Para La Paz

I`ve been traveling very quickly over the past week, and am now in Arequipa, Peru. Tonight I move again, onto La Paz. Two 18 hour bus rides through Peru, and luckily I think I´ve finally figured out how to sleep comfortably on a bus. On the trip from Guayaqui to Lima, I sat next to a really nice guy who did not snore often, but when he did it was a thunder that even woke him up (always confused, wondering if it was me I think).

The bus rides have really been an experience, and in every country I´ve visited the informal sector is present. ¨Gaseooooosa gaseooooosa......que le doy amor¨ or ¨pan de queso, tengo empanadas!¨ or ¨agua-agua-agua!¨ and the list goes on. Aside from the people selling snacks or drinks, I have been preached to a lot, both about the merits of different religions AND about the merits of various natural medicines. On my trip to Lima I was very close to purchasing a ´miracle tea´ but the ingredients said ¨uña de gato¨ which translates to ¨cat claws¨....and so I passed. I later found out that ¨uña de gato¨ is a flower. One of my favorite purchases from the informal sector was from ´tinteros´in Colombia. Tinteros walk around with large thermoses full of coffee and pour 2 or 5 oz. cups.

These people are making a living selling cheap goods on buses, parks, streets, etc, and I always wonder about how fulfilling the work is. I´m guessing that most of these people live in poverty, and having a ´fulfilling´ job is not one of their main priorities. I am lucky to be able to think of fulfilling work. Yes, this is a good reminder to not take that for granted, but even more importantly for me it´s a reminder of the unfairness of their situation, and how little I understand the roots of it. What´s most tragic is that many of the people selling goods in the informal sector are children, an estimated 2 million in Peru alone.

I´ve commented on this ´unfairness´ before, and that term is perhaps ambiguous. Here I mean that I find it unfair that because I was born in Carol Stream, IL I had a huge social advantage over the the tintero who was born in a very poor barrio outside of Cartegena.....I was lucky. In my case, the fundamental element of me being here is that luck. However, instead of lamenting the situation, I do see hope in working towards a ´global society´ that would ideally, poco a poco, rectify these social inequities....globally. I even see travel as a catalyst to achieving this. But, this is a HUGE subject, and one I will definitely be coming back to later. Although it sounds very idealistic to think that a ´global society´ is possible and that it would help alleviate this unfairness, it has been a subject of debate in international relations since the Enlightenment, and one I hope to study in depth.

SO, I have one week left of traveling, and am trying to maintain focus on the places I visit....the whole ´live in the moment´thing we aspire for, and I`m still trying, but I am very, very excited to arrive in Buenos Aires on March 1st. I´m excited to leave my shampoo in the bathroom, figuratively and literally. No, just literally.

Having said that, unpacking will be nice, but I will definitely miss the breadth of new cultural and geographic exposure, and definitely the spontaneity of this trip. Hopefully in Buenos Aires I´ll be able to stay in the mindset of discovering every day. As I will have much more than 2 days to get to know Buenos Aires, I´m excited to really deepen my understanding of the culture, history, politics, people, etc.

I´m wiped and am going to try an Inca Kola for the first time. It´s bright yellow pop (or soda for some of you), but I have to try it.















(Playing soccer with some kids in the San Miguel barrio of Lima. The little guy on the left appears happy with his shot. Good shot, better save.)