Our first stop with the Patagonia Gap Year was the Rio Maipo.  While we were there we had the privilege of staying with the Astorga family.  There are many cousins and aunts and uncles in the family.  We stayed with Joe, Soco, and two of there kids, Chagual and Aramara.  Everyday to go home, we would have to walk across a locked bridge over the Rio Maipo to basically a small town the Astorga family had made.  We would walk past the family puma, the parrots, and the eagles.  After going under the grape vines, taking several to eat on the way, we arrived at the house.  The house is very pretty.  It had a bunch of fruit trees all around it and a variety of other plants.

The first thing I was told at the asado we had to say goodbye to Tino and Lorenzo before there trip to Africa with New River Academy, was that all the cousins were very close.  Throughout our stay at the Rio Maipo, I felt like a member of the family.  There incredible amount of hospitality was something I had never felt before.

The highlight of our stay with the family was going up to the Meseta.  The Meseta is about an hour and a half hike straight uphill.  I really didn’t know what to expect.  As we were walking up, we could see the beautiful Maipo valley below.  When we arrived at the Meseta we were greeted by a plum tree.  We took as many plums as we could eat.  As we walked around, we could see that the fruit trees were endless.  Apples, peaches, plums, grapes, nectarines, and a variety of other fruits surrounded us.

After filling our stomachs, we went to the swimming hole.  The swimming hole looked like it was something out of a movie.  Very clear water and a little waterfall flowing into it. Although the water was very cold, it was incredibly refreshing after the hike.

After we were done swimming we went to the place we were camping and built a fire.  We talked as best we could to the many cousins.  Tents were useless on this trip.  Sleeping under the stars was the reason why we came up there after-all.  I fell asleep looking at the stars above, which were much brighter than the ones you see in the USA.

Everyone had a great time with the Astorga family and I am glad to have stayed with them for a week.  I can’t imagine that there are many more people like them in this world.  The generosity and love the family has is amazing.  They love the family had atmosphere they have created and will do it for many years to come.

The view from the Meseta

View of the Maipo Valley

The swimming hole

The art class was unreal.  Some of the paintings the students painted belonged in museums.  I thought it was an advanced art class but it turned out it was just the normal high school art class.  I wonder what the advanced art class is like.

The gym classes were tons of fun.  They played a lot of games that they probably couldn’t play in the United States because they are kind of dangerous.  We played a game where we had to use teamwork to get everyone over a huge pad that was stood up in the air.  I launched a bunch of people to the other side where they landed on another pad.  I thought it was going to be impossible but it was tons of fun and my team won.

I had to use lots of spanish at the school.  There were not a lot of english speakers at the school so speaking in spanish was necessary.  We played ultimate frisbee with each other and I had to speak mostly in spanish yelling “aqui aqui” when I was open for a pass.  After the game we said “buen partido” meaning good game.

The music class was lots of fun.  The music teacher looked like he took a time machine from the 70’s to the present day.  He had very long hair and some crazy facial hair.  He could play every instrument that he had in the music room and we all made a song together.  He would give somebody an instrument and look up in the air and think of a beat.  He would show the person how to do it and hand the instrument over.  Needless to say the song came together pretty well.

Overall the trip to the school was a lot of fun.  All the teachers loved there jobs from what I could tell.  It was a great school and seemed like lots of fun for everyone.

Siddhartha is a normal boy.  He grows up in a normal house and is a very normal teenager.  One of his favorite things to do is play the guitar.  He goes to school and does everything he is supposed to do.

Siddhartha listens to people and does what he is told.  He has straight A’s in school.  He does all his homework at night and is a very organized student.  Besides guitar, he loved to read poetry and did this for an hour every night, religiously, before he went to bed.

After Siddhartha graduated with honors from a top of the line boarding school, he left his house in the country and decided he was going to live in the city for awhile.  He wanted to live in the city because he had never had many possessions besides books.  His boarding school did not allow them because the school felt that material possessions did not make people happy.

