To the Top of the Volcano

“The fact that a cloud from a minor volcanic eruption in Iceland—a small disturbance in the complex mechanism of life on the Earth—cpower to transform an bring to a standstill the aerial traffic over an entire continent is a reminder of how, with all its nature, humankind remains just another species on the planet Earth.” ― Slavoj Žižek

Today we climb to top of the active Volcon Villarrica. The climb is tough and long, but it gives us time to reflect on our studies down here as our stay in Pucon winds down. In the evening we watch a film “180 Degrees South”. It explores the beauty of southern Chile and tells of the distruction of traditional lifestyles of indigenous peoples there and the spread of pollution of both land and sea through the development of mining, hydoelectric projects, pulp mills, and commercial fishing. As we gazed into the mouth of the volcano today, we got a true sense of the power of nature over humankind. Of all we take away from our experience here, the most important lesson is that for the rest of our lives we will embrace nature every day and, as E.B. White instructs, “ taste her sweetness and respect her senority.”