Where am i?
there are many answers to that.
i am in the most beautiful little pueblo at the almost ass end of the road up in some mountains...yes, still Pisco Elqui.
i am also in a freezing dingy internet cafe´on hold with the most unimaginable loop of a song to talk to yet another agent at Visa 911 who is supposedly connecting me with bank of america.
F.Y.I: Do not over take bank of america as your bank and do not ever lose your debit card in a foreign country if at all possible.
i can´t tell if i am shivering anymore from cold or from fury! three days of my mom trying to help me, me contacting them, them telling me lies,me finding out, them telling me more stories, the call being dropped, etc..., etc...
So because of all this we are stuck ironically in the most lovely place because we can only pay cash for our hostal. I sure wish I could just send Gaea here and get my money out of Bank of America and stay put.
There is some weird reason why this all happened that I am trying to understand. it is this bizarre juxtaposition of absolutely hair pulling, screeching frustration and peaceful tranquillity and simplicity, that which i desire. it is this kind of place on the earth that makes you realize why you don´t need an a.t.m. in town or a bank account even. i have even been making it without my local health food store, who would have thought? However, Mario at the vegetable market is pretty adorable and he has the most delicious local olives fresh from the tree. i am slightly addicted. summer may not admit it but i even witnessed her eat like five of them (shes now a closet olive lover).
well iam off after another grueling 3 hours on the phone with bank of america so i am going to meet my love, have some lunch and try and enjoy the rest of the day in the sunshine.
i love you all...
Traveling Home Each Time
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Español en las montañas
Well arriving in little Pisco Equi, Chile was about the most rewarding end thus far but we are still babies on this journey yet. After staying in a squat house for four days in Valparaiso we had not showered and all of our winter clothes were filthy. It was back to being dirty traveling hippie kids.
guess I should start with watching POint Break with as we were cruising past the Chilean coast. Unbelievable! For all you outdoorsy types you have the best of both worlds. I could just see my mom relaxing on the raw coast on the beach over the sand dunes and my pa on the other side climbing through the Andes. Stunning views for seven hours straight, all the while with Patrick Swayze´s passion for the waves taunting us on. The buses in Chile are also pretty plush for very little pesos. Comparing my bus stops in Nepal where little women with aprons scooped rice on to a plater with their hands to this modern experience was quite a contrast. We stopped at a place that could be compared to a nice new truchk stop in the states. we had rice, a beet salad, corn and tomato salad and papas fritas. greasy but vegana (spanish for vegan). anyways after a butt numbing trip we got to La Serena, a coastal city, to the bust stop to take us on our last leg. bus was late, i lost my bus ticket, I couldn´t stand the smell of own self , Summer had to pee the whole trip, I was woozy on the dark mountain zigzag roads and we were starving by then and tired, but we made it two hours after the bus finally left.
you know when you build things up in your head, especially when contrasting it with your current experience. well, i thought this was going to be the mecca of all that was missing in comfort and tranquility. but guess what there is no pero (but), it was just that, minus the frigid shower.
we came in to this perfect little mini hostal with a clean kitchen and private room with even nice lighting (pretty sweet, huh dad?). we stripped off our offensive clothing, banished it to a corner in the room, we showered very quickly but we actually smelled good again. then we proceeded to the communal kitchen and cooked up some quinuoa and corn with an avo and tomato salad. it wasn´t bad for the last vegetables left at the mini market around the corner. we slept so soundly under blanket piles.
the next morning we walked outside to find these barren towering hills around us with snow tipped mountains towering over the hills. we are high, not sure how high but close to liberation in the sky if you will. which is why i was drawn here- the stars. Astronomy is the reason to be here plus it is considered to be a sort of spiritual mecca. there are observatories every hour or so in the surrounding hills. we have a date to visit one tentative for tonight but may be canceled like last night because of the clouds. last night though there was a halo around the moon.
we ended up walking down to the next village south of here yesterday to visit Gabriela Mistral´s museo, she was a famous Chilean poet that won the nobel prize. I don´t know her either but i am excited to check out one of her books of poetry. its been mostly about calm and peace an simplicity here.
last night i was cooking some beans and potatoes and corn for dinner while summer was outside making a fire. a couple came in to the hostal, which seeing as we were one of three tourists in town before the third one left, was a surprise. but to go even further, they walk in¨, "HOla", "HOla", "hello", "Hello". "you speak english?"; "me too"; "where are you from?"; "United States"; "Me too" ; "actually from Dallas"; "Me too". huh, weird. we laughed and they shut there door and that was it for last night. we haven´t run in to any kids from the states and we hardly run in to english speakers unless in a hostal. it is not as touristic here as most places i have traveled. well the fire faied due to wet wood and the black beans never fully cooked down but all in all, great evening under big skys.
