Dispatch Number 38 -Errant Thoughts IV

America's Gift
American cultural influence is expressed throughout these parts of Latin America with the word, Hollister painted boldly on t-shirts.


Pleasure
It is hard to put into context, but the Guatemalan is seldom alone, in public they are in groups or shop in pairs. In their homes whole families will cram into one or two beds depending on the size of the family. In my days in Guatemala I could not find what I would call private time. The closest was when someone was watching tv ignoring all else around them -an invisible room. They do not have their own beds let alone individual bedrooms.

So all this brought on a thought: If you are Guatemalan where do you masturbate?

Sitting in Church
The walls of this church are plain and drab, candles burn and bring solemn light to darkened corners. I think of the Spanish Conquistadors with their troops of Catholic priests. The Conquistadors saw the land for material riches, principally gold; the padres saw the lands of Latin America as a place ripe for the harvest of souls.

Time
Where were you ten years ago?
Today: September 2009 in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Back 10: September 1999 -San Francisco, California

Dogs, Cats, Chickens, Ducks and Rabbits
The more a man comes unraveled he brings animals closer to himself. The last refuge of relationship provided to a man with few to no recognizable friends.
-Observation of Don an American hostel owner high in the mountains of Guatemala.

Western Hemisphere
It is easy to say Latin Americans feel inferior materially and technologically to North America, however, it is important to recognize that they may be culturally and spiritually superior to life in North America.


Search
The painful search for self. It is a place you never really arrive at, you only become more familiar with yourself. The great release is to let go of this ridiculous concept of being perfect and solving the riddles of life or searching for meaning around every corner.


People & Books
The travel family disbands. I retreat to my happy world of books and writing. A return to my cat-like solitary ways. A world filled with books, maps, journals, Dispatches and laying on my back to stare at the ceiling. Travel Families are small groups of new friends met while traveling that bond and choose to travel together with me and Azulita for days, weeks or months.

How I Get Around
Gas and go varies from country to country. To fill Azulita's tank, 23 gallons costs:
$52 in Mexico
$80 in Guatemala and Honduras
$102 in Nicaragua
$90 in Costa Rica


Modernization
In the ever-going era of development and modernization in Latin America those of us who appreciate the old ways understand the importance of dirt roads. For we realize those colorful overland routes of dirt roads are fading fast. The dirt roads traveled today will be paved tomorrow.


Fly Food
Rice is not food to a fly.

tv
Stop watching tv and begin to see and feel again. Participate in life, not merely watch it. When was the last conversation you had where a tv program was not used as a way to start a conversation?

David
Monteverde, Costa Rica