I'm in Australia now. It's weird because I'm approaching people and starting to speak in spanish, only to realize that they speak english. It's happened to me at least three times already, twice to bus drivers. I'm sure that it'll be easy to switch back once I return to South America but right now it seems to be an english only trip. I have had friends say that they got tired after a while and they just wanted to speak some english, but I've found it to be just the opposite. I am wishing that I had spanish speaking friends around me at all times so that I can continue to develop my abilities. I think it's because I don't really have to think about what I'm going to say in advance. I can get my point across without having to plan anything in advance (although I do fumble up some grammar and find my self auto correcting during this process) so I don't really worry about the language barrier anymore. Also, while I don't have a perfect accent, I find that I'm clearly able to pronounce words correctly without struggling (although I slur through "padre," is there something Freudian in that?). Spanish has become such an important thing to me that I don't see myself tiring of it anytime soon.
So I'll just keep reading and writing in spanish until I get back there, but for now I'm in beautiful Australia. Although it's been a semi adventure getting here. I first had to undertake a 20 hour flight (a great omen at the start, no board bag fee, this is basically the best sign of a good trip for any surfer, like a rabbit's foot but less furry and cruel), but it was made interesting when about a half dozen or so Australian pro surfers decided to make a early departure after getting bounced in the first rounds of the WCT contest up in Arica. Among others the group included: Tom Whitaker, Adrian Buchan, Luke Stedman (those three sat next to me), Mick Lowe, Shaun Cansdell and I believe Ben Dunn (but I could be mistaken with Dunn). I basically eves dropped on the majority of their conversations (which wasn't much considering I slept 8 hours straight, without waking from the first leg to Auckland) and when we landed in Auckland I started talking to Buchan. He was a pretty mellow guy, not at all bothered by the fact that I was asking him about the contest and the waves. He said that the wave up in Arica was a good one, but that there really wasn't much around there and he would have liked to have seen other parts of Chile. I felt lucky that I had spent my time in Pichilemu and surfed Punta de Lobos, Puntilla and Infernillo instead of being up there. When we landing in Sydney all of us were staring out of the plane doing a surf check. It's easy enough to do because the plane lands right over all of the surf spots in the southern Sydney Area. The were talking about going straight from the plane to a wave called "Ours," not surprisingly it is a very localized break (although I'm not sure why check out how mean it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFKAzlNcC3o). I was hoping they were going to name some other waves so I could get an idea of where to go, but they didn't. And when I arrived at Jimmy's place in Bondi there was too much swell and the beach was full of "straight handers" as the aussies would say.
But the real adventure of this trip was getting through immigration and customs. I know, you're going to bring up my beard and the fact that I bear resemblance to Fidel Castro. But I honestly don't believe that it had much of an effect. On passing through immigration I was pulled off to the side and informed that I now need to obtain a visa before entering Australia, just like all other americans. This definitely put me ill at ease as I had just seen the Terminal and had no desire to live the next ten days in the Sydney Airport (Theoretically, if I did have to stay in an airport for ten days I think Sydney would be my second choice afer Singapore). The lady was a little confused after found out I was here to visit an Irish guy but she just looked at me, smiled quzzically and of to the top secret immigration lair. So I sat outside the top secret immigration lair for about 30 minutes pondering ways to live off Duty Free food and no showers for the next week and a half, when the immigration agent came back out to tell me that she just granted me a visa valid for one year with stays allowed up to 90 days. I was shocked that it was that easy for that big of an error. Immensely relieved I made it to the customs area where I was further detained because I had answered yes to at least the following: Prescription medication, having been in South America within the last 6 days, being in a rural area (Easter Island). I'm sure that the beard didn't help me and made the agents more attentive, but no one is getting through customs without inspection when they have put three yes answers on the declaration form. The lady that sifted through my stuff was actually surprisingly nice and was even inquisitive as to what I'd been doing. I'm not going to say this was flirting but it was as close as it gets with a customs agent. She eventually let me go, without any problems. I thought I was free but I still had to make it to Jimmy's place in Bondi.
