...?

And thats where the blog stops. The first stop on a 9 month trip and not a word to read, or even a photo?...So what happened between the beautiful Valle de Elqui and well,here I am, in California??
You can call in an existential exploration of the Hare Krishna movement. Yes I am speaking of the crazy love hippies of the sixties movement. But they added a nice twist of latin to it.
Walk with me thorough a photo journal of the different farms and festivals accompanied by commentary written both while on the journey and reflections now that its over.

Valle de Elqui

Estoy en el hermoso Valle de Elqui y mañana me voy a viajar a Arica! Paso el fin de semana super bien y tranquila. La gente son super wena onda y la aldea es muy linda... de verdad mas chilena que un porroto, me preguntaron adonde nacio en Chile...imaginate!! Gringa loca de verdad! Te seguro que Santiago es el unico lugar adonde puedes contar las estrellas... aca es imposible! Fue magia como llego aca... no tenia ni un idea como llegar y con unas preguntas y como siempre sigo el viento y ya estoy!
Cuando llego no habia nadie en la aldea... desierto...casi paracido abandonada... entonces desenrolle mi saco de dormir a acostar abajo del cielo lleno de lucecitas. Despues de un rato un camioneta entro y casi me mataron!! Los jefes ya me invitaron a dormor alla adentro...igual quieria dormir afuera pues la proxima noche me quede afuera con la luna! Me contaron que llego justo con un maestro y unas fiestas por el finde. Que bakan!!! Celebremos y bialamos y Lunes fuimos por Piahuano, mas interno del valle y bañemos en el rio con los caballos y comimos comida rica y pasabamos super bien!
Estoy feliz en el camino y espero por el viaje mañana!

Thres, dos, uno.... anda!

YaY! I will be starting my trip this weekend! First stop is in the beautiful Valle de Elqui where I will stop at an Ecological Village to volunteer for my stay. I will be stopping at these villages, two in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and in Mexico: http://ecological-farms.blogspot.com/. I cant wait!!! The programs consist of a small fee between $5-10 and working between 4-6 hours daily. They are vegetarian only and have permaculture and yoga classes daily. I plan on taking a week for each camp including travel time in order to make it to Mexico my June.
These last few days here in Santiago I will be focused on preparing for my journey and wrapping things up until next year. I am currently washing my laundry and packing up my backpack in preparation for my departure this weekend. This afternoon I plan on stopping in at the Latinoamericana School of Chinese Medicine http://www.medicinachina.cl/ to do some research about studying in 2011.
I will try to post once a week between ranches and it looks like I'll see some of you in about 8 weeks!

MOCHILIANDO

Las ultimas horas de verano vienen
Las ojas estan secando
y los dias oscurando
El viento ya cambiado direccion
y lleva el olor de otono
quemadito aun frescito

Los signos los veo tan claro
El momento esta cercando
Lo de alla que me llama

Me llama mae
cara de negrita
me llaman gringita loca
la unica
si po jackie me dicen
¿Por que te vayas?
Me llaman hasta al norte digo yo
Y norte voy

Cerrando las cosas
Abriendo las puertas
Conectado con energia
Distancia no existe

Hay que empezar el viaje

Jackies Big Adventure

Hi family and friends, I write to you from my house for which I have much carino for. Especially with all of the terremotos its nice to feel the protection of her strong foundation and firm walls. I am so thankful for here, for Chile for the life I live and for the luck and protection that follows me wherever I go. I must admit that my cup is more than overflowing and I couldn't be any more happy and content. I continue planning my trip north and it seems I will be leaving shortly. I will not be driving north in my vw bus this year but will be happy to pick it up next year on my trip back down to Chile. I am currently working on a route north and am looking forward to visiting friends and family along the way.
The time again has yet approached, preparation is underway and the next adventure is about to begin!! Although in times like these it is easy to stress I figure the only way to take a trip like this is to take it like you take life...day by day or as they say "paso a paso." I must say that I will be sad to leave my community of friends and cosmic family and yet I know they will be here when I get back so as always I bid farewell to those I care much about.

