More than two months after I left I've returned home. Well, I've been home for more than a week but I needed some time to relax and reflect a little. Where did my summer go? I find myself in the same spot, listening to the same CD when I started this blog. I'm not drinking any beer although I do have some I need to finish. Some things never change I guess.
Tomorrow I head back to school and start another journey. Senior year? I prefer to think of it as year four because, who knows, there could always be a year five. It's odd to think that for most of my summer I was in a foreign country. At first, it didn't even feel like it was different. Sure, everyone was speaking Spanish but I was kind of used to that. Sometimes I feel more at home when I don't know what people are saying. Reflection of my upbringing I suppose.
The real culture shock was when I got back. The Coke tastes different. Everything has cheese. I never have to worry if the restaurant will have what I want. Wal Mart has everything I need. There will be a public bathroom. The bathroom will be somewhat clean. There will be toliet paper. They will accept credit cards. I can use a $20. I don't need exact change.
...
I could go on but I think that covers most of it. I think my biggest mistake was going into Costco. If you don't know, Costco is kind of like Sam's Club. They sell everything in bulk. First, you need a membership to even walk into the place otherwise they make you sign in. They make sure to tell you since you're not a member that you can't buy anything. It didn't matter. I didn't have any money on me anyway! And even if I did why would I need to buy five lbs of cheese? Or how about six dozens of pens? I could stock my fridge for the apocalypse. It was the opposite of everything I had been exposed to.
I saw a lot on this trip. I see why people look down on America now. Before this trip I always thought shows like the Kardashians or Jersey Shore. Now, I somehow hate them more. I hate my own consumerism. I learned a lot this summer. Not just Spanish, but life lessons. There were so many one room shantys that I passed by or small villages where you could barely get any cell phone reception and Internet didn't exist. Most people would think "Man, how do people live like this?" but I felt the opposite. I couldn't help but to ask myself "Why aren't I living this way?"
My car, my iPod, my laptop, my desktop, my TV, I don't need these. I don't need any of this. Some people just wake up, they do their work, and they go back to sleep to do it all over again. They don't concern themselves with what other people are doing. They worry about what they have to do to continue living. I want to live more like that.
I fell in love with South America. Most people's reactions to me going to Ecuador were "Why would you go there?" or "They eat Guinea Pig there." Everyone thought I was going to the middle of nowhere and that it was a terribly dangerous place. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere and it was dangerous but not anymore dangerous than being in some parts of the states. It was a nice break from everything else that I was doing and, in many ways, it was much needed.
Tomorrow is the start of another journey. This summer has been non-stop traveling. I've been here for barely week and I have to leave again for awhile. I'm kind of excited. I guess. It's my 2nd/3rd year on staff and I'm looking forward to seeing most people again but I really just want to sit and breathe. I keep seeing people I haven't seen in awhile and in the next instant I have to say goodbye to them.
I better go to bed. I have to pack. Then drive. Then unpack. Same old Darren...same old Darren...
Monday, August 23, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sun Risen Memories...
This trip, at the core, has been a return to my "roots." Back in January Ecuador was appealing for I could go to a Spanish speaking country and not study Spanish formally. It's been almost three years since the last time I have taken a formal Spanish class and I wasn't sure if I still had it.
I was right, I didn't still have it. Or maybe I never had it. My Spanish was terrible and crippled. I couldn't get a taxi. I could barely order at a restaurant without pointing at everything like a monkey. After being in Latin America for seven weeks my Spanish has gotten better. It had to or I would've starved.
Starting in the fall I will be taking Spanish classes again. This trip, if nothing else, has restored my fire to learn Spanish. I've been speaking with so many people that want to learn English for various reasons during this trip it's heartbreaking. Why should they be learning English? I understand that if they know English that they will be able to get a better job but why English? In another 20 years there will be more native Spanish speakers than native English speakers and there are more native Mandarin speakers than anything else. Why aren't we learning those languages?
