Deep Thoughts, by Benjie (Age 25)

This entry (I think) is going to be kind of a random brain dump of things I´ve wanted to share with all of you for a while. We´ll see where it ends up going, kind of an adventure for all of you!

First of all, a very happy new year to everyone, I hope 2007 is a good year for everyone. Take a second to think about where you were for the millenium. Now be glad that the power didn´t go out at 12:00. Does it really seem like 7 years ago??? Not so much to me!

First random thought: The mighty Pan-American Highway is neither pan-american nor much of a highway. Most of the way it is one lane in each direction, with dogs and pedestrians and motorcycle taxis sharing the road with busses and the occasional truck. And to me pan-american would tend to imply that it goes over all of america. It doesn´t. There are no roads between Columbia and Panama, and you have to take boats to get down to the bottom of Chile. I´m glad they are proud to have such a long road, but there is no officially designated route in the US or Canada, though we sure do have the ability to drive far. So please, call it the american highway, or the long highway, or the north-south highway, or even the south american highway and I´ll play along and ignore that it doesn´t go all the way down. Too bad one day some poor guy is going to have a spur of the moment impulse to just start driving and not stop until he gets all the way down! It WOULD have made a good book or movie some day, but unfortunately, he´ll only make to to Panama, and I really didn´t like Panama very much. I suppose he might though.

Second random thought: Drivers honk down here... a LOT. It took us a while to figure out why, and what exactly they meant, because the mighty horn is used in different situations than it is back home. We finally figured out that it is kind of like when chidren are playing hide and seek, and they are done counting (which I can hear one kid doing outside as I write this!). A honk means ¨Ready or not, HERE I COME!!!¨ Almost every time! Going into an uncontroled interesection, about to go through a red light, passing a heavily ladden truck on a windy road with a 1000 foot drop in the mountains at night while it is raining, etc.

Third random thought: There is a sign in front of an ice cream stand that reads

¨DEAR TOURIST
COME AND ENJOY THE
DELICIOUS ICE CREAM
AND CREMOLADAS OF
PURE FRUIT ELABORATED
WITH PASTEURIZED WATER
AND IT COMPLETED THEIR
SATISFACTION OF VISITING
OUR DEAR MANCORA TOWN¨

Not sure what they looked up in a dictionary that translated as ¨Elaborated¨ but oh well. I really think that any passing gringo would have happily edited the words into comprehendable English for the low low price of an ice cream cone (as long as it was made with pasteurized water, of course). There is another one in the hotel we were staying at which reads ¨He / she takes care of the water. Don´t waste it.¨ Really? You have tons of American and Brittish visitors who would have gladly helped you!

I´m going to stop numbering my randome thoughts now, but I promise, they will still be random. We tried Ceviche yesterday. It is basically the catch of the day, served raw (but chilled) with lemon sauce etc. It was edible, and even pretty good, but scary as hell, and I think that will probably be the only time I get it. Special thanks to whoever it was that recomended we get it for lunch instead of dinner (the same morning catch is used to make both... one is a bit fresher, and I like my raw fish fresh!).

My name is Benjie, (Hi Benjie) and I´m a vegetarian. I´ve been sober for 45 days now. I´m still eating fish. Rock bottom for me was the ¨burger¨in Ibarra. It was at a place called ¨Only Chicken¨ (Except in Spanish). You may remember me mentioning it before, but if a place is called only chicken... GET THE CHICKEN. Anyway, that is the last time I had meat, and I´ve wanted to be a vegetarian for a few years now, but thought that I might wither away into nothing. So, since I survived for a month and a half, I think I can keep it up. So yesterday was my first day as an official vegetarian. Now I just ahve to make sure to spell it right, and learn the difference between romaine and ice berg lettuce. Wish me luck.

We crossed back into Ecuador yesterday. The score is now: Border crossings - 2, attempted bribes - 0, which is nice (We´ve heard horror stories). However, the entry into Ecuador was a bit dicey, they had trouble with Rachel´s passport and their computer. I don´t think it was anything we did, but they asked us if we had any trouble with it before, we said no, and they just waited for a while. After the better part of an hour (while our bus waited semi-patiently), they took out the good old rubber stamp instead of the printer and we were on our way. I must say, I am fairly surpised with the whole border crossing process. When I went from Costa Rica to Panama and back they at least pretended to search our bags for contraband. But at this border they didn´t even take our bags off the bus. I think some official made a cursory check of the bus, but then it occured to me that if anything ¨questionable¨was found you would just deny that it was yours. There were no luggage tags or anything. Huh.

