Of the many places I’ve visited around the world, of all those in which I felt deeply amazed by their culture and buildings, of those to which I returned, few of them, really, make me fall in love like San Pedro …
Our relationship is long, dating back to 1996, when I was 15 years old and it was undoubtedly love at first sight. I, a young woman from the center and south of Chile, accustomed to cities, lakes and forests, araucarias and bold, green foliage, was stunned facing the vastness of the desert over the viewpoint of the Cordillera de la Sal, a new topography that no postcard of the north could have shown me. Dawn in the desert, and in the distance a highlighted green oasis in the immensity of the landscape that stood before my eyes. From the top of the observatory I could see San Pedro, there emerged the first feelings that bind me to this land forever.
Everything was fascinating, the little craft shops they had at that time, the museum, the Church, its square and fair, I tried pululos and quinoa, walked down Caracoles street and lunched at the existing Estaka … I wanted to stay in that town to enjoy its tranquility and be part of such a relaxed flow that occurs only when you are away from civilization!
Little in the middle of the great desert, on the dunes of the Moon Valley watching the sunset, a myriad of colors that increased in intensity as the sun went down, in that magical place in the evening I was watching the comet Hale-Bopp passing on the horizon. I swore to come back.
Years passed, exactly 9, until the force of destiny led me to investigate the religious festival Ayquina for my degree project to graduate as an architect. This time I returned to dig deeper into their history, culture, traditions and behavior of its inhabitants and especially observe the relationship between man and his territory. I have never ceased to be amazed, over and over again, every trip, every one of my many returns. What emerged as a teenage idyll is now one of the most enduring relationships of love of my life.