I still don't have my atm card, and won't for another week, so I'm reluctant to use cash and for that reason I didn't take a cab to Bondi. I have done this before so I didn't think it was a problem, I'd just take the metro in. Unfortunately, it was morning rush hour on the metro and being a unshowered traveler with a board bag and a large back pack doesn't make too many friends. I let the first few trains go by, and then the third had enough room for me to squeeze into. I got stuck next to an absolutely gorgeous girl. I was so unlucky. She gave me dagger stares for the entire trip. I think that the more attractive the girl is, the more evil their stink eye has to be, and it was obvious that this girl had hers honed down. I mean she wasn't even backing off and we were only a foot away (not exaggerating, it was a tight squeeze yesterday morning). I finally got to my junction with a handful more stink eyes (although none came close to the beautiful girl's), and made my transfer to the Bondi Junction train. I had a bit more space and was beginning to relax. I got off the train and got on a bus and finally made it too Jimmy's place in Bondi. I was tired and sweaty and finally completely understood why every single traveler I meet asks me if it is a hassle to travel with my boards.
So now I'm here, a few surf sessions under my belt (both of which were not good, I've been surfing "straight handers" for the last two days) and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm hanging out with Jimmy, who is a class guy. He's got a great apartment and I have the fortune of having his spare bedroom (huge luck as there was a french girl living here and split before I arrived and the next guy is going to move in the day after I leave). I really wasn't planning on a bed and I am very grateful to have it. We haven't really done much because I passed out on the couch early last night and Jimmy went to bed early as well (he's a plumber, early to bed early to rise sort of stuff) but there is the possibility that we'll be making a little overnight surf adventure down south this weekend. I can only hope because he might have to work. He's made it sound like a great wave so I'm going to cross my fingers and hope we go. Not real worried about it though, I mean Jimmy has done so much for me already that whatever's extra is just gravy.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Winter Break (I´m in the Southern Hemisphere, It´s opposite from home)
Today marks the end of my first half in South America. Tonight I fly to Australia to visit some friends and then hop over to Fiji and see the folks. I know, this is a difficult life, but I´ve come to grips with it. I´m just going to try to do the best I can to make it through. Survive, day by day. It´s a rough life, but somebody´s got to do it.
I´m really excited to head on to Australia. While I´m not going to get to see the WA crew (The Heussos, Jezza, Kim), which is a bummer, I am excited to see some other friends (Jimmy, Gemma) that I haven´t seen in a while. I think seeing Jimmy is the funniest because I going to Australia to visit an Irish friend that I met in South Africa. I´ll get to his place for the first part of the Aussie run, then see the folks (plus reynnie and scottie), and then hang out with Gemma. I´m not going to get to see Gemma on the first go round because she´s living the tough life in Greece and won´t be back until I´m around the second time.
I feel a little guilty about doing this. I´ve told a few people this and they are like ¨you are going to Australia and then coming back to South America? Why?¨ I guess I don´t really have any other explanation apart from the fact that I lived at home last year (well for a while at least) and I saved enough where I could do and I´m not sure when I´m going to have opportunities like this to spend three and a half weeks in Australia and Fiji (I´ve said this before, notably to go to Fiji the first time during midterms, I got the professors to begrudgingly let me take the tests at different times. One of which was particularly curmudgeonly about it. I guess for good reason, I mean I was leaving a test to go to Fiji, not a lot of sympathy expected from that. Little did I know that I´d be going back multiple times, to the point where it has become an annual family trip). But I guess you never know when this lifestyle is going to stop, when I´ll get a longterm job. Just taking advantage of what I can, while I can.
But South America will be missed. I have, however, started to read in spanish (read malaonda by Fuguet and El Aleph by Borges, El Aleph is really good and I recommend people find it in English) and went and bought some books today to keep my spanish up for the break (because I´m probably not going to be speaking it). I´m pretty psyched on my books, I had some help in the bookstore and the guy that helped me seemed so excited because he got to help someone who is relatively intelligent but has had no exposure to any of the spanish literature so he just went around showing the best books and his favorites. We probably talked through books for 20 minutes until I selected three. None are by world reknown authors (no Marquez, Allende, Neruda, Borges, etc.) but within the latin american community they are notable. One of the books won the book of the world award (that is way more impressive sounding than the Pulitzer or the Nobel prize award). If I like them I´ll write them down so people can read some good Latin American books. Anyway, I´ll miss it here, so I´m just going to kill a couple of hours before I go to the airport by thinking of all the great things of Chile.
