Today is my birthday :)))
Yep, today I am 16071 days old...which is 44 years, and to celebrate, I decided to swim across the lake!
Well, actually Ive been planning to attempt it for a little while but what with being sick there for a week and then the winds were making the lake rough there for a while, and then I had to find someone who would escort me on a kayak... It took a while to get organized.
But it turned out that all the pieces fell into place today.
I swam from San Pedro over to San Marcos and was escorted on kayak by my friend Mike. You really do need the Kayak with you since there are lots of launches going too and fro amongst the little towns on the lake shore. Without an escort, there is a reasonable probability of being run down by an outboard boat...Which would really ruin your birthday!
The kayak does however pretty much eliminate the "mind game" aspect of the swim though. If you get into trouble, you just have to wait a few seconds till help arrives. You dont have to "keep the fear in a box" so to speak, that you would have to do if you did it alone.
Now, I still think I did really well to swim that far with virtually no training. It was very much "off the couch" and I'd only spent about a half an hour at the longest of paddling about near the shore before today.
It took me about 90 minutes to swim 2.5Km (according to google earth).
My swiming "style" was far from pretty but it was effective enough.
Before, I started (when I conceived the plan) I figured there was quite a good chance that I would not make it but that I should give it a go anyway... Since there was also some chance that I could do it! I didnt even know how far it was till I looked it up after the swim.
Some people seem to think that to do these things you need to only think about the success aspect and that if you allow the possibility of failure into your mind then thats what you will get.
Well, for my part at least, I can safely say that in almost all situations that is absolutely not the case for me. In fact, I NEED to acknowledge the possibility of failure mentally before I can get on with focussing on the possibility of success.
I have never swam that far in a single session without rest before (probably the most was about 1.5Km way back when I was a teenager in Australia).... I can now safely say that I can probably swim 3-4km in calm fresh water at will. Id guess that means I could likely double that if the chips were down and I had no options...
But who really cares...I think I did really well for today, and thats enough :))))
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Touched a Nerve!
Well, that set off the dogs!
Which is to say that, as expected, there has been some local "feedback" over my "Obnoxious" post ... doble entendre intended of course :)
Now, if my readership hasnt noticed in the past, I usually modify and clean-up my posts for upto about a week after I first post them. There are some small but significant changes that I would make to that post, and I have done so, but I have in this instance used a different text colour so that the changes to the original post are still clear. I will also try to contain all comentary on that post to this post rather than getting it all spreadout and interwoven or for that matter on-going!
So, lets get on with it...
What are the "touchy" dogs barking about?...Well racisme of course!
Is the content of my post racist?
Well, to start with, I think the word "Racist" has a whole lot of baggage that goes along with it and in this case, I think a definition of that idea would be "Descriminating based on ethnic race in a socially unacceptable way". - I just "cobbled up" (or is that "hand crafted by local artisan"?) this definition myself but I think it is pretty good for its current purpose.
My answer to that question, with that definition is NO, I do not think it is "Racist".
But, now if we use a simpler, "less baggage laden" interpretation of "racist" like: (and I insert the "ethnic" here because it is clearly not a "genetic" issue) : "Descriminating based on ethnic race"
Clearly the answer here is Yes, absolutely it is!
But, it is to the same degree "ageist" and "travelerist" but of course those descriminations dont get the same response.
I tried (and faild of course) to be clear that I was not descriminating against the more general group of a particular ethnic origin by stating very early on that I have some good friends who are older and from that ethnic group and who do not demonstrate the "Obnoxious" behaviors...
Actually lets be VERY clear about this right now, This is the most significant and very important change that I will make to the post:
IT IS NOT THE SUBGROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS TO ME, BUT RATHER THEIR BEHAVIORS THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS!
I freely admit that failing to be clear in writing about this was a serious oversight on my part, but one that I believe I would have changed of my own accord without any feedback needed. - For your part you can disbelive that if you want.
But that dose not eliminate the charge of Descrimination!
And, Yes I wholeheartedly admit that I descriminate...We all do!...
If we did not descriminate, we would all be very quickly dead at one of the next few red traffic lights we drove through....obvious point made.
But I descriminate against certain people!...Yep, again, we all do... Its called "freedom of association" and sadly is of course one of the first places that people hide behind defending their Racisme... So it does me and my argument no good at all! :)
So, why do I think (for the present at least) that my descriminating againts a particular subgroup of people is OK?
Well, to try to keep this post somewhat bounded...
Because of these two things:
1) The Ethnic Race is only a portion of the definition of the subgroup (one third of the definition)
2) Because the definition of the subgroup is based on personaly gathered "statistics" rather than hear-say social stereotyping.
The first point is clear enough. - You will either accept it as a partial argument or reject it, but I wont explain it further.
The second point could do with some more explaining though:
I am not identifying the subgroup based on what other people think or have said or what I have heard. Rather, I am referencing my own personal experience, based on multiple samples over a period of time and a range of locations (Yes, I truely have had these experiences over the past 20 years of my travels on every continent of the world!!!). Now the "statistics" involved here are far from "rigorous" (personal-anecdotal would be more accurate) but the fact is that I have had overwhelmingly negative personal experiences from some people and my analysis of those experience leads me to identify the subgroup in question.
But is that an acceptable process?
Well, I believe it is yes (though you each may not and thats your choice).
I would argue, that if you reject this "statistical basis of identifying and acting on probable future results" then I think you must also reject the acceptability of, for example "a health insurance company choosing to charge higher premiums to people who choose to smoke".
I think thats a reasonably fair analogy and I think its a reasonably socially acceptable way of descriminating - though again you may not :)
So, based on that, I am standing by what I said in the earlier post.
And what are the "disasterous" consequences of my "discrimination"?
Two things....
1) I will in general, choose to avoid the subgroup of people if possible.
I will NOT be abusive or disrespectfull, and I WILL continue to provide feedback to individuals who I am having an unpleasant experience with and am unable to avoid (regardless of ethnic background etc).
