We were told yesterday that breakfast would be at 9 AM, which meant we got a chance to sleep in a little bit, we got up around 8 to get ready. At about 8:15 Ivan stopped by our house to let us know that we had a little longer because no one was up. This gave us a little time to reflect on the temperature of the house we were staying in. It was about 55 degrees F, just a little cold for the inside temperature. Then at 9, Pancho came over to tell us that breakfast was ready, so much for having a little extra time to get ready. We left the house without getting showers (Grooooossssssssss!!!!).
After breakfast we were off for our adventure. Ivan asked us if we had ever watched Survivor Man on TV and of course we had. He then asked us if we had taken any notes because they may be helpful for the day´s activities. Ivan took us on a tour of the island town of Calen. We must have walked 10 miles of dirt roads, we climbed trails that took us to some of the most amazing views, and we combed the beach for artifacts. Along the way there were all kinds of interesting native plants and unique sights. For one, there were several different plants that we were given to taste, some were good and others not so much. One of the ediable plants was black berry but they was called it mora. There was a large leafy plant, kind of like rubarb called nalca, this one did not taste very good at all. We were also given a taste of several different nuts and the good news is that I am still alive so Ivan really wasn´t trying to poison us. We walked to the top of a mountain (small mountain, but it was a mountain), which provided us with a view of almost the entire island. This perch also allowed us to see several other islands that were just off the coast of Chiloe. We then made a long decent down to the beach. Ivan told us that he had one more thing for us to try when we got down to the water (I was a little scared). Luckly he was just talking about getting us some ice cream at the local store (a house with several essentials).
The view on the beach was amazing. I was quite surprised that the beach was not sand but what looked like large black pebbles. It was definitely not something you would want to walk barefoot on. The boats were also quite interesting. We were told that they drive to boats up to the beach at high tide and then as the tides go out the boats come to rest on the beach. I took a lot of pictures. When you look out into the water you would see thousands of white things floating in rows. These were the salmon nets. The floaty things that I could see, those were Styrofoam, and the beach was littered with little pieces of them everywhere. It was quite sad.
We walked down the beach a little further and came upon the the downtown part of Calen (If you can call it that). This consisted of one store, one church, one graveyard, and a firetruck. We went into the store and got some ice cream for the long journey home. The ice cream almost lasted long enough for us to get out of “downtown”. On the way home we took a different road that was shorter because it was straighter. The only problem is that straight means straight up a mountain. Cars have to get a running start to make it up this climb. We took several breaks along this road, mostly to rest but also to take some more pictures. I have been very intrigued by the many small house looking things along the side of the roads and I finally got my answer. They are called animistas, and they are everywhere. We learned a couple of other great words as well: (1) Bosta – cowpie, & (2) Churete – liquid poop.
Once we finally made it to the top of the hill and back to the house, it had be well over 4 hours since we had left. Odaly was actually on her way out the gate in the truck to come find us, but since we had made it back she told us that she was actually on the way out to get some wine for lunch (Lunch is the big meal here and it starts much later than our lunch time, today it was 3 PM). It was also Friday so we were not able to eat meat due to Lent, soooo we had mollusks, or muscles in the states only much better. They were also only about $10 for 4 pounds, and in the states I think they are like $20 per pound. Surprisingly, I absolutely loved them, so I think I had about a pound to myself. After lunch it was nap time, and we all woke up just in time for dinner (It seems that all we do is eat). We had some kind of soup that was also delicious, Marshall and I had two bowls and then we all had tea. Tea is another thing that is different on Chiloe, here they just put herbs in a mug and pour hot water on them, different but good and a great was to finish a day filled with eating.
Marshall and I got smart and asked if we could have some logs to build a fire and heat our house. They all came over to help us start the fire and all agreed that our house was cold. We sat around the wood burning stove to stay warm and watched a movie. It was very nice to have some warmth in our house.
