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Lago Cabra Corral
At least we can appreciate that we appreciate!
For her it was an uncommited aside - an afterthought that left as fast as it came, yet for me it was a sudden light that had clicked on... That´s it! Pip you are genius! That is why we do this! What brands a backpacker a backpacker!
In wandering and discovering new awe-inspiring places; people, cities and landscapes, cultures; we learn to appreciate the mere act of appreciating - learn to appreciate those things around us while equally, retrospectively, internally, learning to appreciate those things we love about where we have been and are from. This is why travel and discovery is such a fundamental aspect of individual growth for some people... It is necessary.
My travels on this continent have taught me a lot in the way of contrasts.
Contrasts of landscape, politics, economics and most importantly - contrasts of people.
Getting to know and understand local people and really accenting the subtle differences between them and.. say, the westerners I have known (both from North America and Europe).
It is interesting to see the contrasts of wealth and the attitudes it creates in people - because here on this continent, no matter what social class one might be of where they are from, everyone is of bourgeois perception - no exceptions.
Oh there are those who try to pretend that they are not from a culture of wealth and opportunity - but in the end, all westerners are.
I have discovered that this notion - the notion of having wealth (real or theoretically) - has a way of creating one of two natures in people (or sometimes an unbalanced mix of both): either a sort of humble nobility and appreciation, or an ugly sort of subtle arrogance (with often a complete ignorance to it)..
I find myself developing an immediate indignation toward how the circumstance of inhereted wealth (and all westerners are born into inhereted wealth, simply by location of birth) has a way of creating, more often than not I have found, this almost imperceptible imperialistic downward glancing attitude.
Ignasio is a perfect example of the humble nobility created in one who comes from a place of opportunity, and yet he was born and raised here in Salta.. He is a friend and also the owner of the Hostel I have been bunking at.
While we sat and watched the Argentinian World Cup match he offered to take me (as well as Dan and Tamara) to visit his family home, belonging to his parents (both of which are local Doctors), on Lago Cabra Corral... He wanted to show us some of his country - and a place that he absolutely loved.
What a beautiful oppertunity it turned out to be...
"These people are pure," he motioned to the small shanty shacks inhabited by the indigenous farmers in the area as we sped along in his Land Rover, "They need nothing more than they have, and are completely self-sufficient... These people are pure. They have not been contaminated by the pollution of our society."
He was right, of course - and not only directly pointing out their purity, but also indirectly underscoring our own contaminations..
He was right, of course...
Joseph N Sieben
4 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
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June 13th 2006 - Liz: From little Liz (the Aussie)
Your pictures are beautiful my travelling friend
June 14th 2006 - los dos portenos:
I wanted to say first of all that I think you are an excellent writer (the first paragraph was particularly nice) and that your photos are lovely. I am really envious of your visit to Lago Cabra Corral. I did want to say though that while in general I agree with your very thoughtful perspective, I think that there is a thin line between purity and incredible poverty. In our efforts to be cultural sensitive and humble in our outlook towards Argentine/South American I think it easy for westerners such as ourselves to sentimalize things that do not necessarily deserve to be romanticized
I agree.. There is indeed more than just a thin line between purity and incredible poverty.. and I think that in retrospect it was not the proper word to use in describing the impovershed, mostly indigenous, situation here - or elsewhere in the world. I do not think that it is necessarily the poverty that I am trying to highlight or romanticize, but the natural indigenous way of life that seems to be so far from the inherent consumer culture that we come from in the west. These people are no more ¨pure¨, in the true sense of the word, as individuals than are you or I - but speaking of these people as a whole is to speak of their way of life.. And so when we are left to compare societal contrasts one cannot help but feel like so many aspects of this old way of life are far more natural. In my own country, especially the northern-most regions of Canada near Alasksa (where I now live), I have been given a first hand look at how indigenous societies are forced to integrate into a western consumer culture and by doing so have developed not only a huge sense of loss toward their old way of life (while struggling to hang on to it) but along with it a whole range of social problems that has destroyed the very fabric of what made them who they are. A sense of loss and guilt. What is nice to see here is that many of these people (especially in Bolivia and Peru) have not yet been completely forced to abandon their ways and integrate into a western culture simply because of the economic situations of their country. In this way I wonder if it is fair to say that poverty should be romanticised to a degree? .. I appreciate your comments on my blogs...
Joseph Sieben
June 21st 2006 - los dos portenos: right on
I see what you are saying and I think that is a very valid point
(Sorry I can't spell sentimentalize)
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Sailing Lago Cabra Corral
Yerba Mate, Calm winds, Argentinian Lake, and good friends... What more can you ask for?
The Slow process of learning to Juggle
I reckon when my money runs out I will become a street performer
The Slow process of learning to Juggle
I reckon when my money runs out I will become a street performer
The Slow process of learning to Juggle
I reckon when my money runs out I will become a street performer
4 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
June 13th 2006 - Liz: From little Liz (the Aussie)
Your pictures are beautiful my travelling friend
June 14th 2006 - los dos portenos:
I wanted to say first of all that I think you are an excellent writer (the first paragraph was particularly nice) and that your photos are lovely. I am really envious of your visit to Lago Cabra Corral. I did want to say though that while in general I agree with your very thoughtful perspective, I think that there is a thin line between purity and incredible poverty. In our efforts to be cultural sensitive and humble in our outlook towards Argentine/South American I think it easy for westerners such as ourselves to sentimalize things that do not necessarily deserve to be romanticized
I agree.. There is indeed more than just a thin line between purity and incredible poverty.. and I think that in retrospect it was not the proper word to use in describing the impovershed, mostly indigenous, situation here - or elsewhere in the world. I do not think that it is necessarily the poverty that I am trying to highlight or romanticize, but the natural indigenous way of life that seems to be so far from the inherent consumer culture that we come from in the west. These people are no more ¨pure¨, in the true sense of the word, as individuals than are you or I - but speaking of these people as a whole is to speak of their way of life.. And so when we are left to compare societal contrasts one cannot help but feel like so many aspects of this old way of life are far more natural. In my own country, especially the northern-most regions of Canada near Alasksa (where I now live), I have been given a first hand look at how indigenous societies are forced to integrate into a western consumer culture and by doing so have developed not only a huge sense of loss toward their old way of life (while struggling to hang on to it) but along with it a whole range of social problems that has destroyed the very fabric of what made them who they are. A sense of loss and guilt. What is nice to see here is that many of these people (especially in Bolivia and Peru) have not yet been completely forced to abandon their ways and integrate into a western culture simply because of the economic situations of their country. In this way I wonder if it is fair to say that poverty should be romanticised to a degree? .. I appreciate your comments on my blogs...
Joseph Sieben
June 21st 2006 - los dos portenos: right on
I see what you are saying and I think that is a very valid point
(Sorry I can't spell sentimentalize)
All Comments
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