Saturday, May 26, 2007
Complete 180 from my last entry
I have recently noticed that there are quite a few people in this country who feel they absolutely must pick their nose in public areas. Whether I'm on the bus, walking down the street or riding the subte there seems to be someone with the urgent need to rid their sniffer of some mucous. The worst incident was on the subte. There I was zoning out, looking around at the faces nearby without really registering anything. Then something brought me out of my waking slumber. A man, face towards the door, trying to semi-esconder that he is digging deep. The grotesque nature of the image held my attention. Then he did the unimaginable. He took his newly discovered treasure and proceeded to deposit it right in the seam of the subte doors. From my position several seats away I could plainly see the booger. It was indeed a jewel. He continued to pick away, always using the door as his personal kleenex when he hit gold. It was like I was hypnotized by the grossness of it all. I could not look away though my stomach was turning. Finally, he walked away and I forced myself to think of something, anything but the newest passenger on the subte. Though I managed to break the spell, I couldn't help but wonder what other treasures the doors and walls of the subte have seen in their day.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Remember Aconcagua
Cerro Aconcagua is the largest peak in the Americas as well as the largest peak outside the Himalayas. It lays nestled in the Andes in the province of Mendoza near the small city of Puente del Inca and about ten minutes drive from the border of Chile.
I was blessed this past week with the opportunity to see this mountain, whose name means "stone guardian" in the native incan language of quechua. Standing in front of the mountain, I had a moment in which I actually recognized that my life was changed by the experience. I will try to explain.
Standing there in the shadow of a giant, with practically no one (aside from my companions) around for miles all I could hear was the rhythmic heartbeat of the land: the wind gently touching the folds and creases of the mountains and the water of the small river nearby bubbling and laughing.
Turning around 360 degrees, I was surrounded by mountains of the Andes. The sediments were every shade you could possibly imagine: green, blue, pink, red, purple and tints that are so unique they have no name. Every hill, mountain, crevice and peak had its own characteristics that made it breathtaking in a different way from its companions.
I was a speck of dust compared to these giants. Nothing. Insignificant and unimportant. And yet I have never felt bigger in my entire life. My insignificance liberated me to be who I truly am. I realized it just doesn't matter. These mountains have passed ages here in this virgin land and I had spent the past couple weeks worrying about what I will do after I gradute in a year, how I will continue my pursuit towards fluency, how I will make money this summer and the homework that seemed to be hindering my learning experience in Buenos Aires. Now, these are all things that I should think about and try to plan for. However, when they become a point of stress, anxiety and endless worry, they turn into silly, pointless wastes of my time. Standing in the Andes, I realized I will be taken care of just as these mountains have been. I have the choice every day to live my life as the confident, joyful and passionate person that I have been created to be instead of a stressed out, worried and unsure shadow of myself.
And even though I felt insignificant in the shadow of the mountain, I also realized that I have a place here in this world with these mountains. Tiny little me, put on this planet with purpose. As individual as that streak of fuschia sediment running through the mountainside. Also, I came to recognize that I have that ability to change those around me, just as I was changed by the mountain. This, quite frankly, blew my mind. If I keep my heart open to other people and their situations I can actually affect change in their lives. Big changes. This was especially important because my experience in Buenos Aires has in many ways made me feel as though I cannot cause any noticible change. I started to focus so much on the big picture of the world and the crisises that occur every day that we never here about through our mainstream media that I began to feel that the differences I could make in the lives around me werent really that important nor sufficient to actually cause a bigger change. But the reality is, that every big picture is composed of millions of little snapshots and they are the building blocks whether I feel like they are important or not. The differences I have the ability to make in my little corner of the earth can, in reality, cause changes unimaginable to me.
I came away from the experience feeeling incredibly empowered and centered with a peacefulness that I have never felt before. My challenge now is to remember Aconcagua and carry around that feeling in the deepest fold of my heart because, in the hurry and clutter of the city, it is easy to lose sight of the wisdom that I was given by the mountain.
Besos
I was blessed this past week with the opportunity to see this mountain, whose name means "stone guardian" in the native incan language of quechua. Standing in front of the mountain, I had a moment in which I actually recognized that my life was changed by the experience. I will try to explain.
Standing there in the shadow of a giant, with practically no one (aside from my companions) around for miles all I could hear was the rhythmic heartbeat of the land: the wind gently touching the folds and creases of the mountains and the water of the small river nearby bubbling and laughing.
Turning around 360 degrees, I was surrounded by mountains of the Andes. The sediments were every shade you could possibly imagine: green, blue, pink, red, purple and tints that are so unique they have no name. Every hill, mountain, crevice and peak had its own characteristics that made it breathtaking in a different way from its companions.
I was a speck of dust compared to these giants. Nothing. Insignificant and unimportant. And yet I have never felt bigger in my entire life. My insignificance liberated me to be who I truly am. I realized it just doesn't matter. These mountains have passed ages here in this virgin land and I had spent the past couple weeks worrying about what I will do after I gradute in a year, how I will continue my pursuit towards fluency, how I will make money this summer and the homework that seemed to be hindering my learning experience in Buenos Aires. Now, these are all things that I should think about and try to plan for. However, when they become a point of stress, anxiety and endless worry, they turn into silly, pointless wastes of my time. Standing in the Andes, I realized I will be taken care of just as these mountains have been. I have the choice every day to live my life as the confident, joyful and passionate person that I have been created to be instead of a stressed out, worried and unsure shadow of myself.
And even though I felt insignificant in the shadow of the mountain, I also realized that I have a place here in this world with these mountains. Tiny little me, put on this planet with purpose. As individual as that streak of fuschia sediment running through the mountainside. Also, I came to recognize that I have that ability to change those around me, just as I was changed by the mountain. This, quite frankly, blew my mind. If I keep my heart open to other people and their situations I can actually affect change in their lives. Big changes. This was especially important because my experience in Buenos Aires has in many ways made me feel as though I cannot cause any noticible change. I started to focus so much on the big picture of the world and the crisises that occur every day that we never here about through our mainstream media that I began to feel that the differences I could make in the lives around me werent really that important nor sufficient to actually cause a bigger change. But the reality is, that every big picture is composed of millions of little snapshots and they are the building blocks whether I feel like they are important or not. The differences I have the ability to make in my little corner of the earth can, in reality, cause changes unimaginable to me.
I came away from the experience feeeling incredibly empowered and centered with a peacefulness that I have never felt before. My challenge now is to remember Aconcagua and carry around that feeling in the deepest fold of my heart because, in the hurry and clutter of the city, it is easy to lose sight of the wisdom that I was given by the mountain.
Besos
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