but its ok as we are learning to live with each other. I remember when I arrived a girl I met who had been travelling for 9 months said "All my insides hurt". At the time I thought that was an awful admission but now I realise its just part of the journey. You eat so much shit food, food from cheap cafes, food from bus stations, food from street vendors and after a while food is nothing more than sustenance, with flavour, taste or goodness of no importance. Having said that I have eaten some AMAZING food but you only appreciate that when you have the alien doing somersaults in your guts then exploding out of your ass like an Olympic diver. Sorry but thats just how it is...
Another interesting thing about travelling is how generally I cant stand Australians on the road. I have met heaps of them and am friendly enough to them but overall I dont want to hang out with them, go out with them or be anywhere near them. While I consider myself to be a fairly proud Australian, I cringe when I hear their broad accents, their bad Spanish, their loud laughs or when I see their excessive drinking and their western arrogance. Behind every Australian traveller, me included, is a quiet smugness that we get to go home to clean air, drinkable water, a good job, a nice house, our mates and our family. While we love our adventures on the road, some of us are still wincing when we see poverty and hunger, we hurt when we see kids addicted to crack, when we see disabled people lying in their own shit in the street. We are comforted by the fact that people in OUR country dont have to live like that, that there are services for these poor souls and we are just better off...but whats the point of travelling the world if you just continue to think with that "for we are young and free" attitude? When a street kid in lapa sat next to me, moved closer and then put her head in my lap and fell asleep I didnt feel ok about being an Australian back packer, with my cheap beer in hand. I felt helpless, hopeless and disempowered. And no amount of money or freedom could change that. I let her sleep until a mad woman came up to me and screamed at me in Portuguese so we moved on....
The cogs are starting to turn again people...I think I will write more often...
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2 comments:
Hey Rastas,
So pleased to hear from you again. Wow! What an amazing time you seem to be having, as well as thought-provoking. Am guessing you are now on your way to Peru. A bromeliad friend and serious nurseryman/collector will be there in a week or two - collecting broms and heliconias in the Peruvian wilderness. Say hi (to Bruce) from me if you bump into him - ha ha. Hope that agile alien has exploded out your ass for good! - sounds nasty. At least he must be getting rid off excess shitty food for you - you should return skinny! How are the funds holding out? - better or worse than you expected?
All relatively quiet here - good drinking water, nice house, creature comforts, plenty to eat etc etc.
Dad is well. I finally told him about Bob's head tattoo. He took it pretty well - he had to, 'cause I deliberately told him when we had visitors - ha! He mumbled about getting a swastika tattooed on his shoulder if Bob gets any more....as if!
Seen any bromeliads yet?
Keep us posted. Take care, but mostly HAVE FUN!!!
love Kez xxxxx
and love from Dad xxxxx
Hey CT. Excellent news that you're writing again - a South American update has made this tedious Wednesday afternoon at work much much more exciting! Very quiet here, as the team has flown out to Perth this afternoon. I foresee a relaxed couple of days till the weekend.....
Sounds like you're having the most amazing time and I'm so glad you are - you absolutely deserve it!
Just wanted to say hi - will email soon with a comprehensive life update. Love & hugs, Gina x
(and love from Max too!!)
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