As some of you know already,
I’m back in the mother country finally.
but I wasted no time in jumping right back into my old lifestyle,
hitting up gigs in less than 24 hrs after my return.
The first (real) gig since April 2008 was The Horrors at Johnny Brenda’s.
Just a little schedule update:
Currently in Arequipa Peru,
heading to Cañon de Colca via an overnight bus,
11th : molest some condors in one of the deepest canyons in the world , return to Arequipa in the afternoon/evening,
hop on another night bus to an oasis town(Ica) up north,
12th: visit Ica and the oasis nearby,
hop on another night bus to Lima
13th, 14th: Spend the day around Lima sightseeing,
squeeze in last minute shopping craze somewhere
15th early morning(more like 14th night): Hop on a flight and adios South America!
15th early morning-mid-day: 8 Hour layover in Mexico City so recommend me things to do! (and to buy HAHA)
15th late night: arrive in NY, head straight to Philly by train(ahhh)
16th: sleep, post pics, sleep, lose 18908 lbs.
16th: The Horrors at Johnny Brendas (where the hell is Fishtown)
17th: …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead at the church!!! (I am already dying in awe)
and and and
on the 24th Sam Roberts Band is playing at Gramercy Theatre which is right by my alma mater(in NY) so YES! YES! YES!
oh and in between, on that Sunday Im going to an Oxfam event in Central Park so catch me somewhere in between. Yes? and join me at any of these gigs(or all if you love me) and I will pretend I am 17 again and dance my 4 inch heels away. YES! YES! YES!
p.s. I will try to squeeze in a shower or two and maybe a haircut so dont you worry.
I haven´t thought about this for such a long time and don´t exactly know what triggered this awkward memory to surface.
When we were little there were many exciting things to look at in front of school/afterschool activity places. They used to sell snacks, toys, pictures of celebrity, occassionally baby chicks (and ducks once, one of which much to my parents´dismay I had brought home), etc. My mother started to work again around the time I started elementary school/we had moved back to a big city so having nothing to do at home, we just hung out there, not particularly to buy anything but just to look at them.
We were new in the area and it was one of those days that we went into this stationary/toy store. He was looking at one of Dragon Ball-Z figurines that were so popular in those days. I was on the other side, behind a shelf that divided the store into two narrow sections, looking at some¨notebook page supporter¨(a hard piece of thin board to put underneath a paper to write on-so you don´t get the imprints of the previous page) with princess characters.
After a bit of looking, we left the store and came back to the flat. There, pulling it out of his jacket, he showed me the figurine. He said that he had bought it when I had been on the other side with his saved allowance. We played; I with my dolls and He with his figurine and other toys.
A few days later, we were back in the store, doing the same old thing all over again. Back in those days, monotony didn´t bother me at all. Back in the flat, he presented yet another figurine. Then the following time yet another one. I don´t exactly remember how many there were but more or less three I think.
It was another day, the same old routine, the same old looking at random useless things that used to mean so much to little kids back in those days. As we walked out, the lady owner came out the door and called us over. Then she asked him to open his khaki-brown jumper. I can still remember all the details of that jacket.
There it was,
yet another figurine.
I just remember standing there still.
Or did I apologize to the lady? I don´t remember.
I just remember looking at her yelling at him and his looking like a complete stranger. We didn´t say a word on the way back to the flat and never talked about it. I was five then and I guess that´s when it started to change everything.
My dear Brangelina,
You are breaking the world´s (ok at least in a tiny corner of Bolivia) heart by staying unmarried,
leading a heathen lifestyle. What would the young youth of La Paz learn from this corrupted example you have set for them?
Here´s to making an honest woman out of Angie in near future.
and my dear Bolivians,
you almost got me with this and had me google up ¨brangelina wedding,¨ damn you and your wicked sense of humor
As a child growing up in a monolingual setting,
I wanted to master as many languages as possible for no particular reason at first.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that all these presidential candidates(back in the 90´s the same 3-4 people kept on running over and over again)
spoke something like five languages and I thought it was a swell skill to have.
Then I started to read Shakespeare in translation and wished to master the language so that I could read it in its original glory.
By the time I was in mid-teen, I wanted to learn more about other cultures and that motivated picking up other languages as well.
