Los Angeles
We finally left the farm at about 3 in the afternoon. It was great to be back on the open road and behind the wheel. I called Jessica at the first available moment to let her know that we were finally on our way and that we were going to be later than expected. I found out later on that they had prepared lunch for us all and I felt very bad that we had not been their, as first planned. The drive went very well and it seemed the 3 to 4hr drive went by in no time. We took the wrong turn off into Los Angeles but managed to arrive at Jessica’s house, after a short stop at ‘Solcito’, a friend’s restaurant in the centre of town. I had met them in my first visit to Chile in 2000.
We finally arrived in Los Angeles at about 7pm. Much later than the expect midday. Yet I had arrived and all were happy to see me again. Everyone was invited in for an afternoon tea and time to talk and catch up. Paul had gone to the neighbour’s house to show Natalia off, so we had to wait for him to return. Danni was organising a few things for her Dad, as he didn’t want to come in. Finally we all entered and sat down for some afternoon tea. I was amazed how much the place had changed. Jessica had spoken about her new pool but the whole back yard had a complete make-over. The garden had been worked on and new grass was being sown. That said Paul and Danni didn’t want to stay long, as they needed to get back to Santiago, still a further 6hrs away. I waved them goodbye, only finding out later that Natalia asked where I was and cried for a long time when Danni explained that they were returning to Santiago without me. I took my bag and went up the familiar internal staircase turning right at the top and entering Jess’ bedroom (which would be my sleeping place for the next few nights or for as long as I was to stay). It was like seeing an old friend again, back in familiar surroundings and being at home.
Later that night Jessica asked me to go with her to collect 2 of her friends. I found out that Jessica had asked some of her friends, from both High School and University days, over for a BBQ. It was a great night of meeting new people and catching up with old friends. As I was the guy from Australia, I was asked many questions about my homeland and also why I was in South America. That meant I held long and detailed conversations about my travels in South America and the differences with Australia. Catching up with Nicolas, Jessica’s friend I met last time (refer to earlier blog entries) was great fun and from then on with him and the others there I was known as Bruce, as in Bruce Lee.
During the remainder of my time in Los Angeles, Jess and I would go shopping, pay bills and just generally hang out in Downtown LA. I went to McDonalds for the first time in a long time and ate a McFlurry with Jess. We talked for a long time in McDonalds about the places I had been and the people I had met. It was good to debrief myself with a good friend. I think I needed it. That said, this was the type of week that I had with Jess and her family. We would hang out, do a few things and have some wonderful discussions about her life and about mine and eat too much. I think that South America’s are very good at hospitality. I think that every night there was a BBQ at Jess’ house because of one reason or another. I didn’t mind, as the meat was great and it meant that I could practice my Spanish.
We even went to Concepcion for an overnight trip to drop Jess’ brother off, as he was going to start studying at The University of Concepcion. Along the way we stopped off at a traditional Chilean restaurant to have a traditional meal. Basically it was 5 different kinds of meats and 4 different kinds of sausages and some green stuff on the side to give it a hint of healthiness. I think that I ate enough meat to last me the rest of the week. We all stayed at the Grandma’s house, which was a very tight fit, but was a lovely thing. The following morning, while Juan-Pablo was being settled in, by his Dad, Jess and I went for a walk to the local pond/lake. We walked around it and chatted as we went, talking about different things. Again there was a subtle hint of travel in her words, which I have felt many times during conversations with people from South America. Life is very hard in South America, unless you have a lot of money, but when you have this money you need to spend a lot on security, as those without it will try and take it from you. That was a very broad statement, but I think it reflects some attitudes. We left Pablo in Concepcion and drove the 2hrs back to LA.
It was a routine of waking up, late of course, having something to eat, then swimming for a little while, as the weather was always hot and sunny, and then having more food doing the necessary events for the day and then it was party time again at night. The parties were either at Jess’ house or at one of her friend’s. I think that there were so many parties, as people wanted to share in the fun times with the crazy guy from Australia. On one such night, we were all at Nicolas’ house (Jess and I, Nicolas and his girlfriend, Danni and my man Borat (that is the nickname I gave him)). Jess received a call from her Mum saying that her Aunty had passed away, leaving her 3 cousins without any parents. Her husband had passed away only 6 weeks earlier from cancer. It was a gloomy end to a once jovial evening. The following morning Jess’ parents went to Concepcion and Jess stayed to look after me, but I felt that I was being a burden to the family, so I decided to leave Los Angeles that night and head back to Villa Alemana to collect some of my clothes that I had left there from my earlier stay. This was becoming a habit with me, as I had left clothes in other places in Brazil. Jess’ X-boyfriend came over to give her support and the three of us sat a chatted and just tried to be as normal as possible for Jess. We ended up having pancakes with manjar (caramel) as a final meal together. They were so good and I ended up eating about 6 of them… I didn’t have to eat until lunchtime the following day. I finally waved goodbye to Jess at about 10:48pm that night and I tried to maintain a happy face, for Jess’ benefit, yet I was sad that I was leaving, not knowing when I would see her in person again, after 2 wonderful visits to her house in LA. They were such wonderful times of strengthening our friendship after 7 to 8 years of only email and MSN. I will miss you Jess. Thank you so much for allowing me to stay with you and your family. Sorry I could not join you and your family in drinking the wines.
