Traveller´s note to self

1. Each day is a gift

2. Every day is not going to be super exhilirating. If it were you'd run out of money, energy, and neurotransmitters. Its OK. Refer to point 1

3. You can't do everything.But thats Ok. You can do some things. Something is always better than nothing. Remember point 1

4. You can't plan everything. But you can plan some things. Then you can sit back and see if they work out (its like a game) (this is South America) Don't stress. See point 1

5. You can't trust everyone. But you can trust some. (eg. the pilot) (sometimes you have no choice) 

6. Every day there is something to learn. NB point 1

7. Travelling is not all that different to being at home. 
Its just taken me 10,000km to realise. 

Slow

I am learning
   to be
       slow

its weird.

I am learning to

    eat slow
          (can't chow through all this carne)

    speak slow
          in Spanish (can't conjugate my verbs fast enough)
           in English (uthawys ppl cnt indirstend my kiwi eksent)

    move slow
           (lest I leave my hosts behind)

Its not a bad thing
its just different

All I've known is fast and faster
But here I see an alternative pace to life
            in which things are still accomplished
            and the world doesn't grind to a halt

How odd
How healthy

S l o w

                Carne

Favourites

28 May 2014

When we were young, we spoke of favourites.

Favourite colour. Favourite food. Favourite teacher.

I´m not sure what happened to favourites as we grew up, but they dont seem to feature much in conversation now.

Ive been in South America two weeks now, and oh the multitude of things I've seen and done!
Crossing the Andes. Asados. Mustering heifers on horseback. The Teatro Colon. Caminito St, its colour and tango. Folklore. Iguazu falls.

But if I had to pick a favourite, it'd be this: español.
I can't explain how or why its so fun - it just is.

And my favourite word: vaquillona*  Get a native to speak it for you. How pretty!

It's not that Spanish is the most beautiful language in the world (though some may argue so) - its just that it's a language - and languages stir me - I can't describe how or why - they just do.

Almost makes me wonder if, in another life, I might have been a linguist.
Almost makes me thank God for the tower of Babel.

Like the world of biology, the world of language fascinates me. Who created Spanish? Who designed its verb conjugations? Who determined it's gendered nouns and accents? I marvel.

And its not that  Spanish-as-a-second-language is without its frustrations. But in moments of mis(non!)communication, there is often warmth, laughter, creativity (..charades and sounds..), grace and an understanding of a different kind.

I guess its kind of odd to take such delight in a language - it a word - but the fact that one can - and does - is... well... nice, isn´t  it?

*heifer

                 
Favoritos 

Cuando estabamos jovenes, hablabamos sobre las cosas favoritas. Mi color favorito. Mi comida favorita. Mis maestro favorito. Pero ahora, no hablamos asi. 

Estoy en sudamerica hace dos semanas ahora y ya vi y hice mucho. Pero mi cosa favorita esta español. Y mi palabra favorita esta vaquillona. No se porque lo me gusta tanto. Me encanta los idiomas. Pienso que, en una otra vida, me gustaria ser una linguista. Siempre pienso asi: ¿quien crea español? ¿Quien hacia las reglas de gramatica? 

No es facile siempre. Pero cuando no se puede comunicar con palabras...se usa los manos, o los sonidos, las sonrisas - se comunica con otras formas. 

Mi español no esta bueno. Pero me gusta, si lo me gusta. 

Vaquillonas