Showing posts with label volcano. Show all posts

Explorers & Pirates Tales - Part I

One of the things Di and I wanted for our trip was some degree of flexibility. To be able to just go wherever the wind blows and suddenly find an old pirate's map and stick to it until we find the “X” and get the treasure. If you allow me to entertain you, and myself, with some fantasy I'll tell you our unplanned adventure around Central America all the way to Cuba. All of course with the most emblematic theme of the Caribbean: Pirates! Are you ready? Let's go!

After 4 long days of walking through the jungle, the Missionaries of San Isabel reached the base of the mighty Pacaya volcano. They were a caravan of 30 people, mostly priests from the Spaniard convent of Madrid and some guards. A few adventurers and merchants came along in search of promising thrill and business opportunities. Among them there was a couple of explorers, William & Diana, traveling the new world in search of its wonders. The caravan had to stop for a day by the foot of the mountain to replenish its supplies and then continue their journey to Antigua, the colony's new capital.

Meanwhile, the explorers wanted to seek a little more adventure while the caravan didn't resume the journey in the very next morning. Will & Di had read about that place beforehand and knew exactly on what kind of quest they wanted to venture and its name is Pacaya, a magnificent mountain which regularly spits ash clouds into the sky. Recently, in a once-in-a-life-time event, blazing lava flowed through its crater making it one of the most dangerous places around. The flowing magma was the powerful heat source that the explorers needed to finally show to the world one of their most amazing discoveries: rock melted marshmallows. The climb up to the top was going to be hard and they could not afford to miss the Missionaries Caravan company to Antigua. They went looking for a local that could be hired to guide them into the crater, but their luck was changing as fast as the wheather around this parts of the world often does.

Big dark thick clouds gather around blocking the view of the top of the mountain. The indigenous tell them that this is a sign that Huracan, the storm God, is coming to the mountain and advise to stay out of the way. None of the indigenous would go up, and once the storm comes and goes, there would be no more magma rocks hot enough to melt their marshmallows. In the middle of the conversations and pleadings for help, two pirates that overheard the commotion approached the explorers with a proposal: they would take them to the crater no matter the weather as long as they got some of the so called unique delicacy and some gold.

The pirates looked promising: both young and strong women with odd features and sun tanned skin. Both spoke English and their accent was unmistakably from England even tough the pirate ways tainted their speech with the most egregious blasphemies. William was specially skeptical, as usual, considering that one of the pirates, Sal, had a wooden leg. The explorers didn't have any other options and the signs of a storm were getting clearer by the minute. Hastily they made an agreement, took only the essential gear for a fast hike and upwards they went.

The way up was steep and covered in fresh volcanic ashes. Some indigenous were preparing altars with offerings to the thunder god. The pirates started talking about their lives. Sal told them that her foot had rotten in one day after a sand stingray stung her while fishing on the beach. The sting ripped her leather boots and her skin like butter and the poison was so painful that she was glad when Shireen, the other pirate which happens to also be a self-taught practitioner, sawed it off. Plus, she drank all the Guatemalan run she could manage, for free. Shireen had the most treacherous eyes, a look that is mesmerizing and fierce at the same time. Her eyes were big and oak in color with black eyeliner around them. A trait typical of the dry hot mountainous parts of the middle east called Kurdistan that no longer exist. A war extinguished her home country so she fled her city, at a young age, and never stopped. She eventually ended up at the shore, where she came across and joined a pirate boat almost by accident, but quickly learned the ways of the sea and burglary. Sal was from the British Colony, India, son of rich merchants that lost it all due to the ruthless greed of the empire. Moved by rage and vengeance she swore to recover her family's riches by stealing from the British crown, so piracy was an easy decision. Both ended up hired by the Dutch pirate Laurens de Graaf and stormed the Caribean towns and waters for a few years until a hurricane destroyed the ship. The only survivors where the Captain and the two girls. Since there's very little honor code in this business, they just walked away from the ruined ex-captain. Now the duo is looking for a promising pirate captain to take them back to the sea.

