This month began with Día de los Muertos. I went to the cemetery with a local family and helped them take care of the grave of their deceased family members. Then I attended mass at the local church and was asked to read something aloud as part of the service. And I tuned the nun’s guitar for her afterwards! I witnessed/observed interactions during a house visit/medical round from the Comité de Salud. I had a really awesome week focused on the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields: sitting in on map class with guides-in-training from the Paso Marconi Program, hanging out informally with them, doing a focus group with some of the guides, and interviewing their instructors. I attended a presentation from the Director of the Instituto Chileno de Campos de Hielo and interviewed him afterwards.

I also started having informal conversations with tourists on their perceptions of place. I had dinner with some Chilean conservationists involved in a biodiversity assessment in town and learned about their work throughout the province. I have an interview set up with the Latin American director of the organization. I hiked into Argentina to speak with gendarmería about their perspectives on the border/living in the borderlands.

I continued to learn about the protests from local perspectives and the role of laws in governing local society. I spoke with locals about SERCOTEC and attended a workshop on how to apply for the funds. I watched a TVN reportage on Villa O’Higgins with local teachers and then held follow-up conversations with locals on how they felt the town was represented on TV. I also observed some unfortunate interactions between a couple that illuminated some social issues in town. Finally, I got to meet someone that I’ve been wanting to get to know for a while. She lives in the countryside but occasionally comes to town. I will visit her ranch soon, and will accompany her and her son when they bring their livestock to their summer pastures. I started my first oral history with a man who arrived over 50 years ago by horseback. I spent the second half of the months traveling through the region, speaking with tourists, both Chilean and foreign, on their perspectives on the Carretera Austral. I had a really interesting conversation with the encargada of the Balmaceda Museum about the role of the airport in the town’s (under)development.

Positive impact: I felt a lot of good validation from my interactions this month. The best was after the focus group with the regional guides-in-training. One in particular was very eloquent and said that the conversation helped him reflect on what he was doing and why. ..During the focus group he and others talked about the importance of having regional guides in the ice fields, of choosing a different path for provincial development, and how their work pays homage to their «pionero» parents and grandparents.

This is a photo of the old dock at Cocoví on Lake O’Higgins (technically San Martín, because this is just over the border in Argentina). Before Puerto Bahamondes and the Carretera Austral were built, people living in the area had to go to Argentina to use the port to travel on the lake. …. I think I will revisit in the future with older residents so they can share their memories with me as we engage in participatory transects along this route.