Chile Forum

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Rune's story reminded me of a splendid tale once told to me by a great old Machi who lived in a tumbledown ruca along the railroad tracks just outside of Temuco. The Machi's name was Rumi Natcheon and her story went like this:

She [Rumi] had been working with a prominent Canadian anthropologist to catalogue folk remedies of the Mapuches who lived in the dense forests to the east of Temuco. By the end of the second day, the anthropologist had become increasingly skeptical of the reported effects of many of the native herbal remedies. At the end of the third day they reached a small spring where the Machi indicated that the broad leaves of one particularly large plant were a certain cure for any type of constipation. The anthropologist snorted and expressed his disbelief. Rumi looked him straight in the eye and said, "Well, let me tell you, with fronds like these, who needs enemas?"

Source: Rumi Natcheon and Her Machi Ways

And when (if) the "real" Patio opens (Lord willing): will you post only true stories there, or only partially true stories, or just fantasies*?

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* In my books:

true = "in accordance with fact or reality (a true story).

fantasy = "1 imagination, esp. when unrelated to reality. 2 mental image, day-dream. 3 fantastic invention or composition."