Gunga-The Constitution told me........

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Yep, right there in the Constitution that every hack politician seems to be waving around, is the clause that I have " the right to the pursuit of happiness". So to end the winter doldrums, (not nearly as bad here in Memphis, TN as they have been in my 'past life' state of Massachusetts) I am headed out on another one of 'Carolyn and Val's Excellent Adventures'.

And what might this one be? Well, many of you know that I have a soft spot in my heart for Latin cultures- Mexico, Spain, Cental and South America. I even, at the ripe old age of 60, tried to learn Spanish. It is an ongoing process and one I am still working on- but not as hard as I did a few years ago. I have no doubt that I will NEVER be called on to translate for Cesar Chavez or Fidel, BUT I can hold a sweet and short conversation with market ladies, taxi drivers, and fellow park bench sitters. The people are always very kind and they all become my teachers. So it is with a joyful heart that Val and I are heading to Bogota and Cartagena, Columbia spending a week in each city. We leave tomorrow 2/24 and return 3/10.

Columbia? Why Columbia, you might ask? Basically two words should suffice: Botero and Marquez. Botero is one of the most famous So. Am. artists and his museum is in Bogota. He is famous for his portraits of, let's call them, well endowed and generously proportioned people. If you are familar with Henry Moore sculptures then you get the idea. There are, I have been told, many more museums to explore in Bogota. It has been called 'the Athens of South America'. Who knew? Follow the blogs and find out if it is true. After a week in chilly and rainy Bogota we will fly to warm and muggy Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. It is the home of Gabriel Garcia Marquez who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He set many of his famous novels there including, my favorite, 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. Many of streets and scenes he described so beautifully in the book are still there. It is supposed to be the most beautiful of all the old colonial towns/cities in the Americas. I'll let you know as I'be been to some lovely ones: Oaxaca, Mexico; Cusco, Peru; Antigua, Guatamala; Granada, Nicaraqua; Salta, Argentina; Cuenca, Ecuador; and many places in El Salvador.

John Amatt said, "Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life- facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and, in the process, dsicovering our own unique potential." So I am off with my wonderful sister adventurer, Val, to live the words of Colin Mortluck:" Adventure: anything containing equal parts high endeavor, questionable outcomes, and good companionship." Oh, and about that 'happiness' thing, in a recent article in the New Yorker I read that "happiness is a measure of how thickly the unconscious parts of our minds are intertwined with other people and with activities. Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day and year." So I will do my best to 'intertwine' with people, get involved in their activities, learn a lot of new information, and bask in the lovely kindness of strangers.
Carolyn ( Gunga)
A special 'Hey' to those bloggers I have never met but who I have followed and who now follow me: Soul Cultivator, Jabo, and MJ Binkley. Keep traveling and keep writing!

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Comments

[Amy Love]

vaya con Dios!
May the dirt roads rise to meet you. May the bus drivers recently have had their vision checked. May the smiles you so graciously give be joyfully returned! Amy