A Las Playas de Nacimiento

I am quite amazed with how quickly the time has passed, and forward bound I continue ahead with my journeys. Over the past few months many things have become quite clear in my life adventures and I am taking them on with energy and excitement. My time here in Santiago is no where near over, yet my roots are pulling loose and I set out once again to travel, this time back to las playas de nacimiento, como las tortugas. Im am fine tuning day by day, and paso y paso the departure date for Jackie's Big Adventure nears. April seems to be the chosen month however there are some things that must take place before, including residency and a work/student visa.
I am in the process of signing a work contract that allows for my visa, meanwhile I am searching out an acupuncture school here in Santiago and planning for my drive North. Between paperwork and the restaurant I have been playing guitar and working in my garden. I recently harvested lavender and mint for my artisan massage oils and shooting out from my compost I have squash, two huge tomato plants, an avocado tree, potatoes and onions. A few of my girlfriends and I are working on writing up a residential recycling program and working on creating teaching programs for organic gardening and compost in the school systems (if you have any ideas please pass them on!). I will be sure to keep you all posted as the projects keep rolling and my last 8 weeks or so come to a close. Sending love on the wind!!

Casillero del Diablo

Yesterday I spent the day in one of the local Chilean vineyards outside of Santiago, Concha y Toro. We were treated as first class guests with a personal guide, a special tour of the house and cellar, and a special wine and cheese tasting in a private tasting room where we got to interview one of the owners. We will have a followup visit within the next few weeks and later be touring Chile and Mendoza, Argentina through these wine tastings and interviews as a photographer.
As some of you know my future plans include a road trip from Venezuela to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico where I will join my family for my cousin Shannie's wedding. Afterwhich I will be heading North to CA and OR. Little by little the dream continues to come together. It looks like I will be leaving Chile sometime in April and heading to Venezuela with a friend of mine, Fernando. Fernando has gifted me a '73 VW bus which he toured South America in four times. The motor has recently been reconstructed and the bed and other luxuries have also been rebuilt. The only rule is that when I'm done, I must also gift the car to a fellow traveler. I can't put into words how thankful I am and how lucky I feel to have the friends and family that I do.

Feliz Ano

Happy New Year to all!! I hope each one of you passed it well! They say the first twelve days of the new year represent the twelve months, and I must say my last twelve days have been quite prosperous and enjoyable! I spent the New Year in Valparaiso, a beautiful beach town just outside of Santiago. I went with Ale and Mili and we stayed with a friend of ours who runs local theater programs. We took a bus into the city and spent the afternoon in the plaza drinking white wine from the bottle and basking in the sun. After a lovely lunch and siesta we made our plans for the evening of which the second most famous firework show in the world was to take place.
Before the big show we went to a very popular lookout where we had a perrrfect view of the entire coastline. The full moon sat above crowning the lighted hills and salty ocean. As the last minutes of 2009 nine passed and the first of 2010 began the lights of the city went black, the bottles of champagne popped, and the sky exploded with seven different fuegos arteficiales up and down the coast. It was quite a magical experience. After the most incredible light show I have ever seen we took off to the center where we danced followed by more dancing followed by even more dancing until nine in the morning! We danced salsa, we rocked out, we jumped and sang and laughed and smiled all night long. For breakfast we went to the central market and filled our bellies with the fresh and traditional sopa de mariscos followed by yerba mate we took a collectivo to Vina del Mar and spent the morning on the beach. After a fresh swim we had completos for lunch we exhaustively headed back to the city.

Merry Christmas!

