Purranque

Last night I got back from my visit to Purranque with Marjorie and Fran. Let me start by saying that this was a hell of an experience. From the time we left the house until the time we got back. It started last thursday at around 5:45 pm. Marji (Marjorie) had told me to be back at the house by 5:45 so we could get ready to go. She told me that she would go and buy bus tickets for us and that we would be leaving at around 7:30. I got to the house at 5:50, which is still early by Chilean time. They tend to show up 15 to 20 minutes later than the time time they tell you. Marji wasn't there yet so I called her and she told me she was almost there. When she showed up she was in a rush. Evidently 7:30 was not the time the bus left, it left at 6:30. I hadn't packed anything yet, thinking I would have an hour or so to do it, so I had to rush. All my stuff was still in my big backpack from when I left the cabaña. So I had to pull everything out and then repack my things into my smaller bag. Marji has to go get Fran, so while she did that I finished packing. Then we called a tax which got to the house at 6:15. The taxi halled ass and got us to the bus station at 6:29. Just in time. In fact, since time in Southern Chile is a more lax concept, we had another ten minutes before we had to go. So we bought some snacks for the ride, then loaded up onto the bus.
An hour and a half bus ride with a two year old is an interesting experience. Especially when she doesn't want to be on the bus, and when she hasn't had a nap. So while Marji and I tried to relax and enjoy the bus ride, Fran was jumping around, kicking things, screeching, and just generally doing all she could to drive her mother insane. I feel sorry for the poor woman sitting in front of us. Fran, in a fit of rage, decided to kick the back of the seat continuously for ten minutes at one point. To say the least I was incredibly entertained. After an hour and half bus ride we made it to Osorno. Here we had to change buses. But first, for the sake of good manners, we went to the store so I could by some gifts for the family. Chocolate for her mom, wine for her dad, and a bottle of rum for her fiancee. I also bought a cake for Marjorie as a way of saying thank you for everything. At this she got a bit emotional. Going to school full time while raising a daughter on your own doesn't allow for much wiggle room in the way of money. In a town full of broke college kids, and coming from a family in a small town, money isn't treated lightly. So me spending money on her family, then her, meant a lot. She tried to protest, but after everything it was really the least I could do. And I intend to do more over the next month if opportunity presents itself, as I'm sure it will.
After we went to the store we waited for the next bus that would take us to Purranque. The was another experience alltogether. The problem is that Fran has no fear of anything. So, she will periodically run off into a crowd of people, laughing, while her mother chases after her with a terrified look on her face. This happened no less than three times while we waited for the bus. The bus showed up around 9 and we got in and left. Purranque is about 30 minutes south of Osorno, so the whole journey was about 2 hours by bus. It wasn't until we were about 15 minutes from Purranque that Fran finally fell asleep. When we got to the bus stop Marji's fiancee, Mauricio, was there to meet us. We shook hands and exchanged greetings then walked to the house.
Marji's parents own a Hospidaje/Restaurante/Pub. So the downstairs front of the house is the restaurant/pub. The rest of the bottom floor is their house, and the upstairs has rooms they rent out to people who need a cheap place to stay. The establishment is called Estrella (Star). When we got there the pub was nice and loud. The first thing we did was say hello to her parents. I greeted them, shook hands with her dad, Don Pancho, exchanged a kiss on the cheek with her mom, Señora Maria, as is the custom. Then I gave them their gifts. Her mom dug right in, and Mauricio opened the rum and gave me a nice tall glass of it. Damn good people, I liked them right away. We talked for a bit at first, me trying my hardest to understand what they were all saying. Purranque is a very small town. Most of the people never leave it, and most are from el campo, the country side. So they talk fast and they slur their words together. It was pretty difficult, but I held my own... I think. After we talked we had some food. Lots of soup and bread. Then we relaxed with a cup of coffee.
