A Trekking Paseo

Ben Richman
Massachusetts, USA

We put together pita, tomato and avocado sandwiches with assembly line efficiency. I sliced the avocado in half with a large knife, pulled out the pit, then effortlessly peeled away the dark green skin from its sumptuous underbelly with my trained thumbs. I mashed and coated the pita that had been pre-cut by a fellow teammate, and passed it off to the tomato woman.  A lot of love was put into those sandwiches. 

We packed them away with the little sailor hats and ripe yellow peaches Megan had bought for the girls. Today was my second official day as a volunteer at Aldea – a home for abused and abandoned teenage girls – and we were going on a “trekking” paseo.

The five volunteers arrived in unison as a task force after the hour-long commute. We were all business. I pictured us walking in slow motion as we approached the door, five astronauts about to embark on a dangerous space mission.  Taking the girls out of the hogar was a privilege and a rarity.  The past few weeks had involved a lot of convincing and a series of dramatic exchanges with the head señora of the hogar, but we had received permission and today it was a reality. 

We collected the six girls, all giddy with the prospect of adventure, and fitted them with their hats, making sure they applied the sunscreen we brought.  We then shepherded them onto the metro, keeping a close eye on them, as “runners” were always a threat. We got off the metro and took a bus to our destination, Parque Mahuida.

Over the last few days, Megan had enlisted the support of two men who were not VE volunteers but were indeed avid trekkers. VE is always reaching out to professionals in the community to see if they will donate their time and knowledge to the children in the institutions.  Henry and Guillermo had visited Aldea the past three days to teach the girls about the basics of trekking (how to use a compass, cook, set up a tent, etc.).  The two of them led the group, as six teenage girls and seven adults ambled up the dirt path in the 90 degree heat, the sun beating mercilessly on our backs.

As a newbie, this paseo was a perfect opportunity for me to get to know some of the girls one-on-one.  I spoke with a few who were intent on studying in the United States because they saw so much opportunity there, being as there were so many reality TV shows that could make you rich and famous.  I politely explained that while there is ample opportunity in the U.S., most of it is not related to the "Jersey Shore." I also acknowledged that America is a declining empire, while Chile is on the up and up.

After a grueling two-hour upward climb, we reached the peak of the hill and sat down in the shade for lunch.   An overwhelming buena onda (good vibe) and sense of accomplishment and jubilation swept over us with the breeze.  The girls and volunteers chowed down on their avocado and tomato sandwiches, and passed around bottles of water while laughter abounded. I watched carefully as the girls ate, making sure they were cherishing the hard labor and personality we had packed into those tiny pitas. 

With the sprawling cityscape of Santiago as our backdrop, we took silly pictures and giggled with the children.  A couple of the girls kept asking me to show them my biceps, which she called cerros (hills), and I eagerly obliged. The attention my muscles were getting was unprecedented. "He esperado para este momento toda mi vida!" I exclaimed.

We skipped merrily down the hill, bonding about music and other light subjects, becoming comfortable with one another.  "Usted es LOSER," they jested. "Tú eres LOSERRR!!!" I cleverly came back with.

On the walk back to the bus, one of the girls left me with this bombshell, "Usted es simpático, es cariñoso, es lindo. Usted es el hombre perfecto."

Not a bad second day on the job.

And what’s my ego going to be like when I return to the states. . . ?