Epoca Nueva

I love how in a blink of an eye your whole world can change! As of recent my world has begun to move and I am quite content running along with it. Despedida La Nathalie as of Tuesday, fue quite an emotional event however it passed well. Nathalie's last week here was quite amazing, we went surfing in Pichilemu, we hiked Provencia (2750 metros), had amazing dinners and did lots of packing. She's bounding off to be a lanky snow bunny in CA and CO. I still feel as if I just arrived--its amazing how fast time flies! I'm going to miss sleepovers and I am looking forward to hiking the mountains and surfing the seas solita. My other gringos, Andy and Alex are also heading back to the homeland--I cant wait to see where the wind takes them. My Chilean life has really begun to solidify and if all goes to plan I will have my work visa by the end of the week (if not I'm hopping off to Argentina for a bit).
This last week I became staff for Revolver Santiago Online Magazine, I am overjoyed in every sense of the way! I am delighted to say that I was published for the first time yesterday http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/index.php/en/agenda/featured-events/23-agenda/542-preview-javiera-mena-at-el-clan.html! Tonight with much wind under my wings I head out to cover the event and the article will hopefully be published within the week.
Here at Casa Mujica we are preparing for our international Christmas dinner. We have over 16 people that will be joining us on Christmas eve, including our Cuban friends that are not allowed to return to visit their families (the consequences of certain political decisions). We are each preparing a dish that represents our cultural background, I will be making pumpkin pies, one with sugar and one with sacarina, due to the recent discovery of abnormally high amounts of sugar in my blood. With some small changes of diet I should be able to prevent full blown diabetes. I will also be making Mama Carmen's Mexican rice to accompany the Cuban black beans our Cuban friends will be making and the cerdo costiallar that Laura, my Bolivan housemate will be preparing. We also have a Spanish gaspacho, Chilean salad and Chilean pollo asado on the menu. I'm hoping to add homemade tortillas to our cena but first I need to locate a tortilla squisher.
Although family is on the mind often during this time of year, I am super thankful for the people surrounding me, I am being very well taken care of. Sending lots of love and cariño to all my family and friends! Besitos!!

La Ciudad

Santiago is a city where many walks of life come together, where history is living, it is in the faces of the old women on the subways and whispered in slang at the central market. I have come to love this city, the people, and my projects.
As of recent, I will begin writing, translating, and possibly editing for Revolver, a Santiago online magazine, http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/. It has been a dream of mine to write and be published, I'm so stoked I can hardly breath! Apart from that project, working at the restaurant has been great and I get along tremendously well with all of my coworkers and friends.

Somebody asked me the other day, “What do you study?”
I told them, “Life.”

Life collects
in piles
in stacks of smells
in stains of memory
and crinkled photos
It collects
on the spine between the bones
like spiderwebs
It folds
catching sand in the creases
peeling up and leaving sticky
residue behind
It softens
your ice cream
stretches your jeans
and breaks in your shoes
It builds
in scraps of paper
collected shells
and textured walls

And every once in a while
the river takes a detour
and you trickle down the rocks
and settle into a little pond
You watch the butterflies kiss
the water
the elegant skidders stride
on their magnificent little paws
You talk to the wind
and listen
meditating on the bliss
that resides in the tadpole

Life is grown
life is in everything
in the trees
and the wind
in the water
Life trickles in
and gushes out
in the full moon surges
in the taste of blood
the ceremonial dance and burning

It needs oiled and waxed
plucked, groomed, and lotioned
it needs communication, projects
love
it needs the touch of the sun's
hand upon your shoulder
the red kiss upon your cheeks

It sleeps in tears of solitude
and naps in pains from laughter
It is in scrapes and burns and chipped paint
It is in leftovers and memorized recipes
old keys and tattered towels
It is carried in the body
in the pores of physical memories
It is woken in the sleep of a child
in morning lips and swollen eyes
It comes in cycles
it rejuvenates
it dies
It pulses and vibrates
to a specific tone
it's precision is mathematical
procession lyrical
connections undeniable
It tans and leathers
then returns back to the dust
back to La Pachamama

El Dia de Acción de Gracias

This is a poem written by an old and true to spirit poet, mi viejo Alejandro Stuart, we meet at his house for a Kahuin every Tuesday night to share our poetry.

“EL DIA DE ACCIÓN DE DES...GRACIA”

En los Estados Unidos
en noviembre hay una fiesta
con una mesa bien puesta
con charrisimos vestidos
y los rosros compungidos
por la solemne ocasión
en recuerdo de la acción
de gracias por la abundancia
con pulciritud y elegancia
se comparte la emoción.