Note here for example, that if life turns such that my next girlfriend happens to be from that identified subgroup, I will in no way feel hypocritical :)))
2) The little rant of my blog posting.
And this is a big one!...
Should I publish my personal opinions about this sort of subject in a public blog on the internet!
Well, as I stated at the end of the post, Yes I think it is acceptable because thats what blogs are for and it is very clearly stated that it is personal opinions. I think that is reasonable because it is NOT a widely read blog (The statistics are right there on the blog site)... It is not advertized anywhere and the known readership are my friends and possibly a very few others whom my friends have "invited". Yes, the wider public can see what I write, but they have to go looking for it and I dont know what the motivation for that would be.
My opinion of a verbal equivelent of my blog is a group of (mostly close) acquaintences sitting and listening to one of the group expressing their opinion about unpleasant personal experiences in a minorly public place...like say in a largely empty town park somewhere. Yes there are a very few passers-by and they can stop and listen if they want (and could be offended by what they hear).
Some of the little group of friends may be deeply offended by what the speaker has said...they may choose to leave the group and not listen any more.
Some may choose to express their own opinions to the speaker - I take this risk.
But does what I wrote constitute a "Hate crime"?
I very much doubt it, but to be honest, I dont really know ... But this post is getting way out of hand so Im just gonna let that one slide for the time being and trust that offended readers dont feel that I represent too significant a threat to their interests :))
And a closing thought...
It would of course be wonderful if we could each disregard all of our personal past experiences and take every new interpersonal experience as if it were the very first one, with absolutely no preconceptions or expectations. It would also be wonderful if we could each accept and forgive and never comment about our disapointing interpersonal experiences...Sadly, but not at all suprisingly I am not such a person... and I have never met such a person.
So, for those of you whom this applies to:
While I am not at all sorry for being the person that has disappointed you, I am sorry that you are dissapointed by me. :)))
I will continue to share my thoughts openly and honestly on my blog site!
And now that Ive had my say, I am open to any further feedback from my friends... If you feel the need to tell me what you think then please send me your thoughts. I promise I will read and consider every one of them though as always, I will not publish any of them on my blog (though I may respond personaly) - You are of course welcome to start your own blog and invite me and others to read it. - If you want, I will even include a link to it in this post so that the other readers can have the benefit of your opinions too - really I will.
Ohh will you just look at me pandering to the "god" of political correctness here!! - Honestly, you'd think I'd have more spine than that!
And one last comment... While I believe that my post was not racist, I freely admit that it absolutely was "stereotyping and generalising"... But I also think that it wasnt "rigidly" so since I have very occasionally met individuals from within that identified subgroup who wer not "obnoxious"... and I truely hope and am open to the idea that I will meet more people like that in the future. :)
At this stage, I think thats "quite enough", so
Good night, and Good luck!, and maybe you will read me again in the future... or maybe not! :)
Which is to say that, as expected, there has been some local "feedback" over my "Obnoxious" post ... doble entendre intended of course :)
Now, if my readership hasnt noticed in the past, I usually modify and clean-up my posts for upto about a week after I first post them. There are some small but significant changes that I would make to that post, and I have done so, but I have in this instance used a different text colour so that the changes to the original post are still clear. I will also try to contain all comentary on that post to this post rather than getting it all spreadout and interwoven or for that matter on-going!
So, lets get on with it...
What are the "touchy" dogs barking about?...Well racisme of course!
Is the content of my post racist?
Well, to start with, I think the word "Racist" has a whole lot of baggage that goes along with it and in this case, I think a definition of that idea would be "Descriminating based on ethnic race in a socially unacceptable way". - I just "cobbled up" (or is that "hand crafted by local artisan"?) this definition myself but I think it is pretty good for its current purpose.
My answer to that question, with that definition is NO, I do not think it is "Racist".
But, now if we use a simpler, "less baggage laden" interpretation of "racist" like: (and I insert the "ethnic" here because it is clearly not a "genetic" issue) : "Descriminating based on ethnic race"
Clearly the answer here is Yes, absolutely it is!
But, it is to the same degree "ageist" and "travelerist" but of course those descriminations dont get the same response.
I tried (and faild of course) to be clear that I was not descriminating against the more general group of a particular ethnic origin by stating very early on that I have some good friends who are older and from that ethnic group and who do not demonstrate the "Obnoxious" behaviors...
Actually lets be VERY clear about this right now, This is the most significant and very important change that I will make to the post:
IT IS NOT THE SUBGROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS TO ME, BUT RATHER THEIR BEHAVIORS THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS!
I freely admit that failing to be clear in writing about this was a serious oversight on my part, but one that I believe I would have changed of my own accord without any feedback needed. - For your part you can disbelive that if you want.
But that dose not eliminate the charge of Descrimination!
And, Yes I wholeheartedly admit that I descriminate...We all do!...
If we did not descriminate, we would all be very quickly dead at one of the next few red traffic lights we drove through....obvious point made.
But I descriminate against certain people!...Yep, again, we all do... Its called "freedom of association" and sadly is of course one of the first places that people hide behind defending their Racisme... So it does me and my argument no good at all! :)
So, why do I think (for the present at least) that my descriminating againts a particular subgroup of people is OK?
Well, to try to keep this post somewhat bounded...
Because of these two things:
1) The Ethnic Race is only a portion of the definition of the subgroup (one third of the definition)
2) Because the definition of the subgroup is based on personaly gathered "statistics" rather than hear-say social stereotyping.
The first point is clear enough. - You will either accept it as a partial argument or reject it, but I wont explain it further.
The second point could do with some more explaining though:
I am not identifying the subgroup based on what other people think or have said or what I have heard. Rather, I am referencing my own personal experience, based on multiple samples over a period of time and a range of locations (Yes, I truely have had these experiences over the past 20 years of my travels on every continent of the world!!!). Now the "statistics" involved here are far from "rigorous" (personal-anecdotal would be more accurate) but the fact is that I have had overwhelmingly negative personal experiences from some people and my analysis of those experience leads me to identify the subgroup in question.