Sidenote: In the states I never drank coffee, I have never liked the taste of it. Here is a different story alltogether. If you don't drink coffee or tea you are a freak and should be shunned, or so it would seem. Every time I told people that I didn't drink either coffee or tea they would look at me like I was from another planet. They would usually then ask, well, then what do you drink. I would say, water, juice. To which they would reply, no, what do you drink that is hot? Nothing, I don't like hot drinks. This would them be met with confused and shocked faces, then they would go and share this strange fact with anyone who would listen. So I quickly learned that I should drink coffee if I wanted to be normal. I expiremented at first, and after various trials and errors with different combinations of ingredients, I have found that the only coffee that is in any way palatable for me plain, dark, black coffee. No sugar, no cream, the stonger the better.
After we had some food, and Fran was asleep, we went into the pub. It had quieted down some, but there were still maybe ten people there. All regulars, ranging from 30 to 70 years old. Marji quickly busted into the beer, which comes in big liter bottles. So we started having some beer, then Mauricio wanted to do some shots of the rum I bought him, so we did some shots. Thirty minutes later I was feeling pretty good about myself. This continued for the next several hours. We kept opening more beers and eventually broke into the kitchen for some food. From what I could tell there are two people who actually work in the pub. Mauricio, who handles all the money and other such matters, and a woman named Macarena. Macarena, aside from having a name that made me do a double take, is also a redhead, something strange for these parts. She waits on the tables, cleans up, and gets drunk. That's her job, take care of the patrons and and keep them company. This usually involves plenty of booze. On top of it all, she informed me that that night was her birthday. She was sloshed and kept trying to get me to dance with her. For those of you who have seen me dance, you can understand my protests. No way in hell I was going to go dance in a bar full of local, drunk, Chilean men. I was strange enough, being the only gringo they had seen in what I'm sure was a long time. I didn't need to add my akward lack of rythm to the mix. So I sat and talked and drank beer and ate completos (hotdogs) until, all of a sudden, it was 5:30AM. At that point I decided that sleep was in order and took off to bed. They had made up one of the rooms upstairs for me.
I awoke, feeling less than optimum, around 11:30. I was pretty tired but I didn't want to seem too lazy. So I got up, got dressed, and then made my way downstairs. I must have looked pretty aweful, because Marji kept telling me that I could go back to sleep if I wanted. I didn't want to be the lazy gringo, so I stuck around and had some food. Then Marji had to take her mom to the doctor. I declined the invitation to go, and went back upstairs to my room, to prepare a lesson, and promptly passed out for two hours. When I woke up I decided to start reading 'On the Road'. I read for about an hour before Marji got back. Then I went downstairs and had some food. This proved to be another interesting experience. I am really not sure what animal they came from, cow, calf, pig, but what we were eating whatever it was' legs. I won't lie and say that it was delicious. I was wierd, and I'm still not convinced that it was cooked, but I ate it with a smile on my face dammit. I also did what I could to fill up on bread dipped in Aji. After we ate it was again time to go into the pub. But this time we practiced good old fashioned moderation. This time I was spotted by a couple of old drunks who decided to talk to me. They hadn't seen many gringos so they enjoyed it. I can't rightly say what all they talked to me about, as I couldn't understand half of it. But I know it involved differences in the world, English, God, 9/11, War, and the end of the world in 2012. Wierd. I only had two beers, and it was off to bed by 1am. Of course, off to bed meant off to bed to read until 3am.