Luego le entran al pavo
con un relleno sabroso
los festejantes golosos
comen los platos colmados
con frutas aderezados
con surtidos vegetales
con pasteles y a raudales
se brindan los ricos vinos
Que vivan los peregrinos!
exclaman los comensales.

Celebran supuestamente
una fecha de la historia
escrita con falsa gloria
al inventar que la gente
nativos de este continente
les dieron la bienvenida
sin sentir la desmedida
codicia de los europeos
eso yo nunca lo creo
invasores genocidas.

Los indios todo pusieron
los pavos y las verduras
los panes ue sabrosura
todito se lo comieron
y los vinos se bebieron
hasta quedar embriagados
y ahi los desalmados
los mataron a traición
les robaron su nación
y los dejaron esclavos

Y unos gringos ya concientes
de la maldad y falsia
han tomando la medida
y lo apoyan firmemente
no come pavo esta gente
ellos cocinan salmón
un cordero o un lechón
y aunque el ave es un regalo
o una hora de salario
lo evitan de corazón.

Y latinoamericanos
que llegamos hasta el Norte
no es que a noos no nos importe
es más bien que recordamos
que el común de los humanos
nunca ha puesto en su plato
guajolote tan barato
se aprovecha la ocasión
ya que aquí por tradición
lo comen hasta los gatos
chingao...

San Francisco-1991

Alejandro Stuart

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Hola Familia!!
I'm sitting up in my little tower-of-a-room feeling as if I'm looking out over all of Santiago. A crescent moon and Orion's belt framing my view. My kitchen counter is covered with pots and pans filled with cut veggies in preparation for tomorrow. Potatoes are diced and ready to boil, corn husked and ready to steam, artichokes washed, carrots peeled, zucchini sliced, freshly cubed bread left out to dry for stuffing, and a to-do list all laid out. My fridge is chilling dough and guarding pumpkin pie filling. The smell of fresh nutmeg lingers on my fingers.
Its spring here, the leaves are freshly green and flowers are exploding all over the city. Not a trace of a reddening leaf, Santa Ana Autumn breeze, or dry Indian summer.
I think about all of you: Brian's house with our three pointer baby Luke and the puppies, everyone gathered around the table. Auntie Vickies deviled eggs, Shannie's cheesecake, wine, Kevin and Uncle Mike's jokes and lots of laughter. Shannie and Ian's engagement and wedding plans a hot topic for conversation. Mama Carmen and Papa Red's house, with their freshly painted kitchen, Dad, Kaylyn and the boys gathered around the kitchen table, Kaylyn's fresh pies, Mama Carmen's stuffing and the boys playing music. Mom, Kurt and Sam at Gail's ranch house with our young cousins the dogs and boardgames with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Doug. Maddie in the bay area with her mom and brothers. The still newlyweds Steve and Miranda floating somewhere in between.
I think about Thanksgiving, about giving thanks. I have so much to be thankful for. I truly couldn't be happier day to day, but when I begin to remember holding back tears does not become a priority. I miss my family.
Tomorrow I have much planned to keep me busy: In the morning I would like to go to the Extranjeria to begin the process for my work visa (however it is growing late), then to La Vega to pick up the last ingredients for our Dia de Acción de Gracias feast. Then back to the house to begin cooking. Guests should be arriving around five and we will hopefully be eating by six. Our Manu Chau concert begins at nine and we would like to arrive with anticipation.
Our table tomorrow will be set with a giant turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted veggies, Chilean wines, sangria, and pumpkin pie. All of my gringos and best Chilean friends will be present: un trozo de mi familia cosmico.
You will all be with me tomorrow as I introduce my Chileans to a real California Thanksgiving. I want to send all of you my love and energy. I hope you feel my presence as you gather together and I ask that one of you at each table take the time to read this aloud before you commence your feast.
I love you and miss you all so so much!
Kisses, hugs, and laughter,
Tu hija, hermana, y prima,
Jacks