But is that an acceptable process?
Well, I believe it is yes (though you each may not and thats your choice).
I would argue, that if you reject this "statistical basis of identifying and acting on probable future results" then I think you must also reject the acceptability of, for example "a health insurance company choosing to charge higher premiums to people who choose to smoke".
I think thats a reasonably fair analogy and I think its a reasonably socially acceptable way of descriminating - though again you may not :)
So, based on that, I am standing by what I said in the earlier post.
And what are the "disasterous" consequences of my "discrimination"?
Two things....
1) I will in general, choose to avoid the subgroup of people if possible.
I will NOT be abusive or disrespectfull, and I WILL continue to provide feedback to individuals who I am having an unpleasant experience with and am unable to avoid (regardless of ethnic background etc).
Note here for example, that if life turns such that my next girlfriend happens to be from that identified subgroup, I will in no way feel hypocritical :)))
2) The little rant of my blog posting.
And this is a big one!...
Should I publish my personal opinions about this sort of subject in a public blog on the internet!
Well, as I stated at the end of the post, Yes I think it is acceptable because thats what blogs are for and it is very clearly stated that it is personal opinions. I think that is reasonable because it is NOT a widely read blog (The statistics are right there on the blog site)... It is not advertized anywhere and the known readership are my friends and possibly a very few others whom my friends have "invited". Yes, the wider public can see what I write, but they have to go looking for it and I dont know what the motivation for that would be.
My opinion of a verbal equivelent of my blog is a group of (mostly close) acquaintences sitting and listening to one of the group expressing their opinion about unpleasant personal experiences in a minorly public place...like say in a largely empty town park somewhere. Yes there are a very few passers-by and they can stop and listen if they want (and could be offended by what they hear).
Some of the little group of friends may be deeply offended by what the speaker has said...they may choose to leave the group and not listen any more.
Some may choose to express their own opinions to the speaker - I take this risk.
But does what I wrote constitute a "Hate crime"?
I very much doubt it, but to be honest, I dont really know ... But this post is getting way out of hand so Im just gonna let that one slide for the time being and trust that offended readers dont feel that I represent too significant a threat to their interests :))
And a closing thought...
It would of course be wonderful if we could each disregard all of our personal past experiences and take every new interpersonal experience as if it were the very first one, with absolutely no preconceptions or expectations. It would also be wonderful if we could each accept and forgive and never comment about our disapointing interpersonal experiences...Sadly, but not at all suprisingly I am not such a person... and I have never met such a person.
So, for those of you whom this applies to:
While I am not at all sorry for being the person that has disappointed you, I am sorry that you are dissapointed by me. :)))
I will continue to share my thoughts openly and honestly on my blog site!
And now that Ive had my say, I am open to any further feedback from my friends... If you feel the need to tell me what you think then please send me your thoughts. I promise I will read and consider every one of them though as always, I will not publish any of them on my blog (though I may respond personaly) - You are of course welcome to start your own blog and invite me and others to read it. - If you want, I will even include a link to it in this post so that the other readers can have the benefit of your opinions too - really I will.
Ohh will you just look at me pandering to the "god" of political correctness here!! - Honestly, you'd think I'd have more spine than that!
And one last comment... While I believe that my post was not racist, I freely admit that it absolutely was "stereotyping and generalising"... But I also think that it wasnt "rigidly" so since I have very occasionally met individuals from within that identified subgroup who wer not "obnoxious"... and I truely hope and am open to the idea that I will meet more people like that in the future. :)
At this stage, I think thats "quite enough", so
Good night, and Good luck!, and maybe you will read me again in the future... or maybe not! :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Languages and Voices
A couple of posts back I said I didnt like the sound of the Hebrew language, which poses the question of which language do I like the sound of??
Well, for a start, lets be clear that the only language that I understand well is English, and I only have a very basic and limited use of Spanish. All other languages are just a bunch of sounds to my ear.
Languages that I know I in general dont like the sound of are: Greek, Hebrew, Cantonese and Dutch and to some extent, German.
Languages that I do like the sound of are Italian, and Swedish; French and Mandarin are OK too.
And as for the rest of them, well, I have not heard enough to know what I think.
And just for interests sake, English spoken with a French accent sounds far nicer to me than French spoken with a French accent!
I must of course state the obvious that the voice speaking the language always makes a huge difference to how it sounds. Im pretty sure that most languages can be made to sound very nice with the right speaker. Likewise I am absolutely sure that any language can be made to sound absolutely horrible when "misused":
As a general rule, the more "nasal" sounding the voice, the less I like it (male or female) - Bummer since I think I have a quite nasal sounding voice myself!
Also, in female voices I tend to prefer less high pitched though not masculin.
As another general rule, a "nagging" style of talking (increasing intensity and pitch toward the end of the word/phrase) has a REALLY negative effect on me....Its not just that I dont like it... To me it becomes a veritable "Near Death Experience!" (and No, my mum didnt nagg me very much at all as I recall). So, let it be noted right here (and there is no one in my life to target this at presently, so Im just saying it for the heck of it) that when I hear that nagging sound, it not only makes me begrudge doing what ever it is that the words are telling/asking me to do, it makes me want to be as far away for the person making the terrible sound as I can possibly get... immediately! - If anybody ever wants to get rid of me then just turn on the nagg! - Though it´d be far easier to just ask me to go :))
There are also some particular baritone male voices with very piercing but deep resonances that are very painful for me to listen to.
So thats my thoughts on voices and languages.
Well, for a start, lets be clear that the only language that I understand well is English, and I only have a very basic and limited use of Spanish. All other languages are just a bunch of sounds to my ear.
Languages that I know I in general dont like the sound of are: Greek, Hebrew, Cantonese and Dutch and to some extent, German.
Languages that I do like the sound of are Italian, and Swedish; French and Mandarin are OK too.
And as for the rest of them, well, I have not heard enough to know what I think.
And just for interests sake, English spoken with a French accent sounds far nicer to me than French spoken with a French accent!