I´m really excited to head on to Australia. While I´m not going to get to see the WA crew (The Heussos, Jezza, Kim), which is a bummer, I am excited to see some other friends (Jimmy, Gemma) that I haven´t seen in a while. I think seeing Jimmy is the funniest because I going to Australia to visit an Irish friend that I met in South Africa. I´ll get to his place for the first part of the Aussie run, then see the folks (plus reynnie and scottie), and then hang out with Gemma. I´m not going to get to see Gemma on the first go round because she´s living the tough life in Greece and won´t be back until I´m around the second time.
I feel a little guilty about doing this. I´ve told a few people this and they are like ¨you are going to Australia and then coming back to South America? Why?¨ I guess I don´t really have any other explanation apart from the fact that I lived at home last year (well for a while at least) and I saved enough where I could do and I´m not sure when I´m going to have opportunities like this to spend three and a half weeks in Australia and Fiji (I´ve said this before, notably to go to Fiji the first time during midterms, I got the professors to begrudgingly let me take the tests at different times. One of which was particularly curmudgeonly about it. I guess for good reason, I mean I was leaving a test to go to Fiji, not a lot of sympathy expected from that. Little did I know that I´d be going back multiple times, to the point where it has become an annual family trip). But I guess you never know when this lifestyle is going to stop, when I´ll get a longterm job. Just taking advantage of what I can, while I can.
But South America will be missed. I have, however, started to read in spanish (read malaonda by Fuguet and El Aleph by Borges, El Aleph is really good and I recommend people find it in English) and went and bought some books today to keep my spanish up for the break (because I´m probably not going to be speaking it). I´m pretty psyched on my books, I had some help in the bookstore and the guy that helped me seemed so excited because he got to help someone who is relatively intelligent but has had no exposure to any of the spanish literature so he just went around showing the best books and his favorites. We probably talked through books for 20 minutes until I selected three. None are by world reknown authors (no Marquez, Allende, Neruda, Borges, etc.) but within the latin american community they are notable. One of the books won the book of the world award (that is way more impressive sounding than the Pulitzer or the Nobel prize award). If I like them I´ll write them down so people can read some good Latin American books. Anyway, I´ll miss it here, so I´m just going to kill a couple of hours before I go to the airport by thinking of all the great things of Chile.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Rapa Nui
I just got back from Easter Island last night and it was incredible. It definitely lived up to its billing as being a magical place. Not only is the island incredibly tiny (only 11 miles to the other side) but there are no other islands anywhere near. It´s just this little patch of volcanic rock dead square in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The moai are also impressive as they are what you think they are, immense rocks, a sort of more sculpturally intricate version of Stonehendge in Englad. They would be a pain in the ass to move with a forklift and a crane let alone just man power. I did notice that of all the moai on the island only one had nipples. I´m not sure what this is to mean. It could be that the other´s nipples were rubbed off in centuries of erosion (think wetsuit rash multiplied by a million). It could also be that there could only be one mother moai (it was one of the bigger more important moai, one of the fifteen in a row) and that the ancient society revered the one mother. And as honed as my anthropological instincts are, I´m really not sure what to make of the one nippled moai.
The other highlight is the people of the people of the island. I was known ¨california¨or ¨la barba¨on the island. The population is so small that not only do the locals know all the other locals (population 3500 roughly the size of my highschool) but they know all other visitors of note. I was one of the few surfers to visit the island and due to the winds, I only surfed in town and met the majority of the locals. It was the most anti hostile vibe I´ve ever been around, especially because my spanish is pretty good at this point. Everyone was coming up to me and talking to me. I met all the local groms, the local vetrinarian, half the airport crew, some restaurant owners and this girl that wore a celest blue wetsuit with a matching duck billed hat with ear covers (my dad has now been moved down to the second dorkiest looking surfer i´ve seen, which is really saying something). Everyone would say Hola as I was walking down the street to check the surf. If I was sitting on rock looking at the surf one of the locals would come and sit right next to me and talk about it. I even met one kid, Joaquin, who saw me off at the airport. It´s such a beautiful culture. I will try to go back someday.
