Papa Noel

It has been a while since I have posted on this blog and this story is a bit old now but I felt it was worth telling.

A Brazilian motorcyclist named Marcos pulled over to talk to me on the road early on in my trip.  Marcos was fun because he was super hyper and very animated about the idea of bicycling and he was impressed that I was riding alone (although I had to point out that I was not alone at the time because I still had Munchi with me back then- the best companion ever).  Marcos was not the first or last person to pull over to talk to me, find out where I was going, and to ask me for a photo-it is tough being a celebrity!  Before Marcos rode off he told me about a man in Tolhuin who owns a bakery and who also loves cyclists and offers any cyclists coming through town to stay for free in a kind of 'bunkroom" behind his bakery. 

When I first passed through Tolhuin I was in a car with Kim on a mini road trip sussing out my route before I even started my bike trip.  The phrase “one horse town” came to mind when I saw Tolhuin. Not that there were any horses around but just that it didn’t seem to have much going on.  The roads were dirt, the town was dusty and because it was siesta time no one was around.  

When I rode into town on my bike it was Christmas Eve.  I found "La Union Bakery" and one of the employees showed me the casa de cyclistas (house of cyclists), where to put my bike and where I could sleep and take a shower.  It was kind of weird to roll my bike into the big warehouse area and lean it against the huge bags of flour and sugar, but it seemed to be normal to the employees that passed.

Emelio, the very hospitable owner, invited me to eat dinner with the family Christmas Eve at 11:30pm (after the bakery closed).

Papa Noel!!

Dinner included being witness to a traditional Argentinian visit from Papa Noel (a.k.a. Santa Claus).  Emelio’s son, Franco, played the part very well although he told me that he really hated doing it. He first climbed up on the flat roof across the street from the bakery banquet hall where we had finished eating dinner and walked around allowing the children to spot him. After sufficient cries of “Papa Noel, Papa Noel” from Emelio’s two grandchildren he came down from that roof and over to where the children were screaming for him!  It was pretty exciting!  One by one each person was called up to receive a gift from Papa Noel including me! I was given an orange fleece vest to keep me warm and to help me to be seen while riding!! 

Emelio and me with my new fleece!

The next day I was invited to have Christmas dinner with Natalia, one of the bakery employees, and her family.  They had a yummy barbecue (remember it is summer here) and we toasted to the holiday afterwards with an Argentinian version of champagne.

People in Argentina and Chile have continued to show me the wonderful gift of hospitality and caring  in many different forms.