I must of course state the obvious that the voice speaking the language always makes a huge difference to how it sounds. Im pretty sure that most languages can be made to sound very nice with the right speaker. Likewise I am absolutely sure that any language can be made to sound absolutely horrible when "misused":
As a general rule, the more "nasal" sounding the voice, the less I like it (male or female) - Bummer since I think I have a quite nasal sounding voice myself!
Also, in female voices I tend to prefer less high pitched though not masculin.
As another general rule, a "nagging" style of talking (increasing intensity and pitch toward the end of the word/phrase) has a REALLY negative effect on me....Its not just that I dont like it... To me it becomes a veritable "Near Death Experience!" (and No, my mum didnt nagg me very much at all as I recall). So, let it be noted right here (and there is no one in my life to target this at presently, so Im just saying it for the heck of it) that when I hear that nagging sound, it not only makes me begrudge doing what ever it is that the words are telling/asking me to do, it makes me want to be as far away for the person making the terrible sound as I can possibly get... immediately! - If anybody ever wants to get rid of me then just turn on the nagg! - Though it´d be far easier to just ask me to go :))
There are also some particular baritone male voices with very piercing but deep resonances that are very painful for me to listen to.
So thats my thoughts on voices and languages.
Customer Spike
On a brighter note...
Not sure why, but for the last two weeks, motorbike rentals have been booming!
This is very good, since for the two weeks before that, there was not a single rental. On average, I seem to be covering about half my living costs with the motorbike renting program which is about what was hoped for with the three bike fleet I have. Though that is the average, I am completely unable to predict what the next day will be like and I have no idea what causes these dramatic short term fluctuations in customers.
Im still sitting on the fence about getting a fourth bike since its just more stuff to have to get rid of if I decide to move on sometime soon. That said, over the past two weeks I could happily have used more bikes. Yesterday, I even managed to rent four bikes concurrently when I only had three :) I found a friend who was happy to rent their own bike out for a couple of hours. Yesterday was a bit unusual though... I swear, I could have rented a bicycle with a wind up rubber band instead of a motor! there were so many people interested :))
Its all good at the moment, but we are heading into the rainy season now, so we´ll just see what happens then...
Not sure why, but for the last two weeks, motorbike rentals have been booming!
This is very good, since for the two weeks before that, there was not a single rental. On average, I seem to be covering about half my living costs with the motorbike renting program which is about what was hoped for with the three bike fleet I have. Though that is the average, I am completely unable to predict what the next day will be like and I have no idea what causes these dramatic short term fluctuations in customers.
Im still sitting on the fence about getting a fourth bike since its just more stuff to have to get rid of if I decide to move on sometime soon. That said, over the past two weeks I could happily have used more bikes. Yesterday, I even managed to rent four bikes concurrently when I only had three :) I found a friend who was happy to rent their own bike out for a couple of hours. Yesterday was a bit unusual though... I swear, I could have rented a bicycle with a wind up rubber band instead of a motor! there were so many people interested :))
Its all good at the moment, but we are heading into the rainy season now, so we´ll just see what happens then...
Obnoxious!
Well, yes, I suppose that title could just be talking about me and my social habits!
But in this case Im having a "vent" at others... It is after all a blog about "my perspective" and this has been my recent experience :)
So, after spending the last three weeks living in a hotel rather than a private room, Ive been reacquainted with other tourists again :))
Sadly, I have been reminded why, in my past travels I have disliked young Israeli travelers!
Now, I have a bunch of friends here in San Pedro who are Israelis and they are very nice people (really!) but they are for the most part quite different to the "generic Israeli traveler" (painting with broad strokes of course!) that I tend to otherwise run into. The difference is that the people I have made friends with are not in their early twenties... and it seems to make a big difference!
Lots and lots of young Israeli tourists come through San Pedro...Its a bit of a "Mecca" for them ... Though I think I just created a massive cultural/religious conflict there with that analogy!....Kind of like the middle east in general really :)
Anyway, the young Israeli travelers are almost universally just out of their national service, which for the most part means army service as I understand it. Now, I am incredibly privileged and have come from large peaceful Western countries and I have no idea what it is to constantly have suicide bombers and rocket attacks etc against my people and country, so my perspective is of course different to theirs but still there seems to be an enormous gap between what I think of as socially acceptable and what they think...
All that said, Ill simply put it out there as it seems to me at present...I have to say that the young Israeli travelers I have been exposed to (at closer than desired quarters) behave in ways that are OBNOXIOUS!...almost without exception!
They seem nice enough to start with and they are almost always very "good looking young people" but unfortunately, thats where the good impression ends for me. The first thing for me is that the Hebrew language its self, is very unpleasant to listen to (to my ear), though clearly, this is no choice or fault of the languages speakers. Its got lots of gutteral sounds and is quite harsh. Now I listened to my older Israeli friends and they dont sound quite the same. It seems that the sound of the language changes as the people age!... I asked my friend Indy about this and he said that yes, it does tend to soften up as the people age...wierd!
Ok, so the language is not nice sounding to my ear, but thats not the issue; For the young Israeli travelers, it seems to me that absolutely everything is an argument! They are always talking very assertively and at very high speed over the top of each other...If there are just two of them its just energetic talking, but if there are a group then it sounds like a constant loud argument!
Now, these young folk are very social and they love to be in large groups and unfortunately, they really dont seem to think about other people at all (I said they were very social, but for everyone else, they seem to me, quite anti-social !). They are happy to carry on their loud conversations with each other across the room, across the restaurant, across the street etc. It bother them not a bit to be shouting at each other while standing 20meters from their hotel room directly outside my (was your) door at 2am! And its not in passing...Thats where they were having the conversation... for an hour or more... They just seemed to have no clue about other people being in the world!
OK, so ear plugs would go a long way to helping me deal with the noise, but thats just the start...