this morning as i went for our little habatacion 3 plate of breakfast, i ran in to the girl from dallas. we all decided to eat breakfast together in the garden. long story short. we are all traveling for three months in south america. she is going to UTD for her masters and her husband is at UNT working on his masters. he grew up in denton, where they still live. she has a sister who is getting married to a muslim in Egypt soon (hello, my sisters in Egypt currently with her husband. her sister converted to islam and is a sufi ( a religion i just personally studied for the past year or so) and her sister was a comparitive religions major in school which is my passion. the girl we mets husband´s father is from bolivia and summer´s father is argentine. they both speak spanish and me and the girl are learning. we all blew our morning gracefully over tea and laughs and commom interests. they were very inspiring in many ways and mostly in the way that they are trying to only speak spanish with eachother in the house. that is what summer and i have tried but its a struggle.
we all agreed to go horseback riding in the valley tomorrow and go for a walk under the stars tonight after a group dinner and before a fire outside tonight. we all have agreed to speak spanish solamente while with eachother. we were all destined to be friends and inspire one another. i will tell you how it goes.
sorry for the long ass blog but i have been soaking in the goods and this is what i have learned so far. wish my luck in my second language. i need it. they are all ahead of me and i am definitely the most timid to speak but its getting better. i love you all.
ciao
guess I should start with watching POint Break with as we were cruising past the Chilean coast. Unbelievable! For all you outdoorsy types you have the best of both worlds. I could just see my mom relaxing on the raw coast on the beach over the sand dunes and my pa on the other side climbing through the Andes. Stunning views for seven hours straight, all the while with Patrick Swayze´s passion for the waves taunting us on. The buses in Chile are also pretty plush for very little pesos. Comparing my bus stops in Nepal where little women with aprons scooped rice on to a plater with their hands to this modern experience was quite a contrast. We stopped at a place that could be compared to a nice new truchk stop in the states. we had rice, a beet salad, corn and tomato salad and papas fritas. greasy but vegana (spanish for vegan). anyways after a butt numbing trip we got to La Serena, a coastal city, to the bust stop to take us on our last leg. bus was late, i lost my bus ticket, I couldn´t stand the smell of own self , Summer had to pee the whole trip, I was woozy on the dark mountain zigzag roads and we were starving by then and tired, but we made it two hours after the bus finally left.
you know when you build things up in your head, especially when contrasting it with your current experience. well, i thought this was going to be the mecca of all that was missing in comfort and tranquility. but guess what there is no pero (but), it was just that, minus the frigid shower.
we came in to this perfect little mini hostal with a clean kitchen and private room with even nice lighting (pretty sweet, huh dad?). we stripped off our offensive clothing, banished it to a corner in the room, we showered very quickly but we actually smelled good again. then we proceeded to the communal kitchen and cooked up some quinuoa and corn with an avo and tomato salad. it wasn´t bad for the last vegetables left at the mini market around the corner. we slept so soundly under blanket piles.
the next morning we walked outside to find these barren towering hills around us with snow tipped mountains towering over the hills. we are high, not sure how high but close to liberation in the sky if you will. which is why i was drawn here- the stars. Astronomy is the reason to be here plus it is considered to be a sort of spiritual mecca. there are observatories every hour or so in the surrounding hills. we have a date to visit one tentative for tonight but may be canceled like last night because of the clouds. last night though there was a halo around the moon.
we ended up walking down to the next village south of here yesterday to visit Gabriela Mistral´s museo, she was a famous Chilean poet that won the nobel prize. I don´t know her either but i am excited to check out one of her books of poetry. its been mostly about calm and peace an simplicity here.
last night i was cooking some beans and potatoes and corn for dinner while summer was outside making a fire. a couple came in to the hostal, which seeing as we were one of three tourists in town before the third one left, was a surprise. but to go even further, they walk in¨, "HOla", "HOla", "hello", "Hello". "you speak english?"; "me too"; "where are you from?"; "United States"; "Me too" ; "actually from Dallas"; "Me too". huh, weird. we laughed and they shut there door and that was it for last night. we haven´t run in to any kids from the states and we hardly run in to english speakers unless in a hostal. it is not as touristic here as most places i have traveled. well the fire faied due to wet wood and the black beans never fully cooked down but all in all, great evening under big skys.
