IX. The Alchemist of the Andes

Love is wisdom

We spent this last week absolutely away from the internet. For one side, because there was no WiFi where we were volunteering, but even when our host offered to share the WiFi signal from his phone, we simply didn't feel the need to do so, therefore we said no. A week of that felt good and reconnecting.

Our volunteer revolved around two main tasks:
- Working with bamboo, with which they build structures according to wonderful Fractal Bioarchitecture;
- And preparing the ground of a designated area for the construction of an alternative school, which is coming soon!

Besides all the very tough physical work, we had the opportunity to meet some of the most wonderful people you can possibly imagine, and that's been happening with such a frequency since we started this trip that we wonder: are all the south American people just so immensely interesting, or are we attracting this to us? It's possible a mix of both, we gratefully believe so.

At Pirque we met an incredibly wise man whose knowledge covers from physics, chemistry, animal and vegetable biology, modern and ancient history, mainstream and secret archeology and esoteric wisdom. He was able to remember dates for various random happenings in history or tell everything about symbolic art of the most remote tribes of Bolivia. So we were lucky enough to hear a whole lecture about a place we very much wish  to visit - Tiwanaco. We heard about its structures and symbology, from the mouth of someone who has not only seen it in first person but also contacted with local shamans. This was an absolute privilege! Each day we met this man made us feel like we were being blessed by his knowledge. His speeches on love, wisdom, reality, mind and consciousness where absolutely overwhelming and made our minds and souls vibrate beautifully. So glad we had the opportunity to be there and to meet him.
But not only this man, that to us represented a Mage, was worth mentioning. Honestly every single person who belonged to that team was so fascinating and connected with their essence. It was truly inspiring and we hope to carry this with us for a very very long time, so we can pass it on to the people we contact with.

We worked really hard this week, and in fact it's been not stop for the last month, always pushing our bodies to the limit - cycling hardcore distances at Rapa Nui or pulling bunches of bamboo at Pirque.
Now, we are taking a few days off to rest at the driest place on Earth: the Atacama Desert! One of the best places in the world for sky gazing and we'll definitely make the best out of it (which means not a lot of resting still but it's fine, we can handle it!)

Thanks a million for reading and we hope you are enjoying our journals :-)

Love,
Joana and Diogo