Another notch in the book lists

Spending copious amounts on buses and hammocks yields itself to reading books I've been wanting to read for a long time, and books that people I've met along the way have generously given me. Already, I've turned through 5 books. I'm working on 3 more right now. I only brought one book from Austin and I finished reading that sometime in Costa Rica. It was an intriguing looking paperback with an enticing title called The Story of Forgetting.

I felt that it would be a suiting read, a story about forgetting as I was leaving. Sentimental, I know, but what do you expect?
I like poetry.

The story is told through 3 separate narratives, all intertwined and unknowing; a boy, a man, and a town. My favorite of them is the narrative of Isadora; a place where nothing is ever obtained so nothing can ever be lost. Possession of any and everything. Words. People. Ideas. Objects. Perhaps all we are, are our memories. It is our experiences that craft us into the walking wonders we are. The book is entitled The Story of Forgetting but what about the things that we don't that we wish we could? We have memories for remembering, followed by a language we've created to explain what it is we can't forget. We are abstract beings in concrete bodies. If I cut my finger I will bleed like anyone else, but we feel it differently. The feeling is an abstraction to the sensation of pain itself.

The minds selection of memories is mystifying. The things we teach ourselves to remember like test dates, birthdays, and the things the mind decides to remember on its own like certain nightmares, smells, faces of ex-lovers. The narrative of Isadora is an array of mysticism and science. As I read it I couldn't help but wonder what if?. There is a part where a general hears of a town that is filled with gold- all the riches in world; everything one could ever want- but the thing about the town is that it contains no memory. Gold has no value because there is no memory of it. Gold is gold. The only value gold has is what we have asserted to it. The word gold evokes a connotation of wealth, an abstraction. If I said I have oro (the Spanish word for gold) to a person who only speaks English that would have no meaning to them. Things can be both gained and lost by the act of what one remembers and what one doesn't. Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote, " Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it."

I agree.

The Story of Forgetting is not my favorite book. Probably not even top 10, but a good read. An entertaining and interesting one. I'd recommend it simply for the story of Isadora.


Next book.

The Turning by Tim Winton.

A collection of short stories that was given to me by a traveling boy from the UK. These short stories are like chocolate cake in bed, surprise birthday, first kiss, moon in the horizon, kinda good. One made me cry. Another made me ill. All of them made me thankful for the inspiration. If you find, buy it.


Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

I shouldn't have to explain. It is Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the Colombian God of writers.


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Sidenote:
Since I'm churning through books quicker then bottles of beer any recommendations of books would be greatly appreciated :)


cheers!

Made it to Peru!

After a 10hrs overnight bus I took 4 days ago, I'm in Peru. I heard a lot of terrible things about overnight buses as border-crossings, but nothing bad happened on this one thankfully. I sat next to a German guy on a bus to Chichlayo, Peru and he told me that he took the same night bus I was on three days ago and it got robbed by 7 guys at gunpoint. They barricaded the road 10 minutes after they got to Peru and took everyone off the bus and checked them for cash, passports, Ipods, etc... No one was hurt he informed me, but still kind of scary.

I'm in Huaraz right now and plan on doing lots of hiking here. I'm going to do a 10hr hike tomorrow and then a 5 day hike in the next couple of days. They recommend to hang around in town for a few days in order to acclimate. I bought some coco leaves to munch on that is supposed to help out with attitudinal sickness:) Oh! another exciting thing is that I think I'm going to be volunteering at a bar here. Maybe I'll get to make some good 'ol pisco sours and practice my artful wristflip opening Peruvian beers;)

Today I'm going to buy a camera. I should of bought one, oh let's say, 3 months ago, but I'm stubborn and frugal, which makes me terrible at compulsive shopping. I did however buy some San Pedro from a witch doctor. At least I hope that is what I bought....

I adore Ecuador

Before I begin a new chapter with Peru, I'd like to give a quick recap of my highlights of Ecuador:

. How I got here:
the "mishap" in Colombia with my airline tickets followed by my 5 day stay at the Crossroads hostel in Quito

Quito
Even though everyone I met there got mugged, I still enjoyed it. I met 2 really cool folks there and also thought my adventures climbing the Teleferico, the Basillica, and going to the Otavalo market were worth my stay there.

