A large part of me wants to get out of this cave of a computer booth and go explore the city, but I have to get everything out of my head before I can fill it with new stuff. Besides, I have told you practically nothing about Easter Island. And also, my pictures are downloading.
So here we go.
Sometimes (often) I mentally narrarate my life as if it were a novel. Because my narrations stay there on repeat unless I get them out, I am now going to write 2 of them for you. Here is the kick off to my Easter Island excursion.
Each twist of the knob pained her. One. Two. Three. She knocked hour after hour from the time when her cheap, plastic clock would ring until it finally stopped at 5:30am. She looked at the small gap between the hour hand and the smaller white hand representing the alarm. I've set alarms for naps longer than this. She had two hours - two precious hours - to sleep. After setting three more alarms on her watch, just to be sure, she turned off the light and lay down in her freezing bed for the last time. And didn't fall asleep. What the heck? Every cell in her body longened for sleep, but her mind kept racing. She decided that this must be a small taste of what it feels like to be a parapalegic. She couldn't move her exhausted body if she wanted to, but her pinball thoughts kept banging around noisily in her head. Finally, like one of the pinballs had struck a rubber band that made the whole game light up, it dawned on her. The answer. The reason she couldn't sleep. Piscola. A short hour ago she had been singing "It's Raining Men" infront of a crowded bar and drinking a piscola. Cola being the key word. Caffeine. Should I even try falling asleep? she thought. But the decision was made for her. Before she could squeeze in another indecision, the alarm was alerting her that 1) she had in fact fallen asleep, and 2) sleep was no longer an option.
She paced back and forth in the 3 feet allotted to her by the seat-belt like barriers, trying not to fall asleep on her feet. As she paced, she assessed the people with whom she would be sharing a flight to the Island. Lonley Planet lied, she thought, remembering that her trusty travel book and suggested she might have the island to herself. Rather, though, she was sharing it with a plane full of people in addition to those already on the Island. From the looks of it, she was one of the few not already collecting a social security check (or who would be if the lived in the States). That's okay. It is what it is.
Okay, those were the narrations stuck in my head. Thank you for letting me get them out. Now let me tell you a little bit about my future home.
I FREAKIN' LOVE EASTER ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't even know where to start. It's beautiful. Bananas, papays, and coconuts grow everywhere. People say hello to you when you pass them on the street. And you can play with the kids.
Now let me compare that briefly to where I've been living for the past month. Santiago is grey, has no plants, people look at you like you're crazy if you make eye contact, much less smile, and nobody talks to anybody, much less permit a stranger to play with their kids.
As I was flying over to the island, I read a bit through my Lonely Planet book. The first thing that jumped out at me was this:
Population: 4,400
And my first thought was this:
I can win over 4,400 people in 3 days.
Mission accomplished.
The first day I just wandered around the (only) town until I found a park with swings. I'm a sucker for swings, so I sat down and swang (swinged? swung?) for awhile. I could see the kids looking at me with curiosity, so I went over and asked them if I could play with them. We played chase or tag or something like that, but I was always it. Let me tell you, chasing kids around for a long time is very exhausting. Then I started talking with the grandma. She told me that she and the kids were all headed down to the harbor and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes. So we walked down to the harbor and fed the giant turtles and fish that just swim around in the crystal clear water. Then I went and ate an empanada. Then I wandered around some more, saw some amazing statues, and watched a beautiful sunset.
And that was just day one.
Without going through all the details day by day, let me tell you a bit of the high lights.
-Scuba diving. The water is so clear, I could see forever.
-Being invited to the workshop of one of the artists on the island, and then having dinner with his family after.
-Being called "tía" (aunt) by a large portion of the kids on the island.
-Trying to catch a ride into town, finding out that my ride into town is actually going to the exact spot on the opposite side of the island that I was hoping to go, and getting a ride to the way far opposite side of the island. And this ride was in a car that reminded me of the Millennium Falcon in so far as it was probably also held together by gum, spit, and hope. Were it not for the mat on the bottom of the floor, by feet could have touched the ground. And the door was held shut with a huge rubber band.
-Having the whole 15 moai to myself.
-Catching a ride back into town with the service crew.
-Free food.
-Playing chase with kids for hours everyday.
-Painting.
-Selling paintings.
-Exploring.
Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I wouldn't mind it being longer, though. But I guess that will get taken care of when I live there.
Yay! So you're all up to date now. I'm now in La Serena, wich is north of Santiago. I really enjoyed my time in Santiago, but I wouldn't say I loved the city. Actually, I was really excited to leave it. I enjoy fresh air and not freezing. So, like I said, I'm in La Serena now, and I'll stay here unitl I get bored and then catch a 23 hour bus ride up to Arica. I need to find some books before then.
Also, my hair is braided.
MUCH LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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