Sometimes All You Need

Dave came down last Friday to travel with me for two weeks. I wish I could post some pictures right now. We went to the Amazon and came back three days later stinky and muddy like you wouldn't believe. Humidity breeds funky smells. Our guide caught a caiman with his bear hands and was going to let everyone hold it until I dropped it at the same time the light went out (in my defense, I was worried I was strangling it) and pandemonium ensued. Later we swam in a piranha filled lake for all of three hysterical seconds, got lost knee deep in a swamp where anacondas are known to inhabit, listened for animals in the pitch dark, all the while adrenaline pumping through my veins. I don't think we were in danger at any point but going to the Amazon, where man's rules don't apply is like a swift kick in the rear.

Earlier, I had my head out the window of a train descending into cloud forest, the wind on my face noticeably smelling greener and wetter. Later, I was watching water like chocolate milk pound down Rio Urumbamba, roaring and leaping over boulders, crashing down and then kicking off again. Tomorrow we'll start hiking to Macchu Picchu before dawn breaks.

I am ready to travel again. Maybe it's leaving the city-office grind behind and this is the first time I've spent more than five minutes in front of a screen since Lima. Maybe it's spending a few days with a good friend wearing out jokes that were stupid to begin with. Maybe all I needed to remind me that this world is amazing, better than imaginable was a kick in the butt and some wind in my face. The excitement of travelling is back again with full force and I don't care if I have to do it alone.

Back to Lima on March 7th, one more month at MEDA and then it's on.

A Good Reason?

Sometimes, I decide whether or not I will do something NOT by thinking whether or not I want to do it but RATHER, whether or not the person I want to be would do it. Know what I mean?

Case in point, taking two months to travel on my own throughout South America. Or going out with a bunch of people when I know I am going to feel uncomfortable or bored around them. Not that I don't want to, but I'm tired and I want to go home. And part of it is fear of failure. I'm not too sure who this "person I want to be" fella is but I figure he is somewhat of an explorer, a not-sit-at-homer. And these are not chances that come around all the time. Sometimes it pays off and I have a great time, sometimes I end up thinking to myself "why did I do this if I never wanted to from the start?"

















Well, and look how big and amazing this continent is. And the natives, how fierce they look, with their spears and shields.

It is still to be seen whether or not this is a recipe for happiness, unhappiness or for becoming the person you want to be. At the least it's a recipe for avoiding boredom I think.

2008 is Already the Past...Aaahh I'm Late

Golly gee whillikers time flies.

It seems like yesterday that I wrote my first post on this blog about that taxi bringing me on a wild goose chase from the Lima Airport to my apartment. I remember that night, I finally got to sleep at 2 in the morning, a little uneasy and excited in a new environment and uncomfortable on a full stomache of BBQ chicken. Six months later I'm still waking up in that same bed but definitely sleeping better. Four months to go now 'til Canada, and who knows what next. Hot diggity dog-gone it, time flies, before you can say Jack Robinson I'll be too frail to say boo to a goose!

Things that I'm looking forward to:

- Chuus going intercontinental.

- Seeing the Amazon rainforest.

- Not sucking at surfing.

- A world with less plastic.

- And more green. It's inevitable, we'll get it soon enough, we have to.

- Seeing Noa Fei again. Look at her. It should be illegal to be that cute. That's just ridiculous. Someone arrest her.


- Going Home.



Things that I'm not looking forward to:

- Going another year without winter.

- Going it alone in Argentina and Brazil.

- Not being able to watch the playoffs. Aaahh..I love it, from those first two weeks when there are four amazing televised hockey games every single night. And then teams get cut out and the good teams rise to the top. And then every series gets tighter. And every game is more important and it almost kills you, the emotion, the tension of those last ten minutes with the home team down a goal and buzzing around the net like dive bombers and the stadiums of fans, who have followed this team through its ups and downs and now that they've made it this far, it's like life or death, and all together everyone holds their breath and grips their armrests and then roars in unison when they score, as if this group of 20 men are playing for our collective lives, flying and crashing around on ice, superheroes who will save the world or die trying.Well...I'm not old enough to really remember any of the Oiler glory years, but I imagine it's like a good heart attack times a million.

