forever grateful to have readers like you!


will.i.am - Far Away From Home (Audio) (Explicit) by WoudaRecords

In a Chilean State of Mind

Well, only one week left before I head out on my Chilean adventure.  This trip will be very different for me in a lot of ways...

It'll be my first visit to South America,
It's the first time I am ever leaving the U.S. all by myself,
And it's my first time going to a place that I know very little about.

When I went to Italy in 2002 and 2004, I had done massive amounts of research and planning beforehand.  I knew where we were going, what we were going to see, and pretty much what to expect.  This time I am going in a little blind, which may turn out to be awesome!

In speaking with Jorge, my friend whom I'll be visiting, I've got somewhat of a loose itinerary of the trip. Now I am leaving on Sunday the 22nd of December and returning on Saturday, January 4th, so it will be a long vacation.  It'll be summer there, so I know I'll have to pack light clothes.  Here's some of what we're going to do:

The first day I will be there will be next Monday, and we'll be spending it in Santiago, the capital.  I'm only beginning to take a look at places to see and things to do there, and I'll probably save that for a Yahoo piece, but here are some photos of the Chilean capital.  Beautiful!

Wikimedia Commons

WPC


nytimes

After spending my first night in Santiago, we'll be heading to the El Tabo region, where Jorge lives.  Again, I don't know too much about this area either, but from what Jorge has told me, it is a seaside destination for Chileans during the summer.  I've never seen the Pacific Ocean, so I'm excited for that!  Here are a couple of photos from El Tabo:

 

panoramio

eltabo

We'll be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in El Tabo, celebrating with Jorge's family, which should be interesting, and then on Thursday the 26th, we're going on a road trip.  According to Jorge, the mid to northern part of Chile is "ugly," but the southern regions of the country are spectacularly beautiful. The trip via car will be around 9 hours long, though from what he says the ride is very scenic.

We'll be ending up at a place called 'El Region de los Lagos,' or 'The Lakes Region.'  Jorge's niece lives down there and we'll be visiting her for a bit, but we are also renting a house for the week.  From what I've seen and heard so far, this place is awesome!  There are volcanoes and other mountains, thermal spas, scenic vistas, and of course, lakes.  Check out some pics from here:

panoramio

turichile

ag

gochile

Pretty cool, right?  I believe we will be staying in Los Lagos for a week and then returning to El Tabo, where I'll spend the last day or so.  I tell ya, just writing about this has gotten me even more excited than I've been so far.  Of course, my joking friend Jorge told me that one of the volcanoes has been spewing ash the past couple of days, so I need to bring my shovel with me.  Haha, very funny Koké!  Can you imagine?