Alumni Profile
Sergio & Veronica:
21 Years with NOLS Patagonia By Nancy Pfeiffer, former instructor and employee
This year marks the 21st anniversary of Sergio Vasquez working as the caretaker of the NOLS Patagonia branch in Coyhaique, Chile. The branch is located on a 1,235-acre working campo (ranch), full of farm animals, a greenhouse, and garden. Here, Sergio and his wife, Veronica Romero, have raised a family, worked under three directors, and seen many changes both at NOLS and within Chile. On a windy January day last austral summer we sat together at their kitchen table drinking yerba maté and reflecting on the past two decades. Sergio first heard of NOLS through a friend of a friend. “The previous owner of the campo was a friend of a friend of mine,” Sergio reminisced. “He let me know that some gringos had purchased a campo outside Coyhaique and were looking for a cuidador [caretaker] to take care of the place. Here I first met John Hauf [NOLS Patagonia’s first director] and Molly Doran.” In 1992 Veronica was two-months pregnant with their son Humberto. With the clothes on their backs and a few pots and pans, they moved into the little 13-by-20-foot white and blue house that had provided shelter to the previous cuidadores. A small barn and chicken coop had been modified to serve as a bunkroom for instructors. It wasn’t until they arrived that Sergio and Veronica understood NOLS was a school and what that meant for their new role as cuidadores. “No tenia ningune idea.” I had not one single idea, Sergio said. Little did he know this job would even take him to the American West. “In the early years John Hauf encouraged me to go to Wyoming to work at Three Peaks Ranch. I helped ride rerations, worked on general ranch repairs, and helped train horses, but it was hard because I didn’t speak English and I missed my family,” he said. But in Chile, Sergio’s first job con-
Sergio and his family have made the NOLS campo home for many years. Fredrik Norrsell.
sisted of repairing fence. At that time, the campo had just one horse: Refluata. The previous owners of the campo sold her to Hauf under the condition that she never be taken off the campo. Reflauta had been a rodeo star, and he didn’t want his own horse to compete against him. Reflauta remained on the NOLS campo her entire life and died of old age just last winter on the upper campo. Her last foal still lives and works there. There were also two bueyas (oxen). They were used for everything from moving course rations to farm work. The cows and sheep would come later, as would the nine major buildings that make up NOLS Patagonia today. In 1996 Veronica purchased an automatic lavadora and started her own laundry washing business, a much-appreciated service for students. In 2000, when their son Humberto was 8 and their daughter Javiera was 5, Veronica started officially working for NOLS cleaning and organizing the, by then, many buildings on the campo. That same year, Sergio’s job started to change.
“I got a lot more responsibility, from learning to drive a tractor to organizing the workers for the new buildings. Now, I drive re-rations and help drop off courses. I even teach classes in campo skills, like how to shear sheep, ride horses, and milk cows for the Patagonia Year students.” As he and NOLS Patagonia have grown together, Sergio has stayed put out of love for the lifestyle, the variety, and the NOLS community. “I like that I get to know a lot of people. We have friends from all over the world,” he said. “I also really appreciate that people say gracias. If you do a good job, people recognize you and say thank you. That is often not the case for workers here in Chile. At NOLS, people respect your work.” After a day of reflecting, their attention turned to the future. “No tengo planas. Estoy tranquillo.” I don’t have plans, I am content, Sergio responded. At least for now, life at NOLS Patagonia will include the Vasquez family’s element of continuity. It’s impossible to imagine life here without them. Spring 2013
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