This past weekend some friends of mine kidnapped me from my safe New York City lifestyle. We made our way up the Hudson river, taking the route that was heavily congested. Camping. Me who spends most of the waking day in-front of a box, with a keypad and mouse making sure other people can seamlessly do the same, let my inner caveman out. Camping is not anything new, nor is it for me, but something about this trip has opened a new beast inside me. Maybe its just the fresh air, the volcanic ash spitting out of the fire, or just the smells – burning wood, morning dew, stinking garbage, decomposing brush, food cooked over an open fire or just that forest blend that doesn’t blow down to the busy streets of NYC.
As I sat back our first night sipping on a beer and watching the flames of the fire dance, it occurred to me that it has been a long time since I wasn’t surronded by electricity or battery operated devices. Besides the car radio that we used as our jukebox and the flashlights that helped us find our sleeping bags and a nice tree for a midnight stroll, I found myself unwired and unwirelessed. Simulated into the 21st century technologists I thrive on our wonderful world of electronics. Right now besides the computer that i’m typing on, my iPod which i’m listing to or the five lights that are turned on in my studio apartment, I have the DVR which is quietly recording today’s 4400. This is the life of the 21st century and not only in the USA but all over the world. When I was down in Ecuador, everyone used the same electronics that made life a lot easier. They didn’t go over board like the consumer informed North Americans, but they aren’t sitting in-front of a fire on a $9.99 chair which they purchased from Target. (more…)
Tags: Camping, Fire, Hiking, Just Me, Travel
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Posted by Terry |
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I am happy where ever I go. That is a fact, and why shouldn’t I be. Recently a friend commented on my adaptability as being harmful to my life. While my lack of fight, or keeping on one side of an argument can be an issue since I can see there is at least two sides of everything, unless of course your looking at a pyramid. However in the end I’m proud that I am not single minded.
But how can someone be or become adaptable? Well I blame most of my adaptability on my surroundings. I spent a year abroad as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Quito Ecuador and before we were alowed to leave the country the Rotarians prepared us for our journey. They advised that we should look at our situations with open eyes and not compare things to what we are use to in the States. This of course makes perfect sense since I was about to embark to the Middle of The World and find myself surronded by a foreign culture.
One Rotarian stood up after a formal dinner and explained to us that we are now in a foreign country and after dinner the custom is to eat the center piece. In this case a potted plant that was in the middle of every table. The Rotarian picked up a serving spoon, dipped it into the dirt and pulled out leaping mound with jiggling worms plopping it on my plate. I was not adaptable at that moment as I heard moans, gulps and some vulgar whispers. Yes, the mound of dirt on my plate didn’t please me and I wished for canolie, but the Rotarian insisted that we try new things and put away what we think we know. With my spoon I gathered up enough courage to take a taste, the worms were no longer moving and the dirt seemed to smell more like chocolate. After a tiny dime sized bit i realized that the center piece was chocolate moose and the worms were Jelly worms. This of course was more of a test, then a formal desert but taught me well.
During my senior year of high school in Quito Ecuador I experienced many different things. My first bull fight, first hang over, first time dreaming in a foreign language and in all it was my first time on my own. Each time an event came up that I did not know I wouldn’t try to compare it to anything that I’ve experienced before. To be truly adaptable is to take in your surroundings and do as the natives do. If I did think and compare things before I tried them, then I would of missed out of bull fighting with a baby bull or spending a week in the Amazon Basin. When we are faced with uncertainty our instinct is to run, however, if you stick in and realize that someone else has accomplished this task you will see how adaptable you really are.
Tags: Ecuador, Humor, Just Me, Rotary Exchange Student
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Posted by Terry |
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