Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Where’d all the time go? See How The Hands Go Waving Goodbye
Today is the 6 months mark since I left the US. My mind is a carousel of pictures fixated on reflecting. Last night while skyping with my parents my mom said, “the time has flown” and my dad interrupted with “No it hasn’t!” I replied, “It feels like a long time.” I’d be lying if I said the time has flown, but it also hasn’t dragged like heavy furniture.
These past 6 months have been a roller coaster. The first month I was just a tourist. At the three month mark, I was going through culture shock. Six months later and this truly is my life. Even though I will always be a strange impostor in this country, I have grown attached to many people and things here. That is not to say I don’t miss people or things. However, my life at “home” is becoming a distant memory. I left my life packed away in unorganized boxes scattered between houses and not only do I not miss my possessions but I also don’t remember what are in those (now indubitably) dusty boxes.
I’ve purposefully tried to let go of my life in the US and the obsession of my future so that I could make this my home. I haven’t always succeeded in my goal but since home is just an abstract idea, I have succeeded in making this my home and given enough time could probably make one anywhere---MINUS all the people I love that are thousands of miles away, an important thing that can’t be overstated .
Nowadays my pen is heavy and writing is forced. Novelty has faded as my new life has formed. I no longer think twice as I go to kiss someone on the cheek. I actually prefer it to the handshake. I find myself dozing off when I ride the metro, just like all the other Chileans. I unconsciously switch from English to Spanish. And while August snow was weird and November swimming will be something I have to get used to, I’ve come to the realization that the people here are not so different from those in the US. Yes, there are still obvious cultural differences but underneath it all their lives, dreams/aspirations, worries, motivations, and life questions are not so dissimilar. Their language, idioms, and methods of communication may be distinct but their general messages are the same.
At the start of this adventure, I was certain that traveling abroad would make me appreciate my life in the US more: my car, my culture, Targets on every corner, and the general easy access to nearly everything. And although it’s definitely more apparent now how easy things can be in the US, it’s clear the important lessons I’m learning are far different than I would have ever guessed. Here, I don’t have easy access to everything but that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy. In the US I have everything at my fingertips but that doesn’t translate into instant happiness. I’m learning that no matter where I go or where my life leads, I have to adjust my attitude and work with what I’ve got, both inwardly and outwardly while simultaneously accepting the things I can’t control. Being proactive is the only option if I am going to go in the direction that I need to; I can change roads so long as I’m moving in the right direction.
These things might seem trite and overly obvious but I had to experience and discover them on my own journey to actually understand. I’m not afraid of the hazy, unwritten future anymore. I look forward to all that waits, knowing that I will blink and all this will be gone because naturally all streets come to an end.
"We all do what we can so we can do just one more thingSaturday, August 6, 2011
Everybody is Searching for Something: Peru 2 Weeks (Part 1 The Jungle)
When examining how one thing differs from another, there can arise a tendency to assign value and priority, to proclaim one reality better or more important than another. In what follows, then, we need to remember that this particular journey aims not to compare in order to put down, but only to identify the differences between distinct realities, each of which is valuable and useful. -The Spirituality of Imperfection
After two days back in Chile and two weeks in Peru, I’m viewing my memory reel in reverse, scrolling backwards in an attempt to process everything. The thing is I’m certain that processing my Peruvian experience could take an extensive period of time; the lessons I learned are elusive and ineffable and exist beyond immediate perceptions. I’ve found answers but have yet to figure out the questions.
After 5 months in Santiago I was in desperate need of a vacation. Some people think that Santiago is an escape and a vacation on its own. However, at the end of the semester the stress of living so far from home felt like a case of bricks pressing down on my spine. The little things really do add up and my seams were slowly coming unraveled. Trying to communicate in Chilean Spanish is a constant battle that leaves me lost in translation and makes everything more difficult than it would be normally. Fighting the apathy of my students was becoming more than I could handle. Feeling cold from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep was getting hard to ignore. The horrific smog was giving me chronic chest pains. Not being able to leave Santiago for such an extended period of time left me feeling trapped and with a strong case of wander lust. It goes without saying that I was stoked and felt extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Peru for 2 weeks. I would not only get to escape Santiago but would also get to see a different South American country, allowing me to make more extensive cultural comparisons.
