Things that make the world go round

Money, maps, myths... fat bottomed girls.

I've reached a hair past my halfway point in Buenos Aires, and my head is spinning with the world of options dancing through my brain. I'm dreaming in the stratosphere so now I'm going to have to get crafty. Somehow, my ability to hustle did not translate in Argentina. I'm sure I could have tried harder, but shit, everyone is hustlin' here so we're a dime a dozen... hustlers, that is.

It's an interesting thing - when I was planning this trip, I was so very misguided as far as what to anticipate about myself. I always think that I have the ability to foresee how I'll feel, act, react, but I tend to mis-anticipate. I was thinking that I would be really satisfied and more comfortable to stay in Buenos Aires for a long time. Not for any location-specific reason, just because I thought I would be seeking the comfort and stability that familiarity provides. I love BA and I'm really satisfied and fulfilled by the work I'm doing (more on that in a sec), but the bouncing around in Mexico and Brazil, and the subsequent constant state of relative chaos is a freaking addiction! I like being a regular at Piola, and people around the neighborhood know me, but now I almost don't see the point of moving in, getting comfortable and establishing a routine for a mere two months. It's the perfectly equivocal amount of time! Enough to scratch the surface and get a little attached to people places, but not enough to really feel like you've got them by the balls... so to speak. Next time I'll make longer term plans if I want to stay somewhere.

On chaos, to digress briefly. I blogged a while back about this character that Natasha and I shared lunch with in Paraty, Brazil. He was on a kick about how this is the year of the tiger in the Chinese calendar, which means the year is meant to be chaotic. Apparently (well, allegedly because I am repeating what I heard rather than researching for myself) in Chinese culture, chaos is thought of as opportunity rather than calamity. The inherent unpredictability and spontaneity spawned from chaos bring about countless new trails, fresh for the blazing. Great outlook, I love it. I hope that's all actually true and not just some ignorant, misinformed rant based on things I heard from a stranger.

Anyway, on May 5, I'm thrown back into this state of relative chaos like a junky out of rehab. I'm like Paula Abdul - I can't wait. Like I mentioned a couple posts back, I'm thinking about using the money I will save by flying out of somewhere further north and using it for the travel expenses of getting there. I can see so much more that way. Highlights will be the Andes, a salt desert, a giant lake (Titicaca) in the Bolivian mountains (Lake Tahoe x 20) in which the Isla del Sol, a sacred Inca creation site, is situated, and finally the piece de resistance, the magical, mystical, out-of-this-world Machu Picchu. This book I'm looking at describes Peru as a place where truth and myth are intertwined, making the two almost indistinguishable from one another, thanks to the incredibly rich (and persisting) history imparted by the Incas. The country is apparently littered with ruins and I can just imagine the tales told by these places - myths, religion, wars, people, nature, civilization, cultural and scientific advances - amidst the dramatic backdrop undoubtedly imparted by the mountains... it gives me goose bumps. Walking through a field in Mexico with Marisol's family a couple years back, we had to watch the ground to avoid tripping over old terra-cotta relics of the Mayans... literally. It was the most amazing thing I could ever imagine. A lot of people tend to proudly state they are from "the land of the Inca" or the Aztec or Maya or what have you. Their pride is warranted of course, these civilizations are so relentlessly fascinating and complex I feel they could be studied for a lifetime and continue shelling out surprises. Even more, to be constantly reminded that you are living exactly where one of these civilizations existed and left so much behind, must be amazing. Of course we learned about it in school, but to be here, thinking about how this entire continent was home to some of the richest and most advanced civilizations ever seen by this planet, and that their destruction was fueled by nothing more than greed.... jesus, it's sick, it's incomprehensible, it makes me want to puke.

On puking, I told Kendra about how I couldn't stop farting at the farm today, really loudly, and the girls kept looking at me funny, and then she laughed so hard she almost puked in the street.

I changed my hours at the Coop, La Juanita this week to accommodate (honestly) myself, but also my perception of their needs. They have a bunch of flaky volunteers that don't show up to teach classes in the afternoons, and I don't want to work 2 overnight shifts back to back, so I'll be there Monday and Tuesdays during the day, and pull the over-night at the bakery Monday night, sleeping in between. I taught computation to this older lady the other day, and she didn't even know how to use the mouse! So it's good for me because I can learn computer words in Spanish...because I teach the class in Spanish. Then I teach the chicos English later, also in Spanish. It works out alright, and they are all really appreciative and nice, but I feel bad because I can't be explaining things properly!

Working the overnight with Alejandra at the bakery is turning out to be quite the experience. Going to La Juanita in the first place is like a pinch on the arm, reminding me that I'm not in Kansas any more, because BA can get pretty cozy. When two people work entire nights together, I don't think you can help but form some distinct type of bond. I think something happens to the brain after 3 or 4 am. But we go outside to chill and Ale just breaks it down for me, always. I can't understand everything she says, but I get the drift most of the time. Basically, there is no perceivable way to get out of the mess that the majority of the people are in. This was a two hour conversation and I can't even begin to get into it. Government regulations that are completely nonsense, even inhumane - making the bad politics and  shitty economy non-issues. One thing, for instance, this kid Nico, who works at the bakery, who is awesome and cracks me up, has appendicitis. No insurance = public hospital. Ok, that's pretty typical, but in this particular area, you are only seen if the situation is urgent, which a ruptured appendix isn't considered to be. Not until he has an actual infection will they treat him, and obviously he's a lot more screwed and toying with some serious effects like dying by then. How!?

It's always something. No matter how accustomed to shit like that you can get, it's still shocking and a huge bummer. We're so lucky. Part of the issue Ale and I talked about was how people can't afford food, and she's saying they need to start planting things in their yards. But they're Argentinian, she says, so they're used to buying everything at the store, because things never used to be this bad. They don't know how to plant and grow things. Next day, I was talking to Fabian, another guy at the Coop, and brought up their little "campo" which is literally 2' x 10' and he said it was more to use as an educational thing, to show people how to prepare soil and plant crops. I told him I'm learning that stuff at the School of Agriculture and asked if I could bring anything from there to help teach, and he was enthused. Then today, I spoke with my director at the School, and she's going to give me a bunch of papers and books to bring them! Then I stole some seeds from the school so we can plant beans next Monday at La Juanita, but the School is interested in getting involved anyway... how cool! Team work rocks.