My man crush
yep. every now and then I get one. This guy was a real life, I was birthed from a mountain lion and can make a strawberry pie out of driftwood kind of mountain man. I ran into him twice in two completely different regions and both times he was dressed in his native garment and had a soft look on his face that explained that he could kill a man in a matter of seconds and do a dance for the gods in a corn field. Sexy.

Cotopaxi
Blisteringly cold. Strenuous climb. Worth it.

Banos
Motherfuckin dune-buggie going dead in a pitch black tunnel was a buzz kill. Hitchhiking into town was another experience in itself. I also ate the best fondue in my life there.

Welcome to the Jungle
Found a guy on couchsurfing who let me stay in his hut outside of Puyo ( a small town in the Amazon Basin) His friend Marco, a Quechua Shawman showed me around. There, I swam in the Amazon Basin and held an anaconda snake

Chimborazo
The holy-shit of volcanoes. This guy is the closet point to the sun in the world. It stands at around 6250 meters. Very dangerous due to unpredictable climate/avalanches/lightning strikes... I hiked to the refugee, rented mountain bikes, and ended up in an alpaca field. Oops... Definitely my favorite outdoor activity I did.

Montanita
Strange town. Party 24/7. Seemed a little sketchy. Felt like I had stumbled onto an MTV real world set gone bad. Attempted surfing, and really suck at it. Some dude tied shit into my hair, surprise surprise, as if I don't already have enough shit in it already.. I also decided to go by a different name. Phoenix Ruyo. That is my new name from now on.. or at least for my time being in Montanita.

Vilcabamba
My favorite small Ecuadorian town. It is filled with Ex-pats (literally over 200 living within a 60 mile radius) I did a 4 hour horseback ride which was the most painful experience in my life. The guide asked me if I had any experience, I said not really, and then we took off about as quick as a champagne top on New Years. That was 7 days ago and my ass is still sore. Never again. Never again.


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If you are ever traveling through Ecuador keep these hostels in mind.

Quito- Crossroads hostel
Banos- Plantas y blancas
Riobamba- Oasis hostel
Vilcabamba- Hostel Izcayluma (my favorite)

compliments of my brother

he is artistic.

Apologies

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Many things have occurred as to why. The main reason is that my laptops wireless card has failed. I'm pretty bummed about it since that is the only reason I brought a computer to begin with. I'm sure it can be fixed but I don't know a damn thing about computers so the likelihood of me figuring it out is slim to none. This means that I have to do all my updating at internet cafes which are few and far between, especially in the rural areas.

The other reason is that I've been on buses every other day trying to get closer to Peru. The longest one was 13 hrs, but I've had many 6hrs as well.

Sickness is my last reason. I was really, really sick for several days and then it took me another couple of days before I regained any energy to do anything. I'm feeling better now, but still not up to full speed. Anyway, even though I haven't been posting as frequently as I like due to internet difficulties and other misfortunes, I have been writing them elsewhere. Below are things I've been meaning to post that I finally got around to though. I went back and posted them all in the order they occurred.

sick sick sick

For the past two days I've been stuck in bed. I think I have a fever. I barely have enough energy to make it to the bathroom which has turned into my new best friend. It feels as if I've got a carnival's worth of funnel cakes and mayonnaise milkshakes in my stomach. My right ear is completely clogged to the point I can't hear anything. I feel drainage in-behind my eardrum and it hurts so much. I know I'm dehydrated but I can't seem to keep anything down. I'm in bed typing this right now, but it hurts to move. Everything hurts—knees, head, muscles, joints—the cold sweats are the worst. I can't seem to get situated. I've been good about taking my vitamins everyday, but I guess they don't work anymore. I finally broke down and took some Tylenol and medicine for my stomach. I had an allergic reaction to the stomach medicine. I hope I start to feel better within the next day or two. I don't want to go to the doctor here, I hate going to the doctor. I hate it so much that the last time I went for a check-up was when I was 12. All I want is some hot soup and a soda. I remember that always seemed to work when I was little. The only soup they have here contains some sort of bone or animal intestines in it. That won't help. I'll just go to bed and wait for the medicine to kick in. This really isn't fun at all.

Cuenca

Pretty Spanish architecture




delicious ice cream




bought a bad ass Panamanian hat