From February 5th to the 16th, my
fellow YAGMs and I had the absolute privilege of exploring part of Patagonia,
the famous region of southern Argentina and Chile renowned for its majestic
mountains, deep, clear lakes, skiing and relaxed lifestyle. Specifically, our destination was the city of
San Carlos de Bariloche, which is a very popular tourist destination for
Argentines. In fact, Bariloche is the most
popular destination for high school graduation trips, an Argentine phenomenon
in which entire graduating classes organize a celebratory summer trip
together. We the YAGM 5 graduated from
high school several years ago, but we had a different pretext for going: the
mid-year YAGM retreat with our coordinator, Krystle!
Before we could enjoy the breathtaking natural beauty of
Bariloche, we had to earn it by enduring a 22 hour bus ride. OK, yes, I’m being a bit dramatic, but I can
tell you that 22 hours is a loonnng time to be on a bus. Luckily the bus was relatively comfortable, and
the other YAGMs and I had each other for company.
Those 22 hours were certainly worth it! San Carlos de Bariloche is located in the
foothills of the Andes on the shore of a large lake called Nahuel Muapi (which
means Tiger Island in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche tribe). So, needless to say, Bariloche has some of
the most beautiful natural scenery I have ever laid eyes on.
A view of the Catholic Cathedral with the Andes backdrop
Gorgeous shades of blue, and someone's hand
Too much beauty and serenity
Once we had arrived, we launched into a week full of
devotionals, workshops, hikes, and catching up with each other. In pairs we planned devotionals on the themes
of gathering, identity, community and gifts, and Krystle led a bible study
focused on “I am” statements in the Bible and how these images of God can
relate (or not relate) to our understandings of God’s presence in our host
communities.
Krystle also led a series of workshops that really got the
gears in our minds grinding. One drew on
Luke 10:38-42, the passage about Martha and Mary and their different roles in
welcoming Jesus into their house.
Krystle asked us to reflect on moments during our first six months in
which we have acted more like Martha (frantically attending to necessary tasks)
and moments in which we have acted more like Mary (being rather than doing,
listening attentively to others). Another
workshop asked us to examine US values (many of which we didn’t even realize
existed, much less that they were values we ourselves hold) and how these
values may have caused conflicts or misunderstandings in our interactions with
our host communities.
One of my favorite activities during the retreat was a
hands-on “marginalization exercise” which revealed the “two faces of
Bariloche.” The most well-known and most
visible “face” of Bariloche is the prosperous and idyllic tourist face. Downtown Bariloche blatantly caters to
tourists with its umpteen chocolate shops, beautiful restaurants, festive
decorations and tourist package promoters.
Walking through downtown Bariloche made me feel like I was at the North Pole
during Christmas (minus the temperature).
It’s so beautiful, but it also feels really fake.
The other “face” of Bariloche is the face of poverty and
Mapuche marginalization. Krystle took us
on a bus ride to “las alturas,” the poor neighborhoods on the edges of the
city, which are at a higher altitude (hence the name “alturas”). The majority of the people who live in these
neighborhoods are Mapuche, a people who were literally pushed off of their
homelands in battles of Argentine expansion, much like what happened with
Native Americans in the United States.
Mapuche activists continue to protest the capitalist exploitation of
their lands; we saw a lot of Mapuche graffiti and even witnessed a
manifestation downtown. The activists
chanted “la tierra robada será recuperada” (the stolen land will be
recovered).
I'm going to interrupt this post a bit to give you a little lesson in Mapudungun, the Mapuche language:
Mapu: Land
Che: People (and no, this is not related to the che of Argentine slang, that we know of)
Mapuchue: People of the Land
Mapuchue: People of the Land
Dungun: language
Mapu Tain: Our land
Nahuel Huapi: Tiger Island
Llao llao: a forest fruit
Unfortunately, I have noticed that the pairing of tourism
and oppression is a trend among the most naturally beautiful places in the
world. I remember reading an article
about tourism in Hawaii in a sociology class in college that brought up issues
similar to those experienced by the Mapuche in Bariloche. How can we reconcile our desire to visit
these beautiful places with the impact that our tourism has on the local
inhabitants? Maybe we can’t.
Something else I have difficulty reconciling when I think
about our trip to Bariloche is the inaccessibility of Bariloche to the majority
of Argentines, especially those Argentines who I have gotten to know in my host
communities. Most Argentines dream of
going to Bariloche, but only a small percentage make it there. This disparity felt very real to me as our
bus pulled out of retiro in Buenos Aires, because right behind the omnibus
station is a vast villa (slum). I can’t
imagine what it would be like to live so close to that bus station, and perhaps
even work inside it, watching buses come and go everyday, without being able to
board one of those buses myself.
In addition to discussing difficult topics like
marginalization, our group had the opportunity to do some hiking. One day we climbed Cerro Campanario
(Belltower Hill), and another day we climbed Llao llao (the Mapudungun name for
a forest fruit found on this hill).
These are the amazing views that met us at the peaks:
Cerro Campanario
More Campanario . . .
And more!
The YAGM girls (Kjerstin middle, Andrea right) soaking up the view at the top of Llao llao
The top of Llao llao with Krystle, Victoria (a friend of Krystle's who served as our awesome trail guide), me, Kjerstin and Andrea
Another perk of having our retreat in Bariloche was that we
got to meet Ignacio, Krystle’s Argentine then-fiancé and now-husband
(congratulations you two!!) and Ignacio’s family. One night they invited us over for dinner,
and Ignacio’s father treated us to a scrumptious dish called “pollo al disco”
(chicken cooked in a disc over a fire).
It was so great to meet them after all the wonderful things Krystle had
told us!
The YAGM 5 with Ignacio's Family (thanks for the photo Andrea!!)
At the end of the retreat, the other volunteers and I headed
to Osorno, Chile without Krystle in order to renew our visas and to get a taste
of Chile. The bus ride from Bariloche to
Osorno was without a doubt the most beautiful bus ride I have ever gone on,
because it involved crossing the Andes.
In Osorno we stayed in a cute, homey hostel owned by a woman who had
lived in Vermont for several years. On
our only full day in Chile, we took yet another bus to Maicolpue, a quaint
fishing town on the Pacific coast. It
was so wonderful to have a day to relax on the beach!
You guessed it, our hostel!
Eating delish blueberries (arandanos) on the beach! (Thanks for the photo Emery!)
We've arrived in Maicolpue! (Thanks for the photo Emery)
Emery and Kevin digging their epic hole
View of the Pacific from the bus
Another angle
The Chilean flag, next to the Osorno bus station
There are a lot of interesting differences between Chile and
Argentina, most notably the accents, the food, and the currency. While the exchange rate between the US and
Argentina is 1 to 5, the exchange rate between the US and Chile is 1 to
500!! Calculating prizes was confusing,
to say the least. Figuring out how much
we each needed to pay for our stay in the hostel was a mathematical marathon,
especially for our rusty, non-math-major brains.
On Saturday the 16th, I arrived home again. I loved the retreat, but I’m glad to be
back! I really missed everyone at El
Arca and Santo Sacramento, and I’m eager to make the most of the second half of
my YAGM year!