Since writing about everything in one blog post seems nearly impossible, I’m going to write about Peru in segments and start with the jungle experience or the first part of the adventure. On July 22nd, I flew out of Santiago and into Lima. Immediately the airports, crazy traffic/driving, innumerable markets, and lack of police in Peru appeared haphazard, even more so than in Chile. On July 23rd, I woke up early to catch a flight from Lima to Cuzco to Puerto Maldonado. We were picked up by our personal tour guide Albert, who would spend the next 3 days and nights with us, teaching us not only about the mysteries of the jungle but also the natives of the area. We traveled on a small boat down a giant river for an hour to a lodge in the Amazonian Jungle where we would make a home for the next few days.
We only had electricity from 6pm-10pm, so we quickly became accustomed to going to bed with the sun and waking up at around 4:30 am to the sounds of howler monkies (similar to the sound of a lion or alien ship). We took cold showers, slept in mosquito nets and a film of humidity clung to us like saran wrap at all times.
On the day of our arrival, we went on an unplanned dusk to darkness night walk. Albert pointed out (I’m sure we didn’t see a lot) the only night monkey in the world, a wolf spider, a snail snake, a tree frog, and a tarantula. The sounds we heard when the sun disappeared were unbelievable, and the noises included anything from grasshoppers to copious birds to things you hear on a rainforest CD to things only the imagination can create when being flooded by adrenaline in the dark. On the second day we woke up early and went to a natural reserve for a long walk where we saw red and black army ants, leafcutter ants, and even the infamous bullet ant (if you don’t know what that is look it up)! Then we got in a canoe and saw parrots, parakeets, macaws, kingfishers, swallows, spider monkeys, bats, and butterflies that drank fluids from the eyeballs of turtles. Of course this list is incomplete and is only intended to paint a partial picture. That night we went to Monkey Island and were lucky enough to see a small, cute squirrel monkey and feed brown, white and hybrid capuchin monkeys. Apparently, they will choose Oreo’s to bananas when given the choice. On the way back to our lodge, we rode along the river at night. We spotted capybaras (an animal that is cross between a rat and a pig—they are the biggest rodent in the world!), white and dwarf caymans (omnivores that remind me of alligators) and more stars than I have seen in years.
The next morning we woke up at 4 am in order to visit the clay lick where hundreds of parrots, macaws, and parakeets feed. That afternoon, we walked across a high canopy and zip-lined through the jungle. While walking through the jungle on our way to the high bridge, we caught a glimpse of the largest termites on the planet moving their home with their rarely seen queen . Then, we ate lunch, rested in hammocks and went kayaking down a huge river (“Madre de Dios"). Our final night in the jungle, we ate a delicious dinner and then drank a drink translated as “7 roots.”
I’m certain that if spirituality was a place, it would live in that jungle. I saw dead animals being eaten, eggs being hatched, and fungus making a home in fallen tree branches. Everything in the jungle was not only giving but receiving in a beautiful balance of reciprocity and interconnectedness. The pace of life was slower and seemed more natural than the disconnected fast paced life I lead. There were fewer possessions, no internet or TV, and therefore a lot of time to ruminate about life. Surrounded by the cycle of life and intricate breathing trees, something inside me shifted in a positive way. I felt in awe to be part of such a cycle but also insignificant. I left the jungle suntanned, radiating, and feeling at peace with life’s natural order.
I’m going to jump ahead to the end of our trip for now, because that sense of peace was put to the test yesterday. The day after we got back to Santiago, David was followed from the bank after cashing his check, and he was robbed at gunpoint during the middle of the afternoon. He had over 800 dollars stolen, an expensive utilitarian Patagonia jacket taken, his credit card, Chilean ID and sense of security all looted. I was wary about the rampant poverty in Peru and was completely caught off guard yesterday. I’m happy that he is safe but am left wondering if there is a lesson to be learned between these extreme contrasting experiences.
(CLICK ON "THE JUNGLE" LINK TO SEE THE PICTURES AT YOUR OWN PACE AND NOT CUT OFF)
Haiku
Live the jungle life
Have airless realizations
Make a circle home