Pretty much every morning outside my hotel room I have had to step over the detritus of the night before. They just leave their drink bottles, cigaret packs and butts, food wrappers, dirty dishes and leftover food wherever they feel like when they are done...I guess they are used to having their mothers clean up after them or something, but again from my perspective, they are plain disgusting with their waste etiquete!
Now if you are to be so unfortunate as to be stuck in the same room as a group of these people, for example at an internet cafe or in a restaurant, then you better be a smoker or pray there are less than two of them in the room...constant smokers all of them it seems! It takes about five minutes before the room gets clouded up and "atmospheric"as they seem to like it (or at least be oblivious to it). Actually they seem to have been constantly on pretty much any intoxicant they can get their hands on...coffee and tobaco are "de rigur", but ganga, alcohol and anything else thats available are being used by pretty much all of them for a good portion of the days and as far as I can tell, all of the nights... Bear in mind though that they are in their early twenties and just out of the army etc... I think psychologists would probably call it a "self discovery phase" or something like that. Whatever it is, I sure dont need it in my life thank you!
I have traveled about quite a bit over the years and Ive met a lot of travellers. On many an occasion I have been thoroughly embarassed by the way a fellow Australian traveller has been behaving (rarely the same experience with fellow Canadians though !). On many other occasions I have witnessed individuals or groups from other nationalities (Germans, Britons, Americans etc.... the list goes on) being quite unpleasant and thoughtless. I am also absolutely sure that on occasion, I have myself been "the unpleasant traveller" as far as others are concerned!
But I have to say, as a group, in my experience, the young traveling Israelis behaviors are "OBNOXIOUS without comparison" !
So thats just about enough of a "rant" for now, but after three weeks of this stuff constantly on my doorstep, I am, as a frind would say, "Done with them!"
I make absolutely no excuses for expressing my oppinions about this stuff. This is a blog and expressing oppinions about my experiences weather they be pleasant or otherwise is what its for.
and now, moving on :)
If you have read this blog then you should read a follow up posting titled "Touched a Nerve!"
But in this case Im having a "vent" at others... It is after all a blog about "my perspective" and this has been my recent experience :)
So, after spending the last three weeks living in a hotel rather than a private room, Ive been reacquainted with other tourists again :))
Sadly, I have been reminded why, in my past travels I have disliked young Israeli travelers!
Now, I have a bunch of friends here in San Pedro who are Israelis and they are very nice people (really!) but they are for the most part quite different to the "generic Israeli traveler" (painting with broad strokes of course!) that I tend to otherwise run into. The difference is that the people I have made friends with are not in their early twenties... and it seems to make a big difference!
Lots and lots of young Israeli tourists come through San Pedro...Its a bit of a "Mecca" for them ... Though I think I just created a massive cultural/religious conflict there with that analogy!....Kind of like the middle east in general really :)
Anyway, the young Israeli travelers are almost universally just out of their national service, which for the most part means army service as I understand it. Now, I am incredibly privileged and have come from large peaceful Western countries and I have no idea what it is to constantly have suicide bombers and rocket attacks etc against my people and country, so my perspective is of course different to theirs but still there seems to be an enormous gap between what I think of as socially acceptable and what they think...
All that said, Ill simply put it out there as it seems to me at present...I have to say that the young Israeli travelers I have been exposed to (at closer than desired quarters) behave in ways that are OBNOXIOUS!...almost without exception!
They seem nice enough to start with and they are almost always very "good looking young people" but unfortunately, thats where the good impression ends for me. The first thing for me is that the Hebrew language its self, is very unpleasant to listen to (to my ear), though clearly, this is no choice or fault of the languages speakers. Its got lots of gutteral sounds and is quite harsh. Now I listened to my older Israeli friends and they dont sound quite the same. It seems that the sound of the language changes as the people age!... I asked my friend Indy about this and he said that yes, it does tend to soften up as the people age...wierd!
Ok, so the language is not nice sounding to my ear, but thats not the issue; For the young Israeli travelers, it seems to me that absolutely everything is an argument! They are always talking very assertively and at very high speed over the top of each other...If there are just two of them its just energetic talking, but if there are a group then it sounds like a constant loud argument!
Now, these young folk are very social and they love to be in large groups and unfortunately, they really dont seem to think about other people at all (I said they were very social, but for everyone else, they seem to me, quite anti-social !). They are happy to carry on their loud conversations with each other across the room, across the restaurant, across the street etc. It bother them not a bit to be shouting at each other while standing 20meters from their hotel room directly outside my (was your) door at 2am! And its not in passing...Thats where they were having the conversation... for an hour or more... They just seemed to have no clue about other people being in the world!
OK, so ear plugs would go a long way to helping me deal with the noise, but thats just the start...
Pretty much every morning outside my hotel room I have had to step over the detritus of the night before. They just leave their drink bottles, cigaret packs and butts, food wrappers, dirty dishes and leftover food wherever they feel like when they are done...I guess they are used to having their mothers clean up after them or something, but again from my perspective, they are plain disgusting with their waste etiquete!
Now if you are to be so unfortunate as to be stuck in the same room as a group of these people, for example at an internet cafe or in a restaurant, then you better be a smoker or pray there are less than two of them in the room...constant smokers all of them it seems! It takes about five minutes before the room gets clouded up and "atmospheric"as they seem to like it (or at least be oblivious to it). Actually they seem to have been constantly on pretty much any intoxicant they can get their hands on...coffee and tobaco are "de rigur", but ganga, alcohol and anything else thats available are being used by pretty much all of them for a good portion of the days and as far as I can tell, all of the nights... Bear in mind though that they are in their early twenties and just out of the army etc... I think psychologists would probably call it a "self discovery phase" or something like that. Whatever it is, I sure dont need it in my life thank you!
I have traveled about quite a bit over the years and Ive met a lot of travellers. On many an occasion I have been thoroughly embarassed by the way a fellow Australian traveller has been behaving (rarely the same experience with fellow Canadians though !). On many other occasions I have witnessed individuals or groups from other nationalities (Germans, Britons, Americans etc.... the list goes on) being quite unpleasant and thoughtless. I am also absolutely sure that on occasion, I have myself been "the unpleasant traveller" as far as others are concerned!