They had no idea what time of the day it was, but a couple of hours had passed since they started walking when they reached the first viewpoint. They were at the lowest side of the crater. From there they couldn't see the peak as it was even more covered with dark stormy clouds but they could clearly see their way down to the mouth of the mountain. And there, lying peacefully, were thousands of fresh magma rocks still steaming. They could easily see the melted rocky formations from the last magma eruption a few days ago and knew that those were deadly grounds. Melted magma cools off in a matter of hours but just on the surface, creating a crust that's only a few centimeters thick that looks like solid rock. Many have stepped on these crust just to break trough it and fall in a pool of melted magma, but just a few survived to tell the story and show their scorched limbs. A huge thunder shook the skies and the first drops of rain started to fall over the crater. The four hikers started going down the hill as fast as they could, trying to reach the hot rocks on time.

When they reached the bottom, the rain was pouring and, as the water hit the warm rocks, it evaporated, filling the mouth of the mountain with a warm mist that condensed on William's glasses. They were walking around the rocky paths for almost half an hour looking for a really hot spot when Sal's wooden leg fell trough the crust of a magma deposit and almost fell in if it wasn't for Diana holding her on time. The hole on the crust was the perfect spot they needed. William took some marshmallows from his backpack while Diana gathered a few wooden sticks from the floor and sharpened them with a knife. William stuck a marshmallow piece into the stick and slowly lowered it inside the burning hole. In a few seconds, he took it back out and there it was, a perfectly melted marshmallow, with a light caramel color almost melting off the stick. He offered the first piece to Diana, who took a bite, and gave the other to him. It was scrumptious! An ordinary marshmallow tasted so much better when quickly melted by the fresh magma. Sal and Shireen started doing the same. All of them were soaked and laughing, eating one marshmallow after the other.

William was trying to write some notes on his notebook when he realized that the storm was only getting worse. The water was quickly rolling in to the crater threatening to trap them on the inside and making them miss the Missionary convoy. They had to get out promptly. They gathered their gear, stuffed a few more melted marshmallows in their pockets and mouths and started going up. It was a very hard, slow climb. When they were almost at the top a lighting struck an old tree just a few hundred meters away from them on the top of the crater's border. They were dazed for a few seconds by the explosion of sound and light. After a few more minutes of arduous walking they finally reached the burning remains of the tree but had no time to waste so they started running down back to the camp through the jungle. The pirates were leading, guiding them down the same path as they had just come up but the it had turned into a small white water river due to the storm. Going down was easier than going up so they ran most of the way. The storm was still fierce. Thunder and lighting constantly illuminated the dark skies and dazzled their senses. At some point they ran through some kind of indigenous ceremony and a few of them started running along with in the rain, smiling and shouting to their thunder God. The four of them noticed that they were also euphoric, smiling constantly. It was truly an unforgettable moment.

They reached their camp at the bottom of the mountain in one piece but completely soaked. In a small pouch Diana was carrying some of the melted marshmallows that remained dry and delicious. She ate one and gave the others to the little native kids that were always around them. After a few minutes of uncertainty and hesitation the kids finally bit their marshmallows, quickly they changed their minds and devoured them. In the meantime, William was talking with Shireen and Sal, asking for directions to a lake close by named Atitlan. From a trunk full of rolled parchments, Sal took one out and handed it to William. It was a hand-drawn map of the region. She drew a route to the lake on the map and wrote down a few important tips. William & Diana thanked both pirates, bought the map and said good bye. The party of four disbanded in good terms, but Diana had a feeling that they would see each other again. The explorers left the next day with the missionary Spaniard caravan to Antigua. The rain only stopped two days later.

At the crater of Pacaya Volcano with rain pouring down
Enjoying the "beautiful" view of the volcano =P

 That's it! More pirate adventures await for us, the explorers, so stay tuned. Next stop: Lake Atitlan.

Cheers!
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A day volunteering in Antigua, Guatemala

I wake up at 06:20, early enough to skip the bathroom line and smell the coffee boiling in the kitchen. Quickly I dress my new rough denim jeans and synthetic t-shirt that I got by participating on the beneficial run on a Sunday. They are still dirty and smelly from the work days before. I leave my boots for last to avoid messing up Thelma's ceramic floor. She's our host mom, our “Guatemama”, and it's busy in the kitchen, like usual, preparing breakfast. It has everything I love for eating in the morning: fresh tropical fruits, granola, fruit yogurt, filtered black coffee and some omelet. Thelma's short and large lady, she's always caring for her big family and it's usually smiling. She's the matriarch, everybody loves and respects her, including me.

Beautiful old colonials houses everywhere
My last day of work
Me and the guys from Niños Con Bendicion
When I'm done eating my breakfast Diana and the other roommates start coming and sitting on the table. I saw a few people coming and going, from all kind of backgrounds. There were two girls fresh into University. A family of six – yes, six. Mom, dad, two daughters, a youngest boy and even a friend-nanny, I'll tell more about them soon. The only girl not from the US, from Amsterdam, and briefly her dutch friend. A medical researcher guy. A student of some kind of medical subject that I never quite understood. From Hawaii, a couple and their young boy. A blond women with stylish haircut and glasses looking like an artist with some amazing life stories. A group of five young girls still at high school. Some of them met each other in the house, others left before having the change. I had the privilege of living with all of them for some time. We all came to Antigua to improve our Spanish and fulfill the need for travel. For some it was the first time on an airplane and other had already traveled around the world.

At 07:10 boots laced and gear in my back I leave the house headed to Maximo Nível office in the heart of the historical city, an UNESCO Heritage site. Maximo Nível is a for profit organization that we hired to help facilitate our volunteering work and Spanish classes. They did a great job for a reasonable price so it's definitely recommended. The people that work in Antigua's office were truly caring and did their best to help with whatever we needed.

It takes approximately 12 minute fast paced walk from my house to the office. I avoid a bunch of noisy and smoky chicken-buses and many other people on the streets. Local students in uniforms headed to school, foreign students to their Spanish classes, other volunteer workers to their projects. I say “Buenos dias!” to a few familiar faces. I can take a different route every day and I do it so that I can enjoy the views of the many cool cafes, hostels, handcraft shops, grocery stores and so on. Mostly all unique, almost no global chain shop around. Just before getting into the office I take a quick look behind my back to check the volcanoes on the horizon. No fire today, unfortunately. On good days I hear thunder on a cloudless sky and see some smoke above the volcano. It's active and roaring.

At 07:25 I meet my fellow workmates and usually there's someone new. I had the privilege and the pleasure to work with a bunch of different people. There was a recently graduated tall guy from Iowa that speaks on a very lazy pace, our best worker is a blond girl from New Jersey, a vietnamese-danish girl that wore only black, a short and funny Italian girl living in Oregon, a young diabetic girl from Toronto, an ex-hairdresser from Chicago on his 50s, a retired sir reaching 80. The last new one I met was a med-school girl from Canada. My boss, Freddy Antonio or Tony how I call him, shows up and cracks some salsa moves and says “Vamos muchachos!” and off we go. Tony's amazing person! He's always cheered up and makes sure everyone around is smiling. Joking and teasing all the time but also teaching and advising. He really cares that we're having a good time and being productive. Since I was the only one speaking reasonable Spanish, we got close quite quickly, translating instructions from Spanish to English – even tough he speaks it – and telling stories to each other. I learned from him the tricks of mixing concrete, the latest corruption scandals, how Guatemalans see the world and tips for a happy marriage.

We head to San Felipe de Jesus, a little town to the north of Antigua. Two dogs usually walk with us, somehow they like us even tough we never gave them anything. There's a local market in front of the church's square. Besides a closed middle-class condo and a five star country hotel, there's not much, only ordinary people getting by. Next to the local primary school is an elderly home, Casa Maria, where we're building a new kitchen for them. The place used to be a private for profit business but due to the financial difficulties of its guests, the business changed to a charity organization. They housed around 60 grandpas and grandmas of which 20 paid a monthly fee for some better conditions and the workers salary. The other 40 or so where there completely free and the organization survives – barely – thanks to donations and other charity work.

There were all sorts of elderly people there, some perfect lucid and talkative, others schizophrenic, with advanced Alzheimers and other mental diseases, in wheel chairs or tied to poles, all frail. Most had a name and a family, others were just left there and they had no idea who they were, where they came from. The facilities where barely acceptable. It was very humbling place and it definitely needed all the help it could get. I was extremely happy to be able to help them anyway I could, but truthfully, I couldn't handle working directly with the elderly in those conditions. 

