miel (monolinguals click here)

A wise guy once said, "If you find honey, eat just enough--too much of it, and you will vomit." 25th Prov. v.16...and soon after, "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control" v.28.

As I sat in my small courtyard/patio/garden Wednesday nooning, drinking up the predictably unhindered solar rays--hotter and sharper than those up North, I found these Words jumping off the page before me and weighing heavy on my lap.  So, naturally, I journaled them down to make record of the sentiment and moved on to another book.  BAM, finished!

Unfortunately, that's how it goes down so often in my walk.  Powerful feeling/emotion = good and successful.  + journaling it down sets it in concrete and makes it more prominent for bonus points.  Then I move on and feel accomplished, encouraged and better about myself.  Clearly something is missing in this formula...after all, what was really accomplished?  I felt something powerful and real (true), enjoyed that feeling for myself (true), made record of it (true) and then stashed it away and moved on.  The reality is that the aforementioned weight on my lap fell to the ground the moment I stood up and walked inside for lunch.

The fool notes, observes and relishes the sentiment and lets it be (in my case on the courtyard tile). But the wise man...the wise man notes, observes and relishes the sentiment then takes it along with him in application.  The "weight" is living and active, or rather can be, should the victim identify it, plant it and let it grow and evolve beyond sentiment.  Application with intent.

I feel like a kid in a candy shop around here, to borrow the stock simile.  But it's all too true and applicable.  Each day, from my Carolina departure until now, has been jam packed with NEW fun and games, sights and sounds, food and phrases, people and places.  My first weekend here, for example, went something like this:

Rugby match at the beach, going out for drinks with three new friends, discoteching until 4:30am, taking a three hour walk/tour along the beach and through the city, watching surfers take on massive S. Pacific waves, and my personal highlight...

...All day (2pm-11pm) Sunday family fiesta--food and beverage extravaganza.  We're talking behind the closed doors of a true chilean family, all my chilean aunts, cousins, grandpa/uncle, mama, etc.  And this family doesn't miss a beat.  It has the retired/ex-miner (oh yes, I got all the stories and history), the poet, the painter/artist, the fashion designer and all the drama. The day consisted of introductions (always kisses on the right cheek), detailed geographical explications (from my chilean, ex-miner grandfather), a two hour lunch/BBQ consisting of every food but liver and mush (but most prominently featuring an avacado salad--this is the place they ship them to your supermarket from), and a poetry reading (all originals by my chilean grandfather). Also, the ongoing theme throughout the day was sampling the whole range of diverse chilean beverages--nationaly acclaimed pisco sour, several renowned red wines from the heartland vineyards and for dessert, whisky crema on ice, kind of like Baileys but much better.  With that, my first weekend in Chile was wrapping up, and the ensuing week did not disappoint or slow down.

Yesterday marked the three week anniversary of my arrival. THREE WEEKS...and I alreay feel like this city is my backyard.  On any given afternoon I call up my chilean tennis buddies (Davor and Sebastian) after class for a match down at the Club de Tenis clay courts 100 yards off the crashing surf.  Or, if the courts are full I usually stroll two blocks north to Bañario Principal along the coast and join a group of college kids playing a pickup game of sand volleyball and afterwards hop on the 114 "micro" (bus) for Coviefi.

So, "miel" is kind of a big deal in Chile.  But it's not that simple, it's not just miel.  In my chilean mama's kitchen alone we have miel de palma (coconut honey), miel de ulmo (flowering tree native to Chile honey), miel de papaya and miel de abeja (honeybee honey).  At least, these are all the ones I've been introduced to...who knows what others may exist behind the pots and pans--I'm sure we'll meet soon enough.  So, the trap is almuerza (chilean lunch, served at 2:30pm), the biggest and most formal meal of the day.  Everyday, within minutes of polishing off my main dish, my mama chilena chops up an elected fruit (usually banana, pear, or peach), puts it in a small glass goblet, douses it with one of the defined honeys above and places it under my nose, where it is devoured before she can hand me a spoon...

(*to those of you who have asked, yes...all posted photography is mine unless otherwise noted)