tonight or with one of the cousins
available? Could I choose at least with which one?”
Choosy,
choosy, like always! Snooze, snooze,
till you lose! the voice in my head replied.
If
nothing else, it was definitely
more fun having discussions with
myself than with anyone else…
The room
itself wasn’t much, but the bed and
the door were quite
something. The door was half my height, requiring either a flexible
back to
bend or a strong head to take the hit. The bed was made out of wood,
with no
mattress on top, and again, a bit too short for me.
“Some hay
and maybe even a roll in the hay
would have been somehow
more desirable,” I thought.
And
a strong lover too, I bet! my
imagination muse soon added.
“I doubt
such a bed allows for more than a
friendly hug.”
I
thought you like it rough, missy?
And before
the dialogue took a less decent
turn, the lady of the
house proclaimed:
“ Hora
de la cena! ”
“Sorry?” I
asked her, thinking a
Spanish-English dictionary would
have come in handy.
“Eat, food, cena, ” she
continued in a funny accent.
“Food! Why
don’t you say so? About time,” I
replied happily.
The
kitchen was a small room looking more like
a tunnel and lit up
by candlelight. We all sat down at a wooden table, crammed into one
another,
warmed up by the fire from the wood-burning stove, said our prayers to
the Gods and to the two mountains on the islands, Paccha Tata and
Paccha Mama, Father and Mother Earth,
and waited
for the feast to arrive.
For
vegetarians, it was a paradise,
as all the courses were made
from potatoes. But the dishes were not boring or tasteless, and I bet
any chef
in the world would have been quite envious. And although it had no
meat, it was
much better than the skinny guinea pig I attempted to have a night
before or
the MacDonald’s where I ended up eating.
“Long live
the vegetarians!” I said. And I
meant every word of it.
I
remembered a friend telling me once that out
of the five thousand
potato varieties worldwide, four thousand grow in Peru and come in
countless
colors and shapes.
“What do
they do with so many potatoes?” I
asked him surprised back
then. But now, I knew: everything.
During my
first night on Amantani, I
experienced the most terrifying
and beautiful storm ever. In the pitch dark, on my hard-as-stone bed,
shivering
under the weight of the blankets, I listened to the symphony of
thunders. I was
a world apart from what I was used to.
However, I
was happy and peaceful, just like
the old man. I fell
asleep thinking to myself, La Vita e Bella: Benigni was,
after all, right .
When I
woke up, the sky was clear, the sun was
shining, and hidden
under the bed, I found a page from an old travel magazine with pictures
of The
Great Ocean Road.
All day I
thought about it.
Was that a
sign? Could it be that simple? Why
not? It’s not as if
only complicated things are worth pursuing, long novels are worth
reading and
educated people worth listening to. There is a beauty and wholesomeness
in
simplicity that the eye who have seen it all returns to every time.
Maybe
Australia was the answer I was looking
for. My heart seemed to
agree. And my mind could not find one reason not to. And then, I
decided: my
next challenge would be emigrating to Australia.
----
Dora’s
Journal Notes
Looking for
reasons, although it might
give us something to think about, will never change how we feel.
Everything in
life, no matter how good
or bad, comes with an expiration date.
Believe in signs,
take them for what
they are and don’t try to interpret them the way you wish the future to be.
----
18
Challenges, our Opportunity
to Shine
Challenges
are special moments when
We
learn to cherish what we had back then,
But
more than that they teach you how,
To
fight, survive, and never bow!
“You’re an optimist,” my friend said to me
one day when I told her
about how much I still loved my life in Canada.
“I’m a realistic, my dear. Just wearing a
different
available? Could I choose at least with which one?”
Choosy,
choosy, like always! Snooze, snooze,
till you lose! the voice in my head replied.
If
nothing else, it was definitely
more fun having discussions with
myself than with anyone else…
The room
itself wasn’t much, but the bed and
the door were quite
something. The door was half my height, requiring either a flexible
back to
bend or a strong head to take the hit. The bed was made out of wood,
with no
mattress on top, and again, a bit too short for me.
“Some hay
and maybe even a roll in the hay
would have been somehow
more desirable,” I thought.
And
a strong lover too, I bet! my
imagination muse soon added.
“I doubt
such a bed allows for more than a
friendly hug.”
I
thought you like it rough, missy?
And before
the dialogue took a less decent
turn, the lady of the
house proclaimed:
“ Hora
de la cena! ”
“Sorry?” I
asked her, thinking a
Spanish-English dictionary would
have come in handy.
“Eat, food, cena, ” she
continued in a funny accent.
“Food! Why
don’t you say so? About time,” I
replied happily.
The
kitchen was a small room looking more like
a tunnel and lit up
by candlelight. We all sat down at a wooden table, crammed into one
another,
warmed up by the fire from the wood-burning stove, said our prayers to
the Gods and to the two mountains on the islands, Paccha Tata and
Paccha Mama, Father and Mother Earth,
and waited
for the feast to arrive.
For
vegetarians, it was a paradise,
as all the courses were made
from potatoes. But the dishes were not boring or tasteless, and I bet
any chef
in the world would have been quite envious. And although it had no
meat, it was
much better than the skinny guinea pig I attempted to have a night
before or
the MacDonald’s where I ended up eating.
“Long live
the vegetarians!” I said. And I
meant every word of it.
I
remembered a friend telling me once that out
of the five thousand
potato varieties worldwide, four thousand grow in Peru and come in
countless
colors and shapes.
“What do
they do with so many potatoes?” I
asked him surprised back
then. But now, I knew: everything.
During my
first night on Amantani, I
experienced the most terrifying
and beautiful storm ever. In the pitch dark, on my hard-as-stone bed,
shivering
under the weight of the blankets, I listened to the symphony of
thunders. I was
a world apart from what I was used to.
However, I
was happy and peaceful, just like
the old man. I fell
asleep thinking to myself, La Vita e Bella: Benigni was,
after all, right .
When I
woke up, the sky was clear, the sun was
shining, and hidden
under the bed, I found a page from an old travel magazine with pictures
of The
Great Ocean Road.
All day I
thought about it.
Was that a
sign? Could it be that simple? Why
not? It’s not as if
only complicated things are worth pursuing, long novels are worth
reading and
educated people worth listening to. There is a beauty and wholesomeness
in
simplicity that the eye who have seen it all returns to every time.
Maybe
Australia was the answer I was looking
for. My heart seemed to
agree. And my mind could not find one reason not to. And then, I
decided: my
next challenge would be emigrating to Australia.
----
Dora’s
Journal Notes
Looking for
reasons, although it might
give us something to think about, will never change how we feel.
Everything in
life, no matter how good
or bad, comes with an expiration date.
Believe in signs,
take them for what
they are and don’t try to interpret them the way you wish the future to be.
----
18
Challenges, our Opportunity
to Shine
Challenges
are special moments when
We
learn to cherish what we had back then,
But
more than that they teach you how,
To
fight, survive, and never bow!
“You’re an optimist,” my friend said to me
one day when I told her
about how much I still loved my life in Canada.
“I’m a realistic, my dear. Just wearing a
different
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