Text and pictures by Aaron Richards, University of Vermont
Team Aguila
Last week we had homestays with Chilean farmers for 3 nights, which was our deepest immersion into Chilean culture so far. We were divided into pairs and on the morning of February 25th we headed out in separate cars for our separate families. My partner for the homestays was AnnMarie Backstrom, and we first met our host dad, Gavino, in Cochrane at his house there. Many gauchos keep second houses in town so they have a place to stay when they visit. His town house was cozy with lots of pictures of horses on the walls; in our first conversation he told us how much he likes horses.
Indeed, on the way to his campo, he stopped to pick up one of his horses and rode behind the car to the end of the road. Our destination was just that: the end of the road. Two hours after leaving Cochrane the road got bumpier until it ended in the middle of a meadow; there were no cars past this point. Waiting there was our host mom, Norma. AnnMarie, our instructor Samara, and I traveled another hour over a ridge to his house in the mountains. The views on the way were spectacular! A huge panorama of Patagonian peaks and ridges was laid out in front of us from the top of the ridge.
At the house we had mate (a traditional Chilean tea sipped from a gourd), and got to know each other. Samara did most of the talking because her Spanish is better than mine, but after she left, it was mostly up to me to communicate, as I speak more Spanish than AnnMarie. The Chilean accent is hard to understand, but through slow speaking I was able to understand them well enough to have lots of good conversations. My Spanish certainly improved over the 4 days I was staying on the campo.
The warm and cozy house of our host family, just one hour from Cochrane.
We were there partly to help out the couple, so after we finished our mate and had a huge lunch of cooked beef and sides, we set out to help Gavino herd the cows. The sun was going down and the cows were up on the ridge, which meant we had that amazing view of the mountains again, but this time at sunset. Following Gavino as he herded cows with the help of his dogs was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip so far. It was a surreal moment in a breathtaking landscape, and we got to watch a real gaucho doing what he did best.
The next day started with another amazing experience. Gavino and Norma took us over to the cow corral and we helped them milk the animals. This is the first thing we did every day, but this first time was truly special. Partway through, as we were milking the third cow, a strange shadow fell over the campo, I thought it was just a wispy cloud, but the sky was completely clear. It took a bit of pantomiming for Gavino to get across to us that it was a partial solar eclipse!
Aaron trying to master the cow-milking technique.
After milking the cows, we helped them gather and chop firewood for their wood burning stove. This is a constant and important task as the stove is their only source of heat for their house and their only way to cook. By noon it was getting very hot, so we took a break and drank mate inside and had lunch. I took a nap in the shade, and after an hour or so was woken up by one of their cats laying down on my chest. Not the worst way to be woken up!
In the afternoon Gavino took us out to see his campo. He and his extended family share over 90,000 hectares of land, so we couldn’t see it all, but he took us back up to the top of the ridge to take photos, and then down to herd cows and see some of his prized horses. We swung by the house so Norma could join us, then traveled about half an hour to Gavino’s brother’s house. We chatted and he made us his specialty drink: red wine and condensed milk blended together. It was surprisingly good!
The next day played out similarly to the last; we milked cows, chopped wood, helped herd animals, and ate lots of meat. Gavino has a cow leg hanging in his barn, and he cuts slices off for each meal. It doesn’t get much fresher than that! We also made homemade sopaipillas with Norma while Gavino was out riding.
After dinner we had a good conversation about local conservation efforts in the area and the influence of foreigners. It’s a topic we have discussed a lot in classes, and getting the chance to talk about it with a local who’s lived in the area for his whole life was really interesting. Afterwards I tried to play the old, beat up guitar he has hanging on his wall. It was a great night!
AnnMarie, Norma, Aaron and Gavino share mate and chat in their home.
The next morning after milking the cows we packed up our stuff and met Samara on the other side of the ridge where she was waiting with a car at the end of the road. We said goodbye to Gavino and Norma, then went back to Cochrane to reunite with the rest of our fellow students. It was nice to see them again and hear about everyone’s homestays!
Top photo: Gavino, our host dad, herds his cows on his backyard.