Land of milk and bunnies

The Easter holiday has come and gone but we managed to take a break from our daily Puerto Montt scene this past weekend, thanks to a friend of Kim's from San Javier. We were invited to join with her family, and their extended family for the weekend in Paillaco. (A farming community outside of Valdivia.) We took advantage of the three day weekend, and headed out Friday morning on a three hour bus journey North. We don't have a vehicle so bus travel has become the preferred (or rather only) form of transport we have. The buses are nice and Kim and I get some time to hang out and possibly watch some early 90's, overdubbed, subtitled, quality movies, so we don't mind.

We made it to the cross roads of Paillaco, jumped off the bus and immediately began to look for our ride. We spotted our host, settled in our car seats and set off down a dirt road to discover where we would be staying for the weekend. We passed a giant field of cranberry bogs (a fruit you can barely even get hands on in Chile, unless it is imported from the States.(which will bring us into an other discussion later)) The cranberry bogs eventually morphed into rolling pastures, long rows of tall trees marking property boundary lines and large quantities of gently grazing dairy cattle. I got the feeling of Europe.

Down a dusty lane lined with eucalyptis trees and a barbed wire fence, we finally arrived at base camp. A beautiful dairy farm surrounded by tree covered hills. Kim's friend Twinkie, our driver, is a fellow English teacher at the school so we were given the guided tour of the home in our native tongue. We flipped our Spanish speaking and listening switches to "ON", made our introductions and then gathered at the big table for our Good Friday lunch. Besides milking cows, did I mention her father in law raises his own salmon? Fresh smoked salmon and lots of other delicious treats were set before us.

After a late night of playing Cacho, (which was explained to us in Spanish (and from what I hear is confusing to understand even to fluent Spanish speakers)) we took the opportunity to sleep in, and be lazy. We took a drive to Valdivia and then on up the coast to the ruins of Spanish fort at Niebla. Of course they closed the doors right when we got there. So we headed up the coast to enjoy the coastal views of the Pacific as the sun was going down.

After a light cereal breakfast topped off with some fresh from the udder treat, we thanked every one for the fun weekend. We thought we'd have to skip Easter dinner with the fam because of limited bus routes back to Puerto Montt, but we were offered a ride home with a sister in law, and we stayed on. Lucky for us we did! We went to Oma's (grandma in German) house to help eat the lamb and pig they were roasting in the back yard. We took a hike through the fields after dinner and believe it or not I saw a giant rabbit make a dash for a nearby thicket. It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day.

After our afternoon walk, we came back to the house, and were handed empty bags and released to the yard behind the house to scavenge for eggs filled with sweet treats. (real eggs mind you,,only hollowed out and decorated with paper mache) Kim and I made off with a hefty bag of loot. Don't worry, the children each had three or four times more than we did. What a fun day. Then it was hugs, handshakes, goodbyes and kisses.

We are both thankful for the great time we had, and grateful to the families that opened their homes and tables to us. Even though we are faraway from our family and our traditions, we were given the opportunity to share with others and meet new friends.

PS.. I will talk about the cranberries later