But I have to say, as a group, in my experience, the young traveling Israelis behaviors are "OBNOXIOUS without comparison" !
So thats just about enough of a "rant" for now, but after three weeks of this stuff constantly on my doorstep, I am, as a frind would say, "Done with them!"
I make absolutely no excuses for expressing my oppinions about this stuff. This is a blog and expressing oppinions about my experiences weather they be pleasant or otherwise is what its for.
and now, moving on :)
If you have read this blog then you should read a follow up posting titled "Touched a Nerve!"
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The "Special"!
I went out to dinner the other night at a nice little restaurant here which I have been to once before. It was mid-week and it was quiet, which was a pleasant change after the "tourist saturation" of Semana Santa the previous week.
Anyway, the waiter did a good job on selling me the evenings special which was Dorado. It is an ocean fish rather than the lake fish that are the usual fair here.
The meal was fine :)
However, about an hour and a half after the meal, I "embarked" on an all night session of "purging" the meal from my body... Through every available orifice!
And then I spent the next day laying around with zero energy... I have no idea what the toxin was but it made my entire body ache intensly... Not just the abdominal muscles from the dry retching; Everything!....Even my skin hurt!
No one to blame but myself though. I should have known better than to order the "fish special"...
It was special alright!
When Im living many hours from the coast in a developing world country...
"Fish special" indeed :)))
Anyway, the waiter did a good job on selling me the evenings special which was Dorado. It is an ocean fish rather than the lake fish that are the usual fair here.
The meal was fine :)
However, about an hour and a half after the meal, I "embarked" on an all night session of "purging" the meal from my body... Through every available orifice!
And then I spent the next day laying around with zero energy... I have no idea what the toxin was but it made my entire body ache intensly... Not just the abdominal muscles from the dry retching; Everything!....Even my skin hurt!
No one to blame but myself though. I should have known better than to order the "fish special"...
It was special alright!
When Im living many hours from the coast in a developing world country...
"Fish special" indeed :)))
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Semana Santa in SanJuan
I also went over to the neighboring village of SanJuan and saw their Easter celebrations...
WOW!
They did even more impressive street displays.... Mostly with dyed saw dust.
Again, I cant do justice to it all and they had their parade at night so the pictures are mostly of the preparation phase...
I´ll just let the pictures do the talking...
WOW!
They did even more impressive street displays.... Mostly with dyed saw dust.
Again, I cant do justice to it all and they had their parade at night so the pictures are mostly of the preparation phase...
I´ll just let the pictures do the talking...
Semana Santa in SanPedro
This week was Easter and Guatemala is a very Christian country, so there was plenty of celebrating in the streets. But the people of Guatemala are also just people like anywhere else in the world, and when there is a long weekend in the offing, then just like the rest of us, they head off for a break from their mundane city lives to the local "resort" destinations and blow off some steam...
And with beautiful Lake Attitlan being only a few hours from Guatemala city, the city folk descend on the lake in swarms. For the most part they come here with the same "manic intensity" as the rest of the developed world do to their own resorts.
For the last week, all the towns around the lake have been inundated with revelers and all the bars and clubs and restaurants have effectively had a "liscence to print money" as long as they can keep up the supplies of loud music, food and alcohol! Yes, its a good week for the local businesses thats for sure!
Its not quite so good for renting motorbikes though, since the city visitors generally dont have passports to leave me as security, and they usually want to rent the bikes in the night time after they have had a few too many beers and it seems like the fun thing to do!... Needless to say, I dont think its quite as good an idea as they do!... Never the less, it has been a better week than the previous two where I didnt rent any bikes at all :)
So, thats what the visitors are doing, but the local villagers have a different agenda...
On Friday (Good Friday), they set about decorating the streets of their town for a big procession. They put a huge amount of effort into "painting" pictures on the streets using flowers and fruit and coloured saw dust. There are literally hundreds of meters of completely covered street with these pictures. It must cost them a lot of money, and it certainly takes the town folk many hours of everyone working (or for some, watching the others work) to get it all done.
And when its done, there is a big parade with lots of noise and lots of incense and lots of blessings etc. All the local women have their "special occasion" scarfs on over their traditional dress (which actually they wear most of the time anyway), and many of the local men have their traditional dress on too (much less common) of mid-shin length white shorts with coloured speckles all over them!
The big procession for Easter is of course carrying an effigy of Jesus Christ with the cross on his back through the streets. I can not do this justice with either words or pictures but it is quite the experience to be here. The big statue is carried by a dozen or more people at a very slow pace with a very mesmeric sideways rocking/lurching motion through the incense clouded streets and over all the decorations...destroying in a few minutes what it took the town folk many hours to create.
This of course makes absolutely no "financial" sense (these people are very poor) but on the other hand, it clearly makes a huge amount of "social" sense....and that of course is what the true meaning of "economic" is.... What the people value!
A Lake with Problems
Lake Attitlan is without doubt a very beautiful little piece of the world. It is no surprise that it is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Central America. Its also a very popular resort location for people from Guatemala city. This "attention" brings to the lake all of the usual "resort" problems of people doing whatever they want with little regard for its impact, because its "not in their back yard".
This "tourism" problem is definitely significant and is growing rapidly, but the local peoples are causing huge amounts of problems for their lake as well.
The lake was formed tens of thousands of years ago by the colapse of a big volcanoes caldera after the magma lake below the surface was emptied and a subsequent earthquake let the suspended ash cone colapse (in geological terms, it is a very "young" feature) and it is effectively a very large hole in a mountain plateau area. So, the lake is completely surrounded by very steep mountain sides of several hundred meters high. This in turn means that whatever makes its way into this "catchment" stays here. This includes the obvious rainfall but also includes all the chemicals and effluents and polutants that the modern world loves to create. There is no river here to take it away. There is no huge ocean or unpopulated land where the unpleasant leftovers of the modern world can be dumped or hidden or discarded... It all stays here and works its way into the lake.