The other highlight is the people of the people of the island. I was known ¨california¨or ¨la barba¨on the island. The population is so small that not only do the locals know all the other locals (population 3500 roughly the size of my highschool) but they know all other visitors of note. I was one of the few surfers to visit the island and due to the winds, I only surfed in town and met the majority of the locals. It was the most anti hostile vibe I´ve ever been around, especially because my spanish is pretty good at this point. Everyone was coming up to me and talking to me. I met all the local groms, the local vetrinarian, half the airport crew, some restaurant owners and this girl that wore a celest blue wetsuit with a matching duck billed hat with ear covers (my dad has now been moved down to the second dorkiest looking surfer i´ve seen, which is really saying something). Everyone would say Hola as I was walking down the street to check the surf. If I was sitting on rock looking at the surf one of the locals would come and sit right next to me and talk about it. I even met one kid, Joaquin, who saw me off at the airport. It´s such a beautiful culture. I will try to go back someday.
The Exclamation Point
I think that the exclamation point is my least favorite punctuation mark. I think it is by far the most useless bit there is. I feel like there are very few good writers that use it (Johnathan Safran Foer does but he is more than unconventional). It seems like, unless you really know what you are doing, the exclamation point is meant for people who don´t know the english language well enough to use forceful words instead of punctuation (these are the same people that capitalize everything in their emails, when they do that all I hear is screaming).
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Forward HO
Going for the rare double post, but I think I got sidetracked in the last one and felt like it had settled into a Pichilemu as a whole thing. I think I had set out to write about the things that I love and will miss about Pichilemu and the things I´m looking forward to in the coming weeks.
Pichilemu has been a perfect place for me to hang out at the beginning of my trip. It has combined the two best things possible. Good surf and a good spanish school. I really wasn´t planning on staying here for as long as I have but I´m glad that it´s worked out the way it has. It´s got such a good vibe down here. The school is really cool because the people that run it are friendly and do a very good job taking care of the people there. A perfect example of this was when Chris was going to an asado to watch the Cavs/Spurs (Chris is the only sports junkie in town, so I usually talk baseball with him. Being from Ohio his teams are the Browns, Cavs and the Indians. Interesting contrast to my Dodgers, Lakers, No football team. Wait LA doesn´t have a football team, what the hell?) game at a house of one of his english students. It turned out that we were going to leave relatively early, because the game didn´t show up on television. I realized that we were a ways from my house and it would have been a puzzle with no lights to see the streets, so I asked Chris if he´d give me a ride back to my place even though it was out of the way. He responded with ¨Breene, I´m from Ohio.¨ I was a bit puzzled as this was not an answer I was expecting. I was looking for something more along the lines of ýes´or ´no.´So I tried to clarify with Chris, ¨hey, Chris...uh, that´s great...but, really, I have no idea what that means. I just wanted to know if you would give me a ride home.¨ Chris just says ¨Being from Ohio means I won´t leave you hanging.¨ ¨So that´s a yes, right?¨ ¨Yeah.¨
Val´s great too, and she´s now starting to live up to her nickname of the pelota (spanish people pronounce Val as ball and it just evolved into pelota, the spanish equivalent to ball) as she is pregnant. It´s kinda funny because she is, even by Chilean measure, petite and so seeing this little belly pop up on her is funny. She and Chris have created a really cool atmosphere at the school, made it so it´s more than a school but a hang out. They have an english teacher who lives in the school (it is more of a house than a school anyways) and the entrance is right next to the living room where you are more than likely to see a handful of people just hanging out, going through old surfer´s journals, playing chess or watching a movie. It´s definitely the traveler/surfer´s hangout.
Brian is their resident english teacher/crazy man. He is the leader in nicknames (Slater, Hungry Man, B, and the Lion*), but a really good guy. He is perpetually stoked and you are likely to see his big grille out in the water at Infernillo (always less crowded, rarely as good as Puntilla though). He loves to talk about surfing feelings involved and if you are down to just hang out/play guitar/chess/shoot the shit, he´s your man.
Tati is the local spanish teacher. She handles the whole load of spanish students (seeing as there are quite a bit fewer since its mainly travelers), and does it well. Everyone enjoys their lessons with Tati, as she does a good job about making things relevant and interesting.
She´s also a really cool person and has had asados at her house a few time. Not surprisingly, like most Chilean girls she hits the disco...and hard, leaving at closing time frequently (about daybreak). This makes hanging out with her a lot of fun, although, to be honest I don´t have the energy to do the all night clubbing thing. I´m accustomed to getting up early and surfing a lot so by the end of the day I get pretty worn out, but it´s fun trying.
Tati will be leaving for a bit though. She just got her Australian working/holiday visa and will be taking off for Brisbane to study english and teach spanish. She´ll be missed here.
