Thursday, February 13

This morning I got up really early with Julia, her dad, Nancy, and Eric to take Julia’s truck to a nearby beach to gather clams.

We had to wear ugly clothes and big rubber boots to get muddy in. My boots sank into the mud almost covering my entire foot. We had to look though all the rocks to see where little spouts of water would shoot up and then dig there for clams. In about an hour we had like 2 buckets full and some nearby fishermen had given us 2 nets full of mussels. When we got home, there was still no one else awake, so Julia, Nancy, and I walked into the center of town to the feria. I bought a wool hat and also a warm wool headband that I absolutely fell in love with. Then we walked a little further down the main street until it started paralleling the river. We stopped at a natural juice stand and drank juice together.

Then we got home to cook the clams and mussels. We had a lunch of clam soup and rice, which just confirmed the belief I already had that I do not like shellfish of any type. It’s not the taste, but that chewy texture that is really gross. After lunch, Javi had to go to a fitting because she was going to model traditional Chilote clothing during the fiesta custombrista that the town was putting on the next two days. I went with her and met some of her friends. Then we all went down to drink some more natural juice. After we finished the juice, Javi, Pia, Oscar, Maxi, and I walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. We went to the part that was full of a kind of clay called laja. It looks like rocks, so it’s really fun to throw it and watch it explode into a million pieces when it hits something.

When we got back to the house, Nancy and Julia had baked 3 different types of pie—blueberry, key lime, and raspberry, and so we had dinner of just pie. Then the whole family stayed around talking until like 2 in the morning. They told me all of the legends surrounding Chiloe. Apparently there is a beast living there called the Trauco that mysteriously gets virgin girls present. Also, there is a phantom boat called the Caleuche that people see in the distance in the night. I don’t believe in any of that stuff but it’s still interesting to hear the stories.