this morning as i went for our little habatacion 3 plate of breakfast, i ran in to the girl from dallas. we all decided to eat breakfast together in the garden. long story short. we are all traveling for three months in south america. she is going to UTD for her masters and her husband is at UNT working on his masters. he grew up in denton, where they still live. she has a sister who is getting married to a muslim in Egypt soon (hello, my sisters in Egypt currently with her husband. her sister converted to islam and is a sufi ( a religion i just personally studied for the past year or so) and her sister was a comparitive religions major in school which is my passion. the girl we mets husband´s father is from bolivia and summer´s father is argentine. they both speak spanish and me and the girl are learning. we all blew our morning gracefully over tea and laughs and commom interests. they were very inspiring in many ways and mostly in the way that they are trying to only speak spanish with eachother in the house. that is what summer and i have tried but its a struggle.
we all agreed to go horseback riding in the valley tomorrow and go for a walk under the stars tonight after a group dinner and before a fire outside tonight. we all have agreed to speak spanish solamente while with eachother. we were all destined to be friends and inspire one another. i will tell you how it goes.
sorry for the long ass blog but i have been soaking in the goods and this is what i have learned so far. wish my luck in my second language. i need it. they are all ahead of me and i am definitely the most timid to speak but its getting better. i love you all.
ciao
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Valparaiso
Just barely two hours in the city and we were already perched on top of a tin roof having beers and conversation with new friends. It is open and loving, there is the right kind of fight here. People want change and hold art at high esteem. Just walking around the city you see spectacular graffiti art adding life to all the aging buildings. The streets are steep and most of the view looking down and out is at the sea. Its a port town. Summer said it best when she said it is like the San Francisco of South America. This is in the leaning and in the views and make up of the city.
¨Just speak¨ said one of our new compadres, Marcel. And he said this in English. Summer speaks so well that it is easy to just depend on her. But i am able to hear more in conversations and pick up more and more so my greatest struggle now is just to speak it without shame. I want to learn the language so BAD.
Two MacDonalds they put in this town and they straight up burned them down. if that is not a message i don´t know what is. Needless to say, there is no MacDonalds here.
We are staying in an old building with a bunch of artists and defiants. They are squating in the building. So there is a sense of freedom and revolution that rings true throughout the home.
A new favorite artist: Beto Martinez. I think he is local. You do not have to go in anywhere to find art. People wear it and dress there city in its awesomeness.
More bread and salsa at lunch today. It seems to be the national free appetizar.
LOve it. Love it. Love it.
What a special little secret hides in the edge of the south american continent!
till next time...
¨Just speak¨ said one of our new compadres, Marcel. And he said this in English. Summer speaks so well that it is easy to just depend on her. But i am able to hear more in conversations and pick up more and more so my greatest struggle now is just to speak it without shame. I want to learn the language so BAD.
Two MacDonalds they put in this town and they straight up burned them down. if that is not a message i don´t know what is. Needless to say, there is no MacDonalds here.
We are staying in an old building with a bunch of artists and defiants. They are squating in the building. So there is a sense of freedom and revolution that rings true throughout the home.
A new favorite artist: Beto Martinez. I think he is local. You do not have to go in anywhere to find art. People wear it and dress there city in its awesomeness.
More bread and salsa at lunch today. It seems to be the national free appetizar.
LOve it. Love it. Love it.
What a special little secret hides in the edge of the south american continent!
till next time...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Chance to just be Lovers
When the day is is open in the kind of way that it is while being on the road, we are able to just enjoy being. I mean I stood on top of San Cristobal and looked out over the sprawling smog covered city with towering mountains in the background, but that, even in all its magesty is not as sweet as giggling in a park with your lover.
Maybe that is one of the things wrong with today. Somewhere at the root of the greed and the intolerance, the desire for revenge and the material desires is really just the need to be captivated in a moment of simplicity. Maybe it is the longing to just be swept up in moments of love. in being so starved for these pockets of time and presence, we grasp for the insatiable.
where as we cannot live life forever unattached to the mundane world that we all are slave to, we can take a moment to remember what truly makes us happy.
by the way, santiago has vegan empanadas with carne de soya...who would have thunk it?
this city has been calming even in the bustle of all the feet and the rushing parades of persons passing through lights to get to the other side of the streets. there is a quiet here almost as though being in a dream when you are the third person observer and the characters in your dream all seem to have a point and destination, none of which involves yourself. brushing shoulders but never getting names.
off tomorrow afternoon to Valparaiso. apparently the city of home grown artists and young people on the edge. it looks colorful and charming. we will see...
i hope all is well with everyone. write to me and tell me of your own adventures.