The other night we were at dinner at a fairly nice place, and we asked for the pizza without ham. Then the bill came, and the line on which they had written ¨Sin Jamon¨(Without ham) had 2 Soles (About $0.60) written next to it. Well I just about went berserk! I have lots of trouble with all the nutty economic things that go on down here, and that was the last straw. They were charging me for NOT giving me ham!?! I figured that it was possible, OK, maybe even probable that it had been a mistake, but I couldn´t bear to ask, because what if it wasn´t? Mercifully, Rachel asked for me, and sure enough, it was a mistake. Phew! Now, you might be sitting there thinking, silly Benjie, nobody would ever charge you for not giving you ham, but I submit that the very fact that I thought it might not be a mistake means that it is at least a possibility down here in this unique corner of the world.

There I was, walking on the pan-american highway the other day (kind of fun to say). There was an empty moto-taxi parked on the side of the road that we were walking around. Just as we passed, a guy poked his head out from the passenger area of it and said ¨Taxi¨in the most normal way possible. I, thinking it had been empty, was quite surprised to suddenly have a head a couple inches from my face, and jumped and screamed before my brain had a chance to register that the man was simply identifying the vehicle he was sitting in (as though I didn´t know how to flag down one of the taxis passing ever 3 seconds if I had wanted one). Well, when I screamed, he was scared. Even though people find the taxi drivers annoying, they don´t often scream in response. So I put my hand to my chest, which, of course, is the international sign for ¨Sorry, I was frightened,¨ he got the idea, we both said excuse me, and we were on our way.

While we are on the subject of people screaming from vehicles at people on the side of the road... There are these vehicles called combis which are vans, half way between a bus and a taxi, for getting to the next town up the road. Not as expensive as a taxi, not as slow as a bus. The trick is, that they don´t leave until they are full. So the driver drives around in circles while his assistant hangs out the open door screaming the names of the next few towns up the road. We got on one day, but we didn´t know the whole story, so we were a bit surprised when it turned around and started heading the other way. Fortunately for us, he was still screaming the name of our destination, so we figured we would turn around again. I must say though, that all the screaming does not add to the tranquility of the town. As they drive around, they scream AT specific people, which was frequently us. It made me wonder: What about me, including the facts that I am walking in the opposite direction you are going, have nothing in my hands, and am not looking at vehicles going by, but rather at restaurants, makes you think I might possibly be wanting and ready to get in a van for a multiple hour ride. I promise, when I am ready for such an expedition, I will walk in the direction I am interested in going (or at least be on the correct side of the street), have a backpack with SOMETHING for my day up the road, and will be actively looking for a bus, van, or taxi which I might take to my sedtination. When I see one, I will put my hand out and wait for it to see me and stop. If I am too late, and it goes by, I will get the one that is 3 minutes behind it (or even this one when it makes another loop of town!).

The same goes for the guys selling fruit in the back of a truck with a giant speaker on the top announcing BANANAS BANANAS BANANAS!!! I think you, sir, are bananas. If I wanted bananas, I would go to any store on any corner of any street within 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of here, and get some bananas. I know where to find them all by myself, thank you very much.

I know this has been a little bitter sounding, but hey, some of these things just eat away at me and I have to let them out. Thanks for listening (reading).

But I don´t want it to all sound bad. We really have been having so many wonderful experinces, and seen so many beautiful sights. And I also certainly understand, and even enjoy, that a lot of these things are just cultural diferences, which are to be celebrated, not mocked. But I ask you, what fun is life without an occasional mocking?

I do want to say one great thing about this culture: They are amazing parents. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen the tenderest of moments between parents and their children. They speak gently to them, they cary them, they hug them, they play with them, it is really a beautiful site. One of the most surprising parts of that to me has been that just as often it has been the dad who is helping his daugher learn to walk, or carrying his son in one of those new-fangled pouches. Apparently latino machismo doesn´t apply to fathers with children, and that is nice to know.

I first started to realize all of this when I heard kids scream. In the US I hear a kid sceraming and I turn to look and usually a parent is screaming at their child to stop doing something, or be quiet etc. Here I turn to look expecting the same, but I have NEVER seen it. Not once have I seen a parent lose their temper or even show anger towards their children. Almost every time I turn to look, the kid is not crying, as I expected, but it screaming with delight at whatever game they are playing with their mommy or daddy. It is truly a delight to see.

That´s all for now. I hope this has not seemed too preachy or culturo-centric. As I have said, there are endless things down here that are ¨different¨and beautiful. These are some of the more flagrant differences that I just can´t get my head around, even trying to look at it through their eyes.

For your assignment this time, share a similar story of a time when you saw something you just couldn´t understand.

Happy new year!

-B