Then there have been the smattering of all the other travelers. There was Ike, my first hick surfer that I´ve met. Really cool guy and made the southern drawl fit with the surf crew. Craig was an older version of Tom Mcmahon (a friend from home), just as curmodgeonly, same surfing style, it was weird how much he reminded me of Tom. Magdelena, Craig´s wife, super cool girl, the yoga teacher always in a good mood. Simon, the resident budgee (a small bird) expert, he built a cage for these birds out of a shoddy old bathroom in the backyard of the school. Brad, a friend of Chris and Vals from their time in Monterey, who does one of the best australian accent imitations of anybody I know, and he has definitely got the gift of gab. The Matts, and aussie duo of destruction, one being from Margaret River, and he is just a complete psycho (but in a good way, not like the duckwoman). Jordy, the monstrous 16 year old kid that made Pichilemu his home more than anybody else. He had a ton of chilean friends and just seemed to get along with everybody. Peter, who is the king of garabatos (what chileans say for bad words), and was the center of attention in my house just because the family consistently found him shocking. Marcelo, the brazo that stayed in the house too. The family, Pati, Pati Su, Pati Paz, Pato Andres and Claudio, they were crazy just like any other family and a lot of fun being around.
I´m going to miss everyone, but I´ll be back.
Next up, Easter Island. I´m amped. Belly button of the world, here I come.
*self given nickname so it´s debatable, but it´s comedy factor is good considering he has the Slater shaved/bald head that makes him the antithesis of Lion looking
Pichilemu has been a perfect place for me to hang out at the beginning of my trip. It has combined the two best things possible. Good surf and a good spanish school. I really wasn´t planning on staying here for as long as I have but I´m glad that it´s worked out the way it has. It´s got such a good vibe down here. The school is really cool because the people that run it are friendly and do a very good job taking care of the people there. A perfect example of this was when Chris was going to an asado to watch the Cavs/Spurs (Chris is the only sports junkie in town, so I usually talk baseball with him. Being from Ohio his teams are the Browns, Cavs and the Indians. Interesting contrast to my Dodgers, Lakers, No football team. Wait LA doesn´t have a football team, what the hell?) game at a house of one of his english students. It turned out that we were going to leave relatively early, because the game didn´t show up on television. I realized that we were a ways from my house and it would have been a puzzle with no lights to see the streets, so I asked Chris if he´d give me a ride back to my place even though it was out of the way. He responded with ¨Breene, I´m from Ohio.¨ I was a bit puzzled as this was not an answer I was expecting. I was looking for something more along the lines of ýes´or ´no.´So I tried to clarify with Chris, ¨hey, Chris...uh, that´s great...but, really, I have no idea what that means. I just wanted to know if you would give me a ride home.¨ Chris just says ¨Being from Ohio means I won´t leave you hanging.¨ ¨So that´s a yes, right?¨ ¨Yeah.¨
Val´s great too, and she´s now starting to live up to her nickname of the pelota (spanish people pronounce Val as ball and it just evolved into pelota, the spanish equivalent to ball) as she is pregnant. It´s kinda funny because she is, even by Chilean measure, petite and so seeing this little belly pop up on her is funny. She and Chris have created a really cool atmosphere at the school, made it so it´s more than a school but a hang out. They have an english teacher who lives in the school (it is more of a house than a school anyways) and the entrance is right next to the living room where you are more than likely to see a handful of people just hanging out, going through old surfer´s journals, playing chess or watching a movie. It´s definitely the traveler/surfer´s hangout.
Brian is their resident english teacher/crazy man. He is the leader in nicknames (Slater, Hungry Man, B, and the Lion*), but a really good guy. He is perpetually stoked and you are likely to see his big grille out in the water at Infernillo (always less crowded, rarely as good as Puntilla though). He loves to talk about surfing feelings involved and if you are down to just hang out/play guitar/chess/shoot the shit, he´s your man.
Tati is the local spanish teacher. She handles the whole load of spanish students (seeing as there are quite a bit fewer since its mainly travelers), and does it well. Everyone enjoys their lessons with Tati, as she does a good job about making things relevant and interesting.
She´s also a really cool person and has had asados at her house a few time. Not surprisingly, like most Chilean girls she hits the disco...and hard, leaving at closing time frequently (about daybreak). This makes hanging out with her a lot of fun, although, to be honest I don´t have the energy to do the all night clubbing thing. I´m accustomed to getting up early and surfing a lot so by the end of the day I get pretty worn out, but it´s fun trying.