One day, there's was something unusual in the entrance, bellow the shrine to Holy Mary: a white bed sheet covering a small solemn mount. It was Dona Maria, “Choula” as we called her because she would scream it almost every day, the whole morning and annoy us and anyone around her. It was sad and disturbing thought to always be calling for someone that will never come and never be able to realize it. This was a sad event for us, so sudden. We started working even harder to make sure the kitchen was ready as soon as possible. We start getting busy at 08:00.

Learning how to whisper
I got really strong working with construction! 
Hiking Pacaya Volcano on the rain. Can you see the vapor?
Night out in Antigua with our Spanish teacher Eric and dutch Tess
Oh yeah, construction is hard work. It takes time, there are many details to pay attention and you can get hurt badly if you are not careful – thankfully we only got a few scratches. Nothing was too complicated and working with your body is very gratifying. It's instant feedback for your efforts. We would dig big holes with shovels, bend and cut rebar to make steel columns, mix sand with rocks and cement to make concrete. We carried building materials, like cinder blocks and rebar, to the construction zone. With levels, plomos and a fishing lines we would slowly raise the walls and concrete columns. Some days the supervisor would show up and help us out. At 09:30 we would have a break, eat some snacks, tell stories and jokes to each other and then we would continue until 11:30. It was a very relaxed working environment very different from the real thing as Tony would tell me.

Running to our goals
Beautiful ruins everywhere

The cliché
I almost fell into the water...

Our friend Cambray at San Pedro, Lake Atitlan
We all walked back to Maximo's office, some would take shortcuts to their houses. I would walk back home through the most shadowy path to avoid the heat. If I needed some apples, medicines or if there was anything interesting happening around I would take a detour. Surely I didn't want to miss lunch because it was always wonderful. Thelma would always impress us with a dish even better than the previous. We were very lucky because I heard that local food, for the locals, is usually not so good. So, around 12:00 I was back at the house and would run straight to the shower but there still one hour to relax until lunch was served. Diana would arrive usually a few minutes after me so we could chill in our room and tell the day's stories.

Lunch time was always family time for me in Brasil and at Thelma's, I felt the same vibe. All the chatter, passing plates around, people telling good and bad stories was there. It was so nice! One of my favorite stories is of the Doese Family – it's pronounced like “daisy”. They are a young family of five from US. Mom and Dad met in college, got married and started having kids. The whole family is very religious – Catholics maybe? – they sing and play at their church, they were involved with volunteering other times and baptized all their children. Oh, the children! So sweet, innocent, clever, fragile, pure, loving. Actually, it's been a long time since I saw so many demonstrations of true love. The love that a stressed mom after a long day that took too long to end pour at her baby boy when he hugs her when she's finally back. The love that dad shows to his older daughter that just won't behave at the dinner table and has to be corrected - going to bed earlier. I've never once saw the parents being violent with their kids. My mom would slap me for much less than what I saw the kids doing. The parents would talk and explain things. They would make propositions and kids would take compromises. They explained why they were being punished all the time specially when the kids made a bad decision. Cheating and lying were the worst crimes. It was very tiring but also amazing thing to see. It tickled my fatherhood instincts.

The Doese's, Tess and we at Monterrico Beach
Last goodbye to our friends
The Doese's are a great family and in many ways they are perfectly normal but what sets them apart is what they are doing now and why: they quit everything and moved to Puebla, México, to help out in an orphanage as missionaries. I make this sounds so boring and silly but I can't help it, my words are not capable enough to fully communicate someone's calling. For that what it was. Something that makes you put your family under a lot of stress and risk must be something God send, must be a total commitment to faith and purpose. It was awe inspiring. They made us feel sane and normal again, specially in a world full of selfish people and its actions, yours truly included. The cherry of the cake was their "nanny":Lis. She was always quiet because she was "working" but we talked and I was so impressed with her. An entrepreneur - she helped co-found a brilliant company called Trades of Hope - a writer, a student, a learner, a bright young girl. These six were great company and I wish them all the best, with all my heart.

