A Todo el Mundo

Sometimes when you travel, you do something that you look back on later and can't believe how stupid you are. There have been many times that Nathan and I have made common travel mistakes without even thinking. Then we are sitting there at the border and some guy has our passports or the taxi driver just took off with all our stuff and we realize, man, this could turn out very badly. Thankfully, those times have turned out completely fine, but we were confronted with a moment scary enough to teach us a lesson. I am so thankful to whatever cosmic force is helping us learn without really screwing up our lives. That guy could have just run off with our passports, or the taxi driver could have just taken our bags and never came back. Fortunately, we have learned from those mistakes - and now are making new ones.

There are so many times in life like this. Something happens so quickly without you even realizing it, and you are stuck in a bad situation. We can either choose to learn from these events, or just sink into letting them engulf us. I'm not sure what I'm choosing at this point in my life.

One day we were in the Amazon in Colombia, but our hotel was in Brazil. We crossed the border a couple times a day to get supplies or explore. We were sitting at the edge of the river when I decided to go take some pictures around the corner. Nathan wasn't paying attention and didn't see where I went. By the time I was done taking pictures, he wasn't sitting where I left him. So I wandered around the corner and thought I saw him walking up ahead. I followed this person for a while until I realized it wasn't Nathan. (from the back they looked IDENTICAL). So there I was, alone in the Colombian Amazon, and I honestly didn't know what the hell to do. We had just been talking about how we were really thirsty, but I knew that I had all the money we had taken out with us that day. I also had the keys to our room. I felt like I really needed to find Nathan. So I wandered around this little town for about an hour until I finally gave up and walked home. When I got closer, I could see Nathan sitting outside the hotel on the road. Apparently he had been watching the line of the shadow of the setting sun to calculate when he should go and look for me. All it took was a little misunderstanding, each one of us looking the other way for a second, and we were lost in two entirely different countries.

Apparently, the smart thing to do would be to just walk back to the hotel (like Nathan did) except I was so convinced that I could find him and that he needed a drink. I was really caught up in the situation, in that moment, and in feeling bad that I had the money. I was thrown into a situation that I was not prepared for and all I could think about was that I needed to help Nathan.

But then he was fine and I was lost.

As I walked home, I was so distracted that I didn't realize how bad my feet were hurting. I couldn't even feel it at all, but when I sat down in the hotel room, I had huge, disgusting blood blisters between my toes. I was so engulfed in the bad situation that I couldn't get myself out of it.

It's so easy to look back and think about how I could have done it differently. And to think, wow, that wasn't really THAT big of a deal. But at the time, it didn't feel great, and I felt like I let my travel buddy down.

Even now I feel that way sometimes. I am so concentrated on doing things right, and not letting other people down, that I don't even realize what I'm doing or where I'm walking. Maybe if I actually stepped back from the situation and realized what was actually going on, I could get myself out of it.

But that's the problem I guess, often you can't until it's all over. And that's where I am at right now.

And all for a picture of a chicken in front of the Amazon.

~K.

Sometimes I hate the fact that one of my favorite things in life is to travel. The reason is because it puts me in the category of "tourist". And I hate that category. I don't want to be identified as the traditional tourist and I don't even necessarily always like supporting the tourism industry.

I look at people going into different countries looking for a party, for a beach, for a story and "dos cervezas, por favor".

They snap a few million pictures of "aztec ruins", not realizing there is a difference between the Maya and the Aztecs. But it sure takes a great "artsy" shot.

They make sure to grab a local kid or two and take a picture as if they were the best of buds. You always have to have that great "picture with a foreign child" to add into your scrapbook.

This may sound really cynical, and it's partly because I am. I have devoted my career to studying other cultures academically, and my spare time to reading about them or experiencing them. I feel a certain sense of injustice when people tramp across the world, without really knowing the depth of what they are encountering. I would never travel some place without knowing some history and with some cultural competency, but most importantly an open mind and profound respect.

Nathan and I were in Lima, Peru sitting in this beautiful park over looking the ocean, called El Parque del Amor. In the center of the park is a huge statue of a couple embracing and kissing, and people stop by to take a picture of themselves doing the same in front. This was only our first or second day in South America ever, and we were hanging out watching every thing happen. Eventually, a bus load of tourists came along and they all followed their safe travel guide out into the park to look around. A couple of ladies slowly approached Nathan and I with huge smiles on their faces. As they cautiously eyed us up, they spoke to us with a friendly, but extremely condescending tone. That is when Nathan and I realized that they thought we were locals (and Nathan and I don't really resemble local Peruvians). They were taking this chance to have an encounter - and I can almost read their emails home - with "some foreign young people hanging out at their local spot". They had absolutely no clue. They blindly followed a guide around from the safety of an air conditioned van. How completely sterile and removed.