Many people assume that I probably grew up in a multicultural/lingual setting but on the contrary, I spent most of my first 12 years in a homogenous country.
It´s only in the last 11 years, I´ve picked up other languages. (h0wever vulgar they might be hahaha)
When I first came to South America almost 2 years ago on a short visit,
I was interested in hearing what this hostel owner had to say about Peru´s history but couldn´t understand many details.
It´s always an amazing experience to converse with the locals to get a better understanding of their culture, seeing it from their pespective.
Despite all that trying, I was quite upset at many people today.
Funny how people can still get to me even after all this traveling.
After fuming at many for being so hostile to me, I sat down to have my usual share of fruit salad parfait,
and this lady in front of me smiled at me and started to talk to me, asking the usual questions and then something a bit unusual: How do you find Bolivians? usually people ask me about how I feel about the city or the country in general.
I was in a brutally honest mood I suppose, so I smirked and told her that many were very nasty. I told her that people seemed friendly amongst one another but towards foreigners(discovering upon conversing with other backpackers) people are quite hostile, and just want to con us as much as possible. The whole ¨innocent country/small town people¨ concept was non-existant.
She sat there with a grim look on her face and as we were sitting in an uncomfortably close distance,
I thought I should have just kept it to myself instead of unloading all this upon this poor stranger who was just trying to be friendly.
After a bit of silence, she started to talk though.
She told me that it´s a shame that I only saw that side of the Bolivians. With the current Evo Morales´faction(finally someone standing against his communist(not to mention racist) regime) people have become embittered and more closed as the things have gotten worse. They have suffered in the hands of Conquistadores and their descendents so now with government telling them, ´more power to the natives,´ everyone is more cautious and guarded against foreigners. People used to share what little they had and be friendly to one another but it´s hard to expect that sort of thing nowadays.
I was surprised to hear this from her as everyone seems to be touting Evo Morales as the national hero, his being the first president of the native origins. She mentioned how many things are worse than what it had been before the regime and now the government leaning dangerously close to communism(Venezuela is one of Bolivia´s biggest allies): Free healthcare for all the nationals are being told on the news when in reality, everyone has to pay to be attended; people are getting locked up for pointing out the wrong; lands are being nationalized and apparently the law regarding presidency term used to be limited to running for every other terms but now there is no limit.
Yet people are failing to acknowledge this dawning idea of communism because the government isn´t saying the word. Government is lending out money to the poor but where does the money come from? From the social security retirement funds which will cause problems indubitably in future.
she told me that she actively tries to participate by spreading words over the internet and in person. She teared up saying that it´s tragic to see her beautiful country getting damaged.
The truth is,
communism, as an idea is a beautiful, noble concept. Everyone is equal, free of class , work according to their ability and receive equal social security system.
I can´t believe that there are still people who believe this will ever work out,
I laugh at all these young people from capitalist countries who idolize communism because they just really don´t get it.
As I have mentioned before, three of my grandparents were from North Korea and my maternal grandparents had to flee down to south during the war.
It sickens me to see their so-called leader living in a grandiose luxury while his people were dying of starvation, even resorting to cannibalism. Children are brainwashed to report their parents if they were to speak badly of their ¨national leader father.¨ Beautiful girls are picked out from the young age to be trained as Kim Jung Il and his close parties´personal entertainment (many ending up being their consorts and mistresses)
So you think North Korea is just a really corrupt example of the commusim? You think people in Cuba are all so satisfied and that´s why they are hungry for tourists´money and it´s always the visitors who end up buying everything and sharing? If everything was working out in order and so swell, why are people wanting more?
because the system doesn´t work, how can you have all this freedom one day and have everything taken away in the name of public good and expect everyone to obey? You really think the person next to you is going to work as hard as you do and eat just as much as you do and be really that equal?
Before you idolize an idealistic system, please see it in a realistic light. Not everyone is as nice as we want them to be.
After having much discussion on Bolivia and communism, she left with her niece(who was told to take notes on communism haha), apologizing for ¨interrupting¨ my eating but I thanked her that people like her make me happy.
On a lighter note, I just came back from a process of devolution,
behold,
a bipedal homo sapien following the footsteps of a quadrupedal dinosaur:
