We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Blog Post...

I know I said that today would come a goal review, but in the midst of finishing papers and moving to a new apartment, I honestly did not have time for such a task - perhaps an indication that a review is in good order. Nevertheless, as I was cleaning my last apartment and getting ready for the final walk through, I had a few thoughts about my former home.

There was some kind of emotional attachment to that old, rickety building. It's not that I didn't mind the scent of marijuana pervading the air, or the toilet so bashful to flush it would never relinquish any of its crap to the septic tank without a "gentle" coaxing from our plunger twice a day. We got over the fact that the plastic wall of our shower was installed upside down, leaving the shelves with a nice, downward-sloping 45-degree angle. Nevermind that our heating had two settings, Seventh-Circle-of-Hell and Off, and our localized A/C was rarely able to cool anything beyond a small 5-foot perimeter in the corner of our kitchen. And we got used to the fact that the people below us were chronic chain smokers who must have enjoyed making us feel like we were living in Joan Rivers' left lung. Occasionally even a bit of poop water would splash on our clothing for the second or third time in a week, and we'd naturally grow weary of living there.

But there were still memories from our 7-month stay. Good ones, actually. The place had character, windows in every room, the feel of downtown. Not just the "there's-another-drunken-fight-in-the-parking-lot-at-3-am-because-some-guy's-baby-momma-won't-let-him-stay-out-with-his-friends-to-get-trashed" feel. There honestly, is a sort of sense of community there. When you pass the barista you know from the local coffee shop or that guy who just bought a mo-ped because gas is so expensive or that server who always brings you your drinks at the local lounge, you feel like you belong to something bigger. You are a part of thriving culture that relies on its relational connections to survive, not on the main-stream media that are hit radio stations and MTV. It's a culture that values the artistic expression of ideas.

I will miss that character, and I hope to stay connected to that downtown culture. Maybe someday I will move back there to reconnect with character. Even if it's at the expense of convenience.

-Taylor

Back in the Swing

There's always some sort of period of readjustment that takes place when you come back from a vacation. In one sense, you've lost momentum that you have to make up for. In another sense though, you could have used the time to revitalize somewhat. I hope this week I can get back on track with some momentum.

As far as blogging, I think I'll do a few "update" things this week. I'm definitely in need of a goal review, which will come out on Wednesday. And I think Friday, I might present some of my findings from a big research project I've been working on the past few months.

Besides blogging, however, this week is a little scattered. I don't have classes that are meeting, so there is little in my schedule that is fixed around which I usually structure my day. That's not to say there isn't plenty to do. I have to finish my research project, which really just entails editing and forming a presentation from the paper. And I have to move into a new apartment today and tomorrow.

Anyone wanting to view some photos from my trip to Chile can look at my two Facebook albums. They should be configured so that anyone (with or without a Facebook account) can view the albums. The first album covers my visits to Santiago, Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar. The second album finishes up Viña and continues on through Puerto Varas and finally to Chiloe.

-Taylor Baldwin

Home Again...

Well, I'm back from Chile today. The whole experience was absolutely amazing. Nature is somehow much more untouched and pristine there. Life teems everywhere. Plants grow out of plants which grow out of the bark of trees. Everyday evidence of what makes its home in the ocean comes in on the small fishing ships. And nothing is wasted. The heads and feet of pigs are readied and sold in the display cases at the local super grocery conglomerates. They are used to make soups. The intestines are typically dried and sold by street vendors. The huge sea plants that wash ashore are similarly dried and eaten as snacks, their saltiness coming directly from the sea water they grow in.

The people and their way of life is also quite remarkable. Rising every few hours to put more wood in the stove that heats the house. Gathering in large groups at dinner tables with all kinds of food and fellowship. The people are extremely generous and kind. No one pours their own wine without first refilling everyone else's at the table. All these things really made me love the place. Still, for all that love, I really did miss home. Now let me rest a bit, and I will post more soon.

-Taylor

Valparaiso & Viña del Mar

A few days ago I visited Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, two coastal cities about an hour and a half from Santiago. These cities were incredibly gorgeous and perfectly complimentary. Valpo (Valparaiso's more common nickname) is the old city. Art and culture are plastered on the winding walls that twist and turn up the mountains, creating a great maze of streets and developments, all built one on top of the other, and all looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The city is fairly large for Chile, but has a very quaint feeling to it. As in all the cities, dogs roam the streets, and friendly people bid you to come into their "rincones" to see what they have to sell. We had children run up to us and plainly ask "¿De qué pais son?" - "What country are you from?" We'd respond, "De los estados unidos, ¿y tú?", and they'd giggle and say "¡De Chile, claro!" before running away.

