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.