Farewell to Chiloe

Our stay in Castro is over. Our last week was a whirlwind of parties and fêtes (it was very sweet), but it, like all good things, had to come to an end. The last Sunday with our last onces with the family was a time for reflection, gifts and the usual silliness of Gabi and Berto. Monica's brother Manuel was psyched to get a Red Sox cap. Monica had a huge tres leches cake (which we tried to pack in after Victoria's big dinner). Afterwards, Gabi got her long-awaited lesson on how to be a good Chilote girl while Margot taught her how to clean up.



After Sunday's onces, we had our last English class on Wednesday. Since the summer the class has dwindled down to a few dedicated folks. Our bombera friend Jacqueline gets the prize for the most classes attended. Paul, the EOD volunteer at Colegio Charles Darwin, has agreed to continue the English charlar (chat). Our last English class was one last time to gaze upon our favorite painting. It's of the town of Castro and the Gamboa neighborhood from a trail from Nercón that we used to hike. Unfortunately for us, it is part of the City of Castro's collection and not for sale. If we had found a local artist who could capture the interplay of light and cloud in Chiloe, we would have paid anything. Oh well, all they had for sale were clichéd palafito images.


Gabi's jardin infantil gave her a big sendoff. Gabi has become quite the little Chilean girl. She never leaves day care without una saluda a sus tias (saying hello/goodbye to her teachers). This time it was Gabi's Tías' turn to give her a big hug.








Before we left Castro, however, we wanted to get in some photos of our friends who have given us a smile every day as we went about Castro. One of Mike's first friends in town was Raul, who owns the local lavandería (laundromat). Raul once lived in New Bedford, MA and has a brother in Hartford, CT. Raul was one of Mike's Spanish teachers. He always had a smile and a wave when we walked by his shop on the Plaza de Armas.








All the micro drivers have been very good to us. After a short time we no longer had to say "stop in front of the second red fence", because all the drivers knew where we lived. For those who did not, a joke about para a la embajada de Gringolandia, porfa, got everyone remembering where the gringos lived. Roberto's friend José made a point to chat with Roberto early on. Through the days of Berto-no-speak, José persisted with a smile and an invitation for Berto to sit in the front seat. When Berto had a Sugarloaf sticker, José let him stick it in his bus. So of course, José was one of the first in Castro to have a Red Sox hat. And Mike and Gabi were
invited to sit in the seat of honor on our last trip with José.

Our other long time friend has been the Frutería Tía, who owns the frutería near Gabi's day care. She always has a smile and a hug for Gabi and never seems to be troubled when Roberto instigates hide and seek amongst the displays of fruit and eggs.

In the final volunteer survey, English Opens Doors asked "Did you feel appreciated by your school ?" and "Did you feel welcomed by the community?" A resounding ¡SÍ! to both of those questions. On reflection, there is but one thing that Mike and Lisa left unfinished. Between our house and the Nercon church was a little shack that served as a local bar. Looking down at the woodchuck hole, we could see a crude bar and three bar stools. Boxes of empty quart bottles of Cristál beer were out back. We often joked about going to the woodchuck hole on a Saturday date night, but never did. Then, two weeks before our departure a powerful windstorm blew the sheet metal off the roof and the light never came on again at the woodchuck hole. Alas, an opportunity missed.




On Thursday afternoon (after a big pulmay dinner at Tía Victoria's, of course) we said goodbye to our family in Castro and got on the overnight bus for Santiago. It was very sad to think of our family and all the great friends and memories we were leaving behind, but we'll be back someday. Lisa saw it fitting that her first meal in Castro had been a welcome lunch of pulmay at a restaurant with the other EOD folks and her last meal in Castro was a farewell pulmay. The two events also punctuated what everyone said about pulmay/curanto: the best is served at your grandmother's house.

We rolled into Santiago and got settled in our hostal around noon. We were at the Hostal Rio Amazones, the same outfit that we stayed with when we first arrived in town almost one year ago, but their other hostal - and much nicer! Central heating! Windows in the room! A much nicer neighborhood, too, with clean parks, nice buildings, and big open spaces. They're going high-end, and that's fine with us. Same really nice folks working there - it was fun to see some familiar faces after such a long time.

After naps our neighbor's son Diego (who's studying at a music conservatory near here) came by, and we took him out to dinner (Peruvian - yum!) and he showed us his neighborhood. The buildings along the main streets are unremarkable (except for the Performing Arts Center, which is a dramatic edifice), but there's a whole neighborhood with narrow winding streets and open-air bookstores tucked back there. We'll explore more when we come back through before we fly out!