We DO have TOO many volcanos... Not all decide to get mean at the same time, fortunately, but not long ago the Chaiten volcano was really bad and a whole town had to be evacuated. When flying north, we could see for months the huge plume of smoke. Nature can be very impressive sometimes.
Anyway, don´t worry, we can always disconnect them when friends come to visit!
They call themselves the people of the land, and they truly are, being the original inhabitants of a vast extension of the Chilean territory.
By the way, they were the only people that could stop the advance of the Spanish Army, and in only twenty years since the arrival of the Spaniards the Mapuche people was able to develop new weapons and strategies to deal with the invaders.
Many words from their language are used in our Chilean variant of Spanish, and their female doctors,called "Machis" have an incredible knowledge of natural medicine. Actually,in some state medical centers located in city areas where there is an important Mapuche population, the authorities have built a special place for the Machi to see her patients,so they have both types of medicine available.
They are trying to get their lands back and their rights respected. Too many interests involved, though...
We speak Spanish, and there are some limited areas where a couple of indigenous languages are still spoken. Most original languages have been lost...
I share what you say with respect to handcrafts... I just LOVE them, I think that every place in the world has something unique and so "real" to offer, I mean, each object, however humble, that is made out of natural materials by human work is so honest and brings such beauty to our life.
Catsy, Outrageous, come on over, you´ll be welcome, anybody else wants to come along? (good fruit, excellent wine and great fish and shellfish) Let´s party!
clara1956 Forum Posts (1,426)
Just curious