Late summer days around Lago Panguipulli in southern Chile can be bright, crystal sharp, and quiet. Serene would be the best way to describe the day in early March when three buddies, from a Peace Corps group that arrived in Chile fifty years ago, shuffled
De Pellin y Coihue ! the sign says atop the entrance to a most well-placed restaurant overlooking the shimmering waters of Lago Ranco in southern Chile. The name highlights the noblest of Chilean trees, the roble and the coigue, both members of the Nothofagus genus that
A half century ago, the President of Chile, Eduardo Frei Montalva, inaugurated a massive national reforestation program, an important action leading to that country’s notable forestry sector development. President Frei announced this exciting program with an inspirational speech challenging the children of Chile to: “Protect the trees on your
Salvador Allende, up to the day he lost his country and his life, extoled his socialist revolution in Chile as having “sabor de empanadas y vino tinto”, a home made form of socialism flavored with the taste of the ubiquitous Chilean meat turnovers and renowned red wine. Allende was but
Exactly half a century ago, a special collection of 75 university seniors were beginning the last year of their very sheltered, structured academic lives, soon to be faced with a decision that would tattoo their lives forever: enter military service, or do something that provided an armed
One night several years ago Luz Celia Lienqueo Castillo had a peuma…a type of dream the Mapuche believe is not just a vision but a type of premonition that must come true. Luz’s peuma described in great detail the small piece of land she was
Everyone has a friend who seems to remember everything; mine is Jesse. He remembers names, histories, quirks and faults of people he knew for only two years, fifty years ago, but hasn’t seen since. When Jesse tells a story, it is with such detail that
More than 2,500 fortunate Americans have served in Chile, applying their skills and energies to the development of a country that over the past 50 years has experienced extraordinary growth and modernization. You helped Chile grow, and at the same time your experience led to
Once in a while a book gets written that reflects so accurately things we have done, places we have visited, and people we have known, that , rather than read it, we experience it. One for the Road, by David Mather, is for me just
There are many small towns sprinkled throughout the Araucanía region of Chile west of Temuco and along the meandering Río Imperial. One of these towns is Trovolhue, which, on a sunny, warm day in the last week of the 2012 Chilean summer vacation period, was