The Time Travel, part II

We are advancing fast with the mobile home of ours. He is now cladded with wooden boards and newly painted on the inside. We layed out the new vinyl-floor and are now finishing the very last details necessary to complete before leaving.

Today we went to check out our lot and the current conditions of the approx. 200 m of muddy dirt road in a very dubious state we have to pass when entering the “casita” to the designated site we want to live on. It was a spectacular day: cold but calm and with the most radiant blue sky. The ground covered in a small cap of snow and the mountains in the distance partly covered by a light and low fog that made them seems misty and to vanish gliding together with the horizon. The buzzard eagle paid us a visit as well as the more common chimango caracara and southern crested caracara. It was so very peaceful and quiet standing there just the 2 of us sharing a mate and taking deep breaths. At moments like these it is difficult to believe our luck and we silently agree that we a blessed and just a few steps away from living out a dream.

Shortly we will live here in our little house on 2 wheels. We will only have a roof, a bed and a small stove to begin with. Nothing more. No toilet, no fixed water supply, no bathroom, no electricity, no heating source, no internet or phone signal, in other words: no comfort at all and just a simple shelter to protect us from the winter elements and the cold. It’s dawning on me that it’s actually the ultimate challenge to say goodbye for good to everything we normally take for granted including the possibility to enter the warmth inside of a cozy heated house.

First of all we need to build something resembling a toilet for all the human solid waste. The liquids we have agreed to shed about keeping it separated from the solids. The idea is to use Euro pallets as floor and walls, all held together with metal bars which are fixed in the ground. Then we are going to build a wooden box with bottom and a hinged lid. In the lid we cut a hole corresponding to a normal toilet seat. The wood will receive a varnish to make cleaning easier. Inside the wooden box we place a bucket. The pallet walls will have a height that allows the person using the toilet to have a beautiful panoramic view of the cordillera while sitting on the toilet thrown. We might put in something that resembles a roof in case the winter weather is disturbing too much.

Next assignment is to build something like a pavilion attached to the “casita” providing us with a shelter we will heat up with our inherited chimney-fireplace. Here we will make room for a place to shower and maybe build an “outdoor kitchen”. This will be our home until we hopefully will qualify for the housing subsidy. This process will take months. In fact I don’t expect anything to happen until 2014. A requirement for qualifying is to own a bare piece of land without any fixed constructions nor the supply of water, electricity or gas, so as to not disqualify ourselves we are only living in an interim structure without any supply at all. That’s the deal and that’s what we are going to do. We receive a lot of head-shaking and questions from our closest family, but at the end it only enhances the desire to leave and start to live by ourselves, at our pace, living out all the crazy ideas that will occur. I love the thought of waking up at the dawn of light, make coffee and drink it looking at the mountains and hearing nothing but the wild and domesticated animals that lives in the vicinity. The day will pass quickly as we fix, build or invent on the lot, or visit the city to buy supplies, go to the gym or to yoga, visit family and friends or use the internet. When the dark falls we will read, study, play games or guitar or listen to music in the spare candlelight before going to bed looking up at the stars. That’s very far from the life I am used to live, but very close to the life I love when in the mountains. The life that really makes me happy and make me feel completely free.

At times I wonder if I am suited for this life. I am after all a city girl. Maybe I will be bored. Maybe I will never be warm. Maybe I can’t put in the work DEFY needs. Maybe I will feel isolated. After all I will be writing off all commodities I am used to. Then I think: The big move to the lot is tying together all ends of my current endevours and dreams. DEFY Patagonia and my future life with Luis which at some point will hopefully include having children. This is the beginning and beginning with just the pure basics is important to us. Thta means that each morning we will get out of bed and build on our future and our dreams. 

A very cold & beautiful day in Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales Coast line at 11 am on July 17 2013. 

 Puerto Natales Coast line at 5 pm on July 17 2013. 

The Time Travel

It’s freezing cold, very windy and dark when I finally step out of the machine in Punta Arenas at 6PM local time. Behind me I have just left the Scandinavian summer and a 32 hour journey from the first flight in Copenhagen. During this time I have had plenty of time to observe and not least reflect upon partly the past 7 months spent in Denmark and partly on my future that is laying ahead of me in Puerto Natales. I suppose you can say it’s a life-changing journey I have started, that brings me rapidly from my past to my future. A sort of Time Travelling:

In Copenhagen a Dane boards a plane. In Madrid she gets out now as a European citizen.  Just another westerner amongst other weterners. People here are in a hurry and are obviously very used to it. They are taking their part in the machinery seriously and keep the wheels of an international community turning. They hardly sense the presence of other people as they hurry by, properly on their way home after a meeting in a European capital or another big Spanish city. From here she goes to Santiago de Chile, the capital of one of South Americas most well-organized and internationalized countries, so the difference shouldn’t be too noticeable between 2 great and important capital cities with a distance of 13 ½ hours as the plane flies crossing the Atlantic and the South American continent including the Andes Mountain range. But it is. You see Santiago is hit by the winter vacation fever and filled with enthusiastic middle class families on their way somewhere in beautiful Chile. The tempo is very different and when I tell you that the international airport is very small and quickly overviewed and add that it has not been refurbished since the 80’ies, still holding the original look, I have made a journey back in time to a time when Denmark and Europe wasn’t in such a hurry. Maybe some odd 20 years ago when I was about 15 years old and soon would be leaving high school. Back then when we didn’t even lock the front door and no one had cell phones or computers.

