The Rodeo

Chile’s national rodeo is held in Rancagua each April. Brother Diaz, who does repair work for the Church and has become our friend, invited us to accompany him and his wife to the rodeo. Chilean style rodeos have only one event. As seen through the eyes of this gringo, the event involves a team of two mounted horseman (called huasos) controlling the movement of a calf using only their horses. They stop the calf at three designated places around the perimeter of the half-mooned shaped arena (called la medialuna). One horse/rider is positioned to the calf’s front with the other to the rear. Stopping the calf involves the horses slamming and hopefully pinning the calf against a padded wall, then reversing the bewildered animal’s direction, and moving it to the next padded station – three slams and the calf is driven from the arena. The teams are awarded points according to their proficiency. The rodeo lasts for three days with a national champion crowned in Sunday’s finals. There is a big money prize (about 50 million pesos or $100,000) goes to the champion and along with much national prestige.

Elder and Hermana Mason posing with our friend Hermano Diaz.

Chilean huasos or cowboys, in their traditional flat-brimmed sombreros, colorful mantas (ponchos), super-sized spurs, and beautiful horses warm up for the rodeo.

Sombreros and spurs for sale by rodeo vendors.

La Feria

Hermana Mason strolling through the neighborhood feria. Today we bought plums, pears, apples, grapes, and tomatoes.

The feria (pronounced “fair-e-a”) or open market is a fun shopping activity to buy fruits and vegetables. It is held each morning in a different area of the city, and each day moves from area to area – Wednesdays in Manzanal (south Rancagua near where we go to church), Fridays in Cachapol (central Rancagua near the mission office), Saturdays in Villa el Sol (northeast part of Rancagua), etc. Shoppers (mostly women) roll their small wire carts from stall-to-stall, inspect, and select produce for their week’s meals. Prices are incredibly low. The fruits and vegetables come directly from the local farms and are sold by feria vendors.

Produce arrives by truck or horse cart.

Squash for sale by the slice for 200 pesos (about 60 cents per kilo). Sanitation is not a big concern here – notice the saw to cut off a slice of squash. We soak everything that we buy in a mild Clorox solution, then rinse - and have never gotten ill (so far).

A weathered Chilean woman selling beans.

The Mission Office is a Busy Place

Every six weeks we have “cambios” or changes. New missionaries arrive while others return home. President Resek’s policy is that no elder finish his mission in the office. As a result, the mission office is a place of constantly changing faces. Each change deeply affects my tender-hearted companion, Hermana Mason, and I reassure her each time that this type of change is good.

The office is also a place of numerous visitors. Mondays (the mission’s P-Day or preparation day) is especially busy as Elders and Sisters living in the Rancagua area come to the office to pick up their mail and leave off receipts for reimbursements from yours truly, El Financero. On several occasions the office has been a refuge for recuperating elders. Delivery men, salesmen, repair men, local church leaders, and Presidente and Hermana Resek complete the interesting cast of characters populating the office. The office is often a chaotic place where today’s panic is quickly eclipsed by tomorrow’s problem.

Hermana Mason preparing the Mission Newsletter: El Mensajero

Christmas in the Office with Hermana Mason and Elder Del Guercio. In the background are photos (baseball cards) of all current missionaries.

Assistants to the President: Elder Rosales from Costa Rica by way of Tennessee and Elder Del Guercio from Uruguay

Office Visitors: Hermana Haws from Ohio and Hermana Arango from Colombia

San Fernando

San Fernando is a busy little town located in a fruit producing valley about 30 minutes south of Rancagua. My Guide to Chile says that San Fernando is “a good place to get your tractor fixed”. We have several church branches and chapels in San Fernando, and a growing church membership supported by six missionaries. The above photo of Elder Mason in his panama hat was taken adjacent to one of the chapels. Chapels here in Chile are very modern and neatly kept. Almost all properties, chapels included, have tall security fences, controlled entry to the property, and bars on the windows. Vandalism and theft is a constant problem in this culture.

On one of our trips to San Fernando, Barb and I took a bus ride into the campo (countryside) to a place called Romo. The ride included dirt roads, countless fields, irrigation ditches, dilapidated farm houses, and interesting people. At the bus station, two ancianos (old ones) were having a serious conversation (see photo below). On our bus was 14-year old Alvaro (see photo) with his younger brother and their very haggard mother. Alvaro was the 12th child in his family and was quite fascinated with our inability to speak his native language. At a brief stop at the bus turnaround, we met two cheerful Chilean farm workers pushing their bicycles to a nearby field. These hard working people live very close to the soil.

Viña del Mar

Over the Christmas holidays we took a short break from our hectic office life in Rancagua and went on a mini-vacation to Viña del Mar. Viña is a popular beach area west of Santiago on the Pacific Ocean. We arrived on Christmas Eve (Wednesday) and spent the next two days exploring the area. We walked a lot, experienced fine dining every day, and enjoyed the mild temperatures. One day we took the subway (Metro) to neighboring Valparaiso, a large harbor city adjacent to Viña. Its waterfront, steep hills, colorful row houses and unique history reminded us of San Francisco.


We arrived in Viña by bus. Buses are very comfortable and are an inexpensive way to travel from city to city. We stayed in a very nice motel a short distance from the beach. Across the street was a Metro station. There are lots of vendors and activities along the beach such as a Punch & Judy puppet showand horse drawn carriages. A popular Viña tourist site is the beautiful flower clock that keeps perfect time. The famous Rodin sculpture “La Defensa” is in front of a museum. A river flows through Viña and out to the sea. A high wall protects the city from the Pacific. We took a harbor cruise in Valparaiso. Valparaiso has many hills and winding streets and colorful buildings. There are lots of stairs to climb in Valparaiso, and instead of cable cars, they use ascensors (cable drawn slanting elevators) to get residents and tourists up and down the numerous hills for a nominal fee. The tiled surface in one of Valparaiso´s plazas is an optical illusion.

