Chichi, Cosetta & Constanza

Sigo con esto de "the hours".  Y descubriendo que la vida, ademas de ser una cosa de adentro, profundamente personal y sagrada, tambien esta en la calle y afuera.  Y es como que lo de afuera se adentrara en una y pintara un lienzo dentro de uno. Pero lo mas hermoso de todo es como se van urdiendo esas pinceladas en conjuncion con la vida humana, las amigas con las cuales se comparten esas visiones. 

comparto con ustedes algunas de las cosas que me han rodeado esta semana.

Nostalgic Nostalgia

jude mcconkey background

photo taken by my daughter's friend dominga castagnoli

sobre las nubes vuela el aliento

every minute counts here, therefore my economy of words. but, above all, puerto varas is in the 10th region of Chile where it is usually either cloudy, drizzling or otright raining for days so the weather we have been having is an exception, we relish every second of sunshine.  every single day has been filled with natural beauty.

chiloe, main island near castro

volcan osorno, totoral road

en

@casa dulce hogar

 si, aqui mi privilegio.  pase un dia entero de sol a luna en casa de mi querida amiga maria cecilia de casa dulce hogar.  fuimos de cahureos para luego terminar en su casa cocinando french toast y jardineando.  las palabras faltan para describir la belleza de su casa y su jardin, las palabras faltan tambien para describir su hospitalidad y carino.  y es que sigue siendo mi soul sister. me la llevaria conmigo a california, asi de triste sera dejarla atras.

sus famosas rosas pierre ronsard

el muzguito en la piedra

 fresas salvajes

cocinando en su cocina 

Spanglish

Esto de tener doble nacionalidad..... se siente como una doble personalidad. Sobretodo que es lo Sajon mezclado con lo Latino. No seria tan marcada la diferencia si fuera una mezcla Europea o solo de sangre latina; vivo entre dos mundos y se nota. Hay dias que soy netamente inglesa, coleccionando tacitas de te, inventando un jardin salvaje, otras me suelto como una loca apasionada y bailo hasta el amanecer, escuchando canciones romanticas o leyendo poesias intensas de Gonzalo Rojas.

Amo esos dos mundos por igual; la sutileza del ingles y el desenfreno del latino en un mismo cuerpo balanceandose como un pendulo sobre la llama.

Having dual citizenship feels like a split personality. Especially since it is an Anglo Saxon and Latin mix. The split wouldn't be as marked if it were a mix of only European heritage or a blend of Latin; I live between two worlds and it is noticeable. There are days when I am eminently English, collecting tea cups and inventing my wild garden, others I let down my hair, hang loose and dance like a fool until the break of dawn, listening to romantic songs or reading intense poetry by Gonzalo Rojas.

I love those two worlds equally; the subtlety of the English and the total Latin abandon all in one body swinging like a pendulum above the flame.

Ideas for my Sanctuary

I'm homesick. AGAIN. I'm a creature of habit when it comes to Chile. I know I mention it at least once a day in my conversations.

Today I spent most of the day browsing through some pre-fab homes websites to start to get solid ideas about the house in Puerto Varas. Mi casita, mi santuario, mi ruca, mi chacra. I need to look up some native plants too because my idea is to plant native plants, trees and flowers. I have always wanted to do a shrine too, a long winding road down the side of the property where people can come and light candles day or night, say a prayer, be at peace. It will be non-denominational with religious art from all religions.

My collection is now huge, all packed in boxes since I have so much from Peru and Mexico and Chile.

I miss my friends,the ones I used to get really silly with. Mairene and Anita & Paty.

I miss La Plaza del Mulato Gil, mis poetas Nicanor y Gonzalo.

I miss taking the metro all over the city and WALKING. Here in California we never walk and it's NOT HEALTHY. I will make it a commitment to walk to the movie theatre one night instead of driving.

My eye hurts so .....to be continued.

Countdown

After years of dreaming, daydreaming, wishing, hoping, praying my vision is about to come true. At the end of February I will purchase my first piece of land. In CHILE ofcourse. One acre and a quarter, located on the outskirts of Puerto Varas in the 8th Region of Chile in a condominium called Bosque Vida. See http://www.bosquevida.cl/.

Buying the land will be phase one. I will then begin anew saving for the foundation and the plans for the house, hopefully ready by the Summer of 2008. Phase 3 will be the actual building. My brother Martin will help me there since he is an accomplished carpenter and quite an artist when it comes to using the materials available to him, low budget.

Oh Lord, how I thank you for the reward after so much arduous work on etsy and ebay saving all my sales monies. I thank You for carrying my weight and allowing me to buy this land at last.

In the making: my own flag, lots of sketches and cutouts from Interior Design and decoration magazines.