Tati will be leaving for a bit though. She just got her Australian working/holiday visa and will be taking off for Brisbane to study english and teach spanish. She´ll be missed here.
Then there have been the smattering of all the other travelers. There was Ike, my first hick surfer that I´ve met. Really cool guy and made the southern drawl fit with the surf crew. Craig was an older version of Tom Mcmahon (a friend from home), just as curmodgeonly, same surfing style, it was weird how much he reminded me of Tom. Magdelena, Craig´s wife, super cool girl, the yoga teacher always in a good mood. Simon, the resident budgee (a small bird) expert, he built a cage for these birds out of a shoddy old bathroom in the backyard of the school. Brad, a friend of Chris and Vals from their time in Monterey, who does one of the best australian accent imitations of anybody I know, and he has definitely got the gift of gab. The Matts, and aussie duo of destruction, one being from Margaret River, and he is just a complete psycho (but in a good way, not like the duckwoman). Jordy, the monstrous 16 year old kid that made Pichilemu his home more than anybody else. He had a ton of chilean friends and just seemed to get along with everybody. Peter, who is the king of garabatos (what chileans say for bad words), and was the center of attention in my house just because the family consistently found him shocking. Marcelo, the brazo that stayed in the house too. The family, Pati, Pati Su, Pati Paz, Pato Andres and Claudio, they were crazy just like any other family and a lot of fun being around.
I´m going to miss everyone, but I´ll be back.
Next up, Easter Island. I´m amped. Belly button of the world, here I come.
*self given nickname so it´s debatable, but it´s comedy factor is good considering he has the Slater shaved/bald head that makes him the antithesis of Lion looking
Pichilemu
I haven´t really been writing lately, I guess I fell out of the habit. It´s just that with being back by the surf I have been spending so much time either in the water or near it. I pulled 5 two a days in the last week and a half, which pretty much eats into my internet time. By the time I get to the internet café (seeing as my laptop died tragically in a freak shampoo drowning accident) I just check my email, sports section of the LA times (check in on my dodgers) and then to check my fantasy baseball team. After that, whatever I might have wanted to write, seems to slide out the window because I´m thinking of sports. Well today is a bit different, it´s my last day here in Pichilemu (at least until September) and I felt like there should be some closure to the situation.
So I guess I should just start with the most noteworthy news. I´m engaged...or so I´ve been told. My chilean host mom has just betrothed me to her thirteen year old daughter. I haven´t really been too sure how to react to this, but I´m going to take it as a good sign. I mean it´s definitely a bit weird when the older sister told this to me. Yeah that´s right the older sister. So the mom just straight out skips the older one to give me her youngest daughter (although to be fair the older one is only fourteen). I wonder what the dowry is going to be, I mean I´m not sure how much a teenaged girl goes for. I´m guessing, at minimum, a cow, three chickens and a new television. It seems like that would be fair. I´m hoping though I can maybe throw in another cow or two and get the rights to the house (a ridiculously cool fixer upper, a small European mansion with views to the ocean but in terribly run down condition). Maybe I´ve been focusing too hard on fantasy baseball, I´m just stuck in trade mode.
Pichilemu is a strange place because there are a lot of places like the house I´m living in, old beautiful houses/casinos/buildings that are just in terrible shape. The thing is that no one wants to sell their places but they also have no problem just leaving things the way they are. I mean this area that I´m staying in (a two minute walk out of the town towards the point) is overloaded with potential, but everyone seems to be perfectly content just getting enough to live comfortably. I completely understand that, but at the same time I think they should have a sense of debt to the area that they are in and feel that they owe it to keep it in the best possible shape. I mean the Hotel and Casino Ross is just completely rundown. The casino definitely has it the worst, it went from being the epicenter of town, a palace of luxury to the birdhouse. All the pidgeons just hang out all day on the roof (which, like the morros at Punta de Lobos, has turned into a spattering white and green of bird shit). The inside houses the local ruffian cats, with broken windows in all areas. I´d have to imagine that it does not smell good inside.