At the heart of it all I've started to think back and wonder, why have I bothered with all these languages? I keep meeting people on this trip that are bilingual or trilingual and on one hand, it's amazing, I wish that was me. On the other hand I can't help but to also think that, "damn that should've been me."
My biggest regret in life is not learning Cantonese. Maybe it is my fault, maybe it was out of my hands but I never learned it. It's kind of like Spider-man letting the robber get away and that robber ended up being the same guy who kills Uncle Ben. His "original" sin if you will. Not learning Chinese is mine.
It doesn't matter how many people Spider-man ends up saving, he still feels guilty about Uncle Ben. I started my Spanish studies because they were required. I started German because I was bored and had some time to kill. I wanted to study French but it was that or Physics, I chose Physics. I studied Mandarin because I wanted to learn some form of Chinese. I had free time this upcoming fall quarter and I thought about Portugese. It doesn't matter how many languages I try to learn, it won't make up for the original one I missed out on.
On this trip, I feel completely crippled and useless at the moment. I am, once again, like a five year old child. Even though I am in Venezuela, I am staying with a distant relative and I might as well be in Hong Kong. Spanish is useless to me for the language of choice is Cantonese. I cannot communicate with them and they cannot communicate with me. I have been sitting on multiple hour car rides or at the dinner table with nothing to say except "what did he say?" and just smiling and nodding.
And it doesn't even matter at this point if I learn it at this point or not. Everyone that I would've spoken it with is probably going to die within the next ten years or is already dead. Hardly anyone outside of Chinatown speaks Cantonese and even then the number of Mandarin speakers in Chinatown has increased over the last ten years. I'm afraid, that Cantonese is a dying language, from what I can tell...
I was right, I didn't still have it. Or maybe I never had it. My Spanish was terrible and crippled. I couldn't get a taxi. I could barely order at a restaurant without pointing at everything like a monkey. After being in Latin America for seven weeks my Spanish has gotten better. It had to or I would've starved.
Starting in the fall I will be taking Spanish classes again. This trip, if nothing else, has restored my fire to learn Spanish. I've been speaking with so many people that want to learn English for various reasons during this trip it's heartbreaking. Why should they be learning English? I understand that if they know English that they will be able to get a better job but why English? In another 20 years there will be more native Spanish speakers than native English speakers and there are more native Mandarin speakers than anything else. Why aren't we learning those languages?
At the heart of it all I've started to think back and wonder, why have I bothered with all these languages? I keep meeting people on this trip that are bilingual or trilingual and on one hand, it's amazing, I wish that was me. On the other hand I can't help but to also think that, "damn that should've been me."
My biggest regret in life is not learning Cantonese. Maybe it is my fault, maybe it was out of my hands but I never learned it. It's kind of like Spider-man letting the robber get away and that robber ended up being the same guy who kills Uncle Ben. His "original" sin if you will. Not learning Chinese is mine.
It doesn't matter how many people Spider-man ends up saving, he still feels guilty about Uncle Ben. I started my Spanish studies because they were required. I started German because I was bored and had some time to kill. I wanted to study French but it was that or Physics, I chose Physics. I studied Mandarin because I wanted to learn some form of Chinese. I had free time this upcoming fall quarter and I thought about Portugese. It doesn't matter how many languages I try to learn, it won't make up for the original one I missed out on.
On this trip, I feel completely crippled and useless at the moment. I am, once again, like a five year old child. Even though I am in Venezuela, I am staying with a distant relative and I might as well be in Hong Kong. Spanish is useless to me for the language of choice is Cantonese. I cannot communicate with them and they cannot communicate with me. I have been sitting on multiple hour car rides or at the dinner table with nothing to say except "what did he say?" and just smiling and nodding.