Siddhartha goes to the city and did what most people in a big city do.  He partied really hard, shopped, met girls and many other things.  It wasn’t until after 5 months of  living in the city that he started to become an alcoholic and a drug addict.  He got into hard drugs and drank until he passed out every day.

After about 4 months of being a drunk and drug addict, his dad found out about what he was doing.  His dad did not want him to do this to himself for two reasons: one was because he loved his son and it was the only son he had.  The second reason was because he did not want to put a stain on his good family name.

His dad was determined to get his son out of the terrible life he knew his son was living.  He made his son come with him, against his will, and go to the other side of the river.  Siddhartha did not want to do this but then again, what drug addict wants to do anything anyone says. His dad took him to the river where he was going to be made to fix his life up.  His dad threw him on the boat and off he went.

The ferryman’s name was Vasudeva.  She wanted to help Siddhartha and she was determined to do so.  She yelled at him and set him straight, until he finally agreed that what he was doing was bad.  He planned on going to college and doing all of his work.

Vasudeva’s way worked for Siddhartha.  He found himself and decided he was going to go to college.  He did very well in college and did not party or join fraternities.  He was very focused on his work and got straight A’s.  He did everything he was supposed to do and truly found himself.

Yesterday we ran the Rio Palguin which is my favorite run in Pucon.  It has about 5 main rapids.  There is the first rapid which is a double drop.  It has a 5 foot drop at the beginning and then right after that there is  an 8 footer.  This is my favorite of the rapids.  The others range from 5 foot waterfalls to 20 feet. All the parents who are down here not only got to see this amazing river but also got to see us paddle;  I bet it was a lot of fun for them.

The rivers have been awesome!  It is awesome paddling in South America because it has so many different rivers to chose from.  School has been going very well too.  Spanish class is probably my favorite class, Tino being the teacher.  Going out and having scavenger hunts and talking with the locals and immersing yourself in the language has been extremely helpful to me.

We are staying at Dave’s base that lies right outside of Pucon.  He has built this massive outdoor Quincho.  It has a massive fireplace and is truly a work of art.  I love hanging out in there and building massive fires and talking with people.  That is about it from here.  See everyone in about 2 weeks!

When I entered the house I was stunned.  There is a 4 sided fireplace with a giant hood over it that acts as the chimney.  I have never seen a fireplace like that and now I want one in my house.  Everything in the house is hand built by a gifted craftsman.

The river, the Rio Achibueno is truly amazing.  This class 4 river could possibly be the best class 5 whitewater training in the world.  There are tons of lines to choose and you can make it as hard as you want too.  The upper section is awesome.  We got the owner of where we are staying, Christian, to drive our boats upstream about 5 kilometers and paddled down to our camp.  On this section we got the experience of seeing Chilean farmers herd there goats and sheep to the other side of the river on a tiny little bridge.  Every once in awhile a goat or sheep would fall off the bridge into the water and we would try to save them, in our kayaks, before the went all the way downstream. If we could save them a herdsman was quick with the lasso.  It was truly an awesome experience.

The food is the best I have ever had.  We have people to cook our food for us which is extremely nice.  We have all sorts of meat and soups and rice.  I learned a new way of cooking rice which is extremely cool.  Instead of just steaming the rice like the back of the container says to do, fry the rice for 5 minutes in vegetable oil and then pour already boiled water over it.  Put the top on the pot and it is ready in about ten minutes.  I cannot wait to try it at home.  The Achibueno has been a great experience.  Next stop, Pucon.

The color of the Maipo is like clay.

My brain on the river is like a cows mind before slaughter.

The foam on the river is like foam on a coke at high altitude.

My eyes on the river are like a worm, moving around to see everything possible.

The rocks on the river are elephants.

The Maipo river is a cobra waiting to strike.

My line through the rapid is a monkey swinging through the trees.

The waves on the maipo are mountaineers, climbing to the summit of everest.

My brain on the Maipo is a cow before slaughter.

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