One of the main reasons I don´t understand this is that all the Pichileminos are so proud of the fact that they were once the hottest place to come to when the Casino was working. Now it has the typical surf town appeal, not that it´s bad, but it is a complete departure from what Pichilemu once was. Cheap run down hospedajes, little restaurants, an internet café or two, a couple empanada/french fry shops, the empanada man (who has this voice that´s a mix between Will Ferrel´s Voice Immodulation man and a Texas Auctioneer...in spanish), these are the things that are here, hardly the hip vacation spot is was 50 years ago.
I think one of the problems is that they are all worried about keeping the integrity of the town and if they sell the buildings (which would probably go to somebody out of town) then a monstrosity might pop up. That I guess would be a way worse thing to have happen. But there has to be somebody that has a bit of money AND integrity.
So I guess I should just start with the most noteworthy news. I´m engaged...or so I´ve been told. My chilean host mom has just betrothed me to her thirteen year old daughter. I haven´t really been too sure how to react to this, but I´m going to take it as a good sign. I mean it´s definitely a bit weird when the older sister told this to me. Yeah that´s right the older sister. So the mom just straight out skips the older one to give me her youngest daughter (although to be fair the older one is only fourteen). I wonder what the dowry is going to be, I mean I´m not sure how much a teenaged girl goes for. I´m guessing, at minimum, a cow, three chickens and a new television. It seems like that would be fair. I´m hoping though I can maybe throw in another cow or two and get the rights to the house (a ridiculously cool fixer upper, a small European mansion with views to the ocean but in terribly run down condition). Maybe I´ve been focusing too hard on fantasy baseball, I´m just stuck in trade mode.
Pichilemu is a strange place because there are a lot of places like the house I´m living in, old beautiful houses/casinos/buildings that are just in terrible shape. The thing is that no one wants to sell their places but they also have no problem just leaving things the way they are. I mean this area that I´m staying in (a two minute walk out of the town towards the point) is overloaded with potential, but everyone seems to be perfectly content just getting enough to live comfortably. I completely understand that, but at the same time I think they should have a sense of debt to the area that they are in and feel that they owe it to keep it in the best possible shape. I mean the Hotel and Casino Ross is just completely rundown. The casino definitely has it the worst, it went from being the epicenter of town, a palace of luxury to the birdhouse. All the pidgeons just hang out all day on the roof (which, like the morros at Punta de Lobos, has turned into a spattering white and green of bird shit). The inside houses the local ruffian cats, with broken windows in all areas. I´d have to imagine that it does not smell good inside.
One of the main reasons I don´t understand this is that all the Pichileminos are so proud of the fact that they were once the hottest place to come to when the Casino was working. Now it has the typical surf town appeal, not that it´s bad, but it is a complete departure from what Pichilemu once was. Cheap run down hospedajes, little restaurants, an internet café or two, a couple empanada/french fry shops, the empanada man (who has this voice that´s a mix between Will Ferrel´s Voice Immodulation man and a Texas Auctioneer...in spanish), these are the things that are here, hardly the hip vacation spot is was 50 years ago.
I think one of the problems is that they are all worried about keeping the integrity of the town and if they sell the buildings (which would probably go to somebody out of town) then a monstrosity might pop up. That I guess would be a way worse thing to have happen. But there has to be somebody that has a bit of money AND integrity.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Surfing is Fun
´´That´s how great surfing is. We can pile up all this commercialism and bullshit and it still survives.´´ Steve Pezman
I´ve made it back to Pichilemu, and the surf has been less than spectacular so I´ve been going through the surf magazines/videos at the language school and, with the exception of Gerry Lopez, Mark Cunningham and Steve Pezman, I´m tired of all this old surf writers talking about the glory days of surfing like its in the past.
I´m not sure if these guys realize it, but their readership is probably considerably younger and has very little connection with the seventies/eighties/whatever-time-you-want-call-golden-age of surfing. I´m sick of all these washed up surf writers (especially Sam George, who couldn´t possible seem more sappy and insincere) telling me how great it used to be (even younger Brad Melekian has fallen into this spiral). Maybe they should pull their heads out of their respective asses and realize that surfing is incredible right now (and will always be).
Here´s an idea as to what exists now.
