I love living in Latin America. Yes, despite my 1000$ piece of equipment being stolen Saturday just because I am white and was working alongside a group of white tourists, I still very much love living here. A conversation I had with a close friend yesterday that reminded me of why.
I don’t think I’d had a proper conversation with her since the last time I left Canada. Once we started talking, naturally I asked what was new?! What has been going on in her life? She reported that there was nothing much new. She went to work, came home and bitched about work, repeat. She is very happy in love, so she doesn’t hate life, but claimed to have nothing seriously exciting worth reporting or telling.
Living down here on the other hand, I have been up for a little over an hour and already could have at least 2 stories to tell. Things out of the ordinary happen every day. Even after 3 months living and working here, out of the ordinary work took place Friday and Saturday. It is all this that reminded me of why we left. Why we came here. To escape the monotony and routine everyday living in Canada can bring with it.
Here we have an adopted street dog that has become extremely protective over our house and watches guard all night every night. We have to watch for giant snakes in the grass while walking to work and jumping in the river. We had a woman this morning crawl out of the brush of trees in our back yard, with a big smile asking us if there are any pigs in the yard. We have a neighbour that weed wacks his ENTIRE yard, every week or so. We have a bed that we have to re-inflate every week or so. We have bugs the size of hands flying in to our house every evening, leaving us on spur of the moment strategic bug slaying missions. We have hilarious chickens in the back yard and a neighbour’s rooster that comes to visit them and keep them ‘in check’. We buy our vegetables every Monday from a guy who sells them out of his van who stops by our office for us. The list just keeps going. This doesn’t even include the crazy people our co-workers and neighbours are, and our encounters with them.
All of this is part of our everyday life here. Never in a million years could we claim this is boring or monotonous. Every day life throws new excitement and challenges at us. Wonderful new memories and learning opportunities. I feel like I have learned, experienced, and grown more throughout this last year in Latin America than I have during many other years combined. And despite the pitfalls and setbacks that are always ever present as well, some minor, and some major, I truly wouldn’t change a thing.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Forced disconnection: Life in Latin America sans iPhone
Hello world. It’s 7:20am Sunday morning. I have been awake since the crack of dawn at quarter to six this morning, and just finished a breakfast of organic gluten-free chocolate coconut cookies. While I was eating the cookies in the kitchen however, the neighbour dog came and pissed on my stool/laptop holder next to the hammock.
Last night, having been upset, Cena made me a delicious rum and guanabana cocktail to somewhat lift my spirits, however we were almost out of rum. So she borrowed Pancho’s (another neighbour) bike to make a quick trip to El Toro to buy us a bottle of rum (unlike the “quick trip” described in her blog). Not 5 minutes down the road on the way home, the bottle swung down from her arm, clinking the edge of the metal frame, breaking the bottom almost clean off the bottle of 7 year aged Flor de Caña rum.
Earlier yesterday morning, we were at work helping out with a community development project led by the Center, given to us by the local firefighters, to paint all the cement posts along the highway between Chilamate and the Center. While most of the group of 23 teenagers from Lincoln Academy, Maine were busy on that, I was supervising 8 boys and translating between them and Fernando, a non-communicative local sustainable farmer who was helping us build a greenhouse for our reforestation work. This was not easy work as Fernando didn’t speak any English and the boys, aside from Pancho of course thankfully, no Spanish. However even when Fernando did speak and give clear directions for me to translate, he spoke in Tico Spanish, a combination of Tico slang, mumbling, and regular Spanish thrown in. Not to mention the actual greenhouse construction work wasn’t any easier with 12 holes to be dug 1 and a half feet deep each in to the ground for posts. Digging in to forest ground containing rocks 2 square feet in size, giant tree roots, and a cement pad covering 2 of the holes. Dug with only shovels, machetes, and something resembling a giant spade/ice pick they used to break the cement and dislodge giant rocks. So no one complained as an extra guy everyone assumed was there with someone else floated in to the work site, picked up a shovel, and started breaking through cement. No one barely noticed either when the same guy floated out just as unnoticed as he had come in. As it turns out, no one even knew his name. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that we realized my iPhone had gone missing from my bag. Everyone else having been hard at work and accounted for, it likely left with him.
