We crossed the picturesque village of Lolol with his wooden sidewalk. Lolol was heavily struck by last year earthquake. Many houses have been marked for demolition.
We have decided again to camp as often as possible in Chile. For our first night of camping, we found a camping ground close to a lake. They wanted us to pay 26,000 pesos for a night which is more than what we had paid in our hostal in Santiago. We said it was far too expensive and pretended to leave. The price went down to 10,000 pesos. We are not very well organized yet for camping and thought we might be able to find a place to buy some food. However, the campground was in the woods, therefore no store on the horizon. Luckily for us, at the campground, there was a mini store, where they were able to prepare some churrascos for us, the chilean version of a hamburger, a bun with some beef, avocado, tomatoes and mayonnaise.
...plus the local beer, of course...
On our second day, we visited a winery, Vina Balduzzi in San Javier. It is a small family business. They started producing wine for export in 1980. They now produce 2 million liters per year and 90% of the production is exported in Asia. San Javier was also struck heavily by the earthquake (8.8 on the Richter scale) and they lost 20% of their production.
At the end of the day, we started looking for a campground and took a side road. It is a gravel road and we don't really know where it is heading to. We don't even know if there is a campground somewhere in the area and it is already 7 pm. As I was tired, Alain and I decided to stop. I am the designated volunteer to ask. I get out of the car and with my 2 words of Spanish, I say that my name is Francoise and say : ,,Buscamos un sitio per nosotros carpa,,. The lady looked at me with a blank stare, I am not sure whether it is my Spanish or my accent, and therefore I ask : ,,Do you speak English?,,. She answers : ''Je ne parle pas anglais mais francais''. Isn't this incredible ? I explain that we are lost and she says : ''no problem, you can stay here for tonight''. And this is how we met with this couple, Alicia and Oscar. See our ''Faces and Places'' to discover more about this French Lady and this Chilean man. Our one night has turned into a 6 day stay with them and we have been lucky enough to discover how rural life (campos) is organized here in Chile. Their house is relatively isolated, about 20 kilometers away from Linares, a city with about 70,000 inhabitants. On these rural roads, neighbours help each other, exchange services, pay some small fees to each other, like 2000 pesos for cheese or the use of the pool. The bus (El Micro) drives by twice a day, there are some small restaurants along this gravel road. You don't receive mail here either and need to have a postal box in Linares. The life is very slow and tough, here. Finding eggs is even sometimes a problem. Oscar prepares cheese every day and lately it has been difficult for him to get his 50 liters of milk per day to produce it.
For the celebration of San Sebastian, Oscar took us to another rural road. People arrive with their car, their dusty truck or even with their horses. Children participate as much as the adults and many wear their Chilean traditional clothes.
Under a 'tonnelle', there are two small sanctuaries dedicated to San Sebastian and surrounded by flowers.
Everybody brings something, beer, a drink of peaches with white wine. We dance, we sing, we drink, we drink a lot and even too much. The eyes are lightened by the alcohol, the words don't go out easily. We are the only two tourists and obviously the attraction of the day. I am invited to dance and all of a sudden, I find myself alone, at the middle of the piste, with my cavallero dancing the Queco, the handkerchief swirling around me... Everybody tries to communicate with us, one way or the other, as our ''Castillan'' is more than limited. I get invited for a tour on a horse and before we leave, hugs and kisses to all the orgazinators. They tell us that thanks to San Sebastian, we will be back next year ! and 300 meters furthers, at the local bar, we find everybody again, so that the party can go on with a bottle of beer, not one....To be able to escape this ''trap'', we end up having to pretend that we need to phone in France ! We know that the party will end up only at dawn for many of them, some sitting with their eyes closed on their horses.
Yesterday morning, we have lived our second earthquake since we have arrived in Chile. This one was a little bit longer than the first one, 7 on the Richter scale, but we were in bed and no problem. Speaking with Oscar and Alicia, last year's terre motto has been a trauma. For weeks, Alicia did not want Oscar to leave her alone in the house. It happened at 4 o'clock in the morning and their house has not suffered much damage, as it was really well built. Their pool was emptied by half by the earthquake ! Unbelievable !
Last evening, their family visited them and we had a BBQ ! The atmosphere reminds us of the family gatherings in France where everybody is relaxed, share stories and jokes with each other.
Between Oscar and Chimena, his niece, they jokingly argue about who makes the best pizza and they have agreed to hold a competition with 4 judges in the very near future ! By the way, Oscar used to be a cook. See in Faces and Places the recipe for the Pudding of Sapajos Italiano (zucchinis)
It is with sincere regret that we are leaving our friendsOscar and Alicia, but we have promised them that we will stop by on our way back...
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