Around 13:40 all the guests are done with lunch and Thelma's family would come and eat. They had their own meal but would also eat whatever we hadn't finished. Seldom we would sit and chit-chat with them for a few minutes before coming back to our room where I would take a heavenly ciesta for half hour. From 14:30 to 15:30 it was free time. Usually I would just be wasting time on social networks, watching videos or reading articles. Some times we would do Spanish homework or plan the next moves of our trip.

At 16:00 our Spanish class started, at Maximo's Nivel school also in the city center. It's a red building with 5 classrooms, an open terrace for studying and social events and a computer room for Facebooking – you could do more of course but what do youngster like more than socializing? In the first two weeks we had a cool young men as a teacher. As Diana likes to put it, he is a character. He grew up in Antigua, attended to Arts school – dancing, drawing, theater -, he has a technical degree in electronics and computers, he founded a charity school for teaching informatics to kids, he taught Spanish for foreigners for many years, he is a professional DJ and audio engineer and now he's graduating in Law School. After that he wants to continue his dream of coaching football to young kids. The guy was basically everything and he was a good teacher and even took us out one night in his convertible old Mustang to some really cool bars in town. The last two weeks we had a different teacher, this time a local lady and housewife. She was an incredible Spanish teacher and as kind as a grandma. We learned a lot with them in just one month and hopefully we'll stop speaking Portuñol – mix of Portuguese and Spanish – soon.

My favorite day of the week: beerness
I shrunk!!!
Lucky shot from a horse that was passing by
I never learned why masks are so popular in Guate...
After school, which ended at 18:00, we had one hour until dinner so we usually just went straight back home. Rarely we would meet a friend for ice-cream or coffee after class. So at 19:00 the same routine of lunch was repeated but with simpler dishes. Everyone would retire to their bedrooms around 20:00, Di and I would spend more time online and by 22:00 would be calling it a day. We lived in the far southeast corner of the city, outside of the historic center, and had a tight schedule for meals, volunteering and school. We almost didn't go out at night at all but I heard from my co-workers that Antigua's a fun place to party and the gringos go crazy. But my first teacher and my boss told me it's even better for local guys because there are tons of blond foreign girls around wanting to experience a different culture! On the weekends we would explore Antigua and its wonderful ruins, cafes and shops. We went to Monterrico beach, to the Pacaya volcano and to Lake Atitlan. We were also sick for a weekend so we just stayed in bed (and close to the toilet).

Happy hard workers. You should also try some volunteering

Boloney day = happy day

Noisy, pollutant, old and stylish: chicken buses! 
The builders also know how to have fun - Amazing photobomb!

I'll miss you Tony. Cheers! 
Our last day working. So many emotions.
The Hawaiian lady introduced us to the concept of Mini Life, which is exactly what we had in Antigua, that she and her husband have been doing for a few years now. Instead of locking up their house and doing tourism for ten days, like many other people would, they rented their house via AirBnb for a month and moved to an interesting city to work and live there. We loved the idea and for sure we'll try it more.

Living for a month in Antigua was a marvelous experience. Since the beginning we saw it as one of the most important period of our travels and we're glad to say that we made it. We got what we wanted! We said many goodbyes to our new friends, we shared contacts and tears of happiness and sadness with them. But now the journey goes on, heading north to unplanned countries: Mexico and Cuba!

Have you been to Guatemala too? If not, what are you waiting for? Tell us more on the comments!
Cheers!
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Antigua: Kitchen Tables, Volunteering and Coffee

La Antigua (the one in Guatemala!) received us, with its arms wide open, and there we had our life for 4 weeks: we were staying with a Guatemalan family, working as volunteers and studying Spanish.

Integration was easy. We unpacked our bags in the first evening and started meeting people and our projects next morning. Antigua is packed with the same of our kind but also cafes, restaurants and beautiful scenery. Oh what a beautiful small city! 
The beautiful Arch of Santa Catalina

Chocola la la la anyone?

After some research, and like always, some compromise, we agreed on doing our volunteering and studying via Maximo Nivel. Originally a language school Maximo is also a bridge between many parties - among them us - volunteers/students and the organizations, that need hands to do some work. They are also the link between the local families, that accommodate the volunteers, cook and integrate us as one of the family.

