me + my backpack + some other stuff.

Yesterday I enjoyed one of my last yoga classes in the dome. It's basically a yurt-style "tent" a few kilometers outside of town, with brilliant views of Última Esperanza Fjord. It's built to withstand the gales and near hurricane-force winds. (And let's just say this full moon kicked up some glass-breaking twisters and house-rattling gusts.) Practicing yoga in the dome--warmed by a wood burning stove and sheltered from the gales beyond it--is noisy. The loudness of lashings never really bothers me when I'm inside, but our yoga maestra kept reminding us to let the wind sweep away what we no longer need. Let go our heavy baggage so to speak.

About four years ago, I shouldered a blue backpack and set out to travel around South America. I had a plan (which included returning in two months), but I found it difficult to explain to others what exactly I was doing. Friends wished me farewell, saying: I hope you find what you're looking for. I had no idea what that meant or what I might be looking for.

{on the way to paso oggioni, torres del paine}

My backpack has climbed glaciers and volcanoes peaking 6,000 meters, soaked in the mists of Machu Picchu, weighed down my broken toe traversing the Bolivian altiplano, wobbled on donkeys and boarded canoes in the Amazon. It's froze beneath the snow of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It's explored Turkey and survived rickety trains throughout Eastern Europe. I heard its sighs of relief when--too heavy for me to daintily swing onto my back--S has picked it up and held it out for me to put on, as if it was anything as light as a coat. It's been nibbled by mice and manhandled by airport conveyors. It's been my home for months at a time and my chair at dinnertime.

{en route to paso marconi + the ice field, from el chaltén}

And most recently heavy blue has been sold. For nearly a decade, that backpack collected shells and stones, non-native pine cones, diary notes scribbled on maps, breathtaking views, and the camaraderie of other backpacks.

{almirante nieto, torres del paine}

I've collected beach glass, bird books and real feather pens, friends, transience, acceptance. I met yoga and meditation and my husband. In that order. Maybe I was looking for something. But when I stopped looking and opened my eyes, I found I already had everything. (But, of course, I still wanted to meet that special someone.) A few blinks later : enter S. Now we're moving to my California homeland, with the backwards backpack of my 7-month pregnant belly. What a long, strange trip it's been.

May the wind carry away some of your excess baggage today. 

What would you send with its next gust?

the sound of a whirlwind / gettin' back.

{photo by arthur machado}

Come to think of it. I don't know what I've been so busy with since we arrived home six days ago, but sometimes life gets real busy like that. But I do have one big update. Aside from all of the gorgeous bits of love waiting for me in my inbox and post box when we got home, there was a skinny letter from the U.S. embassy in Santiago. Dated about five days after I filed the stacks of paperwork to prove that we "entered into a bonafide marriage." Romantic, right? Love letters, financial documents, travel photos, congrats from family and friends all graced this massive packet. 

 

The crazy fast news is *the* interview is already set! October 13 in Santiago. We bought our tickets back to the capital yesterday. Remember how I said no more horribly timed 1 or 5 a.m. flights? Well, just one or two more times (ida y vuelta). Sometimes you just can't argue with the price. Thank goodness humans are so capable of forgetting past discomforts + grueling experiences! Sometimes it's good to be able to do it again...

Yet, some plans foiled... About two years ago, I took a vow of silence for 10 days. No reading, writing, listening to music, knitting, nada. Only meditation. Sitting (oh, it's surprising how much marathon sitting can hurt!). The style of meditation is called Vipassana, and they hold 10-day sessions all over the world. I won't go on about what a purifying experience this was. Have you ever done anything like this?

I wanted to do it again. Just once before I return to the States, because having a job with only a couple weeks vacation (way to make real travel impossible...) pretty much precluded me from wanting to spend that dear vacay in silence, meditating. Really, I like a good party break too! Besides international lifestyle and families, we'll be back and forth to Turkey and likely Chile along with wanting to explore... I had been trying to get into Vipassana courses for several months (always attempting to register too late). Finally one day, I was in and registered! 

{meditation by c.mariani}

A couple of weeks later Serkan decided he'd like to do it together! Say, what? I was over the moon. I couldn't think of a more amazing experience for us to share--by that time all 2.5 of us! Men and women are strictly separated during the Vipassana retreats, but just knowing that we are there doing it together... Hello beauty (and support and synchronized calm)! Since there wasn't any more space in the Santiago course I got into, I relinquished my spot. We hunted for another. After a couple of tries we found one in Buenos Aires and planned a big roadtrip for it, scheduled for September 29. 

{photo by lenaah}

After looking at funds and timing, it's too much to do the visa interview, get all the medical exams that we need in Santiago, and meditate in silence for 10 days near Buenos Aires. Bluely, I let loose that little dream yesterday morning, as we purchased our flights to Santiago. Our afternoon bike ride in spring (for here) weather cheered me up. I hadn't ridden a bike since May! 

Wishing you all a still-warm entrance into autumn and a sunny welcoming of spring! 

{unattributed photos : unknown : please let me know if they're yours}