I wait for 6 hours here listening to and enjoying the Chilean language spoken once again. That recognizable Spanish dialect expressed in a way that reflects the Chilean easy going way of life. I don’t need any distraction here. I just sit and observe.

And then finally I land in Punta Arenas in the extreme south of the continent. I am completely battered from the long journey in time. My husband awaits me here ready to take me back to Puerto Natales. Back to the future.

So here I am just one week in. I have picked up my permanent residency in Chile just before it expired! And I have formally opened DEFY Patagonia as a local tour operator in Puerto Natales to the national tax office. So while I wait to be summoned to the official signing ceremony of the Capital Semilla I am working in the motor home with Luis preparing the essentials before we head off to the outskirts of the city to live on our own piece of land. This is what makes me most excited at the moment. We had 5 days alone in the house before the rest of the family returned from a week of vacation. When I think about it I don’t think we have ever truly just been the 2 of us. It was incredible and what a delight to be able to do precisely what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. I once had it this way so I know what I have renounced. But since then I have learned to co-exist and respect a sacred symbiosis of a Chilean family.

I leave you with a couple of photos of the “casita” of how it looked Tuesday when I arrived. Luis has cladded the outside plywood with metal plates, some new some re-used from the former roof. Inside we are currently putting up the brown look-alike-wooding Masonite plates over a layer of worn polystyrene-plates Luis is fileting. The upgrade of the “casita” is made mainly of re-use, left-overs from local construction sites and materials we pick up at the beach. Mostly because we at the same time are cleaning up some of the rubbish people through carelessly about, but also because our construction budget is very limited. To us it makes a lot of sense to do it this way. Little by little we are building our own empire with great respect and understanding of our environment. 

Leaving and reflecting

Shortly I will be leaving Denmark and return to Patagonia. After having spent almost 7 months here, things have started to become a habit. Me being here is a normal thing not just for me but for everyone around me too. I am not just a visitor stopping by for a short while, but a fully integrated part of everyday life around here. It means the goodbye will be very different this time. I see it as the end of an era and the beginning of my future I feel I am facing. Coming back Luis and I will go live on our lot on the outskirts of Puerto Natales city. An inspirational and extremely beautiful site we bought last year, with views of the mountains, the fiords and in the closer distance the city laying on the shores of The Señoret Canal. 

Luis found a small motor home he is refurbishing and insulating to become our very first home. It's going to be very exciting and a step away from civilization and the comfortable way of life.

This week I finished a 3 month project that rewarded me by winning a contest in Chile. The Capital Semilla project that honours the most promising entrepreneurs in the start up of their new business. The winning price is a sum of money that I have destined to buy the mountain equipment I need for Camp DEFY – a mobile camp of 4-season tents and outdoor cooking equipment we bring along as we advance in the trail. This is the best thing that could happen and in a way it justifies the limbo I have been in during 2012 and 2013 being away from the mountains. 

I have been tested on my faith. I have learned to let go of my strongest desires and give in to acceptance of the circumstances. And to believe that everything is exactly as its supposed to be, despite the little stones and the odd changes of direction on the way.

Putting in the effort

You might wonder how it is going. The short reply to that question is: EXCELLENT. I was able to enter the gym on June 1, and since then it has provided me with the daily minimum of 2 hours of practice, training and work out. The knee is really holding up good, and advancing on a daily basis. I can’t begin to describe how happy that makes me, and how good it feels finally to be able to work with my body again.  We are slowly reuniting. Kristians, my Physical Therapists, orders are still no walking or road biking, but lots of muscles strengthening exercises along with cardio on the stationary bike. I still need to lay in an uncomfortable stretch for 15 minutes each day, as I still lack the full extension of the leg.

It really takes dedication and a lot of hard work. But having passed a long time in a restless and passive state that part is not a problem at all. So far everything is working out as it is supposed, bringing to me an almost extreme state of hope. I dare to start dreaming about a return to the mountains. And I have worked out a program that will lead to be able to welcome DEFY Patagonia´s first guests in January 2014 as their guide. I dream about the nights in camp looking up at the stars, about the strenuous hikes up the mountains, the observing of everything around you that converts the symbiosis of nature into true miracles, the load of heavy backpack containing all your essentials, all the marvellous creatures that surprises you, the green colours of the flora, the mid-stop cup of tee. Just being really and observing everything and every detail around you – with 2 good legs to carry you wherever you want. 

Inmobilized

7 weeks post op I am doing exceptionally fine. Slowly gaining more mobility I am able to walk very slowly 1 km without brace and mostly without crutches. It makes me happy but also very aware of the job I have ahead of me regaining muscles strength and the propioception (the nerve connection that brings messages between my brain and my leg, that really has a hard time responding when I more or less unconsciously ask it to move or flex etc.) There is a noticeable delay in the communication leaving a lapse of time for me to actually make my next move and sometimes stumble before I realize the delay. To prevent this I have to be extremely focused and concentrated all the time no matter what I do. It’s tough but also interesting figuring out and observing the healthy side of my body compared to the weak one.

