The New River Academy photo class is in full force in Pichilemu. Matt Hill, Taylor Cote and Zoe Ross take to the streets every day to shoot the incredible pallette of colors and textures. I am so proud of my bold students, especially when they approach strangers and ask to shoot their portrait. So far the old men of Pichilemu love to be the focus of our attentions, and seem to get a real kick out of us!
–Melina
Have you ever read the poetry of Pablo Neruda, one of the most famous and best loved poets of all time? He is best known for his sublime imagery of the ocean, surf and salt and roses and love. As it turns out, he lived right around here on the beaches near Pichilemu, Chile. “Among so many blues, sunken blues- heavenly blues- our eyes are a little confused.” “Beauty- flower by flower, star by star, wave by wave.” It is no wonder that the man who wrote these lines was from such a place. The air is cobalt blue, the white capped waves churn heavily onto the sand and the blueprints of the town may as well have been a child’s coloring book. There are murals on the sides of every building, swirls of color and fantastic characters. For the next week we will be living in this beach side town which is a photographer’s dream, a poet’s dream, and a (kayak) surfer’s dream.
Our drive here was relatively uneventful, punctuated only by a stop for ice cream and fresh empanadas at a road side stall, and that first heavenly moment when you realize that the horizon you glimpse over the hills is not the sky, but the endless blue stretch of ocean.
When we arrived at the cabins, the owner had set out tall pitchers of fresh kiwi juice, pineapple juice, and strawberry juice. The cook handed us each a glass and told us to go to town. We each drank about 1/3 our weight in fresh fruit juice.
The students are happy to be in their own cabins, sleeping in beds with walls to keep out the earwigs that were just a little too friendly down at the Maipo. Classes are held in the park across the street, on the beach, in internet cafes or in the cluttered little living rooms of the cabins.
Please be on the lookout for photo and video updates on our blogs, because my words can only go so far in describing this colorful, vivacious wonderland.
–Melina
Here it coach Tino, checking in from the take-out play wave of the lower Maipo! Check out how brown and silty the water is behind him.
–Melina
About to board the flight to Chile…we’re excited! And yes, Tracy is excited too, at the time of this video she was rather involved in her book.
We arrived in Santiago after a smooth 10 hour flight from Dallas to Santiago. We were missing Eric Bartl and Matt Smink, who arrived the next day due to some problems getting out of Cincinnati.
We arrived at the Cascadas des las Animas, otherwise known as our place of residence for the next week, still otherwise known as paradise. We are camping in little shelters where the students have hung their colorful hammocks, piled their notebooks up on the picnic tables and play the new Flight of the Conchords songs out of their computer speakers. The shelters are equipped with electricity and lights, and we have access to clean bathrooms with hot water showers. The restaurant has wi-fi access for uploading photos and videos, and emailing home. We are certainly camping with style and ease.
We’ve set up our own kitchen where we prepare breakfast and lunch. For dinner, we eat at the beautiful, elegant, candle-lit restaurant that is perched just above the Maipo river. We eat family style each night at a long table set with china, silver wear, baskets of bread and glass jugs of water flavored with fresh sliced oranges. The restaurant itself seems to be made of wood, air, and light, and the sound of Maipo rushing below rises up and relaxes us, a natural lullaby.
The Cascadas de las Animas is an animal sanctuary and eco-resort. There are llamas roaming the hills, and even a mountain lion in a large enclosed area. The restaurant and camping are based at the take out of the upper Maipo and the put in for the lower Maipo. There is a zip-line over the river and a pool, which the girls and I found the first day. It was 90 degrees (f) and we jumped in to cool off, and then fell asleep beside it, all four of us out like a light. 24 hours of traveling will do that to you!
I have been busy capturing little moments of our life here on my new tiny video camera, and trying hard to upload them onto the blog….with limited success. So far I’ve been able to upload one to youtube and link it to my blog. Please, keep checking it as I’m sure I’ll get more proficient at this as the days pass.
That’s all for now! You’ll be hearing from me very shortly as each day provides a wealth of wonderful things to write home about…..
–Melina
Here we are, charging through customs after our 10 1/2 hour flight. Traveling with boats and bags is always interesting, but this time we really just glided through!
Okay, I cannot make the video upload here on the blog, so for now, check it out here!
–Melina
(C) Melina Coogan
A beautiful photos of beautiful boaters hanging out at the edge of the New River Gorge.
Yesterday, a handful of us took a hike out to Diamond Lookout on the gorge. We are soaking up as much West Virginia as we can before we take off to home in just a few days of a much deserved break. The late afternoon sun filtered through the trees and drenched us at the rock’s edge. The students are so photogenic that it’s hard to choose my favorite, but here are a few:
New River Academy
Rt. 2 Box 245
Fayetteville, WV 25484
(304)- 574-0403
Fax: (304) 513-2247
New River
Academy