Viña is a different city. Separated by only a few kilometers and a 90-cent subway ride, you wouldn't expect such a contrast. Casinos and modern hotels line the beaches; English is displayed on the signs of the local Blockbuster and McDonald's. The dogs are still there, though fewer of them (we are told that when several dignitaries, including President Bush, visited awhile back, the government rounded them up and sent them to be put to sleep), but the streets are always clean. The beach is gorgeous but is not for swimming. Some of the largest waves in the world crash against the jagged rocks that lie on either side of most of the public beaches, creating a deep bass the shakes the ground and resonates in your chest. It isn't the charming Valpo, but it is definitely beautiful how these two cities come together, making up for what the other lacks.

-Taylor

The Unexpected

If I've learned one thing on my trip to Chile so far, it's that the unexpected always happens, and you can either let it affect you in a good way or a bad way. I think I've found that if you embrace it, whatever it is, you can find the good in it and enjoy life for exciting and unexpected things that happen.

We arrived in Osorno this morning on a 10-hour, over-night bus ride from Santiago. Lost and freezing, we wandered the streets at 8 o'clock this morning. There were a few things we needed to accomplish and soon. First, we needed to find a place to stay. It needed to be cheap, and we had to be able to leave our stuff there for awhile. Second, we needed to figure out how to get to Antillanca, the volcano we would be using for snowboarding. And third, we needed to get some food in our stomachs. I had been throwing up for the past few days and eating little, so now that I was feeling better, I needed to get some nutrition to make up for what I lost and energy for the snowboarding to come.

Thankfully, we found a place to stay fairly quickly. The nice old babushka let us leave our stuff there and even use her personal room to change into snowboarding gear. We paid her 14,000 pesos for a double and promised to return that evening after snowboarding. Next, we searched for a bus to take us to Antillanca. The best we could find was a bus that would take us as far as Aguas Calientes, the hot springs near the volcano. From there, we were told we could catch another bus to the base of the volcano.

We rode for about an hour and half, drifting in and out of consciousness. I'd wake up one moment to see the bus packed full, people crowding the aisles, drifting off again, and waking up to mostly empty seats. We cut around mountains, peered down into valleys full of water, and across the lakes to see waterfalls crashing across the rocks in the distance, falling what seemed like hundreds and hundreds of feet. We finally arrived, exited the bus, and asked around about how to make it up to the base of the volcano. 

Everyone was confused by our question. Finally, someone explained that buses don't go to Antillanca. You have to have your own car or hitchhike with someone. We wandered the national park near Aguas Calientes, literally just a few miles from Argentina, thinking of what we could possibly do. With no cars passing through the area, however, we had to lay our hopes of snowboarding to rest for the day. What we found instead though, was a great meal at the restaurant near the hot springs, a beautiful hike through the forest, and a much-needed siesta back at the hostel when we returned.

We embraced the unexpected, looked to the positive, and now refuse to imagine it happening any other way. The unexpected in life is exciting and beautiful.

-Taylor

Chile

Cell-phone-less I enter the airport and check my bag. The stress lately has me worried about almost everything, and even now I can't help but think, what if this bag never makes it to Santiago?

But I'm letting go. In a sense, I'm forced to think about it. As the plane cuts through the clouds, and the landscape below unfolds in patterns, we are all letting go of the earth for a brief moment. Making our way amongst and in-between the towered, cottoned plumes, held suspended in the sky, I catch glimpses of detail in them when light hits a darkened crevice and scatters.

The wine is wearing off for now. It was about 2 hours ago that I finished a glass of the '97 vintage red blend from California. We came across it while hunting for a California Cabernet to gift my host family. I think it's a nice gift. Who doesn't like wine? It's luscious and rich. It's not immediately gratifying, but with patience its complexities are understood, appreciated, and supremely admired. Once opened it begins transforming itself - into so many things - flavors of herbs, spices, fruits or nuts. But perhaps its greatest trait is that it can transform the most adamantly stressed into a near-sighted epicurean. Perhaps on this trip, a little wine will serve to remind me that all of this is about letting go.

-Taylor

Amy Tan on Creativity

Well, it wouldn't be a theme week without a video from TED.com to cap it off. This one features the prominent author Amy Tan. She talks about her childhood and creativity, but some of the most insightful parts of her lecture come when she shares from her travels to the East.




-Taylor