Aug 5th, 2008
Preemptive Peru Pining and the Promise of Prestige
When I wake up in the mornings and think about leaving Peru in four days, I already miss Lima, my apartment, being a doctor, buying crappy sixty-cent pirate reggaeton mixes at Polvos Azules (see right) and most of all, my friends here. I get the anxious pang in my stomach that comes with unsettling a comfortable situation. Will I ever come back to Peru? Will I see these people again? After living in this apartment for the last month and becoming familiar with my area of Lima, I almost feel like I’m starting my trip all over again by heading to Colombia.
Then I read something on the internet about Colombia and the anxious feelings change to excited anticipation. This recent daily shift in emotions serves as a reminder to me about why I started this trip in the first place, all the people and things I left behind in the States, and the importance of travel and exploration to me at this juncture in my life.
Take today, for example. I felt slightly uneasy as I walked around my apartment this morning and looked at my empty bags, all my things spread out, and the plastic bags of sugar and rice on the shelves in the kitchen. When I’m moving around and staying in hostels, my bags are chocked full, all my worldly belongings are in one disheveled pile on the floor by my bed, and I never buy food in bulk to actually cook with. These simple, soon-to-change observations are marks of more sedentary life.
Then I got an email. I had asked a fellow traveler I met in Arequipa (Simon from Canada) where he was when he changed his Facebook status to say “Simon is a god damn celebrity here.” Incidentally, Simon has one of the better Facebook profile pictures I’ve seen (included on right). He wrote back and said he was in Medellin, Colombia, which I am planning on traveling to. He specifically wrote this:
“haha, that was medellin. And you will be too: tall, blonde hair, general gringoness. You get so much attention, it’s absurd. People will ask to take pictures with you randomly, come up and chat in the street, it’s perfect. Plus girls in bars will give you free salsa lessons. score.”
Naturally, this sounds awesome. It makes me think, “Yeah! That’s right! Colombia! I’m gonna go there. In just four days! I am traveling around the world. What am I worried about? I thrive on upsetting comfortable situations. God-willing and the Creek don’t rise, I can go wherever I want. That is really exciting.”
There are plenty of very good reasons to be comfortable and not move around. Wonderful friends and a killer apartment in a fun city are just a few of them. I would guess they will continue to present themselves as I move on around the world. Giving up the comforts and securities that come with a more stationary life is what I’ve chosen by starting this trip in the first place. I doubt I’ll feel satisfied in the long term, much less ready to be “settled,” until the trip is over.
Of course, that begs the question: When will I feel like the trip is actually over? …To be examined.
For now, I’m not gonna lose too much sleep over it.
(Editor’s Note: After writing this, I realized how much I like the phrase “God-willing and the Creek don’t rise.” Naturally, I registered www.godwillingandthecreekdontrise.com. I have no idea what I will do with it. Ideas? Anyone? … Anyone? Beuler? Stiles?)
i like that you used the correct form of ‘stationary.’
also, godwillingandthecreekdontrise.com should clearly be about the horrible, horrible extermination of native americans at the hands of the white man. gringos, if you will. or it could be a porn site. either way.
have fun rocking the drug capital of the world. or is that afghanistan now? maybe you should find out.
…and after Colombia you’re coming to Hong Kong. You’ll be a celebrity here, too. Suuuure you will. If not that, you’ll be assured that everyone is sorry for the inconvenience. Everyone’s always sorry about the inconvenience. Shark net removed for repair? Hole in the street? Typhoon a’comin? Sorry for the inconvenience, they say. Plenty to laugh at around here.
YOU CAN DO IT!
STAY WITH THE PINBALL SPIRIT!
God-willing and the Creek don’t rise – you’ll be in Columbia by the end of the day on 8/8/08 – and I (and maybe some others) will be watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
Do they actually do Cocaine in Columbia or do they just make it there and ship it all overseas like China and cheap poisonous toys? You never know.
Cheers to all this. Facing that anxious feeling and moving forward is a huge part of the learning that comes from big change.
As for the URL…the correct answer is “modern art.” You can never go wrong with modern art. And you can connect it to any phrase you like with a few humanity/scholar friends.
“God-willing…” should be the name of a faux alt-country salsa rock band featuring you, Gaby and Caesar. Kind of Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins meets Animal Collective singing Neil Young hijacked by Los Lonley Boys. (At least that’s what the band name seems to remind me of.)
Make a fake tour schedule, album covers the whole lot. Then put one of those cool counters listing how many people have visited your site at the bottom. No need to thank me now, just list me as the contact for booking your next gig at the Bogata Civic Center.
You have no idea how jealous I am that you got godwillingandthecreekdontrise.com. Freakin’ brilliant. Don’t know what I’d do with it either, but dammit, it’s chock full of awesome.