La Espera

Approaching lattitude 0, and beyond.

Another long stretch since my last posting.  No excuse except that I've been real lazy.  Finally getting motivated with things changing up here quickly.  For those in doubt or curious, yes I'm continuing the trip.  Only the first day of the accident, waiting in the hospital was I thinking otherwise.  Since, I've been motivated to cycle on and finish this journey the right way.

As my health and strength has slowly returned (along with staying in one place), the itch to cycle on rises from lurking in the depths.  The thrill of exciting new places, biking across countries, and the thought of finishing this trip the right way... takes hold of me.

I stayed in Medellin a lot longer than I had planned.  It was really difficult to leave with a beautiful apartment to myself that Andres and Nataly had let me use while they were out of town.  Not to mention a whole group of such great people to pass the time with.  I did get a lot done though, with the help of Mauro and Hiro, rebuilt my bike to fantastic shape.

Leaving the city, I had a long gradual climb, and the first day had dropped to lower latitudes and hotter weather.  The hot weather was quite unwelcome and as always keep thinking about the southern lattitudes with more comfortable riding weather.  I had some really beautiful stretches of open roads in the rolling green countryside, following a river for a long ways even.

It's good, in a way, that I've had such a long break recently.  To instill the drive back in me, to continue the trip, because after Medellin, I had the feeling of wanting to quit.  It was unusual with how strong it was, deep and intense.  I could feel it in my bones.  It scared me of how strong it was.

Like always, covering more ground helped.  The heat continued and became worse through some hilly parts as I arrived in coffee country.  It was exciting to see coffee plants for the first time, and actually surprising that their is no taste or odor of coffee when it's raw.  Apparently only after roasting does it bring out that marvelous aroma and flavor.

Passing Periera, I dropped into the valley farm land below and into more intense heat.  It was amazing how flat it was, with only a few gently rolling hills, and was reminiscent of the flat Yucatan.  This is where probably most of Colombia's panela is produced, virtually all of the farms grow sugar cane.  With all the hilly terrain I had been crossing, I quickly took advantage of the smooth, flat road, and anxiously rode hard trying to get out of the still hot air settling in the valley.  I had a couple of excellent days posting two consecutive days with over 150km each day.  Then I arrived back to the hills at Santander, and soon arrived in Popayan.  The day I arrived in Popayan was a long one.  After having had hills all day, with significant heat, later in the day it cooled dramatically and started raining.  It rained hard, for so long.  Arriving near Popayan, I was struggling to stay warm, and knew I should find camp somewhere on one of the farms skirting the city and get warm.  Stopping at one, is where I met Nuvi, Felipe, and Stephi, and after inviting me to their house, loaded up their truck and drove to their home.  The rest as they say, is history.

I'm finally, nearly, healed after two months.  I still can't sleep on my shoulder, the weak shoulder persists still.  After about 3 weeks, I could finally sneeze without a sharp pain in my back and shoulder.  After a month my wounds were finally nearly healed, but still had bruises.  i had to wear the brace for the first month.  Then since I've been had to rehabilitate my shoulder, everyday since.  I was really surprised how weak my should became after only a few weeks.  It has been a long and painful process of rehabilitating it and strengthening the muscles.

After the accident I stayed with Felipe and Nuvia for a week, then moved to a hostel in downtown.  The first month was marked with pronounced pain.  Mostly annoying pain.  However my deep leg wound became infected because of it's unique location, my shorts would constantly remove the scab, preventing the wound from drying out properly.  I started using an anitbiotic cream with gauze.  Because the cream would leak through the gauze and run down my leg, the wound would start to heal and grow into the gauze.  So twice a day I had to change the gauze, and peel it away from the wound, ripping open the scab each time with severe pain and lots of blood.

I wish I could say I've been productive with the unusually huge amount of free time I've had, but I haven't.  I've been really lazy.  At least I've gone to a couple of the local places to see around here, like Tierradentro and Silvia.  I made a few good friends in town.  Watched a lot of movies on my computer.  I celerated Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, New Years in Popayan, when originally I was unsure where I would spend them.

Recently however I've been busy getting ready.  I was doing alright on time before, but now as it stands, I'm going to be arriving in Patagonia pretty late.  I just hope I don't have too much cold rain, or snow for that matter.  At least I've got a kickass rain jacket that will help tremendously.

I'm hoping to get back on the road next week, the latest.

