Te Amo Ancud!

Me with Tamia, Miska and Meli

There is so much to say when it comes to Ancud.  In fact, I have to be honest and say that I put off writing this post for a little too long because I hardly know where to start.  Michael and I had been looking for a workaway, with no luck whatsoever, since we arrived in South America.  We had only been responded to three times: two responses told us no, and the third was Sandra wanting to know more.  Little by little, we built up a small understanding of each other through the internet and a skype session in Huanchaco, Peru.  We loved the idea of coming to work for this family and help with their yoga studio, burgeoning maqui berry business, and their three beautiful girls.  Michael and I never wanted to talk about the possibility of living on a gorgeous island in Chile with a beautiful family too much for fear of jinxing it and losing this incredible opportunity.  But as the time grew closer, it was looking more and more like living on Chiloe was going to become a reality, so we bought our tickets, packed up our bags, and hopped on the first bus out of Valparaiso to Ancud.  We were thrilled!

Britt and Sandra’s home (left) and yoga shala (middle right) on the beach

Remembering back to what it was like meeting each member of the family for the first time seems so strange now because, after living with them for almost two months, they really become our family away from home.  Sandra, the mother, lights up any room she enters, and managed to take our breath away with her beauty, warmth and kindness when she first walked into their office building to greet us.  With her, was her precocious 4-year-old daughter Meli (may-LEE) as beautiful and full of life as the tree she is named after.  Also with them was Jess, their current workawayer, who was from New Jersey and would provide Michael and I with lots of encouragement and advice on how to be good workawayers ourselves.  After running some errands in town, we set off for their home, a little removed from the city of Ancud, to meet the rest of the family.

Sandra

Melicita!

Sandra and Britt’s home is just as much a member of their family as any of their girls, so full of character and individuality.  Sandra had studied architecture, so they built the home themselves, and it was absolutely gorgeous, made all from beautiful blonde wood with windows facing their beachfront property.  Their home always had an air of magic to me, as if it could be the Weasley’s summer home. The house had only just received electricity the year before, and the family didn’t even have a road coming in until 4 years earlier.  Sandra had also owned a restaurant and so the kitchen was absolutely lovely and a joy, I soon learned, to cook in.  Something else very special about the house was Sandra’s yoga shala down near the water.  Sandra is incredibly devoted to her yoga practice, and she had had this shala built to be her own personal sanctuary from the world to do her practice in peace.  Along with meeting their beautiful home, we also met their lovely twin daughters, Tamia and Miska.

Enjoying Sandra and Britt’s beautiful kitchen!

Tamia was very soft and sweet and bashfully said hello and welcomed us into her life, while Miska was alert and enthusiastic, determined to be our tour guides and tell us everything she knew about everything.  Through time, we saw so many layers to these beautiful girls- I saw so much of myself in both of them.  I was trying so hard to teach them things about how to behave and how to think about things in a new way, but I realized that they really taught me so much about myself, about all of the things I have been through as a girl who became a woman, and how that’s tough for girls anywhere, anytime, whether their growing up in the middle of the United States or on an island in Chile.

Tamia

Miska

We finally met Britt a day or so later, as he was away with the family’s tourism company where he had been serving as a guide.  Britt, an American, is very charming and bright and both Michael and I were intrigued by him because he was living out our little experiment- he had traveled to South America, but never left.

Britt with Meli and our new friend, Bode…Bode is traveling all around in a VW van with his family!!  Check out their blog www.bodeswell.com!

After a few days of camping outside, we were moved into our new home, the family’s (other) yoga shala in town, where we would be teaching a children’s English class followed by children’s yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I was also to teach an adult yoga class on Saturdays (only one person ever came- shout out to our buddy Neno!!)  Michael and I had quite a colorful array of little nuggets every Tuesday and Thursday, but our regulars where Diego, Leonor, Emilio and Andres.  Diego, a very charming 8-year-old, called us “Tia” and “Tio,” which means aunt/uncle, and is a term of endearment and respect, and was an exemplar student.  He tried so hard and did really well.  He was so sweet and full of so much life and energy.  We loved getting to know Diego 🙂  Leonor, 8, and Emilio, 9, were brother and sister and both were very sweet and calm, and excellent listeners.  Both worked very hard and had great English skills!  Andres, 9, was the cousin of Leonor and Emilio and was very quiet and shy at first, but wow! did that boy come out of his shell!  Andres was so full of energy and definitely knew how to have a laugh- and his English skills weren’t too shabby either!  Tamia, Miska and Meli, being beautifully bilingual, would help us run the classes and translate when needed- sometimes they helped a little too much 🙂

Our new home, the yoga shala

Our new friends Maria Jesus, Leonor, Emilio and Andres, learning all about clothes!

Me with Gaspar during cooking week!

The class wishing Michael a Happy 25th Birthday!!

Michael, Meli, Diego, Tamia, Miska, Tais and Mia doing yoga!

Michael with Diego, Andres and Mia- such a good teacher!

Our friendly slug visitors

As time went by, I became very close with Sandra.  She had a way of speaking to me that would affect me for days and cause me to think about things I hadn’t wanted to think about in years.  In the first few weeks on the island, I had what I call a spiritual breakdown, which sounds terrible, but was so positive.  With Sandra acting as a sort of gatekeeper, I delved into these issues I had been repressing and really came clean to myself about some absolute truths about my own heart and mind.  I had told myself that I was going on this trip to deal with these things, and then I had just continued to sweep them under the rug, but living in Ancud, being with Sandra, delving into my spirituality through yoga, I literally couldn’t hold those things in anymore.  So I let them go.  It took about a week to let everything within me settle again, but when it did, I knew I was no longer the same person, that I could no longer look at the world and at myself the same way again.  I will always be thankful to Sandra for helping me come to that turning point.

Eating the stalk of a nalca plant- tasted just like celery!

In the great scheme of things, our interactions and short stay with this family seem so small, but somehow, they feel so enduring.  Sandra, with her seemingly ageless wisdom and love for the beauty in everything, taught me so much about family and being strong- not being a wimp.  Meli, with her sweet grace and effervescent happiness, is someone who I constantly found myself wanting to be around more.  I think sometimes we forget the amazing wisdom and insight that little ones can have.  Tamia, who knit me a centillo (headband) in a matter of hours, is so incredibly talented and stronger than she knows.  Miska, strong-willed and full of passion, can (and will!) do anything she sets her mind to.  This turning point between childhood and adulthood, whatever that in-between stage is, is so, damn, hard- especially if you’re smart as a whip.  It reminds me to be gentle, because you never know what someone, even a 10-year-old, is going through.  Finally Britt, who knew the right way to do everything, made me exhausted just hearing about everything he had going on, reminded me of my dad, and many fathers, who know so much and are trying to find the best way to teach others.

Meli, my little bug!

We’ve always been told, don’t talk to strangers- but look what can happen when you take a chance on some strangers.

Enjoying the beauty of Chiloe!

Thank you endlessly for welcoming us into your home, for loving us, feeding us, teaching us your way of life, and being our temporary family, but forever friends 🙂

Our love to Ancud.

The view from our shala home at sunset.