Sunday, Dec 16
Yeah, it was beautiful. That's the temple there on the left. I mean, this place was breathtaking--an excellent place to spend a week.
When I arrived the devotees and people from the community were listening to a man speak, but I'm not sure what he was talking about since it was all in Spanish. They showed me to my bungalow
It was pretty cozy. At first I wondered why there were 4 blankets on the bed, but that night I found out why--it gets cold up there at night! I was grateful to have so many.
There was only one other volunteer when I first got there. His name was David and he was from Holland. He helped me out a lot, because he could speak English better than any of the Chileans. He also spoke Spanish, Dutch (obviously), and German. I'm so jealous. He used to have a marketing job in Amsterdam, but dropped it all to travel around South America to learn how to love more and be happier. I dig it.
As I arrived in the evening, there wasn't really a whole lot to do. I had dinner, read for a while, and went to bed happy about being there and looking forward to the next day.
Monday, Dec 17
Got up around 8 and had a big vegetarian breakfast. Something like this:
and usually there was some mashed avocado to go with the bread, just not on the day that I happened to take this picture. There were always lots of fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates.
The first day we worked on clearing the area around the greenhouse.
This picture is actually after we finished. Before we cleared it out, you couldn't see any of that fencing or anything. I was surprised when I was cutting away and discovered it! The website for the ashram claimed that we would do 5 hours of volunteer work a day, but really we usually did about 3-4. After clearing the greenhouse, David, Mohini, and I went for a swim at the river.
It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the river was actually very clear. The bright green that you see in it is plants growing on the bottom. It was really cold too! Very nice on a hot day.
The rest of the afternoon was left up to free time, so I did some reading and walked around and took some pictures.
Thistles everywhere. Not fun to clear away--ouch!
Their very own sacred cow...
This horse was so ornery! He was pretty young and nobody was training him. He let me pet his nose, but not without trying to nip at me!
The temple
Trying my hand at some close-up photography
Also had a nice yoga class in the evening.
On Tuesday after breakfast I helped Malini in the bakery. They make all kinds of bread and stuff in there, but we were working on the cookies that they make and take to nearby towns to sell. Check out this monstrosity:
I mean, surely that's a whole meal right there. So the cookies themselves were already made. My job was to spread the dulce de leche between them, then dip them in the melted chocolate, and wrap them up when they dried. Definitely delicious.
After the bakery, I joined David and Mohini at the greenhouse and got to work clearing out the dead flowers inside.
Before
After, although we didn't quite get around to that ride side yet.
Had the afternoon to myself again. I drew some mandalas and had a nice chat with David. After yoga in the evening, I gave Malini (the yoga teacher) a jazz lesson. It was really fun sharing my skills and being creative together.
Wednesday, Dec 19
On Wednesday we had a new volunteer from Brazil named Alisson. He was very nice, though it was tough for me to talk to him because he didn't speak much English. Actually, I don't think he spoke much Spanish either, but mostly relied on the similarities between Portuguese and Spanish to get him by.
After breakfast we walked down by the river and cut down some bamboo trees, dragged them back to the ashram, cleaned off the excess branches, and cut them down to various sizes. Then we nailed them to the outside of the unfinished part of my bungalow, to be later covered with mud.
I really enjoyed the work we were doing. I was learning new things, feeling good to be doing something physical, and thoroughly wearing myself out to get a good sleep at night. Very nice.
After lunch it got pretty chilly and started raining, so I spent the afternoon in my bungalow reading, drawing, and playing solitaire. Malini was gone for the evening, so I did my own yoga practice that evening.
Thursday, Dec 20
Thursday was still cold and wet, so we lit a fire in the wood stove in the dining room and spent the morning cracking walnuts.
Not the most exciting of jobs, but I was happy to be near the fire and to have *something* to do. Plus David and Alisson made for pretty good company.
After lunch Mohini asked if we wanted to go to San Felipe with her. I thought it was just going to be an outing for something to do for the afternoon, but she actually needed to go to a few places to pick up supplies. Thus began a 4.5-hour long trip.
First, she and Victor went to get some supplies while David, Alisson, and I checked out the town square and feria (local weekend market).
I especially enjoy how part of the characters' faces are still there...
Afterwards we waited in the truck while Mohini went to the housewares store. Then we hit the supermarket. Alisson, Victor, and I tried our best to speak to each other with our weird mix of English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with hilarious results. It was fun though.
I'm not sure where we went after that, but there was more waiting in the truck. I was getting pretty tired by this point, but it was nice to have something to do other than sit around reading and playing solitaire. After a few more stops and a total of 4.5 hours, we finally made it back to Eka Chakra, just in time for dinner.
Friday, Dec 21
Well, Friday was supposed to be the end of the world. It wasn't.
We did a lot of preparation for the weekend on Friday. There was a guru coming and a lot of people would be there over the weekend to see the guru and celebrate the changing of the seasons/end of the world, haha.
In the morning we had to clear away all the brush from the public outdoor toilets and just clean up the area.
A new (to me) volunteer named Alanna started working with us that day. I say new to me because she had been at the ashram earlier and left for a while and then came back. So I got to talk to her while we were working and she was really nice and interesting.
After lunch we were in the kitchen preparing food for the festivities on Sunday. I sliced peppers, pitted olives, cut apples for chutney, and assembled empanadas. But since I left before lunch on Sunday I didn't get to eat any of it! Oh well, I might try my hand at empanada-making when I get back home to the states.
One of the Chilean volunteers whose name I never caught, me, Alanna, and Alisson working hard!
Had another nice yoga class in the evening, and then dinner and bed.
Saturday, Dec 22
I was originally planning on going back to Santiago on Saturday, but decided to stay an extra day enjoying the nature and meeting Guru Deva.
In the morning I finally made it to the 8.00 ceremony they do every day. Actually, they do a ceremony at 5am, 8am, 12pm, and 6pm every day. Alanna managed to get up for the 5am one twice. I decided 8 was good enough for me. Basically it was a lot of singing with some drums and finger cymbals while people waved things in front of the alter, like incense and stuff.
My brain was feeling fairly cluttered by the time yoga rolled around, but luckily it cleared up afterwards. Later Guru Deva gave a lecture. I attended most of it, but didn't get a whole lot out of it since it was all in Spanish. I mostly just sat and meditated through it.
Sunday, Dec 23
Didn't do a whole lot on Sunday. Got up, had breakfast, and read until Mohini drove me in to town to catch the bus back to Santiago in the afternoon. All-in-all, it was a great experience. It was so nice to be in nature and to see some of the beauty of the Chilean countryside. It also stirred my enthusiasm about planting my own garden this summer. It was also awesome to meet so many friendly people and be in such a warm, welcoming environment.
Didn't do a lot when I got back to Santiago. Made dinner and played computer games mostly. No class tomorrow for Christmas Eve!
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! See you next week!
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