I could have called it quits so many times before on this trip with difficult circumstances.  This is just one more.  Time to get back to it, and keep on.  Plus, I know myself to well, if I quit the trip, I will always look back for the rest of my life asking, "what if I kept going?"

I've been really frustrated with the whole process of trying to recover some of my costs of having to recover here simply because of the idiot that hit me.  I've had to go countless times to the district attorney's office, to deliver and acquire documents.  Recently I've started the process of actually trying to negotiate a settlement to recoup my expenses.

Leaving the insurance companies office a few days ago, the only word on my mind was: unjust.  I'm a victim and it appears I'm afforded nothing.  All those times I suffered on the trip.  Could have had that cold drink on all those exhaustively hot days, or stayed in a hotel instead of camping in the rain in a broken tent.  All those times to save my money trying to make sure I could finish the trip, only to have wasted so much of it here on nothing, sitting around Popayan.

It sounds like the Insurance company only covers 30% of only my hotel expenses, of only my definite incapacity (only 40 days which is based on the medicina legal's account, I don't know where they even get that number because the specialist only just recently gave me the ok to return to my trip, which was a total of 60 days).  So it appears I'm getting really screwed over, and who knows if I'm going to get anything back.  I've already had a couple meetings at the district attorney's with the driver of the car, only to sit there and sign some documents and schedule another meeting.  Our next meeting is set for Feb 5, two weeks away!

The huge thing that is really putting me at ease is Nuvia.  She is so incredibly kind and has agreed to take care of the case in my absence.  This allows me to leave promptly and return to my trip.  I can't thank her enough.  Every time we discuss it, I mention how she needs to tell me what kind of percentage she wants of the settlement.  She tells me how she only wants to help me because she understands how unjust the system is (she was a lawyer in the district attorney's office about 5 years ago).

So now it's frantic grind to get things in order and get back on the road as quickly as I can.

Happy holidays and Happy new year!

In the words of Kid Cudi:

The end is never the end.  A new challenge awaits.  A test no man could be prepared for.  A new hell he must conquer and destroy.  A new level of growth he must confront himself.  The machine and the ghost within.  This is the journey...

of the man on the moon.


Some Thoughts While (healing... again):

I can easily say that the #1 thing I HATE about Latin America is the drivers.

I remember thinking that it's only a matter of time really that someone finally hit me.  How bad the drivers are in Latin America, and how many times they've come so close to hitting me, it's not to big a surprise that it finally happened.  Just the overall disrespect displayed by the drivers, it's as if they are not even human anymore when they sit behind the wheel.  Somebody honking at me from behind, throwing up their hands when I turn to look at them, simply irritated because I'm on the road.

Daily, nearly getting knocked from my bike.  I hate the cars so much.  It's really difficult to describe how much disdain I have for them.  Even just walking around town, I get pissed off at the cars and buses for the lack of respect to pedestrians and cyclists.  They drive close all the time.

Recently, with a sidewalk full of people, merchants selling minutes (people can use cellphones to call people) and fruit, I stepped off the curb and hugged the sidewalk paralleling it.  Just passing a stop sign, the cars paused waiting for traffic to diminish to pass the intersection.  Two cars wide, a motorcyclist tries to thread the needle between me and the car.  With only a couple more seconds, it's obvious there is ample space I can return to the sidewalk.  Without hesitating the moto heads right for me, and it looks as though he's going to hit me.  So I brace myself and sure enough his mirror clips my arm.  Fortunately I was ready, and hopefully I broke his mirror.  He didn't even pause to check on me, I kept walking anyway.

My list of the number of places I've been to is starting to add up.  It caught up with me while I was watching a film and actually had shots of the Mira Flores locks of the Panama canal in it.  What a cool feeling to actually see places in films that I've been to.

While I was in Medellin, I started thinking about how amazing it would be if cars were banned in cities.  How much better a place it would be to not just cycle, but live.  Life would be SO much quieter.  There would be dramatically reduced pollution, cleaner air for everyone to breathe.  There are of course things to consider, like what to do for transportation instead.  Obviously there are people who are unable to cycle or walk, but there could be an extensive system of bike taxis subsidized by the government.  This would be insanely cheaper than keeping a fleet of buses running.  Sure you would still need the occasional semi truck to deliver goods, produce, and such.  Could have rent-able bikes located at specific locations throughout the city (system already in place in Guadalajara, Mexico), that would allow people to use bikes from place to place and not have to worry about them being maintained or having to find space to store a bike at home.

