Back for a few

Well it has been quite a while since I have actually written a whole post. I guess it's time to take a few minutes and write down all of my thoughts and adventures over the past 4 weeks on the East Coast.

The November election was an amazing time in the United States. I've never really felt such animosity between people in this country. Just walking around with long hair gets one stares and derrogatory remarks in different places. It is extremely interesting. I was a little disappointed by the election, but not much, only because from traveling I have gained a bit of perspective on the important things out there. American politics is at about the same importance level for me as the daily soap operas and WWW matches. All you can do is vote and see what happens.

I was extremely surprised at the weight of people here. In Peru, there were no fat people. Here, people waddle about with absolutely no shame. It's pretty disgusting to me. People can always choose to do whatever they want, but if they moved down there, they sure would catch a lot of slack.

NYC was a mind-blow. Traveling from Q'eros to NYC was most likely the most disparate two areas I could have visited in succession. I feel very lucky to have been able to visit them so quickly after each other, mainly because it really helped me contrast the two views. In Cusco, which seemed like a metropolis compared to the village, there is only one 6 story building. In NYC, as the picture shows, there are countless, literally, countless amounts of them. I thought about bringing my friends there and watching their heads explode.

I have picked up on the rediculousness of American society - the finickiness of our youth, our obsession with television and video stimulation, our grasping, our lack of mindfulness. It is pretty disturbing. What bothers me the most is the ease in which newscasts and television shows can influence our public. In general, Peruvians don't trust their government officials, ecspecially after years of crooks. Here, we can be swayed to vote a certain way by a 30 second commercial...One would think that the most powerful country in the world would be run by people who think for themselves...

I am also amazed at the lack of respect for nature, for life, for other people. Everyone runs around, working, working, working. Granted, people drive around in beautiful cars, have amazing clothes, fifty dollar meals; but do they really have time to appreciate it all? The meaning of life to Peruvians and Bolivians is totally antithetical to that of most Americans that I know. It is all still such a shock.

Anyways, here are a few more pictures from the past month's travels. Bien dia
chau