Change of plans: excursion numero uno.

The original plan for the weekend was Mendoza, Argentina. Wine, biking, and rafting. Life doesn't get much better than that, right? Especially when it's only a three hour bus ride over the border, however, with such a short weekend because of our USAC excursion on Friday, Lena and I postponed our mini-adventure for another weekend for a more extended stay.

This Friday brought Isla Negra (yes, black island, but no, not actually an island, as it turns out) and Pomaire. The latter is a dusty, pottery village an hour south of Santiago. Comprised mainly of indigenous potters, it's difficult to imagine life in Pomaire, except visions of red clay and tourists. While there, we experienced pottery in the making and empenadas baked in the brick oven. Before two hours were up, we herded back into our tour bus for the primary home of Nobel Peace Prize winning poet, Pablo Neruda. Sitting on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Neruda's home in Isla Negra is beautiful without even looking inside, however, after stepping into the interior, the rooms are just as enchanting as the sea beyond. I was not familiar with Neruda's poetry before, but without knowing anything about him, I can guess from his many collections of shells, ships, mermaid statues, globes, pipes, paintings, and more, that he was quite the character. Outside, beyond his final resting spot and his rusted iron chain fence, lies the head of Neruda, atop a large rock looking out into the endless sea.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of his home, however, I did take a few pictures of the vista.

Here's a sample of Neruda's poetry.

Fleas interest me so much
that I let them bite me for hours.
They are perfect, ancient, Sanskrit,
machines that admit of no appeal.
They do not bite to eat,
they bite only to jump;
they are the dancers of the celestial sphere,
delicate acrobats
in the softest and most profound circus;
let them gallop on my skin,
divulge their emotions,
amuse themselves with my blood,
but someone should introduce them to me.
I want to know them closely,
I want to know what to rely on