So this makes 3 right? 3 events of misfortune in a short time frame. The curse should now be lifted? Isn’t that how this works? I/we can now move on with my/our life without fear of further repercussions?
Granted losing my iPhone, the one thing I still own that has, or rather had, any real value (other than my computer), my one (expensive) magic multi-tool for dealing with the developing world and rough situations while traveling and living abroad, does make losing a bottle of special 7 year aged rum for which we had to borrow a bike to ride uphill 3km and writing out of our only comfortable place now filled with the stench of dog urine seem like frivolous inconsequential inconveniences.
I realized that since I left Canada to go to Belgium how many years ago, I have always had my iPod Touch, then my iPhone as of November 2 years ago. I have never had to battle Latin America or Europe without it. Until now. I really took everything the iPhone did for me for granted.
All of a sudden I have no alarm clock, no maps, no flashlight, no thermometer, no recording device, no small camera, no small video recorder, no small notepad, no board games, no photo editing software, no travel guides, no mail containing flight info and travel insurance information, no photo souvenirs, no Spanish-English dictionary and verb conjugator, no English dictionary and thesaurus, no French-English translator, no articles and pre-updated newsfeeds, no bus schedule, no calculator, and not to mention no way to contact friends and family easily or instantly, music on the go, or access to google, email, banking, or Facebook at home.
This really puts in to question for me how it is that people managed to travel, work, and live abroad in foreign countries safely and easily before technology like this. Or do this lightly for that matter. It is extremely easy for us to pack enough stuff to last us weeks, and survive in almost any situation life down here might throw at us, in only two small backpacks. We felt perfectly confident in our ability to handle anything or any situation, and indeed we did. However, I realize now that this was all in very large thanks to my iPhone. Of course we could have and will survive just fine without it, but it will most definitely not be quite as easy.
Albeit not as convenient, it’s easy enough to find a replacement alarm clock, flashlight, camera, and notepad, even cell phone for some sort of contact with family and friends, but what about a map for any place at any time when you suddenly find yourself lost in a shady part of San Jose? Or a quick translator/dictionary when you find yourself struggling to communicate something essential. Or an international newsfeed in your language to keep abreast of any potential vital situation that might be happening in the country where you live or home country. I couldn’t even find a local Spanish newspaper here easily if I wanted to.
Without tools such as these you find yourself having to be all but completely reliant on the generosity and helpfulness of others, often times strangers. I feel like this may have been easier before tight communities somewhat disintegrated, placing instead a higher value on being self-reliant. Back when everyone used the system of ask a friend, write down directions, own a travel phrase book, bought news papers and/or pre-discussed a central meeting point before going out or doing anything. Back not long ago when people actually owned flashlights, alarm clocks, and weather predicting devises. When they carried a notepad and pen, and bought maps. I remember when my car had at least 3 or 4 different maps in it. If I had to buy a map today, I wouldn’t have the first clue where to find one.
All this to say, I think our reliance on technology has perhaps crossed that undetectable line.
Last night, having been upset, Cena made me a delicious rum and guanabana cocktail to somewhat lift my spirits, however we were almost out of rum. So she borrowed Pancho’s (another neighbour) bike to make a quick trip to El Toro to buy us a bottle of rum (unlike the “quick trip” described in her blog). Not 5 minutes down the road on the way home, the bottle swung down from her arm, clinking the edge of the metal frame, breaking the bottom almost clean off the bottle of 7 year aged Flor de Caña rum.