For volunteering we both wanted to do something outside out of our field, out of comfort zone kind of thing. William knew from the beginning that he wanted to do construction, I knew I didn't want that. With the research I found an Eco-farming project where I would be helping coffee farmers from a close by village, located in the slopes of the inactive volcano Agua, from 8AM to 12PM, 5 days a week. And that was it! De La Gente it's the cooperative that brings the coffee farmers together, about 30 farmers after 11years of existence. Every morning I was going to San Miguel Escobar, a 10min bus ride, and met with the farmer at the "From the People" office. A Maximo Nivel's partner, De La Gente supports these farmers with loans, legal matters, the best techniques of coffee farming and, among many other things, with a massive marketing strategy that gives them a lot of visibility (mainly in the US). Check their website and Facebook page, it's worth the time!

Mostly I worked with different farmers every day. In my first day, out of the coffee harvesting season that goes from November to March more or less, I picked coffee berries - red, green and some black ones, all had to go out of the trees. These berries were not the best quality anymore but they had to be picked as they fall they can germinate a fungus to the tree itself. And along with the damage that they could do to the cycle, these beans are still source of income - the farmers sell these type of beans to produce instant coffee, as its of such low quality. And this was how I learned what was I drinking almost every morning back home... I did all sort of different things during the volunteering with De La Gente - some related to coffee some not, but all with on thing in mind: they would be done to help the farmers somehow. I roasted and packaged coffee to sell in coffee shops in Antigua, I picked peaches (duraznos) at about 1500m above sea level, made firewood with a machete and carried it up hill few days later, I pealed peanuts to be used in natural peanut butter, I cleaned the weeds from the coffee trees and dig holes to protect the baby coffee trees from the heavy winter rain. I distributed flyers in the city to promote the tours that De La Gente does almost every day (if you are in Antigua check them out!!).

 The complete coffee process is long and needs time. For example, after picking berries the pulp has to be removed and the coffee beans have to dry. Only after it's time to sort - first, second and third quality beans - some to export, some to sell locally. Sorting can be tedious, and for doing it you need a good pair of eyes but it was by far one of my favorite tasks. The farmers open their houses to us, seat with us, and are eager to share their knowledge, experience and dreams. It was in this intimate environment that Florian thought me all about the signs that nature sends when the rain is about to arrive; I got to know Manuel's dreams of taking his 4 kids to Florida (yes, to Disney world!); I got to know Julio, a 18years old helping his dad in the fields early mornings and learning English in the afternoons. At a kitchen table, in their backyard, you can even learn how shy, happy, humble and thankful a farmer is, with no words, just by the smile he gives you when it's time to say "adios" - that's how I met Mercedes.
Red coffee berries

After the pulp is removed and they dry in the sun for some time
we roast the bean
And grind it
After packaged we all know the next steps
It may sound that I was doing this all by myself, which would be totally impossible. We were always 2-3 volunteers every week but there was a lot of rotation which made it hard to connect with everyone but still I met great people and we had great talks. I'm sure that without them, I would have been a lot more useless picking duraznos or digging holes - it's was always a great team work! Important is to mention that my experience got in a whole other level because of the little things, or better say, because of people. People like Jane - our helpful De La Gente point of contact, always starting the days with an important ritual of a coffee co-op: turning on the coffee machine. And like Phomolo - our Maximo Nivel field manager, that at least once a week, became one of us and worked as hard, always with a joke ready to make us crack. 
Manuel and the helping crew
Even 3 and 5 years old can help and have fun!

