I´m sitting in the cozy wood-paneled, stove-heated offices of La Federación Huilliche de Chiloé, listening to the pouring rain outside through the open windows while I translate a grant application from spanish to english, feeling useful and happy to be warm and well-received by Sergio and his colleagues here on the island. The bus ride today from Puerto Montt was uneventful, although I gave mad props to the driver for squeezing us onto the ferry with honestly less than 8 inches of space on either side. Felt a lot like the ferry to Vinalhaven in Maine, what with the similar cold rainy weather and wooded islands and fishing boats (not lobster though).
Sergio and I will shortly catch a bus out of town to his house about an hour away, cook some dinner, and then hopefully discuss his organization, campaigns, and the environmental and social issues here on Chiloé over a nice bottle of wine I bought on my way here. Hopefully I'll be able to do useful translation and english-language writing for the Federación this week, as well as spend some time each day exploring Chiloé and tagging along with Sergio as he travels around doing stuff.
Still have no idea if I'll stay here 2 days or 2 weeks... time will tell. For now, I'm just thrilled to be pulling my raingear out of my pack for the first time in 6 weeks, to be feeding the wood-burning stove (with non-Old Growth wood), thrilled to be alive! Also, this exact spot is the farthest south I've ever stood on planet Earth.
Gotta run and continue translating a grant proposal that could mean $10,000 for this small and struggling organization.
PS: thanks Hannah for hooking me up here!
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