Wetsuits: Honestly, just in my time surfing (only 15 years), wetsuit technology has improved incredibly, to the point where people are now looking at all corners of the globe in search of travel. I actually have interest in going up to British Columbia, Ireland, South Island of New Zealand and the South of Chile. I´m not sure that I would have this desire without modern wetsuit technology. It allows me to come down here, to Pichilemu, and surf for hours at a time in a 3/2 wettie that is incredibly flexible and not get any rashes. It´s gotten to the point where I´ve had conversations with Danny about how we don´t really mind surfing in wetsuits or travelling to places where wetsuits are necessary because we don´t get the rashes we would with boardies (although a good warm water trip is still highly appreciated).
Travel: Easy, affordable and goes to all corners of the globe. The emergence of cheap air travel has lead to the exploration of more and more remote places. People go to the Maldives (the center of the Indian Ocean), Easter Island (the most remote island in the world), and the Galapagos fairly easily. It takes a bit of tolerance for airplane food (which hasn´t seemed to have gotten that much better) and being able to sit in small seats for a prolonged period of time (at least many airlines have personal entertainment), but this has made so many places that much more accessable.
Surf Forecasting: Leaving for a trip on short notice? Just pick where the waves are going to be the best. Surf forecasting allows for a couple of weeks of insight, something that wasn´t nearly as prevalent twenty years ago. Then you had to look at the current weather maps and guess for yourself. Now, just hit up surfline or wetsand or whatever and they´ve done all the projections for you.
I think before complaining about what surfing was, or used to mean, they should look at what they are now enjoying because of the increasing popularity of the sport/art. So what that it´s more crowded, I gaurantee that its a hell of a lot LESS localized than it was before. I can now go surf silver strand or huntington pier and many other waves that were formally localized without incident. This was not the case a while back. Would I like if there were a handful fewer people in the water at Lowers? Of course, but I know that I can go out there, even now, on a crowded day, and get the stoke that has kept me coming back for so many years.
I´ve made it back to Pichilemu, and the surf has been less than spectacular so I´ve been going through the surf magazines/videos at the language school and, with the exception of Gerry Lopez, Mark Cunningham and Steve Pezman, I´m tired of all this old surf writers talking about the glory days of surfing like its in the past.
I´m not sure if these guys realize it, but their readership is probably considerably younger and has very little connection with the seventies/eighties/whatever-time-you-want-call-golden-age of surfing. I´m sick of all these washed up surf writers (especially Sam George, who couldn´t possible seem more sappy and insincere) telling me how great it used to be (even younger Brad Melekian has fallen into this spiral). Maybe they should pull their heads out of their respective asses and realize that surfing is incredible right now (and will always be).
Here´s an idea as to what exists now.
Wetsuits: Honestly, just in my time surfing (only 15 years), wetsuit technology has improved incredibly, to the point where people are now looking at all corners of the globe in search of travel. I actually have interest in going up to British Columbia, Ireland, South Island of New Zealand and the South of Chile. I´m not sure that I would have this desire without modern wetsuit technology. It allows me to come down here, to Pichilemu, and surf for hours at a time in a 3/2 wettie that is incredibly flexible and not get any rashes. It´s gotten to the point where I´ve had conversations with Danny about how we don´t really mind surfing in wetsuits or travelling to places where wetsuits are necessary because we don´t get the rashes we would with boardies (although a good warm water trip is still highly appreciated).
Travel: Easy, affordable and goes to all corners of the globe. The emergence of cheap air travel has lead to the exploration of more and more remote places. People go to the Maldives (the center of the Indian Ocean), Easter Island (the most remote island in the world), and the Galapagos fairly easily. It takes a bit of tolerance for airplane food (which hasn´t seemed to have gotten that much better) and being able to sit in small seats for a prolonged period of time (at least many airlines have personal entertainment), but this has made so many places that much more accessable.
Surf Forecasting: Leaving for a trip on short notice? Just pick where the waves are going to be the best. Surf forecasting allows for a couple of weeks of insight, something that wasn´t nearly as prevalent twenty years ago. Then you had to look at the current weather maps and guess for yourself. Now, just hit up surfline or wetsand or whatever and they´ve done all the projections for you.
I think before complaining about what surfing was, or used to mean, they should look at what they are now enjoying because of the increasing popularity of the sport/art. So what that it´s more crowded, I gaurantee that its a hell of a lot LESS localized than it was before. I can now go surf silver strand or huntington pier and many other waves that were formally localized without incident. This was not the case a while back. Would I like if there were a handful fewer people in the water at Lowers? Of course, but I know that I can go out there, even now, on a crowded day, and get the stoke that has kept me coming back for so many years.
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