Now, I realize that for some people this is the only option. But I also hope that sometimes people can at least push themselves outside of their Western comforts. Get off the tourist bus, live without air conditioning, and stop following the guide that holds the little red flag in the air so you never get lost.

Purposely get lost.

Sit in the plaza for hours on end watching life happen.

Skip out on the tourist attraction and see what the world really has to offer.

~ K.

It's interesting how travel - and the experiences we get out of it - is really just a state of mind. You see so many new things, but you are only aware that they are new and interesting because you have the travel mindset on. The other day we were at the Chinese grocery store here in Edmonton. There were so many incredible cultural things happening at once. Nathan remarked that if we had been in a different country we would be so impressed. It made me think about how sad it is that we can't have that seem deep impression in our own city as in another place.

And some of the things we take pictures of, and some of our best memories are just every day things. Sometimes I look at our photos and wonder how we must have looked to the locals as we snapped a shot of something they pass by every day. Something so ordinary to one person constitutes something to make a record of and write home about to someone else. We have this picture I took of an old man walking into town through a field of agaves in Mexico. He was probably just doing something he does all the time, but that picture symbolizes so much to me. Its a whole array of experiences, smells, tastes, and sounds that I had never had before. And he was just walking to town.

I wish that every day, even when I'm just going about a normal day, that I would see all the amazing things around me that make our world worth living in. I wish I would notice the amazing cultures that interact here in Edmonton on a daily basis. I wish that when I saw some old guy walking to work, I had that same profound experience.

~ K.

We headed out of Edmonton on a cold and grey day. We got to Seattle and it was also a cold and grey.. well, night. Seattle felt ok, then we headed to L.A. It was INSANE. It was exactly like being in Latin America. There were people speaking Spanish EVERYWHERE. We both knew that there were lots of Latins in Los Angeles, but we never imagined how intense it would be. It was awesome.

We finally got to Guadalajara. Unfortunately... our luggage didn't. It's funny because before that, we discussed how that has never happened to us before, except on the trip home. Well, I suppose that's all it takes. So we filed a report and left the airport empty handed. Now, this may seem sucky. But it was WONDERFUL. We just hopped on the local bus for 40 cents instead of having to take an expensive taxi. We were comfortable and mobile.

We spent the entire morning (we arrived downtown Guadalajara at about 8:00) wandering around and looking at pretty buildings and just enjoying our return to Latin culture. We took about a thousand pictures. Then we spent a couple of hours just sitting in the plaza watching the pigeons and the children chasing said pigeons.

Eventually... there was a PROTEST. We both love being part of such action. Although this one was fairly tame. Then we wandered to find some food. We had Pain de Muerto (which is "bread of death") leftover from the Day of the Dead celebrations... so we got two for one! Nathan also found some delicious fruits. Everything is sooo cheap.

Now we have just arrived at our hotel and settled into our room. Our luggage arrived here before us... which is so FREAKING AMAZING. We didn't even have to haul it 37 blocks on our backs!! The hotel is the nicest we have ever stayed in. It's an old colonial building and is amazingly beautiful. At this point, we haven't slept since Tuesday night, so we are going to sleep then head out for some more Guadalajara.

Hasta Luego!

Kristy y Nate (Y bubba oso también)

So, we will be arriving in Guadalajara at about 6am on Thursday morning. We plan to spend two days in Guadalajara and then head to a city called Morelia. Morelia is about half way to Mexico City. Then on Sunday we will head to Mexico City and spend some time there. The first few days we will spend in a hostel, and then the last couple of days with some of Nate's "extended" family.

Right now is an interesting time to be in Mexico. Since the state of Tabasco flooded and was declared in a state of emergency, things have gotten slightly chaotic. People are starving and without homes and have turned to looting. The Mexican government has asked for help from other nations, but so far only NGOs have assisted. About 9,000,000 people have been directly affected and they are now concerned that there will be outbreaks of cholera, hepatitis, and dengue fever. I only bring this up because no body else seems to. When I talk to people about it, they seem to have heard absolutely nothing about it. It's interesting how when things happen here (or in the US ie. Katrina) they are automatically devastating, but when it happens in Latin America, no one really cares or even bothers to mention it.

*end of rant*