Earlier yesterday morning, we were at work helping out with a community development project led by the Center, given to us by the local firefighters, to paint all the cement posts along the highway between Chilamate and the Center. While most of the group of 23 teenagers from Lincoln Academy, Maine were busy on that, I was supervising 8 boys and translating between them and Fernando, a non-communicative local sustainable farmer who was helping us build a greenhouse for our reforestation work. This was not easy work as Fernando didn’t speak any English and the boys, aside from Pancho of course thankfully, no Spanish. However even when Fernando did speak and give clear directions for me to translate, he spoke in Tico Spanish, a combination of Tico slang, mumbling, and regular Spanish thrown in. Not to mention the actual greenhouse construction work wasn’t any easier with 12 holes to be dug 1 and a half feet deep each in to the ground for posts. Digging in to forest ground containing rocks 2 square feet in size, giant tree roots, and a cement pad covering 2 of the holes. Dug with only shovels, machetes, and something resembling a giant spade/ice pick they used to break the cement and dislodge giant rocks. So no one complained as an extra guy everyone assumed was there with someone else floated in to the work site, picked up a shovel, and started breaking through cement. No one barely noticed either when the same guy floated out just as unnoticed as he had come in. As it turns out, no one even knew his name. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that we realized my iPhone had gone missing from my bag. Everyone else having been hard at work and accounted for, it likely left with him.
So this makes 3 right? 3 events of misfortune in a short time frame. The curse should now be lifted? Isn’t that how this works? I/we can now move on with my/our life without fear of further repercussions?
Granted losing my iPhone, the one thing I still own that has, or rather had, any real value (other than my computer), my one (expensive) magic multi-tool for dealing with the developing world and rough situations while traveling and living abroad, does make losing a bottle of special 7 year aged rum for which we had to borrow a bike to ride uphill 3km and writing out of our only comfortable place now filled with the stench of dog urine seem like frivolous inconsequential inconveniences.
I realized that since I left Canada to go to Belgium how many years ago, I have always had my iPod Touch, then my iPhone as of November 2 years ago. I have never had to battle Latin America or Europe without it. Until now. I really took everything the iPhone did for me for granted.
All of a sudden I have no alarm clock, no maps, no flashlight, no thermometer, no recording device, no small camera, no small video recorder, no small notepad, no board games, no photo editing software, no travel guides, no mail containing flight info and travel insurance information, no photo souvenirs, no Spanish-English dictionary and verb conjugator, no English dictionary and thesaurus, no French-English translator, no articles and pre-updated newsfeeds, no bus schedule, no calculator, and not to mention no way to contact friends and family easily or instantly, music on the go, or access to google, email, banking, or Facebook at home.
This really puts in to question for me how it is that people managed to travel, work, and live abroad in foreign countries safely and easily before technology like this. Or do this lightly for that matter. It is extremely easy for us to pack enough stuff to last us weeks, and survive in almost any situation life down here might throw at us, in only two small backpacks. We felt perfectly confident in our ability to handle anything or any situation, and indeed we did. However, I realize now that this was all in very large thanks to my iPhone. Of course we could have and will survive just fine without it, but it will most definitely not be quite as easy.
Albeit not as convenient, it’s easy enough to find a replacement alarm clock, flashlight, camera, and notepad, even cell phone for some sort of contact with family and friends, but what about a map for any place at any time when you suddenly find yourself lost in a shady part of San Jose? Or a quick translator/dictionary when you find yourself struggling to communicate something essential. Or an international newsfeed in your language to keep abreast of any potential vital situation that might be happening in the country where you live or home country. I couldn’t even find a local Spanish newspaper here easily if I wanted to.
Without tools such as these you find yourself having to be all but completely reliant on the generosity and helpfulness of others, often times strangers. I feel like this may have been easier before tight communities somewhat disintegrated, placing instead a higher value on being self-reliant. Back when everyone used the system of ask a friend, write down directions, own a travel phrase book, bought news papers and/or pre-discussed a central meeting point before going out or doing anything. Back not long ago when people actually owned flashlights, alarm clocks, and weather predicting devises. When they carried a notepad and pen, and bought maps. I remember when my car had at least 3 or 4 different maps in it. If I had to buy a map today, I wouldn’t have the first clue where to find one.
All this to say, I think our reliance on technology has perhaps crossed that undetectable line.
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