The Farm
Our planned departure time of 6am came and went. The second planned departure time of 8am also came and went. I tried to get Paul out of bed at 10, but he just kept saying… “Give me another 30mins”. This process was repeated for about 2hours until finally at about 12:30 he got up. We finally had everything packed and everyone in the car but before we could leave Santiago, we needed to collect Danni’s Dad, as he was joining us at the Farm. After 3 stops and a 10hour drive we finally arrived at the Farm near the small town of Lastarria. It was great to be back in the green rolling hills, with all the trees that enclosed the little house. I think that Paul’s Dad, Luis, was happy to see everyone again. I think he loves it when people come to visit and stay. He actually had other guests staying with him at the time and they where Carmen, his old House Maid from the time he lived in Los Angeles, and her 2 grandsons, Juan and Rodrigo. I remembered them from a previous visit to Chile in 2000, and when I asked, they said that they remembered me. I think that they were being nice.
The following day we went to the annual Neumann Family BBQ, at the property where the first Neumann to come to Chile from Germany, brought his family and set up his new life. I was introduced as the Aussie Gringo only for them to respond with “ohh, I have been to Australia” or “I have family in Australia”. They made me an honouree Neumann for the day, as I had blue eyes and looked a little like Paul. We all had a wonderful day of conversation, eating way too much food, drinking to many drinks and of course too much Football. They were all very welcoming to me and were always asking if I understood what they were talking about. I could follow most of it, which I was quite surprised at, as they didn’t really change the speed of the conversation, just because I was there. I also met a guy who was from Germany, who had married a Chilean lady 30 years ago, so we chatted in Spanish, which was quite funny, as he spoke with a heavy German accent. As always, I ate too much food and didn’t have anything to eat before going to bed, which I think was the best thing that I could have done.
We all soon fell into the routine of the farm. My routine was to wake and count the number of new flea bites on my body. I think at a minimum, I had 6 new bites each morning about the size of a 5cent piece. Trying not to scratch them became a full time mind control programme. I would have fun chatting with everyone and enjoy the peace of the farm. I would sit and watch the trees bending in the wind, the pigs scratching themselves, Natalia and Diego chasing the cats and the general comings and goings of a farm in Chile. People would always know when to come, usually about an hour before lunch, so they could do a little talking and then a little work, to ‘pay’ for their lunch. I also went with a car load of other locals to go and collect apples and other fruits. I know why we collected the apples, as we were to make them into Chicha, which is a locally homemade alcoholic apple juice. I’m not real sure why we collect the other fruits, but I think some of it went to the pigs. I know I ate some of them and I think that I got a very sore stomach from them. I guess they were a little green, as I was in lot of pain afterwards. All said and done, they were lazy days.
I also went to Temuco for the day to drop Rodrigo, Juan and thrie grandma, Carmen, off t the bus terminal, so they could return home to Los Angeles. After this, Papi (Paul’s Dad) and I went about town doing various things that needed to be done. Buying food, picking up and posting mail, buying other items for those in the house, who had not come to Temuco, general errands. We also had a visit from one of Paul’s aunties and cousin, who invited us to their place in Lican Ray, a small town on the edge of a lake near Villarrica and Pucon. Paul said that it is a great place to go too, so we decided to go. Paul, Danni, Nati and I jumed into the car and made our way to Lican Ray.
Our planned departure time of 6am came and went. The second planned departure time of 8am also came and went. I tried to get Paul out of bed at 10, but he just kept saying… “Give me another 30mins”. This process was repeated for about 2hours until finally at about 12:30 he got up. We finally had everything packed and everyone in the car but before we could leave Santiago, we needed to collect Danni’s Dad, as he was joining us at the Farm. After 3 stops and a 10hour drive we finally arrived at the Farm near the small town of Lastarria. It was great to be back in the green rolling hills, with all the trees that enclosed the little house. I think that Paul’s Dad, Luis, was happy to see everyone again. I think he loves it when people come to visit and stay. He actually had other guests staying with him at the time and they where Carmen, his old House Maid from the time he lived in Los Angeles, and her 2 grandsons, Juan and Rodrigo. I remembered them from a previous visit to Chile in 2000, and when I asked, they said that they remembered me. I think that they were being nice.
The following day we went to the annual Neumann Family BBQ, at the property where the first Neumann to come to Chile from Germany, brought his family and set up his new life. I was introduced as the Aussie Gringo only for them to respond with “ohh, I have been to Australia” or “I have family in Australia”. They made me an honouree Neumann for the day, as I had blue eyes and looked a little like Paul. We all had a wonderful day of conversation, eating way too much food, drinking to many drinks and of course too much Football. They were all very welcoming to me and were always asking if I understood what they were talking about. I could follow most of it, which I was quite surprised at, as they didn’t really change the speed of the conversation, just because I was there. I also met a guy who was from Germany, who had married a Chilean lady 30 years ago, so we chatted in Spanish, which was quite funny, as he spoke with a heavy German accent. As always, I ate too much food and didn’t have anything to eat before going to bed, which I think was the best thing that I could have done.
We all soon fell into the routine of the farm. My routine was to wake and count the number of new flea bites on my body. I think at a minimum, I had 6 new bites each morning about the size of a 5cent piece. Trying not to scratch them became a full time mind control programme. I would have fun chatting with everyone and enjoy the peace of the farm. I would sit and watch the trees bending in the wind, the pigs scratching themselves, Natalia and Diego chasing the cats and the general comings and goings of a farm in Chile. People would always know when to come, usually about an hour before lunch, so they could do a little talking and then a little work, to ‘pay’ for their lunch. I also went with a car load of other locals to go and collect apples and other fruits. I know why we collected the apples, as we were to make them into Chicha, which is a locally homemade alcoholic apple juice. I’m not real sure why we collect the other fruits, but I think some of it went to the pigs. I know I ate some of them and I think that I got a very sore stomach from them. I guess they were a little green, as I was in lot of pain afterwards. All said and done, they were lazy days.I also went to Temuco for the day to drop Rodrigo, Juan and thrie grandma, Carmen, off t the bus terminal, so they could return home to Los Angeles. After this, Papi (Paul’s Dad) and I went about town doing various things that needed to be done. Buying food, picking up and posting mail, buying other items for those in the house, who had not come to Temuco, general errands. We also had a visit from one of Paul’s aunties and cousin, who invited us to their place in Lican Ray, a small town on the edge of a lake near Villarrica and Pucon. Paul said that it is a great place to go too, so we decided to go. Paul, Danni, Nati and I jumed into the car and made our way to Lican Ray.
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