And it doesn't even matter at this point if I learn it at this point or not. Everyone that I would've spoken it with is probably going to die within the next ten years or is already dead. Hardly anyone outside of Chinatown speaks Cantonese and even then the number of Mandarin speakers in Chinatown has increased over the last ten years. I'm afraid, that Cantonese is a dying language, from what I can tell...
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Still Alive...
Out of the three countries I will be visiting this summer, Venezuela by far has the worst reputation. In recent years the relations between the US and Venezuela have become strained. In July the president of Colombia accused the president of Venezuela of hiding guerrilla troops in his country. Chavez, the president of Venezuela, has threatened to cut off oil to the U.S. if Colombia attacks but Colombia denies any allegation of mobilizing troops or plans to attack.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10829179
Of course what do Americans know about Latin America? Nothing really. Think about everything you know about Ecuador. All that comes to mind is that it's on the equator, the Galapagos Islands, and they eat Guinea Pig (they only do that in a certain part of the country btw).
Now think about everything you know about Panama. They built a canal there. That's probably it. You probably didn't know that it was actually part of Colombia for years, which would make it South America, not Central. Or that they shot part of Quantum of Solace there (what a shitty movie to be "proud" of). The history of Latin America is glossed over in school. Hell, the history of anything that's not the U.S. or Europe gets glossed over.
While this may be one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Caracas is known as the murder capital of the world, it's a very beautiful city. We landed last Saturday, early afternoon, and that's when this all became very real. It's been almost thirty years since my mom was last here. A lot has changed. Poverty has risen about 300%. The city has become much more developed than it was when she left.
More similar to Ecuador, nobody speaks English. It's commonly thought that everyone in the world dislikes Americans but this is the only place I've actually felt that sentiment. In Ecuador there was plenty of American music being played. Panama still has a heavy American presence, there's a large military base still. The only reason Venezuela has made the news in the United States is because of Chavez and his troubles with the states. There's less American music but there are plenty of TV programs from the states, most have been dubbed over though. It's hard to avoid. For movies, is there anyone that produces as many movies as the states?
After landing, we had about a 45 minute drive to the city. The airport is away from the city. The first actual sight of the city is the endless amount of houses, closer to shacks, that are in the mountains. It's clear that I'm no longer in Kansas anymore but oddly it's still very beautiful.
The drive to Caracas itself was breathtaking. There's no other way to put it. It was through the mountains, I've had so many rides through the mountains, and this was one of the more beautiful drives. For such a misunderstood country, I cannot emphasize how much I was in awe of the mountains. I wish I could've taken some pictures but I was absolutely terrified. This is Venezuela and I'm a gringo.
In Ecuador, a lot of fences had broken glass in it for spikes. There was a fair amount of barbed wire as well. I was joking once that they tore down the Berlin Wall and took the miles and miles of barbed wire and moved it to Ecuador. That was a lie. As we got closer to the city I started to notice a trend, where there would be barbed wire in Ecuador or Panama is razor wire. For those who don't know, razor wire is a steel wire that has razor blades on it. Barbed wire was used to keep cattle in. Razor wire was first used in prisons to deter escape attempts.
Some apartment complexes don't just use razor wire. Some use a combination of razor and barbed wire. Along the highway, some of the apartment complexes have razor wire wrapped in barbed wire. This is combination is then used to wrap around another wire that has electrical current running through it. This city really does live up to its reputation of being dangerous.
For a country that "hates" the U.S. it sure has a lot of chains. I went for weeks not seeing a Burger King or McDonalds in Ecuador. They were in Panama but that was to be expected. I was in the tourist section. In Caracas, there may be as many McDonalds or Burger King as there are in the suburbs. Hell, there's plenty of American chains. There's a lot of KFC and Wendys as well.
They're not cheap either. It's $4 USD for a hamburger, about 19 Bolivars. It's odd, fast food is thought of as cheap and fast but here it's not. It's just as expensive as the other restaurants. Food is expensive. Out of the three countries I've been in, food is the most expensive here. It's probably the import taxes.
