To Chile, With Love.
I had heard many people extol the virtues of your mountains, woods, rivers, and lakes before I ever set foot within your boundaries. I was also undoubtedly in awe of their beauty.
However, I had no clue that what would truly overwhelm me would be the beauty of your people.
The nurse who came for one of the numerous preventative Covid tests while I was quarantined in a dull hotel room in Santiago warned me that isolation might be quite isolating. He gave me his card and instructed me to phone him if I thought I was going crazy.
Without ever having met me, a dedicated diver made me the tastiest vegan chocolate cake for my birthday when I was quarantined on Robinson Crusoe Island!
A young island environmentalist told me about her desire to go alone someday and the great responsibility she feels to preserve the island’s delicate, unique, and indigenous nature.
I heard the life tales of several islanders, but one of them opened up to me about a dark, private aspect of his life. Perhaps the most humble aspect of travel is being able to see someone else’s journey in a language different than my own, on the other side of the globe.
Many individuals on the island and on mainland Chile are naturally creative and artistic, but I was often invited into the charming house, lyrical world, art collection, and intriguing anecdotes of a longtime resident. Every debate inspired me to study more Spanish so that we could have deeper conversations.
A sweet island family frequently invited me to share their family meals, which included garbanzo (chickpea stew), lentejas (lentils cooked Chilean style), stir-fried vegetables with rice, vegan desserts, and much more. They knew how difficult it was to find lunch on the island, as most restaurants were closed during the pandemic and shops typically ran out of basic supplies.
I foolishly went to the local store to buy a bunch of Chilean avocados when a large boat carrying much-needed supplies arrived on the island. Little did I know that on “boat days,” people would wait up to four hours to buy produce because they were buying kilograms of fruits and vegetables to last until the next boat! When he saw how amazed I was, a kind fisherman offered to buy me some avocados while he was on his turn, and he wouldn’t even let me pay for them.
Through the Work for Humankind initiative, which was made possible by Lenovo and Island Conservation, we attempted to plant the seeds of the idea of a self-sustaining island that artisans, tour guides, and many others involved in the tourist industry shared with me.
To play basketball, which I adore but haven’t had much opportunity to do since college, I usually showed up to the island’s communal court in the evenings. I was constantly invited to join the local players, which brought back memories of basketball acquaintances I had long since lost.An islander opened up in a very intimate chat about the devastating effects of the 2010 tsunami on his family, the difficulties he had encountered in his career, and his abiding love for his island.
A cynical fisherman questioned me how chocolate could be created without milk and said that the whole “vegan thing” was all marketing. I told him about my experience with the Bribris, who are cacao producers in Costa Rica, and offered him a sample of vegan chocolate. When I saw him again a few days later, he gave me a dairy-free chocolate bar from the neighborhood health food store!