Maybe that is one of the things wrong with today. Somewhere at the root of the greed and the intolerance, the desire for revenge and the material desires is really just the need to be captivated in a moment of simplicity. Maybe it is the longing to just be swept up in moments of love. in being so starved for these pockets of time and presence, we grasp for the insatiable.
where as we cannot live life forever unattached to the mundane world that we all are slave to, we can take a moment to remember what truly makes us happy.
by the way, santiago has vegan empanadas with carne de soya...who would have thunk it?
this city has been calming even in the bustle of all the feet and the rushing parades of persons passing through lights to get to the other side of the streets. there is a quiet here almost as though being in a dream when you are the third person observer and the characters in your dream all seem to have a point and destination, none of which involves yourself. brushing shoulders but never getting names.
off tomorrow afternoon to Valparaiso. apparently the city of home grown artists and young people on the edge. it looks colorful and charming. we will see...
i hope all is well with everyone. write to me and tell me of your own adventures.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
It Finally Happened...
There are many things with traveling that make life chaotic yet some how also create less complexity. well i just found the computer in my hands due to the fact that the rest of the travelers in the hostel finally found there way back out in to the frigid party. As i age or continue to parish slowly throughout the years, don´t worry i am not a fatalist or anything, i continue to grow closer to seeing more of the overall pattern of life verses the chapters in their singularity. and in the chapters of traveling verses the sections of more domestic comfort, i find myself in this no place, where anything goes. that use to exemplify itself in crazy wild possible catastraphes or far flung 3 a.m. adventures unknown to most of mankind. it has now manifest itself in a more spiritual sort of departure (or coming home if you will). i feel like someone has just given me my dusty wings back to skirt around another pearl that i had not yet uncovered. but dusting off the wings now is becoming old hat. and there is a sense of relief in that. i can bend towards the sun and then back again to the moon and never feel like i have cheated either lover.
in an exhibit today by a local chilean artist i was confronted by a mirror with the comment "¿donde estan?" amidst his profound layering of images. it was a series. in each piece the same question, and each time i was forced to perplex over the same question. i photographed back in a sort of dialouge with this unknown artist and in doing so i came a bit closer to answering the question that he posed.
however again in the end it all comes back around to the same quilted pattern. i have answered another big question only to find itself once again in a dank old closet seemingly unanswered.
i suppose the wine and the comradary with other vagrants has loosened me up a bit to really pull the meat from the subject. i owe much as much of us do to the great Dyonisis.
summer takes strongly to her watercolours and we both abandon slowly the chains of clear predictability and put on our wears for the unexpected and transformative.
thanks for listening if you did, and i say that to my own weary mind as well.
in an exhibit today by a local chilean artist i was confronted by a mirror with the comment "¿donde estan?" amidst his profound layering of images. it was a series. in each piece the same question, and each time i was forced to perplex over the same question. i photographed back in a sort of dialouge with this unknown artist and in doing so i came a bit closer to answering the question that he posed.
however again in the end it all comes back around to the same quilted pattern. i have answered another big question only to find itself once again in a dank old closet seemingly unanswered.
i suppose the wine and the comradary with other vagrants has loosened me up a bit to really pull the meat from the subject. i owe much as much of us do to the great Dyonisis.
summer takes strongly to her watercolours and we both abandon slowly the chains of clear predictability and put on our wears for the unexpected and transformative.
thanks for listening if you did, and i say that to my own weary mind as well.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bienvenudo to Santiago
Well, after hours spending extra bundles of Chilean pesos to get in this new frontier and standing in crammed lines, we made it out in to the actual air of Chile. The flight was full and classic in its initial chaos but we had the most adorable curly headed toddler from Argentina in front of us for much entertainment. We slept litlle and in discomfort but that hasn´t stopped my energy still.
The city is invigorating in its freshness to me.
We are staying at the Eco Hostel, rated the cleanest in 2009 and that is certainly true. It is chilly in the air, winter all over again. Flying in over the massive mountain range was highly impressive. something even resonates stronger with me here than the rooftop of the world. it must be this very Metropolitan setting in front of nature´s icy beasts. on our bus ride to the metro we kept seeing piles of garbage and rubble which felt out of place for what the rest of the city appeared to be like until i realized that it must be remnents of the previous earthquake. there are many stray dogs roaming around which also seems a bit out of place. we went to eat at a vegetarian restaurant where the first foreign thing really popped up for me. they had a standing counter in the front so that instead of a sit down bar to eat at, you could just stand, eat and run. this demonstrates the serious bustle of the city. people however seem neither exceptionally friendly or grouchy.
