Birthday Whoas

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Day 168 on The Big Trip. “Reflection”

ONCE upon a time sat a place. The place was 7 kilometers from the center of a small city in Patagonia named Bariloche. A couple of youngun’s found an ad for the house-apartment in the ABC magazine of classifieds and decided that this house might be the place they have been looking for should they settle down for a year or so. So they snatched it up, real fast.

BECAUSE the house was not equipped with such luxuries as bedsheets, toilet paper, and silverware, the couple had to fetch an ATM card and a market before they could christen their house: kitchen, bathroom, bed, and all!

IN no time at all, the couple was accustomed to the house. Taking the bus for $1.60 (that’s Argentinian pesos, folks) a piece for 30 minutes into town seemed the norm. The tiny fruit and vegetable shop next door felt like destiny poked its head into reality. And the funky outlets, match-lit stovetop, key-to-close front door and huge upstairs windows just 3k from climbing, swimming, and even less to a conversation in español were all considered available for a deeper past than actually held true.

THE moral of the story is: Hoping for good weather on a cloudy day is like skydiving: you never know if it’s going to open up.

FOR two days, the couple went to work. The girl went to work, training at a hostel, while the boy went to work looking for work. He applied online and in person to hostels, institutes, and institutes again. Until one day it was his birthday. He woke up to find an outstretched hand offering hot chocolate in a folded cup. Perfect!

BEFORE the girl had to train from 4pm to 10pm, the couple went for a sunny hike up Cerro Otto. On the hike down back into town they stopped to do some bouldering at the Piedras Blancas. This energy-consuming task was followed by 6 hours of relaxation and reflection for the boy, now 24 years of age. You see the boy had just traveled from the west coast of the USA to the east coast, followed by a crash course on traveling in Spanish-speaking countries from Ecuador to Argentina. For this reason, this boy from small towns in Maine felt like the 24th year seemed to bulge with significance and size. Age seemed more relevant than ever before, where before it was practically negligible.

THE moral of the story is: There are many ways in which you can save money, you can save the earth, you can save a drowning doe or a burning bulldog; but as far as I know there is only one way in which you can save time.

T-5 for your landescaper, n8