Donnerstag, 7. Februar 2008

Don’t judge a book by the cover….

Another wisemans talk at the beginning of a blog. I will explain myself immediately.
You probably remember the 800 km hitch that brought me all the way from Puerto ibañez to el calafate. Well – that was certainly a hell of a right but is still short in comparison to the truck ride from (more or less) Ushuaia to comodoro rivadavia: 1800 km! 2 days and one night. I even had the option to continue with the same truck all the way to Buenos aires (another 1500km). so back to the wisemans saying now. Mario, the truck driver, he is the book that should not be judged by the cover. He was a mid-forty looking like a mid-sixty (I am sorry but honesty can hurt)- which was due to his job as I suppose. mario had long, greasy hair and when he laughed I could see the three teeth he had left in his mouth. However, behind thick glasses were hidden the eyes of a equilibrated person that is living in peace with himself and the whole world. I could tell his heart was huge. The most amazing thing about him was his knowledge of apparently everything. While we drove for hours and hours I learnt that Mario knew at the same time about as different areas as architecture, farming and the latest reunion of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (the Spanish counterpart to the Oxford dictionary).
During the 2 days of our ride I learnt i.e. that the famous Patagonian sheep doesn’t get any older than 4 years. By then it is blind -because of the missing ozon layer- and on its way to becoming a well known argentine dish. Even after a 12 hour workday the truck driver didn’t mind to tell me all about the latest argentine history. About his personal experience with the military dictatorship and about the 2001 economical breakdown.
What I try to point out is that the first impression we have of someone is certainly important and influencing our behavior towards this person. But I am also sure that every human being is unique and that we can learn something from everyone (I recently have learnt a lot from 9 year olds, for example). No matter how unattractive or different he or she may is.
This journey of mine is coming to an end. Different thoughts are slowly but surely invading my head. So it has come the time to stop for a moment, have a cup of Mate (argentine tee sort of thing) and reminisce. Gather some thoughts and express them in sentences and share them with some friends and fellows.
For those of you, who so far preferred traveling mentally alongside with me, I will not only express my mental movements but also my physical ones. This is the route:
The last blog I wrote from the southernmost point of my trip, from Ushuaia, Fireland. From there I went on that truck ride mentioned before. About 1500 km south of Buenso Aires I got of and went west towards the andes. There I spent a beautiful time camping in a lake district (Los Alerces NP). Really kicking was the fact that the lakes are of drinking water quality and we could fill our bottles in every river! I didn’t know that still exists. When swimming in the lake I could literally take a zip whenever I got thirsty. Great!
I got to Bs As on the 29th. That day my old mate Alex was flying in to spent some time here with me. Since then we are rolling together. We crossed the La Plata river and got to Uruguay. From there we moved up to the north of argentina to see the most spectacular waterfalls ever, called Iguazu. They lie on the border of Argentina, Paraguay and Brasil. We entered “carnival-country” the same day and heat for the island of Florianopolis. That is where I am writing from today. Carnival here was nothing too special. The real stuff is in Rio, Salvador and Recife I was told. But this years carnival has taken place even without me and Alex. Next stop will be Rio, however. There my friend is leaving and I am up for a last short internship.
The clock is ticking for me, too. Time is almost up for this journey. That means that I am getting closer to seeing some of you again. Something has to end in order for something else to begin.

Till soon!
Yours MIKE

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