Así como me aflige pensar en el claro día de tus piernas
recostadas como detenidas y duras aguas solares,
y la golondrina que durmiendo y volando vive en tus ojos,
y el perro de furia que asilas en el corazón,
así también veo las muertes que están entre nosotros desde ahora,
y respiro en el aire la ceniza y lo destruido,
el largo, solitario espacio que me rodea para siempre.
Just as it afflicts me to think of the clear day of your legs
curled up like still and harsh solar waters,
and the swallow that sleeping and flying lives in your eyes,
and the furious dog that you shelter in your heart,
so too I see the deaths that are between us from now on,
and I breathe in the air ashes and destruction,
the long, solitary space that surrounds me forever.
-Tango del Viudo (The Widower’s Tango), Pablo Neruda
I found this poem in the bilingual translation of Residence on Earth, gifted to me by my sister for my 19th birthday. I was so transient during this time of my life. I would sit on the floor in whichever rented room I had found to stay for a few months, reading the right side of the page in english and dreaming of the day when I would be able to read the original version in Spanish on the left. I also dreamed of riding horses on the stone of the Andes so fast that their hooves created sparks (Towards the Splendid City) and because like all 19 year olds I was an idiot, finding a love so intense that nothing else mattered like the love Neruda speaks about in this poem dedicated to his lover Josie Bliss. I carried this book with me through what seemed liked endless moves up and down the west coast, then to Mexico and back. To this day I love owning physical books, and I move them with me where ever I go, much to my own dismay as much as any other poor soul that I have somehow tricked into helping me.
Now that I’m older, and I never got into horse riding. Who needs another expensive hobby anyway? I’m still learning what true love is and what true love isn’t. I’m hoping that love can be, if not painless, always kind. I’m trying to always love myself first. I see my friends that lose themselves completely in a relationship, and I grieve for them. I can understand how seductive the feeling can be, and I don’t believe that is way to love or to live at all.
But perhaps most importantly, the one thing I can do is read the left side of those pages. And at the beginning of the year, I was able to go see the Andes mountains that Pablo Neruda wrote of for the first time.
This was in February of 2022, and there were still a lot of pandemic restrictions. Perhaps because I worked from home during the entirety of the pandemic, traveling at this time was a real risk and was being treated as such. I still try to travel cautiously to this day, always with masks and COVID tests, but during this time the threat of COVID felt very real, and was still being taken seriously by some countries, including Chile. When I arrived at the airport in Santiago I had to take a PCR test and quarantine at the hotel until I received my results. I needed a “mobility pass,” or proof of vaccination to enter enclosed spaces.
Santiago
Santiago is a beautiful city. The first thing I noticed was that drivers seem to actually care if pedestrians live or die, something I haven’t experienced in any other Latin American country that I have visited, or in Atlanta for that matter. There are many beautiful and well designed parks. Although I wish I had the time to visit the dramatic landscapes of Patagonia or the Atacama Desert or Easter Island, with the Andes set as the background of the city it’s impossible to forget that you are in such a breathtaking place.
I was staying next to Parque Araucano. This is a great place to go for a run along the numerous paths, or stroll through the rose gardens. They have a stage for different events and by midday there are several food vendors scattered throughout.
If you only have time for one activity, I recommend visiting Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, also known as San Cristobal Hill. This is the largest urban park in Latin America and covers almost 1800 acres. You can take the gondola from a point at the base of the park to the highest point.
Bellavista is a lively neighborhood close to the park, with many restaurants serving traditional Chilean food such as Conger eel soup, Empanadas de Pino, and Pastel de Choclo. While there are some tasty options, I was surprised that the food was a little bland considering Chile is neighbored by shining culinary stars such as Peru and Argentina. Chileans will also be quick to point out that they invented the true and original Pisco Sour, but I assume almost no one outside of the country has heard of the Chilean Pisco Sour either so I think Peru also won that one.
There is a house that was owned by Pablo Neruda and has been converted into a small museum that is also located in Bellavista.
I took a walking tour of the city. My guide explained the recent history of the country, including the US backed dictatorship of Pinochet, and the recent election of leftist Gabriel Boric. We walked to Cerro Santa Lucia, which offers some beautiful views of the city and features the Fuente Neptuno. I recommend stopping by nearby Centro Artesenal Santa Luisa for authentic and cheaper souvenirs. I learned that Chile is known for crafts using the semi precious stone lapis.
Viña del Mar
I was lucky enough to visit Viña del Mar for a day. To get here from Santiago you will pass through a valley with lots of wineries where you can stop for a glass or several. Viña del Mar is a small town with a beautiful coastline and towering sand dunes.
Cajón del Maipo
I also took a day tour of Cajón del Maipo in the Andes, where I went hiking in several beautiful spots. Russia had officially declared war on Ukraine the day before. There were only two other people on the tour who were coworkers traveling together. One was from Russia, the other from Ukraine. I was silent for most of the morning but by the time we were having a picnic and sharing a bottle of fine Chilean wine at the end of the hike, I had to ask. What the actual hell? It turns out they were coworkers traveling on business and the Russian had cried when they heard about the war. They were totally opposed, and knew that it would make their own life very difficult as well, that they would no longer be able to travel much of the world. Putin doesn’t care about any of his people, she told me. And doing something like starting this war proves just how crazy he actually is.
Now that I’m writing about this trip a full 9 months later, Ukraine is still very much under attack, and COVID is still a very real threat whether we talk about it anymore or not. When Pablo Neruda wrote Towards the Splendid City, he was fleeing Chile as a fugitive for being a member of the communist party. History’s tendency to repeat itself and the 24 hour news cycle being what it is, it’s so easy to forget what continues to happen. It’s impossible to hold the truths of what is happening and has happened around the world on any given day in our hearts at the same time, much less do so and move with hope and acceptance through our daily lives. For me, it’s the beauty of this world, and the people in it, that keep me going. It’s the ability privilage of being able to make an impact, however small it may be.
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