At least 2-3 hours daily I spend solely on nursing and strengthening the leg. I take off the brace to get a better feel of my muscles but also to observe and focus on perfect execution. Before I lay out my mat to work out I warm up by walking and biking on the static bike in the basement. It makes me feel very exposed walking without the brace. It’s my protection not alone from bad movements but also it aids me by alerting surrounding people of my weak leg. It’s very important to me that my over-protective consciousness will let go of the fear of pain and injury and start to build up the confidence and trust I will need in the mountains. The exercises at this point is focused on obtaining a complete extension of the leg and on gaining more range of motion. Today I can flex up to about 135 degrees when assisted. That’s a whole lot better than expected at this point giving me a great advantage as I am shortly taking off the brace and start the real rehabilitation. The difference in circumference of the thighs are still 4 cm as it was 1 week post op. It might take a year to regain complete muscle-strength.

Being semi mobile I have gone to the north coast of the Danish Island Sealand, a 1 hour drive from Copenhagen. I am sitting in the sun appreciating all the different trees blossoming bringing about the recognizable and super beautiful baby green color lightening up the entire landscape that is awakening after having just survived during winter. Spectacular creatures... I leave you with the sunset last night.

A Brand new Knee?

Spring has truly arrived to Copenhagen. In the glasshouse in my parent’s garden I have registered the temperature to 35 degrees this past week. Though the real outside temperature is about 10 degrees it’s wonderful. I am 3 weeks post op already, having undergone surgery April 9. What a mess I had inside my knee: it was filled with a surprisingly amount of scar tissue, leaks via a small hole in the knee capsule and loose items within. I was following the operation live on a small screen witnessing firsthand the thorough clean-up and the new suture in the meniscus we agreed on right there, trying to save the meniscus once again. The doctor then closed the small hole in the capsule and then she separated and removed the cyst the leak had amounted to. 1 and a half hour and I was wheeled away to slowly recover from the epidural. The same afternoon I went home with the entire leg wrapped in a Don Joy set on -10 degrees (full extension) for the next 2 weeks.

I had to brusquely stop the Spring Cleansing I was undergoing, when the doctor hospitalized me with just 1 day notice. So I ate after just 2 days of fast when the intention was 4 days. But honestly I was feeling very weak and dizzy so it wasn’t too bad. I was careful about what I ate but not really following the strict regime the cleansing was dictating. This being avoiding several foods that are considered to clog up the system (wheat, yeast, milk products, rice etc.) Instead I was focusing on getting energy to recover from surgery. All in all I still feel cleansed out and on top of that I was relieved of the 5 kg I had gained during the fase of waiting.

Now I am happy to announce that the knee will recover. It’s been 6 months of uncertainty not really knowing whether or not I would ever be able to return to my beloved mountains.  A total of 6 months of endless waiting that I am getting ready to leave behind me, replacing it with all the stacked up hopes and dreams that has been trapped inside my soul. Today I am very optimistic and obviously extremely happy about the idea of actively aid the progress of recovery by exercising and strengthening my tooth stick-like right leg. To be able to do something instead of nothing. Wow what a thrill…

This time however, as opposed to last time, it seems I will have to be very patient and not progress too fast. This is going to be my big challenge of which I am reminded daily be my mindful husband when I am walking without the crutches for instance. It is and will be extremely difficult. I have already made myself a rehab program that brings me to a point where I can guide the first groups of DEFY Patagonia in January 2014. The program is a slow and continuous advance of physical strength combined with a lot of functional training: camping, hiking and trekking in the beloved Patagonian Mountains. I am so excited.

The Don Joy has denied me flying back to Chile as intended yesterday, early May. Doctor’s word. For Luis to stay here with me until august, we have applied for an extension of the 90 days tourist visa he is already possessing. Supposedly it’s just a formality but seeing that the Danish immigration system is very hostile it’s not possible to believe in anything before we get the real answer. Luis staying will mean that we can continue the daily English classes along with the fly fishing lessons Luis is receiving, not to mention the incredible support he is putting in my rehabilitation. We make a very good team and it would be such a shame to break that up at this point. Unfortunately the answer was a stunning NO to our petition. Even acked up by a complaint accompanied by 2 different doctors assuring that I am in a situation of limited function needing support Luis had to leave yesterday. It’s quite shameful that the Danish system denies us being together for a limited period of time when I honestly need him more than ever. But since it has to be that way one just need to adjust.

Today I had a follow up with my PT, Kristian Koldsbjerg Nielsen, who sees my progress as really good. I have received a moral boost and motivation to carry on towards full recovery. I am halfway in wearing the Don Joy, now locked in between  full extension and 40 degrees flexion. Its going so well as I am now to slowly fade out the use of crutches. And the thigh muscles is gaining potency also.

I leave you with some photos of the resistant leg/ knee of mine taken within the last 3 weeks.