With no cars or buses, there would be more motivation for people to ride their bikes.  It would be a much more enjoyable experience.  People would be healthier since they would bike more.  This would translate to lower health care costs.  If you have never ridden somewhere without cars, try it, it's a world of difference.

Since leaving Medellin with freshly regreased wheel bearings, there is a noticeable difference.  It feels like they have more resistance almost, which translates into more resistance and more energy needed to accelerate but a definite difference in the rollout and maintaining speed.  After Medellin, I had several days with max speeds over 50km/h.

Sometimes certain visual stimuli trigger a bad feeling in my gut, like palm trees on a hillside.  Even other senses are affected, like learned taste aversions.  The sight of banana trees, or the smell of mango trees.  It immediately makes me think of miserable places I had to go through, like brutally hot and humid tropics.  It's nice to remind myslef that I will never ride there again.  Part of the trip I always try to remember, that I just have to get through the nasty places once (however sometimes it's a long time).

Funny how many times I've had strange looks from people when I explain to them I don't have a phone.  I mean, who am I going to call when I'm in need or in trouble?

People are always quick to inspect my equipment and look in my tent.  There's a reason they call it casa de campaña - it's my mobile home.  I've got to have some level of privacy in my life.

If you've never heard or read anything from Jesse Ventura, I strongly suggest you do.  I didn't know much about him until recently.  Sure I remember when he was governor of Minnesota, and heard things about him, but I had never actually heard or read some the things he said.  He's incredibly brilliant and insightful.  He's talking about running for president of the US in 2016.  If he were to run, I would return to the states, no matter where I am in the world, mainly to vote for him.

Although almost everyone knows the saying "you can't always believe everything you hear/see", it's simply amazing how most Americans firmly believe the mass media.  That when I, for instance, start talking about anything contrary to what "CNN" or some corporate owned entity is saying, they immediately tune out, turn me off, and simply don't want to hear it.  Lot's of people are so ignorant, they won't even consider the evidence.  They believe the media and government so firmly, like they've never been lied to before.  There are plenty of examples recently where the government has lied: gulf of Tonkin, Pat Tillman, Jessica Lynch.

So many can't believe that 'false flag operations' take place throughout the world, for a long time, and mostly conducted by the CIA.  Look at operation Northwoods, that almost took place.  The operation was going to use false terrorist acts to garner momentum for a push for war in Cuba.  The operation was never carried out, but plans had been laid out in writing.

It's strange and funny in a way how if you keep an open mind, consider the evidence of one conspiracy, you realize that lots of others are plausible.  Always keep an open mind, just as with the mainstream media, everything should be considered with skepticism and scrutiny.  I only ask people to consider the evidence first, then draw their own conclusions.  A great example is the people of Nazi Germany that listened to everything their government told them, and what they were participating in was good.

Trust your gut, not the government.

What scares me and worries me the most, with the systematic loss of our constitutional rights, suspension of due process, search and seizure with only a suspicion (mostly since 9/11).  The immigration border checks, well away from the border...  That most Americans simply don't care.  That it doesn't bother them that their "rights" are being infringed upon and the "free" country isn't so free.  Bush always talked about going to war with people trying to take away their rights, ironic and surely not coincidental, that Americans have less rights than before the 9/11 attacks.

I always get a kick out of military personnel  touting how they defend the country.  Against whom exactly?  Like how Jesse Ventura put it, "is Al-Qaeda doing a Normandy invasion on US soil?"

I disagree with one important point that Ventura has.  He was in the military, and like most soldiers, believes that somehow being in the military somehow makes people more patriotic.  For fighting wars and killing people in some faraway country, for some obscure and illusive reason.  Like somehow the local citizen that runs into a burning house to save a woman and child, risking his life, is less noble/honarble than a soldier.

But I get it though, I understand why most men join the military in the first place.  Mostly the same reasons I use to consider joining.  Partly why I have difficulty in finding work that I truly enjoy to this day: the excitement and thrill, getting paid for education, but the big thing is - pride.  Fortunately I didn't join the military.  I woke up and realized all of the lies I was being told didn't add up.  I know I wouldn't fit in the military anyway because I ask questions.  I trust my judgment, morals, beliefs.  I would gladly protect people if there was a legitimate threat.  Soldiers will always say that the word "if" doesn't apply.  That to defend a country means fighting for it regardless of the situation.  Then I would tell them, sir or maam, you are a fool.  You're simply a tool, a robot, to be controlled by whomever is at the helm.  Corporation, politician, bureaucrat, whomever's looking to strike it big in the profit margin.