Umm..other things I'll miss:

- Leaving this internship and working to save mangroves, Peru's only few thousand hectares, a small step in the scheme of things but at least in the right direction.



- Eventually having to leave this incredible place behind.




I am going to snap my fingers and it's going to be 2010 and I'll be thinking how the hell did I turn 24 and I miss Peru. And then just as quickly it'll be 2011 and I'll be in a Sobey's reminded of Peru by the release of Lucuma flavored ice cream in North America since they finally figured out to start importing it because it's amazing and we have a million flavours but no Lucuma?? And then suddenly it'll be 2020. And then before you can bat an eyelid, we'll have robots like Wall-E falling in love and not cleaning up our garbage and wanting to get married and causing all sorts of social disorder and infringing on my human rights. How do you slow this train down?

Grey Blue

Been busy in the office. I've got a week and a half to finish up some stuff before I take a two week holiday with Dave. We're going to the Amazon. So no ruminating thoughts, just a picture.

This was in Potosi, Bolivia, one of the few pictures I managed to take before my camera ran out of battery. We were whizzing by in a car and the whole sky was dark with clouds but the buildings were all lit up.

Double Life, Double Happiness (Toys L Us)

Chinese New Year was this past weekend. It kind of slipped my mind this year until my landlord told me about the Chinese New Year party she went to last night where they had live steers (castrated bulls, I just learned the difference) and lots of asians. It sparked something in me so on Saturday I went to Chinatown just try to find some oriental flavour in Lima.


By then New Years Eve and New Years Day and passed and not much was going on in Chinatown. I wanted dragon dance and loud drums but there was none.

I walked up and down the streets, unsure what to do, unsure how to connect to my roots. "Hablas cantones?" I asked one old Chinese lady. She said "No, de que quieres hablar?" (what do you want to talk about?) and actually ran/speed walked away before I could answer. I felt awkward so I walked into Hong Kong Market and bought some soy sauce, which made me feel more silly.

Finally I sat down in a restaurant and ordered a BBQ pork with some veggies and rice. I got to practice my rusty Cantonese after figuring out that my waitress spoke too (using Spanish to ask if someone speaks Cantonese can cause confusion if they do speak Cantonese but not Spanish). She was from Gong Mun (Delta Mouth?) in China, I don't know where that is but we talked a bit in Cantonese and though it was just small talk, it felt good, like something deep inside me working itself loose, dislodging Chinese words and phrases. She took away the fork and knife and brought chopsticks. Her husband was working here in Lima and she had come to join him in September but she was not adjusting well. She still hardly spoke a word of Spanish. Another waiter came over and started talk to me about immigration laws to Canada and asked if I could help him. I told him I probably couldn't and the switching between languages made me dizzy.

The dishes came and they were massive, intended for sharing. I could have used some extra empty stomachs to finish the food.


Before leaving, I asked if she knew which buses went back Miraflores. She waved over a Peruvian waitress and asked her "Meilaflolo?" I couldn't help but laugh at the the perplexed look on the Peruvian girls face. "Miraflores" I explained, careful to enunciate my r's. Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where there's a Toys "L" Us in Chinatown.

Huh?

By my last day in Tumbes, I was ready to go. There was an extra spring in my step as I was looking forward to getting back to the big city. I left the office at 6pm, and hopped in a moto taxi to grab a quick bite before the plane. We get to the restaurant and I get out and pay the driver. I thought I heard a guy walking by say "Chino" but I paid it no mind as I often misunderstand what people are saying. I pay the taxi and glance over my shoulder and see the guy, sketchy looking, about my age. He says it again "Chino."

I know what's coming.

"Que?"

"Venga." He tells me to come here.

"No. Por que?" I try to sound annoyed.

I start walking away and he calls me one more time and walks up to me.

"Chino"

"Que???"

He showed me the scars on his forearms where he cuts himself, quite regularly evidently. This is apparently a sign of deliquency and is probably meant to intimidate. I start walking away.

"Dame un sole." (Gimme a dollar)

"No. Por que? Para que?" I was trying to say "What for?" I don't know if it got across.

"Noo, noo. Amigo." He puts out his hand for me to shake it. I do and he squeezes hard. I squeeze back. "Aahh, fuerte como oso. " he says meaning strong like bear. And then he walks away.

Huh? I wonder if that has ever worked out for him.