Temptation Island
Well I´m back in Santiago and the past week already seems like it never really happened. But I do have photos to prove it. I´ll try to get them posted soon.I´m leaving with such a twisted impression of possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. It´s funny how you see pictures of a place and expect one thing, and then you go there and it is so much different, even though it looks the same.
Having the ability to speak the language and share with the islanders changed the whole scope of the trip. Usually, as a tourist destination, most visitors just see the archeological sites and don´t get to know the people. But Adrien and I spent the past week hanging out with the kids our age and speaking with people from the judge on the island to the air traffic controller and the island´s music teacher.
Pablo Andrés and Adrien
What did we learn? Too much to share in one blog. I could probably write a book based on this past week. But as a basic rundown- everyone on the island is related so they are desperate to hookup with the foreigners. I think I was hit on by everyone in the island. And often times, foreigners will stay. It is an enticing place, afterall. But a few years later after the couple has a kid, the islander usually finds some other tourist that is even better. So they split up. Honeymooning couples on the island have been known to break up and get together with islanders.
Other strange stories- there is even a German girl who lives in a cave with one of the "rustic" or "hippie" islanders. I´m not kidding. They don´t have water or elecricity, but she decided to stay with him during what was supposed to be a week long vacation.
I could have easily had my pick and stayed... I could have become an artist/English teacher/translator on the island, or something like that... but there are too many other places I want to see and things that I want to do. Forgetting that the rest of the world exists can only last for so long for me. But in the future, I wouldn´t mind vacationing there for a month or two. Especially now that I have friends and I could crash in their place for free because it is everything but cheap.
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