Isla Mocha - Guest Post by Gabriel

As mentioned before, we are here with Marcelo, a 36-year-old Canadian, and a couple in their mid-twenties from France. At first glance and in the first few days, it was a strange constellation since Clemence and especially Julien (the French) do not speak English very well and Marcelo seemed really disoriented at the beginning. On the second day on the island, it had already reached the point where we decided to find work on our own to make progress, as we thought that it would never work with Marcelo. However, it turned out that he has a lot of plans and motivation, and in the first few days he was just very tired and stressed from too many parties in the past and due to the long and arduous journey. All in all, Marcelo is truly an inspiring person. I have rarely met people who have such clear dreams and realize them without detours. What he has built in Santiago is already remarkable. I am really curious to see what the island will look like in a few years. Anyway, to keep the "personal descriptions" short, here's a summary: Marcelo set himself the goal as a child not to have to work anymore at the age of 35, so he worked even more until this age, sometimes really successfully, and has been enjoying his life since then. After a lot of traveling, working, and partying, he now wants to settle somewhere, grow vegetables and fruit, and simply enjoy the moment. His almost constant smile is impressive and contagious.

In any case, the group, the work, and the coexistence quickly normalized. When you are together all the time, sometimes it even feels like a family. Everyone helps each other and gets along well. Julien does not understand much (because his English is really bad), but it is also very funny with him, as he has a really good sense of humor and, by the way, is a really good cook. Clemence is also a very funny person with whom you can have a lot of fun, and she often laughs so much that tears come to her eyes.

The highlight of the day and the "togetherness" are definitely the jam sessions by the campfire after dinner or lying around and making music on the hill with a sea view in the afternoon when the weather is too nice to work. Marcelo has a very good voice, and I would say that his ukulele and my guitar harmonize really well with each other. So, some cool songs and especially many beautiful moments have come about. Jamming here is really a dream. Beautiful music, surrounded by breathtaking nature, with a view of the sea, Marcelo's gaze and his grin, only good music can be created.

It gets even more special when Julian unpacks his beatbox and rap skills. You just have to experience it.

'What a wonderful world..'

All in all, great people, sociable and fun evenings, harmony, good music, what more could you want.