Tomorrow I'm heading over to another state of Venezuela. I'll try to take as many pictures as I can but the Internet here isn't that fast and it's difficult to upload photos/videos. They'll have to wait until I get back.
P.S.
I have some stuff written about the coast of Ecuador and Panama (there isn't much to say about it honestly) but that will have to wait until later.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10829179
Of course what do Americans know about Latin America? Nothing really. Think about everything you know about Ecuador. All that comes to mind is that it's on the equator, the Galapagos Islands, and they eat Guinea Pig (they only do that in a certain part of the country btw).
Now think about everything you know about Panama. They built a canal there. That's probably it. You probably didn't know that it was actually part of Colombia for years, which would make it South America, not Central. Or that they shot part of Quantum of Solace there (what a shitty movie to be "proud" of). The history of Latin America is glossed over in school. Hell, the history of anything that's not the U.S. or Europe gets glossed over.
While this may be one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Caracas is known as the murder capital of the world, it's a very beautiful city. We landed last Saturday, early afternoon, and that's when this all became very real. It's been almost thirty years since my mom was last here. A lot has changed. Poverty has risen about 300%. The city has become much more developed than it was when she left.
More similar to Ecuador, nobody speaks English. It's commonly thought that everyone in the world dislikes Americans but this is the only place I've actually felt that sentiment. In Ecuador there was plenty of American music being played. Panama still has a heavy American presence, there's a large military base still. The only reason Venezuela has made the news in the United States is because of Chavez and his troubles with the states. There's less American music but there are plenty of TV programs from the states, most have been dubbed over though. It's hard to avoid. For movies, is there anyone that produces as many movies as the states?
After landing, we had about a 45 minute drive to the city. The airport is away from the city. The first actual sight of the city is the endless amount of houses, closer to shacks, that are in the mountains. It's clear that I'm no longer in Kansas anymore but oddly it's still very beautiful.
The drive to Caracas itself was breathtaking. There's no other way to put it. It was through the mountains, I've had so many rides through the mountains, and this was one of the more beautiful drives. For such a misunderstood country, I cannot emphasize how much I was in awe of the mountains. I wish I could've taken some pictures but I was absolutely terrified. This is Venezuela and I'm a gringo.
In Ecuador, a lot of fences had broken glass in it for spikes. There was a fair amount of barbed wire as well. I was joking once that they tore down the Berlin Wall and took the miles and miles of barbed wire and moved it to Ecuador. That was a lie. As we got closer to the city I started to notice a trend, where there would be barbed wire in Ecuador or Panama is razor wire. For those who don't know, razor wire is a steel wire that has razor blades on it. Barbed wire was used to keep cattle in. Razor wire was first used in prisons to deter escape attempts.
Some apartment complexes don't just use razor wire. Some use a combination of razor and barbed wire. Along the highway, some of the apartment complexes have razor wire wrapped in barbed wire. This is combination is then used to wrap around another wire that has electrical current running through it. This city really does live up to its reputation of being dangerous.
For a country that "hates" the U.S. it sure has a lot of chains. I went for weeks not seeing a Burger King or McDonalds in Ecuador. They were in Panama but that was to be expected. I was in the tourist section. In Caracas, there may be as many McDonalds or Burger King as there are in the suburbs. Hell, there's plenty of American chains. There's a lot of KFC and Wendys as well.
They're not cheap either. It's $4 USD for a hamburger, about 19 Bolivars. It's odd, fast food is thought of as cheap and fast but here it's not. It's just as expensive as the other restaurants. Food is expensive. Out of the three countries I've been in, food is the most expensive here. It's probably the import taxes.
Tomorrow I'm heading over to another state of Venezuela. I'll try to take as many pictures as I can but the Internet here isn't that fast and it's difficult to upload photos/videos. They'll have to wait until I get back.
P.S.
I have some stuff written about the coast of Ecuador and Panama (there isn't much to say about it honestly) but that will have to wait until later.
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