Im just guessing, but Im probably about right in saying there are about 100,000 people living in the lake catchment. This number is increasing exponentially (just like the rest of the world population). The local population is no longer in the "subsistence agriculture" mode, and they are in the process of adopting every modern innovation, convenience, and status symbol that they can possibly afford (which is not that much actually).
Unfortunately for the lake, the big multinational companies are well aware of the market opportunities in the developing nations and are putting every effort into selling as much of their "product" here as possible. This includes Coca Cola and Mralbro of course, but for my part Im more concerned by the likes of Monsanto and friends! The local farmers use plenty of pesticides on all their veggies coffee and maise etc.
Likewise, the local people have been washing themselves and their clothes in the lake for centuries, but now a days they are doing it using "Fab" and other modern syntghetic detergents.
It seems to me that watching the local women chatting and washing their clothes should be a refreshing view of life in a simpler time for me, but I cant help myself but be appalled at the consequences of this as I see clouds of synthetic soap being sloshed into the lake by dozens of women every day just below my hotel room!
And they have no concern at all about it because it is what they have always done... and they will keep doing it as long as they can too!
Its not because they dont have options... Every local household has a clothes washing sink where they can do the same job at home. They use the lake shore because its "social" and they can chat and the children can play together... All good stuff really, but there are more and more people here and I can just see where it is all headed.
If they did it at home, the waste water would go into the drains... and into the septic systems that are ubiquitous here) ... And from there into the soil... where bacteria would work on all the "stuff" as it slowly percolates its way down to the lake.
This of course is little different to putting it directly in the lake where the bacteria also live (though Im sure the indirect option is actually somewhat better for the lake... given that of course, neither option is good) but it would be less visible and would mean that the lake water would be better quality.
Now, the lake is big, and the water quality is not that bad (I go swimming in it every second day or so)... yet!
But its getting there!
I can see that the water will turn greener and greener as time passes. And eventually, it will start to effect the lives of the locals...which is to say that old people and infants will start to die from various infections etc. And in all likelyhood, only then will the people recognize that they need to change the way they do things.... So sad!
But perhaps the "tourism value" of the lake will actually be a blessing on this front... Its possible the government (local or national) would pass laws to protect the lakes beauty and prohibit some of these destructive behaviors. They would of course have to invest many millions of dollars to build sewerage processing centres for all the towns and all the piping in the streets etc... Actually, they would have to start by providing the town water supply for more than two or three hours per week like they currently do (electricity costs for the pump stations are the current barrier) so that people had a reliable water supply! - Yep, we've got internet but we dont got water!!
Its a huge change and I have no idea how they would go about doing it all ... I can see why it hasnt happened yet...
But then the cynic in me notes that they would only be stopping some destructive behaviors so they can encourage other different destructive behaviors!... So they can bring in more $$$!
Ahh well, change is unavoidable and all I can do is try be more constructive than destructive :))
In the mean time, Ill try not to cringe every time I see the clouds of soap in the lake.
This "tourism" problem is definitely significant and is growing rapidly, but the local peoples are causing huge amounts of problems for their lake as well.
The lake was formed tens of thousands of years ago by the colapse of a big volcanoes caldera after the magma lake below the surface was emptied and a subsequent earthquake let the suspended ash cone colapse (in geological terms, it is a very "young" feature) and it is effectively a very large hole in a mountain plateau area. So, the lake is completely surrounded by very steep mountain sides of several hundred meters high. This in turn means that whatever makes its way into this "catchment" stays here. This includes the obvious rainfall but also includes all the chemicals and effluents and polutants that the modern world loves to create. There is no river here to take it away. There is no huge ocean or unpopulated land where the unpleasant leftovers of the modern world can be dumped or hidden or discarded... It all stays here and works its way into the lake.
Im just guessing, but Im probably about right in saying there are about 100,000 people living in the lake catchment. This number is increasing exponentially (just like the rest of the world population). The local population is no longer in the "subsistence agriculture" mode, and they are in the process of adopting every modern innovation, convenience, and status symbol that they can possibly afford (which is not that much actually).
Unfortunately for the lake, the big multinational companies are well aware of the market opportunities in the developing nations and are putting every effort into selling as much of their "product" here as possible. This includes Coca Cola and Mralbro of course, but for my part Im more concerned by the likes of Monsanto and friends! The local farmers use plenty of pesticides on all their veggies coffee and maise etc.
Likewise, the local people have been washing themselves and their clothes in the lake for centuries, but now a days they are doing it using "Fab" and other modern syntghetic detergents.
It seems to me that watching the local women chatting and washing their clothes should be a refreshing view of life in a simpler time for me, but I cant help myself but be appalled at the consequences of this as I see clouds of synthetic soap being sloshed into the lake by dozens of women every day just below my hotel room!
And they have no concern at all about it because it is what they have always done... and they will keep doing it as long as they can too!
Its not because they dont have options... Every local household has a clothes washing sink where they can do the same job at home. They use the lake shore because its "social" and they can chat and the children can play together... All good stuff really, but there are more and more people here and I can just see where it is all headed.
If they did it at home, the waste water would go into the drains... and into the septic systems that are ubiquitous here) ... And from there into the soil... where bacteria would work on all the "stuff" as it slowly percolates its way down to the lake.
This of course is little different to putting it directly in the lake where the bacteria also live (though Im sure the indirect option is actually somewhat better for the lake... given that of course, neither option is good) but it would be less visible and would mean that the lake water would be better quality.
Now, the lake is big, and the water quality is not that bad (I go swimming in it every second day or so)... yet!
But its getting there!
I can see that the water will turn greener and greener as time passes. And eventually, it will start to effect the lives of the locals...which is to say that old people and infants will start to die from various infections etc. And in all likelyhood, only then will the people recognize that they need to change the way they do things.... So sad!
