Workin'

Headed back in the city from Long Island, I just passed an Applebee's. It's been a while. My hands are so swolen, my great grandmother's ring won't fit on either of my ring fingers. It's still hot. I like it! Last night we went to Cafeteria in the city and then out to an 80s prom night party on "the island." I met a Colombian last night from Cali. I visited his home town for about 4 days. We were chatting, but I wouldn't dance with him exclusively, so he found a girl who would. I'm easing back into New York life, but still refusing certain things. Like my mobile. The plan ends in December, I think. Maybe I'll just get an answering service and a prepaid from then on. Less for which I'm responsible, less stuff. And stop all paper documentation. I had a ton of junk mail when I got back. It just gathers space and it's so wasteful!! No, I don't want a subscription to [insert girly mag name here], thanks.

So I have to work tonight. First time in 5 months and a week. In all that time, though, it felt like working. Working to keep a fresh perspective, working to share that perspective. A different kind of work. Free work. But no one can work for free. How do I turn these words into income??

People keep asking me what my favorite experience or country was. It's hard. I keep remembering experiences that are unbelievable. Like the Uros people who live on Lake Titicaca (shout out to my cousin Heather!) on floating islands. They sleep, eat, walk, live on reeds that grow in the lake. So fine, living a floating life, no, not on a yacht or sailboat, on reeds. If that weren't fascinating enough, throw in that you can just up and float away. Pull out the anchor of your island, your small chunk of reeds and float off. Ciao! Can you imagine separating out your apartment from the building, from the island and just floating off to a new one? Granted, there you'd float to a group that knows you, I'm sure. It's a close-knit community but being so mobile. And simple. You need some time? Cool, just detach from the island and we'll see you in a couple of days. And the people live off of handmade goods. In the tour I was on, no one really bought much stuff. We sure shelled out cash to the kid who sang in 7 languages. On the boat to the second island, the boat shaped like a snake, we all piled in and got comfortable. They rowed us to another community in the floating islands. And one of the kids sang. French, English, Quechua, Spanish, Aymara, and I can't remember the last two. Interesting that I didn't buy any of the handmade goods, but I did pay for the music. And interesting that an eleven year-old living on one of these islands can sing in more languages than most of the people on this boat. Let's see. I could do, Latin, English, Spanish, French and German. Maybe some Italian, too. Yep, he's got me beat, too.

And I keep remembering people I met, too, while traveling and want to mention them, that they live on! Abel in Valparaiso and I watched formal exchange between the Chilean and Japanese navies. It was one of the friendliest encounters I had. And an international experience for a South American, too. He had traveled the world also as a kid. Not military, not work, just traveled. Matter of fact, I need to get updates from everyone: Meg, Mark, Kike (in Spanish, pronounced kee-kay) Rinat, Pepe, Geraldine & France, Alejandro, Edward, Fiona, Ben...regionally or nationally, that covers, Oregon, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, Arequipa, Switzerland, Ecuador, Brisbane, Spain! Excellent! Stay tuned for the the South American out-takes album! Coming soon!