Bagual

Quick recap: a couple weeks ago I finished my stint as the housekeeper and fire-tender of House Antarctica, the home of my adviser and his family, who were visiting family and working with collaborators in the United States. It was a blissful six weeks: I ate well, worked as I pleased, sweated in the sauna, and adventured with Ailén whenever the rain and snow stopped.

They returned a couple weeks back, and now I live in a tiny home on the same land. I made the decision early on to keep the water shut off so I could avoid needing to maintain a fire to prevent the pipes from freezing. There is a small stove and kitchen counter in the room and I do pretty well! I basically live in a refrigerator, so I don't worry too much about leaving leftovers overnight, storing produce, or keeping yogurt for a few days (kind of obsessed at the moment, no apologies). I cook for the family occasionally, usually squash refried beans or flax oat loaves. They have been extremely generous, kind, and welcoming; I've started tagging along on their field adventures, although they're not explicitly part of my project. Exploring Patagonia on skis, don’t mind if I do... The field sites are increasingly difficult to access due to the snow accumulation, and the other night we ended up skiing for a few hours by moonlight! The youths seem to have warmed up to my presence: yesterday morning walking to the outhouse, I heard calls of 'Mickey Mouse!' in the distance. They've adopted a new dog ('Fire engine'), so including the neighbor dog Mensual (yes, his name is 'Monthly'), Ailén, and Delfina the cat, I'm surrounded by animals!

Life is objectively more difficult: heating up rainwater to do dishes, outdoor sponge baths (also with rainwater), drying wet socks and shoes in sunshine, getting out of bed when it's below 0ºC etc. For whatever reason, I love it! The days grow longer and the sun rises higher in the northern sky. I’ve been spending many hours on a bench outside sipping mate, soaking up the sun, and contemplating the horizon.

Looking to the future...I was originally planning to ramble on at the end of August, but my adviser and family have invited me to stay on indefinitely, and I am quite pleased to take them up on this offer! That said, I’m taking two weeks in September to volunteer at Lago Yelcho, a resort in the Valdivian rain forest to the north! I’ll chop wood, maintain the orchard, spend some time in the nearby nature (Parque Nacional Corcovado), and scope out some spots that we might be able to visit in October with family. I have put in a hefty amount of time on my project and remained relatively grounded thus far, so I have no qualms with setting down the work for a bit and traveling with a purpose. My weather stations need to be downloaded every ~45 days, things are progressing with my collaboration with the Dirección General de Aguas, and I’m offering a Python workshop in the spring for a watershed hydrology class at the Universidad de Aysén.

I will admit it was difficult getting out of bed today - quite chilly - but after the first sip of mate, I am stoked for a ski day at Reserva Trapananda!