ONE: Oscar Francisco Pizarro Acosta

Oscar – what a special lad and what a great friend in just such a short period of time, I’m already missing him a lot! (Can you tell from the photo above his favourite film is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?! - an accidental trick of the panoramic camera on my phone, but apt I reckon!)

From that first night of talking to the wee hours at Christian’s birthday party, we realised we had a strong bond and over the next week had lots more chat where we were mixing Spanish with English – Oscar was very good for correcting my mistakes and helping me with new vocab (though how good I am at absorbing new language is up for debate) and comparing life and experiences in Chile and the UK and the US where Oscar’s older brother lives.

Oscar asked me to promise not to read his responses on the ONE postcard until I am back in the UK.  I’ll be curious when I get home in July to see what is is that he has written.

Oscar became another collaborator in the Divina mission when we took her out with us the day of the Ramon Ramon wall painting, and shot a stop-motion of the patterns emerging on her robes in Avenida Aguirre.  We chose a spot in the Avenida where you could see both one of the statues that define the space, and the skaters boarding in the background, a little representation in the video  perhaps of Oscar and Felipe, who are friends through skateboarding.  A final, and unpredicted element in the shots, were the street dogs, who were so curious they kept almost knocking la Divina over in their enthusiasm, or in their play fightings of one another.  Oscar was a star in keeping them distracted whilst also taking the shots.

 (The blanket the Divina was wrapped in as we carried her around this day made her look like a baby and so drew the unfortunate attention of a band of gypsies when I was alone earlier on waiting for Daniela and Oscar in the Plaza del Armas. The meeting with the gypsies left me feeling a little shaken and irritated with myself on the one hand for giving them the money I had on me – about £13 eek..., though I hope they use it for the babies nappies they were also begging for... but on the other hand it also felt like a positive reinforcement of knowing I can stand my ground and say my piece about my beliefs without the situation erupting... one of the gypsies said to another she thought I was ‘protected’ by the goddess la Divina... maybe, or maybe just protected by a solid belief system I can stand by!)

 After the tattoo session and a introductions to Oscar’s lovely Aunite, we gathered food and drink supplies and headed into the famous valley that everyone had been talking about and recommending me since I’d arrived into la Serena... Valle de Elqui.

 

We camped for a delicious two nights under the incredible starry sky at an emerging eco-hostel and campground Casa Ba Gua, run by the lovely Carolina, Cacao, and her famiy, including tiny 2-year-old Mauo who spends most of the day vigorously ‘working’ around the land. His father and the other workers onsite are constructing a family home from adobe – mud and grass, and the majority of their electricity is generated from solar panels.  I was hugely impressed by their project and dreamed of living like that eventually, as I always dream when I see an eco-sustainable home and little kids running around like Mowgli, connected to the land and the animals around them (Mauo brought a huge finger to show his Mum one night, and was purely curious not at all afraid by it... brilliant!) Cacao’s also implemented a recycling system which was great to see as it is not a common sight in Chile, where there is as yet no organised collection system from homes or businesses.  Caco’s felting and macramé weavings were exquisite and her collaboration with local women’s groups and schools in running craft workshops really impressed me... hmm.. an inspiring potential model for the future when I settle down perhaps! ;-)

 

Highlights of the camping trip were bathing in the river, eating fruit direct from the trees on our walk to the base of the hills cooking sausage and tomato pasta on a wood fire under the stars, and visiting a local pottery artisan in his studio in the town of Diaguitas.  Here I saw for the first time pottery that is typical of the indigenous people of the region.  The artisan explained that sadly there is not much interest amongst locals in learning the craft, even when he offers free workshops, and agreed that it is not common to see these types of pieces in tourist shops, which tend to be full of crafts from Peru and Bolivia... a shame when you see such skill within Chile.

I think Oscar and I were both slightly reluctant to leave the Valley, which definitely seemed to have charmed us., leaving us heavy with sleep as we hitchhiked back into la Serena.

 

Thanks for a brilliant fist trip to the Valle Oscar...

let's see if one day we cross paths again in India!

:-)