Happy sorting morning
This post is getting way too long, but I still need to mention Thelma dos Reyes, our lovely host mother. The house was located in the boarders of Antigua, simple, warm, full. The family was basically formed by 5 women and one grandson but she had a lot more people coming in and out throughout the day. Food was never an issue while we stayed there and I always had the feeling that she spent her entire day, cooking. Not only cooking but also laughing! The whole family would have food after us and thats where they would laugh even harder, together, at a kitchen table. 
I got sick the last weekend there and I'm pretty sure it was something I ate at home, but I will always remember her food as amazingly tasty. The people we met in Thelma's will also be part of our memories and our hearts - William wrote all I wanted to say about them in his blogpost!
My fav. Guatemalan family selfie
Our Guatemalan mom
I talked about the volunteering so many times now that I wonder if I still add something new to it...
I feel though that I need to share it as much as possible to inspire people to try it too. But it doesn't have to be abroad, it doesn't have to be a month, it doesn't have to be on the other side of the world. We can be volunteers in our neighborhood, in our city, in our own country - just look around and try to see if there is someone in need of help. I'm sure there is someone in need of a smile as there is always room for it.  
But to be totally fair and honest, I guess I will never be able to explain in words how good is the feeling of giving, of helping, with simple acts of kindness, sweat, strength, effort. I will never be able to truly explain the power of a kitchen table. 
Give it a try!
From El Cerro de la Cruz, my fav. view from Antigua and Agua
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Shocking Korea: When The System Works

It's been long overdue but finally it's time to tell my impressions of the far East, of the Korean Peninsula. It started from a flight on the 27th of April from Manila to Incheon that felt more like a travel through time, from the past to the future. And I'm not talking about time zones but rather, human and social development. The cultural shock I got from Korea was as big as the one I felt when I moved to the Netherlands in 2009. Allow me to explain how the shock felt on my first time.

Riding the submarine, 40m deep, in Seogwipo, Jeju

During the first months of living in Netherlands it felt strange to have such nice public services, well educated people everywhere, almost no misery, a vast offer of well preserved historical buildings and monuments, a genuine care for the environment, a lot of cultural exhibitions but most importantly, the safety feeling. For sure there were many other different things that caused an impression on me but the ones I mentioned were the most shocking. For the first time I lived in a world that felt right, that seemed that it was somehow doing the right thing. Remember that I come from a country with millions of miserable people living without dignity. Forced to pay expensive taxes and get terrible services in return. Trapped by a badly managed System. Apparently The System, which is basically the same from Brazil, when operated by competent people that actually care can lead to great results. It gave me hope and a new questioning started brewing: what lies ahead on this road? How good The System can get and how it feels like? I guess the answers lies on some of the Eastern Countries and the experience shocked me.

First of all, I have no idea about Korea. I have zero knowledge about the history of the peninsula, what they believe in, what was their struggle and how they overcame it. No idea about their geography, climate, modernization, participation on world events nor anything. I only knew that they spoke Korean, are very good at Taekwondo, it's the home country of Samsung and Psy. Oh, and are at war with border nation North Korea. It's fair to say that my full ignorance magnified the shocking effect.

Our trip started in Seoul, the capital city. The most amazing city that I have ever been in my life. One weekday we were walking around the neighborhood's city center during lunch time, surrounded by tall modern buildings, ancient palaces, wide roads full of cars, residential condos, local markets and super markets, people going by everywhere. You know this scenario right? Pretty normal if it wasn't for some details that changed the whole experience. The streets were super clean, no trash laying around, not a single cigaret butt tossed on the floor. Most of the buildings were beautiful and designed so that people could easily walk around them and have a pleasant experience. The ancient palaces were meticulously preserved and restored. Wide modern roads full of new cars that are quiet and spill almost no smoke. Honking? None. People going by everywhere relaxed like it's Sunday, apparently calm, doing groceries, having a coffee on the sun. I had the same experience in many other parts of the city. There was even a little street in Bukchon that it was so cool, so original, it took my breath away. It was amazing!

Their technological advancement was apparently matched by their ethical and social advancements. I say this based on what I saw. The public services and cities are more than good, they are designed to prevent frustration and misuse. It also seemed that South Korea is undoing parts of environmental damage done in the past. For instance, in Seoul used to have a stream of water called Cheonggyecheon that ran all the way to the Han River. In the past it was useful for transporting goods and dumping sewage. Later it got on the way of cars and modern sewage systems so they covered it and built a “nice” highway on top. That part of the city turned into an ugly grey polluted part of town. Years later they finally understood that it was a bad decision and reverted their “progress”. So they demolished the highway, rebuilt the water stream and keep it well maintained and pleasant. Now this is one of the most valuable areas of the city, people love to walk along the stream. I noticed the same care while enjoying the natural parks, like on Jeju Island. The ultimate proof that they are doing an amazing job with it is the beautiful flush nature full of happy people that were also enjoying their surroundings.