I'm afraid of dying, just like the next bloke.  However, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to risk my life for someone in an emergency.  I would gladly lay down my life to save others.  Running into the burning building to save the woman and child.  I would much rather die saving others than rotting away of some disease in a hospital bed.

There's this mythical honor about being a soldier.  People exalted as heroes.  Really?  Getting ribbons and medals for being a skilled murder.  The first strike in Iraq consisted of a "precision airstrike" to kill 'high-valued targets', at Dora Fora from an F-117.  Several people were interviewed after, including the worker at the morgue, and everyone that was killed were civilians, with the morgue piled high of bodies of civilians.

Heroes that I think of, are some of the people I've met on my trip for example.  A girl that had her parents killed in a car accident when she was 14.  She's been working full time since, going to school, and taking care of her three younger siblings.

One of countless families I've met along the way, with barely enough money to eat.  Struggling to get by, just to earn enough to buy flour to make tortillas.  Often malnourished, underprivileged, with next to nothing they still manage to put a smile on their face.  With what little they even have, they are still so generous.

Not some punk kid that joins the military, not knowing what else to do in life.  Ends up being an expert sniper and sets a record for number of people killed.  Returns to the country and gets medals and praise.  How tragic...

These people killed were "insurgents" or "enemies", but why?  The US invaded their country without permission.  Imposed laws, government, and sanctions without asking.  Perhaps one of those people killed, had had his wife and family murdered by a group of "army rangers" or a US "smart bomb" onto their house while he was at work.  The man comes home to find his house in rubble and his family dead.  You think he's an "insurgent" for then seeking recourse for everything he had in his life.

It's the war on terror (war of terror).  What didn't the "war on terror" start after the Oklahoma city bombing, or all the bombings from the unabomber?

Hopefully whenever it is I return to the US, I won't have to hear about all of the discrimination against the Muslim community.  That people will stop being hypocrites and recognize as US citizens people have the right to exercise their 1st amendment right.  Islam is no different than Christianity.  Again what happened to the freedoms?  The fact that terrorism and Islam are used hand-in-hand in the US media is disgraceful.  People are conditioned to think then that all Muslims are terrorists.

How sad a day it is when the public cannot hear the truth.  That when someone like Julian Assange comes along with Wikileaks he is labeled as a threat to US security (although wikileaks revealed no security sensitive information).  Like Ron Paul described it, "in a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble"

It's interesting traveling outside of the US and truly getting a vibe for how many people in the world really don't appreciate what the states does.  It's rather a bit embarassing most times to admit I'm American.  Only confirms my thoughts on all the wars waged and most economic policies.  Lots of countries have a real negative view of the militaristic US.

On to different things -

How different it is, during the day there is always so much obnoxious noise.  In the night here in Popayan it is completely different with absolute silence.  Nearly not a soul can be seen on the street late into the night, no cars, no police, no noise of any kind.  It's actually kind of scary because most times only scum bags lurk through the streets basically past around midnight.  I never had any dangerous circumstances until Popayan.  Out too late a couple nights, I nearly had fight off some scum.  One time might have been more dangerous when I still had my brace on, a very visibly easy target.

Injury count's getting up to some solid numbers: broken thumb, pinky, arm, nose, teeth, neck, clavicle (besides all the countless scrapes and bruises over the years)

I cannot quantify the amount of poor I have witnessed on this trip.  It has bothered me more and more as time goes on., and the more I see.  At first it was something different and exciting, after seeing so much of it for so long, the uneasiness rises from my subconscious.  A part of me wants to help these people, but how?  The simple fact that I had the choice to do a trip like this is profound.  That I was able to save money, sell everything I had and go.  In places like many of the countries I've been, the overwhelming majority have no option, and simply struggle just to get by.  They live day to day with only the hope and idea of putting food on the table.  They aren't thinking about the arrival of the new iphone, or saving up more money to get that new epoxy surfboard.

It was interesting on New Years, I really couldn't think of any regrets from the past year.  I do hope that this year, this will be the first January in two consecutive years, that I won't have someone I love die.

It's interesting the little things I miss of home.  Like homebrew and ping pong with friends.  Driving my car.  Playing frisbee golf.  Surfing.

Kilometers ridden so far:18, 060.8