Chile Con Karen: Visitas en el Campo

Start-Up Chile sent a photographer down to Southern Chile for a weekend to do a segment on VOZ. The visit ended up being quite fun since it gave us a change to visit some of the artisans we collaborate with in the campo, or farmland.

As always, their generosity was humbling- first we stopped by one artisan's house for a breakfast of fresh eggs. After, she showed us around the house, including her loom and introduced to the animals- pigs, puppies, cows, & hens. Even though the animals roam freely, they all come running to her when she calls out since she feeds them.

Next, we stopped by another weaver's house for a lunch of cazuela (chicken and vegetable soup), sopaipillas (fried bread), and semolina (a pudding-like dessert). I particularly enjoyed listening to this artisan as she explained a variety of natural plant-dye recipes to us and pulled out sacks of gorgeous color samples. One surprising color was a pale pink and is made from walnut shells.

We had got a bit lost on the way to this second artisan's house so by the time we arrived our photographer only had time to drop us off and leave to catch his flight up to Santiago. In turn, we were left without a ride back to Labranza (about an hour away). Normally, public transportation buses run a few times a day between the two regions, but since it was Winter vacation and many people either stay at home or are on vacation- the system is unreliable and no trips were planned for the day. With a bit of luck, we were able to find cell phone reception and convince a friend from Labranza to make a special trip out to the campo to pick us up!

In addition, the final video for Start-Up Chile turned out great! Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0pkjjAm1AE

Teñidos Naturales, Natural Dyes