We finally left the farm at about 3 in the afternoon. It was great to be back on the open road and behind the wheel. I called Jessica at the first available moment to let her know that we were finally on our way and that we were going to be later than expected. I found out later on that they had prepared lunch for us all and I felt very bad that we had not been their, as first planned. The drive went very well and it seemed the 3 to 4hr drive went by in no time. We took the wrong turn off into Los Angeles but managed to arrive at Jessica’s house, after a short stop at ‘Solcito’, a friend’s restaurant in the centre of town. I had met them in my first visit to Chile in 2000.
We finally arrived in Los Angeles at about 7pm. Much later than the expect midday. Yet I had arrived and all were happy to see me again. Everyone was invited in for an afternoon tea and time to talk and catch up. Paul had gone to the neighbour’s house to show Natalia off, so we had to wait for him to return. Danni was organising a few things for her Dad, as he didn’t want to come in. Finally we all entered and sat down for some afternoon tea. I was amazed how much the place had changed. Jessica had spoken about her new pool but the whole back yard had a complete make-over. The garden had been worked on and new grass was being sown. That said Paul and Danni didn’t want to stay long, as they needed to get back to Santiago, still a further 6hrs away. I waved them goodbye, only finding out later that Natalia asked where I was and cried for a long time when Danni explained that they were returning to Santiago without me. I took my bag and went up the familiar internal staircase turning right at the top and entering Jess’ bedroom (which would be my sleeping place for the next few nights or for as long as I was to stay). It was like seeing an old friend again, back in familiar surroundings and being at home.
Later that night Jessica asked me to go with her to collect 2 of her friends. I found out that Jessica had asked some of her friends, from both High School and University days, over for a BBQ. It was a great night of meeting new people and catching up with old friends. As I was the guy from Australia, I was asked many questions about my homeland and also why I was in South America. That meant I held long and detailed conversations about my travels in South America and the differences with Australia. Catching up with Nicolas, Jessica’s friend I met last time (refer to earlier blog entries) was great fun and from then on with him and the others there I was known as Bruce, as in Bruce Lee.During the remainder of my time in Los Angeles, Jess and I would go shopping, pay bills and just generally hang out in Downtown LA. I went to McDonalds for the first time in a long time and ate a McFlurry with Jess. We talked for a long time in McDonalds about the places I had been and the people I had met. It was good to debrief myself with a good friend. I think I needed it. That said, this was the type of week that I had with Jess and her family. We would hang out, do a few things and have some wonderful discussions about her life and about mine and eat too much. I think that South America’s are very good at hospitality. I think that every night there was a BBQ at Jess’ house because of one reason or another. I didn’t mind, as the meat was great and it meant that I could practice my Spanish.
We even went to Concepcion for an overnight trip to drop Jess’ brother off, as he was going to start studying at The University of Concepcion. Along the way we stopped off at a traditional Chilean restaurant to have a traditional meal. Basically it was 5 different kinds of meats and 4 different kinds of sausages and some green stuff on the side to give it a hint of healthiness. I think that I ate enough meat to last me the rest of the week. We all stayed at the Grandma’s house, which was a very tight fit, but was a lovely thing. The following morning, while Juan-Pablo was being settled in, by his Dad, Jess and I went for a walk to the local pond/lake. We walked around it and chatted as we went, talking about different things. Again there was a subtle hint of travel in her words, which I have felt many times during conversations with people from South America. Life is very hard in South America, unless you have a lot of money, but when you have this money you need to spend a lot on security, as those without it will try and take it from you. That was a very broad statement, but I think it reflects some attitudes. We left Pablo in Concepcion and drove the 2hrs back to LA.
It was a routine of waking up, late of course, having something to eat, then swimming for a little while, as the weather was always hot and sunny, and then having more food doing the necessary events for the day and then it was party time again at night. The parties were either at Jess’ house or at one of her friend’s. I think that there were so many parties, as people wanted to share in the fun times with the crazy guy from Australia. On one such night, we were all at Nicolas’ house (Jess and I, Nicolas and his girlfriend, Danni and my man Borat (that is the nickname I gave him)). Jess received a call from her Mum saying that her Aunty had passed away, leaving her 3 cousins without any parents. Her husband had passed away only 6 weeks earlier from cancer. It was a gloomy end to a once jovial evening. The following morning Jess’ parents went to Concepcion and Jess stayed to look after me, but I felt that I was being a burden to the family, so I decided to leave Los Angeles that night and head back to Villa Alemana to collect some of my clothes that I had left there from my earlier stay. This was becoming a habit with me, as I had left clothes in other places in Brazil. Jess’ X-boyfriend came over to give her support and the three of us sat a chatted and just tried to be as normal as possible for Jess. We ended up having pancakes with manjar (caramel) as a final meal together. They were so good and I ended up eating about 6 of them… I didn’t have to eat until lunchtime the following day. I finally waved goodbye to Jess at about 10:48pm that night and I tried to maintain a happy face, for Jess’ benefit, yet I was sad that I was leaving, not knowing when I would see her in person again, after 2 wonderful visits to her house in LA. They were such wonderful times of strengthening our friendship after 7 to 8 years of only email and MSN. I will miss you Jess. Thank you so much for allowing me to stay with you and your family. Sorry I could not join you and your family in drinking the wines.
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