We stumbled in to a gorgeous forestry park with various trees from all over the world. one of the prettiest parks ever! then we went to The Bella Artes Museum and saw various excellent exhibits from a theatre photographer´s work to one of my new favorite artists by the name of Francisco DeGoya from Spain. His drawings are thought provoking and elegant, though morose. The show was a Latin American exhibit. We also climbed up to Cerro Santa Lucia which is like a gigantic boulder that now houses a castle on top, a park, fountains, and secret little spots to catch some incredible views. I experimented with my camera a little more up top so i hope to download the pictures for you all before we take off to Valparaiso in a few days.
The day has been full and i know that this trip will prove to be another sweet adventure in my book. And I have the best traveling companion a lady could ask for.
Tomorrow more to come and hopefully after getting a little more rest. Love you all.
The city is invigorating in its freshness to me.
We are staying at the Eco Hostel, rated the cleanest in 2009 and that is certainly true. It is chilly in the air, winter all over again. Flying in over the massive mountain range was highly impressive. something even resonates stronger with me here than the rooftop of the world. it must be this very Metropolitan setting in front of nature´s icy beasts. on our bus ride to the metro we kept seeing piles of garbage and rubble which felt out of place for what the rest of the city appeared to be like until i realized that it must be remnents of the previous earthquake. there are many stray dogs roaming around which also seems a bit out of place. we went to eat at a vegetarian restaurant where the first foreign thing really popped up for me. they had a standing counter in the front so that instead of a sit down bar to eat at, you could just stand, eat and run. this demonstrates the serious bustle of the city. people however seem neither exceptionally friendly or grouchy.
We stumbled in to a gorgeous forestry park with various trees from all over the world. one of the prettiest parks ever! then we went to The Bella Artes Museum and saw various excellent exhibits from a theatre photographer´s work to one of my new favorite artists by the name of Francisco DeGoya from Spain. His drawings are thought provoking and elegant, though morose. The show was a Latin American exhibit. We also climbed up to Cerro Santa Lucia which is like a gigantic boulder that now houses a castle on top, a park, fountains, and secret little spots to catch some incredible views. I experimented with my camera a little more up top so i hope to download the pictures for you all before we take off to Valparaiso in a few days.
The day has been full and i know that this trip will prove to be another sweet adventure in my book. And I have the best traveling companion a lady could ask for.
Tomorrow more to come and hopefully after getting a little more rest. Love you all.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
New Mexico's Finest
this month in santa fe has been full.
but much of it could be summed up to life on the portal, in fact the very place i write this from. gaea is looking up at me with a half ass little sliver of an eye and summer is finishing her book beside me. dad is inside watching news. it has been the four of us bunched up together.
we have been surrounded by many minds this month. Here is what they have given or shown me:
kely (intrigue and numerology),
laura (energy and silliness),
dad (positive vibes and cheeriness),
christopher (good memories, good trekking),
sharon (bright mind, sweetness),
aysha (sincerity, generosity),
david (passion, political history),
ted (wisdom, inspiration),
barbara (graciousness, good gardening tips),
michael (depth, creativity),
tamara (sweetness, openess),
siena (humor and acute intelligence),
john (playfullness, sarcasm),
brandy (dedication, my morning tea),
ruby (smiles, patience),
Paul (silence, fresh outlook),
Tina (funny!, light heartedness),
Cristina (fun, down to earthness),
Judith (fervor, inspiration)
Gaea (calm, wisdom),
Paux Paux (unending authentic love, patience)
and check out what we have been putting in our tummies (all vegan and made in roseman's bad ass kitchen!):
enchiladas with sour cream/spinach sauce,
adzuki beans and rice (cooking rice at altitude is a bitch),
quinuo,
salads every day,
mac n, cheese,
pizza,
roasted asparagus,
and so much more but my mind is failing me now. we also cheated for Ted's fantastic 80th party with sour cream, cheese, and chocolate cake. On Dad's birthday we cheated with
i have stood in the same position for four hours every morning for the past two weeks and taken in yet a vast section of the universe in that time, Ted Flicker's mind and life. From stories of ancient Hollywood to the politics of love. I am posing as Mary, the "favored one" of God, to whome a special son I am to bear. Who ever heard of a naked mary!? not i...but there i have been all the while.
this trip, and really since the oils pill happened when we were still in new orleans, has brought me closer to the news for better or worse. it all seems so armaggeden! its atrocious but it has made me look up out of my own life more and be concerned. it has inspired both summer and i in to action. after south america we will work on a clean up crew. i have, i think, struck a balance with the whole news bullshit. every day became too much. i was getting to cynical and too jaded and teary-faced. now, once a week i catch up and listen to MPR in between. one word sums up what the news is speaking to me: REVOLUTION!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)