October 2008

Traveling has been the theme for this month - a welcome change from the office routine (although the office work piles up when we are away).

Santiago
Early in October I was invited to a training seminar at church headquarters in Santiago for the finance secretaries (financieros) from the missions in this area. Since there was no car available that day and since you can’t get from Rancagua to Santiago by train by 8 am, Barb and I opted to travel by train at mid-day on the previous day, stay overnight at the church's hospedaje (hostel), and attend the temple that evening. The accommodations were great, as was the temple experience. Barb even attended the temple the next morning while I was in my seminar. We had a great get-away and some R&R for two days. I even bought a snappy new hat to protect my balding head from the strong Chilean sun.

Later in the month, Barb again went to Santiago, this time with the office Elders and several Hermanas to complete some legal documents. Shown are Harmanas Mason and Arango beside the temple . Sister Arango is from Colombia and she and her companion, Sister Pena, live in our apartment building. We have become quite good friends, and many mornings they tutor us in spanish.

More Improvements to our Apartment
We continue to upgrade our apartment. No. 1 recent improvement is to our study which Barb uses every morning to study Spanish while I sleep . No. 2 improvement is our “Cabo Room” which now has two wicker chairs with cushions that we had made at a local tapiceria (upholstery shop), a small end table to match our very small balcony, and several potted plants. Our most recent purchase was a parrilla (barbeque).

Reserva Nacional Rio de Los Cipreses
Several weeks ago on our p-day, Barb & I and the office elders took a trip to a national park located to the east of Rancagua in the Andean foothills. The park sets in huge glacial valley and several glaciers are the source of the Cachapoal river which flows near Rancagua. We took our new parrilla along for a picnic lunch. Afterward we took a hike to a small waterfall, then did a little sightseeing on the way home.

Pichilemu
Last Friday, we went for another fun trip, this time to the Pacific ocean and the small beach community of Pichilemu. We have 2 elders in Pichilemu and they needed a new house (they have been without electricity for 2 months). So after taking care of the housing problem we explored the beach area and the small town. Nearby is Punto de Lobos, a popular destination for serious surfers (at times the waves here are 40 feet high). The church in Pichilemu looks more like a temple that a chapel for only 40 active members.

El Campo

And finally - I have made several trips in the campo (countryside) to do financial audits of several small branches. This involves traveling over some of the narrow backroads to very small towns like Puemo and Pichedegua, meeting the local church leaders, asking questions, examining their books, and completing the required paperwork. This region of Chile is very agricultural with numerous wine vineyards. Elder Sappenfield (the previous financiero and my mentor) accompanied me on one of the financial audits, and we stopped along the way for a closer look at one of the many fields of grapes.

Early September 2008

Spring in Chile
Late August & early September are very much like April & May in the U.S. with many trees and shrubs in full -blossom. Last week we went to Santiago (1 hour north) and to San Fernando (1 hour south). Along the way we passed huge orchards of apples, plums, peaches, etc. with their pink and white flowers – beautiful! Field workers are busy pruning the vast fields of grapes that fill this large agricultural valley. They will need an army of workers to harvest the produce. Also of interest here are the many food processing plants like Dole, Del Monte, and others. I am fascinated with the differing methods of pruning and training the countless grapes and fruit trees to maximize their yield and make for ease of harvest - but more on this in a future blog. Also, I’ve decided that dandelions must be world-wide because they are now in full bloom, just like in my yard in April.

Shopping
“Jumbo” (pronounced “joom-bow”) is the largest and most modern supermarket complex here in Rancagua, with attached “Paris” (an up-scale department store), “Easy” (a Home Depot clone), and a strip mall (complete with bank, dry cleaners, beauty shop, Dunkin Donut, etc.). Jumbo provides one-stop shopping to the city. Except for its very cramped parking, Jumbo rivals anything in the U.S. for one-stop convenience. In the photo notice the grocery baggers. They work for very low wages and receive a tip for their service from all shoppers. (We typically tip with a 100 peso coin or about 20 cents). The practice of tipping baggers is similar to that we have encountered in Mexico. Jumbo is a ten to 15 minute bus ride from our apartment. Santa Isabel is a surpermercado only two blocks away, and they sell yummy ice cream. On the other end of the shopping scale are the numerous street vendors selling everything from vegetables, fruit, bread and candy to dog food and building supplies. Shown here is an old man pushing his cart and selling his brooms door-to-door. Most carts are powered by a horse, a bicycle, or a human (I’ve yet to see a motorized cart). Some vendors use a loud speaker, sound bells, or simply yell to announce their presence. What a way to earn a living!

My Batman Birthday Party
My 69th birthday was celebrated with a “Batman Bash”. It was attended by Elder and Hermana Batman, the six office Elders, and the two Hermanas that live in our apartment building. Barb prepared tacos complete with your choice of soft flour or hard shelled corn tortillas, seasoned hamburger, refried beans, guacamole, shredded cheese, and all the additional fixings for tacos or nachos. A good time was had by all including yours truly, the “Caped Crusader”. On the serious side, we do feel that our presence here in Chile as a senior couple provides the missionaries with a little bit of familiarity in a very foreign world.