The next day was saturday. I got up at 10:00 and got ready to go. I enjoyed a nice cold shower, which is strting to grow on me... very refreshing, wakes you right up... then we went to the saturday market. Every saturday in Purranque the locals gather on the street near the town square, and have a kind of farmer's market. We enjoyed a nice mote con heusillo, which is a rehydrated pear in pear juice mixed with some kind of grain, then we had something else, but I can't remember the name. It was basically a little cake made of potatoe, dough and meat all mixed together then deep fried. Amazing. If I can find more somewhere in Valdivia I will. We bought a few other things, including a stuffed animal dog for Fran, some cheese, and some meat. Then we went back to the house. I went upstairs to read for a bit while Marji made lunch. She kept asking me if I was bored, and I had to explain to her that, no, I wasn't bored, no, I don't get bored very easily, and that if I disapeared for awhile upstairs it was just because I wanted to relax, and that sometimes I just like to be alone for a bit. She was concerned that I was bored and didn't like her family. I asured her that this was not the case, but that after listening to so much Spanish my brain just needed the occasional break.
The rest of the afternoon passed by rather quickly, I read some, ate some, talked some, relaxed some. At one point I helped Marji clean the windows of the restaurant. At around 7:30 Marji took me downtown with Fran so I could see a bit more of the city, not that there was much to see. Then, as usual, we went to the pub and had some beers and ate some empanadas. Macarena was nice and drunk by the time we went in. This would turn out to be the most interesting night in Purranque. As we sat behind the counter two things of note happened. First, a drunk came in and started yelling at everyone, then tried to pick a fight with another patron until Mauricio finally kicked him out. Then a deaf guy came in and tried to buy beer without having enough money. What followed was a series of interesting hand gestures as he and Mauricio tried to negotiate, finally deciding that he would just get whatever he could afford with the money he had.
After that ended Marji and I had to go and try to buy Vodka and Orange juice for the bar. This proved to be a challenge. It was 11:30 at night and all the stores were closed. Also, as it turns out, it is illegal for store owners to sell alcohol after 10:30pm. Add to that the fact that Purranque is a dangerous city at night, with lots of gangs, and the fact that I, as a gringo, stick out like a soar thumb most of the time. So it was an interesting experience. We had to take a cab to a store that was run out of a man's house. But he wouldn't sell us the Vodka because there was a police car parked down the block. So we had to find another store, this one had the Vodka, but not the orange juice. So we had to go back to the first store, but this time there were a bunch of people standing around and Marji wouldn't let me get out of the car with her. Finally, we made it back to the pub and went in. Macarena tried to get Marji to let her have some Vodka, but she said not unless someone bought it for her. So She begged me to buy her a drink, which I did. This may have been a mistake, as what followed was a series of stories involving her sexual excapades as a waitress in Santiago, and what I'm pretty sure was a propostion to me. All this was starting to get a little on the bizarre side, so I decided to call it a night and snuck off to my room to go to bed, where I read more, until about 3am.
I woke up the next morning at noon. I went downstairs and had some food, talked with everyone for a bit, had some coffee, then Mauricio's brother showed up with his wife and daughter. So while they all caught up, I snuck upstairs and took a shower. Then I relaxed and read until it was time for us to go. We were of course late again. We got to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus to Osorno. And we got to Osorno with only 5 minutes to spare before our bus to Valdivia left. It was a very rushed affair, but luckily, this time Fran was passed out, and made things go much smoother.
We got to Valdivia around 8pm. It felt like coming home. I was very happy. I feel much safer in Valdivia than I did in Purranque. I know Valdivia has its dangers too, but I don't stand out quite so much here. When we got back to the house I went to the market and bought some bread, meat and cheese for dinner. Marji and I talked over dinner and decided that it would be best if I just stayed with her for the next month. She likes the company, and it is much easier for me. We haven't decided on a price yet, and she hasn't asked for money, but I will pay her for the time I'm there. Overall I have to say that it has been a great experience so far. Purranque was a very interesting look into another side of Chile. While I can't foresee going back, I am certainly happy I had the experience.
If there is one thing I have learned so far by being here, it's that I never know what's going to happen. Who knows what's in store for us. The only way to make it through life is by being flexible and accepting what comes your way, then making the best of it. I have been very lucky here so far, but it could have been different if I hadn't been open to change. I don't know what will happen next, and I don't know where I'm going, but I can't wait till I get there. Hasta luego.