A challenge I overcame: I overcame the Devil
A dream for my future: Peace for
all
A hope for the global village: A
lot of hope for all
One of my core beliefs in life is
that we have to trust our paths to take us where we ought to be at any given
time. This doesn’t negate personal
responsibility; we obviously have to make thoughtful decisions and choices, but
I truly believe that when we are relaxed and in tune with our instincts, these
choices, however haphazard and random they may seem at the point of making
them, will take us to the place we need to be and into contact with the folk or
experiences we need to meet at any given time.
Folk we may learn from or teach in our own humble way, folk we may share
with and exchange ideas with. Destiny
you could call it.
It certainly felt that way with
meeting Felipe. On the stop-off at Calama,
an hour or so from our final destination of San Pedro, we met over the buying
of some grapes (we differed in our reaction to them -I thought they were delicious though I
seemed to get a sore mouth from eating too many perhaps? Felipe thought a few were good but too many
were over-ripe).
The final hour of our bus ride
was spent chatting, chatting, admiring the views and chatting, chatting.... Felipe
talked of this journey as looking to see whether he could move back to Chile from
his current home in Barcelona - he in Chilean but has lived outside the country
since he was 9, first in London, then the US, now Spain where he has an intense
schedule of teaching yoga, studying Chinese medicine, practicing martial arts
and painting.
Ours was certainly one of those
chance meetings resulting from random decisions that led to fruitful exchange
and a happy companionship for the next 24 hours (we’d both randomly come across
this new bus company Ciktur, which so far has been the most comfortable service
I’ve experienced here). Our meeting was
definitely lucky for me in terms of finding a place to stay in town.... I’d
taken my usual casual approach to finding accommodation, looking up options in
the guidebook on the bus ride, picking a couple I liked the sound of and
heading to check them out on getting into town without booking ahead. Not wise it turns out when you’re getting
into a tourist town as busy as San Pedro (you can tell how busy it is from the
sheer number of hostels, hotels and posh touristy restaurants and cafes around
the town). The couple I’d looked up were
full and the only remaining beds were hugely expensive, until we got to the
hostel Felipe was booked into where there just happened to be one remaining bunk
for one night only, perfect, as my plan we to head to Arica the following
night.
So bunk-bed secured, and after
heading back to the bus station, bus ticket too, Felipe and I walked out of
town towards a river that it turns out has dried out of existence and watched
the sun set from a gravelly sandy perch on the edge of a hillock. Again we chatted, chatted,... watched the
half moon and the astonishingly intense stars appear: the Southern Cross,
Orion’s belt, the splatter of the Milky Way, even a shooting star that we both spotted ... and chatted, chatted...
Felipe shared his understanding
of how we are each defined by one main elements, water, earth, fire, air or
metal. Metal people tend to be cold and
unfeeling, perhaps explaining the seemingly in-human behaviour of so many folk
high up in business or politics, the type of person who can openly talk about the
human ‘cost’ of a business project without batting an eyelid... putting
monetary gain over human life in an attitude that I will never be able to comprehend.
Both Felipe and I happen to be
mainly water (this interpretation is based on your star signs) Water people
have characteristics of fluidity, nourishment and often extreme sensitivity
(which can make them vulnerable), hence a tendency of water-folk to be drawn to
be teachers. Interesting, then, that
both Felipe and I are teachers in our own way, Felipe with his yoga instruction
and with my art workshops.
Interesting then, too, that in
our search for a mission the following day we were both mostly drawn to visit
the salt lakes of Laguna Cejar. Hiring a
pair of mountain bikes, loading up with water and nuts (the nuts for me –
Felipe was on a morning fast) and caked in sun cream we set off along long
desert and salt-lined roads, pretty much straight apart from one right hand
turning marked by an isolated tree we’d been told to look out for and that
Felipe was much more on the ball about spotting than me.
Bobbing around in the salt-dense
water at Laguna Cejar was a peculiar feeling that had me laughing out loud and
Felipe doing some yoga poses mid-water-bob.
Amazingly there are birds living on the lakes, apparently flamingos too
although this was the wrong time to see them.
A second lake was surrounded by strange salt formations of big crystals,
incredibly intricate and sharp.
The sun was so strong and
powerful that I had a mildly odd turn with a headache and strange sensation in
my eyes, so headed back to shade while Felipe continued to explore the unusual
landscape. On our ride home I even had a
dream-laden siesta in the welcome shade of one of the rare trees appering at
the side of the road.
Back in town, bikes returned, one
huge dog met and one tasty salad later and I was laden with rucksack and ‘oficina’
once more, heading back to the bus station where Felipe waved me off on my
journey back to Calama to head north.
What a beautiful first night and
day outside back on the road, re-touching with the interconnectedness of fellow
travelers and instinctual destiny paths, particularly reassuring after having
been reluctant to leave the comfort of la Familia in La Serena. (Perhaps why I made this little family from the sulphur and mineral rich mud edging Laguna Cejar?)
Thanks for all the shared
reflections Felipe...
and good luck in your hunt for the right place to settle if
you do choose to come back here to live in Chile.
:-)
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