But perhaps the "tourism value" of the lake will actually be a blessing on this front... Its possible the government (local or national) would pass laws to protect the lakes beauty and prohibit some of these destructive behaviors. They would of course have to invest many millions of dollars to build sewerage processing centres for all the towns and all the piping in the streets etc... Actually, they would have to start by providing the town water supply for more than two or three hours per week like they currently do (electricity costs for the pump stations are the current barrier) so that people had a reliable water supply! - Yep, we've got internet but we dont got water!!
Its a huge change and I have no idea how they would go about doing it all ... I can see why it hasnt happened yet...
But then the cynic in me notes that they would only be stopping some destructive behaviors so they can encourage other different destructive behaviors!... So they can bring in more $$$!
Ahh well, change is unavoidable and all I can do is try be more constructive than destructive :))
In the mean time, Ill try not to cringe every time I see the clouds of soap in the lake.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Xocomil
Thats the name of the wind around here at this time of year (its a Myan dialect) and is pronounced "Chocomil".
The wind is usually blowing from a different direction, but it has now changed direction and this is the indicator of seasonal change... This wind brings the rainy season.
And indeed, yesterday there were a few sprinkles of rain in the late afternoon. It has been getting cloudy in the afternoons for a couple of weeks now but no rain till yesterday. Over the next couple of months, the pattern will get stronger, with fine sunny mornings and cloudy afternoons with rain in the afternoon/evening/nights. The rains will start as sprinkles and then showers and then downpours as the season progresses over the next several months.
Its about a month early this year it seems but I dont bother trying to predict either the weather or the stock markets these days, so as usual, we´ll just wait and see :)
What else is new...
Well, I just moved house from where I have been to a nice hotel room nearby. I had to move out because the family needed the room I was in for visiting relatives.
I could have moved somewhere cheaper but I decided on this place because it has a great view of the lake and is somewhat isolated from the rest of the hotel ... more tranquility.
Another reason is that it is located right next door to that house I was considering buying. Since I have not been able to rent the place yet, this will give me the opportunity to see if I really do enjoy the "lakefront lifestyle" as I think I will.
Im in the hotel for a month so that should be enough time to see how I feel.
On the real estate front, there have been a couple of opportunities to rent (at very low rates) small lots of land for five year leases and then build what I want on them...The down side of course is that I have to walk away from whatever I build in five years. This has not felt like what I want to do, so at least that is clear.
There have also been a couple of opportunities to buy pieces of land, though not the right size/location combinations as yet.
However, the most recent opportunity actually pushed me toward being more prepared to pay the big money for the big house that I posted about earlier. The lot in question was very small (12m x 7m) and had a rather ratty local house on it. It was a good location with both residential and commercial possibilities. The problem was that the seller wanted way too much for it (no big surprise there)...But that just highlighted the value in the bigger place... In my mind, it has more than ten times the value of the other little place but the price is probably only about five times as much. Im absolutely sure that the smaller lot is well worth buying if the price asked were cut in half....and that means that the bigger place is currently very good value.....hmm its so hard to tell what reality is from inside my head :)
As usual, more thinking to do!
On the motorbike front, it has been "quiet as a grave" for about the last ten days! There are just so few tourists around at the moment. It comes and goes like that without reason it seems, though next week is expected to be very busy around here since it is "Semana Santa" which is Easter.
I certainly hope I get more rentals soon since this "not renting motorbikes" thing obviously lets my mind wander into dangerous financial ground :) ... I am currently only "not renting" three motorbikes, so I can just imagine what my mind would get upto if I was "not renting" five bikes!
:)))
The wind is usually blowing from a different direction, but it has now changed direction and this is the indicator of seasonal change... This wind brings the rainy season.
And indeed, yesterday there were a few sprinkles of rain in the late afternoon. It has been getting cloudy in the afternoons for a couple of weeks now but no rain till yesterday. Over the next couple of months, the pattern will get stronger, with fine sunny mornings and cloudy afternoons with rain in the afternoon/evening/nights. The rains will start as sprinkles and then showers and then downpours as the season progresses over the next several months.
Its about a month early this year it seems but I dont bother trying to predict either the weather or the stock markets these days, so as usual, we´ll just wait and see :)
What else is new...
Well, I just moved house from where I have been to a nice hotel room nearby. I had to move out because the family needed the room I was in for visiting relatives.
I could have moved somewhere cheaper but I decided on this place because it has a great view of the lake and is somewhat isolated from the rest of the hotel ... more tranquility.
Another reason is that it is located right next door to that house I was considering buying. Since I have not been able to rent the place yet, this will give me the opportunity to see if I really do enjoy the "lakefront lifestyle" as I think I will.
Im in the hotel for a month so that should be enough time to see how I feel.
On the real estate front, there have been a couple of opportunities to rent (at very low rates) small lots of land for five year leases and then build what I want on them...The down side of course is that I have to walk away from whatever I build in five years. This has not felt like what I want to do, so at least that is clear.
There have also been a couple of opportunities to buy pieces of land, though not the right size/location combinations as yet.
However, the most recent opportunity actually pushed me toward being more prepared to pay the big money for the big house that I posted about earlier. The lot in question was very small (12m x 7m) and had a rather ratty local house on it. It was a good location with both residential and commercial possibilities. The problem was that the seller wanted way too much for it (no big surprise there)...But that just highlighted the value in the bigger place... In my mind, it has more than ten times the value of the other little place but the price is probably only about five times as much. Im absolutely sure that the smaller lot is well worth buying if the price asked were cut in half....and that means that the bigger place is currently very good value.....hmm its so hard to tell what reality is from inside my head :)
As usual, more thinking to do!
On the motorbike front, it has been "quiet as a grave" for about the last ten days! There are just so few tourists around at the moment. It comes and goes like that without reason it seems, though next week is expected to be very busy around here since it is "Semana Santa" which is Easter.
I certainly hope I get more rentals soon since this "not renting motorbikes" thing obviously lets my mind wander into dangerous financial ground :) ... I am currently only "not renting" three motorbikes, so I can just imagine what my mind would get upto if I was "not renting" five bikes!
:)))
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