Current Time: 17:00 hours

Currently I am sitting in a hammock in the backyard with the dogs. It is an overcast day and all the green of spring surrounds me. We are discussing when we will have our Dia de Accion de Gracias Cena.
As Thanksgiving approaches we find ourselves thinking of family and friends. I miss you all so much! I will be posting for Thanksgiving and I ask that someone at each table read my post so that I may be there with you in spirit. Manu Chau is playing next Thursday and all of my American friends and a good number of my Chilean friends will be giving thanks at their concert!
Nathalie's birthday is this weekend and we will be carrete(ing) at the house on Saturday and I am very happy to have the night off work to celebrate with her!
I have finally moved back into my room and started my garden, I am also very lucky to have been lent a guitar that I will hopefully be strumming on within the week! Now that I have only one job I am taking advantage of my free time and frequenting La Vega or the central market and will be tromping through and exploring more of this fabulous city! All is well and I pinch myself several times a day to make sure I'm not dreaming! I just want to thank all of you for your support and love! I appreciate all the messages and emails that I receive, keep on sending them!!

Raices De La Tierra

I was invited to a shaman Encuentro that took place right outside of Casa Blanca not to far from the city. It was a gathering of shaman from Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia, and Chile who all met together to symbolically unite the tribes of the Americas. There were approximately 900 people at the gathering.
I met Andrea and Naty, two girls who I work with at Como Agua Para Chocolate on Friday afternoon and we immediately began to participate in the ceremonies.
That night we all took part in a temescal. Temescal originates from the tribe in Mexico, it is a type of sauna that represents the center of the earth. There were three temescal tents (round and rather low to the ground), each with a hole dug in the center. A giant bonfire is built around a pile of rocks and we one by one place a handful of tobacco along with a positive offering of the mind/spirit into the fire. Then we file into these tents and squeeze all together. They begin to bring in the red hot rocks and place them in the pit and singing commences. There are four doors to the tent that are sequentially opened and as they are opened more rocks are brought in. Water is placed on the rocks and we continue to sing, give thanks, and sweat out all our toxins. Unfortunately no words can describe the beauty and energy of the temescal and all I can recommend is that if you ever get the opportunity to participate in one, please dont hesitate.
The set up of the Encuentro was very well done, we bountifully ate delicious quinoa, salads, and bread. As a whole we produced very little waste as we had a compost area and everyone did their part to pick up trash and respect the land.
On Saturday Nathalie joined us and we participated in a ceremony of love originating from the tribes of Bolivia, we sang and danced and gave thanks. Afterward another temescal took place and we spent the evening working with Shaman from Columbia. Although difficult to explain I was able to let go of fear, fear of the future, fear of love, and come to peace with all the troubles of the past and be open for the future.
The next morning I woke refreshed and our little tribe ate a lovely breakfast of eggs and toast, sweet oatmeal with almonds and later walked out to the bluffs to soak up the sun.
We all participated in the closing ceremony, dancing and singing, and Andrea and I left to head back to the city to work at our cozy restaurant.
Although we were not able to take photos of the ceremonies I have pictures that I will upload of our time on the bluffs as soon as I get them developed (yes, old school style).
I am very thankful for the time at the Encuentro and I hope to participate in the following years. Peace and Love.

Pichilemu

This last weekend Nathalie, Kate, Alex and I took a trip to la playa!! It was so nice to feel the salty arctic winds blowing through my hair! Its amazing how the ocean can be such a powerful healer. We left on Saturday morning and spent the whole day walking up and down the beach. We rented an apartment for the four of us and spent the evening drinking red wine and watching horses and people pass along the dirt road. Good conversation, music and dancing filled our hearts. Pichulemu is a very quite town with beautiful waves and friendly people. On Sunday morning Alex and I woke up and watched the waves then had a lovely breakfast of yogurt, cheese and bread, and chocolate milk. We bid our farewells and returned to the city. Sometimes I forget how beautiful a sunset on the beach can be. Next time you get the opportunity to see one, think of me and I will receive your love!