This attitude – of genuine care and action towards improving human interactions with the environment, the cities, public services and historical heritage – is not exclusive from South Korea, I saw it in many places in Europe, specially in the Netherlands. What was so amazing about SK was its massive scale and apparent long term commitment and its effects. What I'm trying to say is that based on what I saw and experience I've never seen a country operating The System with such decency. I also saw it's effect on people and it was quite puzzling.

Walking around Seoul I noticed that many women, young and old, would carry in their hands small mirrors that they constantly check themselves and make minor adjustments to how they look. They also do it with their mobile phones and snap many many selfies. Most of them use a lot of makeup, are very well dressed, even if their taste for fashion is very weird to my tastes, the shopping malls and streets were always full of people carrying bags and boxes of new stuff. There are so many coffee shops where people just sit around apparently doing nothing besides spending their money that I wondered if they ever worked. And in many places I felt an overwhelming pressure for buying stuff, over advertisement and consumption. How come this society, apparently so advanced, was so vain? Was this the end game of The System? Masses of empty and superficial middle-class people? “Well” – I told my self – “they got their shit together: there's no poverty, no corruption, no illiterate people, no abuse of nature, no bad health care, no bad public services … they can afford to be this vain. Maybe that girl fanatic by her image is also intelligent, kind, respectful, has a decent job, loves animals and is a good citizen! She's done her part, she can do whatever she wants to her self without guilty.” That eased my mind… but just a while. Later I found two crucial missing pieces of this society that changed everything.

One of the pieces I found in one of the biggest metro stations of Seoul, The System's tool: dozens of homeless people. Begging for money, trying to sleep on the floor, drinking the lasts drops of alcohol from a bottle, eating the food remains from trash cans. It was as sad as it could be and in this moment I was back at the real world. I felt a mix of relief and revolt to be back. So South Korea is just like any other place where The System runs, and it runs on top of people. Were these homeless people a victim of their own selves or they had no chance against The System? Both probably.

The Korean Peninsula's relationship is complicated and I can't explain it but I was there, at the edge of a complicated matter called the DMZ, a border which legitimacy's neither side accepts. Both states claim to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula. I was briefly on enemy territory and what I saw was a stuck wheel, one that is still for too long and wont move unless it breaks.

The narcissist girls could not afford all that I thought they could after all. South Korea was definitely shocking, like the Netherlands, it got me thinking real hard on society, how much Brazil has still to grow and how good it can get. We must try our best as hard as possible and aim for the starts but even the best examples are not perfect, nothing is, really. I had such great time just enjoying the country and all it has to offer that it definitely made a good impression on me. I can't recommend it enough but I hope these pictures help it.

Happy green buses in Seoul

Really close to the water and the waterfall on the background

A reconstructed creek in the middle of the city
A huge Cathedral in Gangnan, Seoul
We always make new cool friends on the road

The beautiful Secret Garden in Changdeokgung, Seoul.

A scene from the Masks Theater in Andong Hahoe Historic Village. It was so hot!

The Spirit Tree in Andong Hahoe Historic Village
A section of Busan from the top of mountain close by
Having fun in one of the old fortress gates of Geumgang, Busan
Panoramic view of some royal tombs at Gyeongju
Panoramic view of Jeongbang Waterfall into the sea, Seogwipo, Jeju.
Cheonjiyeon Waterfall by night in Seogwipo, Jeju
At the crater of Seongsan Ilchulbong, Jeju
Seongsan Ilchulbong rises from the sea, Jeju
On the way to the top of the highest mountain of SK, Hallasan, Jeju

The crater at the top of Mount Hallasan, Jeju

A Buddha statue + drawing on a rocky side of the hill

Typical South Korean lunch. Very spicy kimchi!

Having fun with 3D Wall Paintings at the Jeju Airport

Maybe one day we can go from Lisbon to Seoul by train

The heart of the DMZ with North Korea on the background
17.455,29 km from my hometown! A new record.
A pic from a pic from a typical day on the DMZ

He's risking his life to protect ours. No kidding around please.
That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed this post. Have you been to South Korea too? How did you feel? Do you disagree with parts of what I said? Please let us know on the comments bellow.
Cheers!
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