Thar' she blows!

Ok, ok, ok. I know its been a long time since the last post...but thats just the way it is, some things will never change. Anyway, first off a lot of you have been asking about the volcano thats erupting right now. No, I haven't been carried away in a mushroom cloud of ash. The volcano is about 100 miles south of me and I haven't noticed any differences. No tremors, earthquakes, and thankfully no rogue waves. But of course its been all over the news down here and its a pretty big deal.
So what have I been up to for the last month or so? Well I had a 2 week homestay with a family of Mapuche (the indigenous group in the south). During those two weeks we had classes and learned pretty much all about the Mapuche. My family was fantastic and I had a great time with them. This is a picture of my Mapuche father and Rich. We both lived with the same family.We also went on an excursion to a town called Curarrehue which is at the foot of a volcano....which is not erupting. But it is an amazing sight to see. The volcano is in the middle of a national park which is home to the second oldest living trees in the world (second to the Sequoia...G.B.A.) This is the dinosaur-like trunk of the tree. I also managed to take a me-day and go on a trip with a few friends into the hills .
This is a tripple-decker. Bottom to top: August, Brennan, Rich. Now I'm hanging in the city of Temuco doing field research for my independent project, which has to do with violence and repression during the dictatorship in and around Temuco. Its a pretty heavy topic and interviewing families about their loved-ones who were killed or disappeared is a tough process. Thankfully my adviser here is one of the most respected people in the area for human rights investigation and promotion...so he's more than helpful.

I'll be done with my program in a month from today (which is crazy to think about) and after that I'll be traveling for another month or so. I'll be coming back the 2nd of July just in time for all kinds of festivities. I leave you with this.....